All capital city airports in the former Yugoslavia will see their capacity levels grow during the first month of the 2025 summer season in April, with Ryanair to become the region’s largest carrier as it begins its expansion drive.
Belgrade Airport has the most available seats on scheduled flights in April, standing at 828.326. The figure represents an increase of 9.4% on 2024. Air Serbia will increase its seat count by 5.8% from the airport and continue to maintain its position as the largest carrier, holding 52% of all available scheduled capacity. Zagreb follows as the second largest with 564.959 available seats on scheduled flights during the month. It represents an increase of 14.7% on the previous year. For the first time, Ryanair will overtake Croatia Airlines to become the airport’s largest with 34.9% of capacity compared to the flag carrier’s 34.2%
Skopje Airport will boast 292.412 seats in April, up 7.8%, despite Wizz Air continuing to reduce its capacity, down by 4% on the same month last year. It will still hold the largest share at 52.1%. Pristina Airport will have 257.613 available seats, however, it has numerous flights sold exclusively through tour operators which are considered charters. Therefore, these are not included in the overall scheduled seat capacity. If only seats on scheduled flights are taken into account, the airport sees an increase of 8.2% in capacity on the previous year. easyJet has the largest volume of scheduled seats, holding a 21% share, while April sees the launch of regular wide-body flights to the city with Edelweiss Air deploying its Airbus A350-900 aircraft from Zurich.
Sarajevo Airport has 237.302 scheduled seats on the market in April, representing another strong increase of 42.4% on 2024. Ryanair, which is increasing its capacity by 222% year-on-year with the launch of five new routes, is the largest carrier with 19.2% of seats, followed by Turkish Airlines with 13.3%. Podgorica Airport has 179.622 seats on scheduled flights in April, an increase of 5.9% on 2024. Wizz Air is the largest with 17.8% of total capacity, closely followed by Ryanair with a 17.5% share as it resumes its seasonal operations to the Montenegrin capital. Finally, Ljubljana will come out of its winter slump with a total of 163.899 seats on scheduled services, up 16.3% on April 2024. Fuelling the growth is the entry of KLM and Eurowings onto the market, as well Lufthansa’s increased capacity. The German flag carrier will be the airport’s largest with 19% of all seats.
Largest carriers by scheduled seat capacity in the former Yugoslavia, April 2025
From where is the growth coming in SKP?
ReplyDeletePegasus mostly. They have something like double the flights then they did last year. Also Transavia has started flying.
DeleteThere are alos these 7 flights per week extra from Freebird to some German, UK and French Destinations
DeleteThe fact that Ryan is the biggest airline says it all (about this market)
DeleteRyaniar is the biggest airline in Europe and the largest airline in loads of European countries. So keep your classist opinions to yourself.
DeleteRyanair is the biggest airline in Europe so it says all about Europe too :-D
DeleteI think the flights from Freebird wouldn't show in these statistics, as they are considered charters. Similarly to how it seems that Prishtina has less available seats than Skopje, while in reality they have many more seats (due to the flights that are considered charters).
DeleteAlso easy jet will start fights from Paris Orly.
DeleteYes Αnon 10:07, Europe is the continent that 90% of the planet's population would like to migrate too.
DeleteSkopje growing despite Wizz pulling back is a win.
DeleteEX-YU region constantly thinking they’re above FR. And a bunch of trash and poverty everywhere. So sad.
DeleteLets see the little ex yu censor how fast he reacts! :))
Delete"EX-YU region constantly thinking they’re above FR"
DeleteSo ridiculous! Countries with much richer populations have no issue flying with Ryanair, which is why it's the biggest airline in Europe.
No one cares if it's LCC or "full service" airline when the flight time is 2h. What matters far more is price and punctuality. Ryanair handily beats legacy airlines on these metrics in most markets, including this region.
I care! I prefer a legacy no matter how short the flight is. There are many like me and that is why LCCs don't dominate this market.
DeleteThey do dominate though
Delete19:22 Half the table is made up of LCCs. And also, so picky!
DeleteLCCs absolutely dominate all free markets (for short haul)
DeleteFinally everyone growing
ReplyDeleteReally good numbers for ZAG.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteZagreb looks good for April, we'll see actual noumbers at the end of April. 564 000 x 70%, April will surpass 400 000 mark, could be between 400 and 450k.
DeleteAs it stands, Zagreb could hit 5.0 million this year, we'll see.
January - 280 000
February - 261 000
March - 327 000
April - 400 000
May - 440 000
June - 450 000
July - 485 00
August - 500 000
September - 475 000
October - 460 000
November - 350 000
December - 355 000
Total: 4 780 000 ~
My current projection based on preliminary available seats, but this noumber could go up, substantially.
Last year ZAG hit 5 Mio mark during the end of November. This year def some weeks earlier.
DeleteBravo Fraport!
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteCongratulations to Croatia Airlines and its turnaround strategy. Ryanair is officially now bigger than you in Zagreb. Great work.
ReplyDeleteTruly mindblowing
DeleteIt was only a matter of time.
DeleteI'm pretty sure they have been handling more passengers than OU from Zagreb for some time now.
DeleteVery possible that happened last year for the first time. Before that no.
Delete@9.24 no surprise since FR's average load is 87% and OU's in 64%.
DeleteBeing the biggest doesn't make you better. Ryanair carries passengers who think they are getting a cheap price but in reality once all extras are paid for costs way more then they would pay using a proper Airline.
DeleteYes, millions of people are stupid and cannot add the price and all their costs together to realise that a Ryanair flight for 40 euros is actually more expensive than a legacy carrier of 200 euros. Thankfully, you are very smart and you can explain it to them. 40+15+25 is bigger than 200!
DeleteI almost always travel with back pack only, so its not more expansive for me, i have paid only 25 euros for round trip flight multiple times.
DeleteSo who is leading the growth in BEG if JU is +5.8%?
ReplyDeleteGood question cause it can't be W6.
DeleteAlmost all foreign carriers have more capacity this April, while Wizz Air also has 4% growth.
DeleteThank you. Does anyone have double digit growth?
DeleteMaybe KLM?
DeleteTAROM (42.9%), KLM (41.4%), Wizz Air Abu Dhabi (23.5%), Aegean Airlines (21.1%), LOT (17.5%), Air Cairo (13.8%), Turkish (10.6%). New entrants on last year are China Southern Airlines and Sun d'Or.
DeleteBravo Romania!
DeleteTAROM base number is very low so any minor increase translates to big percentage growth.
DeleteFlying 5 times a week is not minor.
DeleteI didn't say 5 p/w is minor but there capacity is small. So if they add 500 seats per month percentage change will be big.
DeleteTarom is definitely fighting back and JU needs to be aware of that.
DeleteJU better focus on executing its summer schedule without too many delays and cancelations.
DeleteOTP is not its highest priority right now.
Delays and cancellations are two year old news. Move on.
DeleteOTP is one of the biggest regional airports, it must always be a priority for them.
DeleteI wonder if KL might add a third daily flight
DeleteFranjo Tudman Airport having an increase of 14.7% on the previous year which already had a double digit increase is fantastic!
ReplyDeleteThanks to Ryanair and their Easter flight increase.
DeleteBringing FR has proven to be a brilliant move for ZAG and the economy.
DeleteIt has proven to be brilliant in terms of passenger numbers. In terms of airport profitability, not so much.
DeleteProfitability would be even worse without Ryanair because the airport would be on -20% of 2019 passengers.
Delete^ You think Ryanair didn't take over a number of passengers from other airlines and if it were not flying to ZAG these people would not use other airlines that are flying to ZAG?
DeleteCorrect. That is what I think.
DeleteGood for you
DeleteHow will Lufthansa increase capacity? Will they add any more daily flights or? Its already teo daily Munich and 3 daily Frankfurt I believe or not? (Ljubljana)
ReplyDeletePossibly larger aircraft? I am curious too.
DeleteBecause second daily from FRA is using A320 in April and May.
DeleteAnd from June to end of summer season all flights are with CRJ 1000. Last year was with CRJ 900.
DeleteNice. That's good to see
DeleteFRA flights have same frequency but more capacity. Flying with them to Houston in April
DeleteMeans they are performing very well
DeleteYes, they are
Deletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2025/03/lufthansa-and-swiss-lead-ljubljana.html
Positive thing that everyone is growing.
ReplyDeleteBut then again it's Easter. Let's see what happens in May
DeleteLet's wait and see.
DeleteBEG is facing a possible slump in May since some of the easter travel will have moved to April this year
DeleteBelgrade Airport's May capacity is currently up 7%.
DeleteIt's worth noting that Wizz Air moved a lot of their morning departures from BEG to before 06.00. They get a discount from the airport for not flying during peak times which is after 06.00.
DeleteSarajevo again with 40%+ growth. Wow!
ReplyDeleteHappy for SJJ. Amazing year so far
DeleteBravo Hrvatska!
ReplyDeleteGreat to see A350-900 starting regular service to the region next month :)
ReplyDeleteAnd who would have thought PRN would be the first to get them in the region.
Delete^ true that!
DeleteThat’s a big deal. Shows the strength of diaspora travel demand.
DeleteA300 was widebody designed for short to mid range.
DeleteWow, the growth in Sarajevo is insane, and it just keeps continuing!
ReplyDeleteImagine if FR opens a base next year. Good times will continue at SJJ.
DeleteSmall numbers huge percentage.
DeleteFinally some serious growth for LJU!
ReplyDeleteAbout time
DeleteKLM and Eurowings joining is great news, but we need even more diversity in carriers. Still too Lufthansa-heavy.
DeleteReally? LJU is more diverse than ZAG when it comes to diversity of carriers. Of course it is always great to have even bigger diversity, however what LJU needs are actually scheduled leisure routs with LCCs.
DeleteHow is it more diverse?
DeleteBecause in ZAG two airlines control roughly 70% of the market.
DeleteOf course it is more diverse, there are simply more different airlines in LJU than in ZAG.
DeleteWhen it comes to the diversity of airlines LJU is quite impressive.
DeleteSolid growth all around
ReplyDeleteRyanair overtaking Croatia Airlines at Zagreb… says a lot. Maybe it’s time our flag carrier started acting like a real airline again?
ReplyDeleteThe ship has sailed.
DeleteLCCs clearly calling the shots now at most airports in ex-Yu.
ReplyDeleteYou can see the Ryanair effect all across the region
DeleteSarajevo’s 42% growth month after month is wild. Can the airport infrastructure even keep up with that kind of jump?
ReplyDeleteIt can...For now, but the airport will face serious problems once it hits 2 million pax, which is expected by the end of 2025. The new terminal is designed for 2 million which says a lot about the lack of ambition of those who planned it.
DeleteSJJ passenger numbers are still modest, that's why the percentage is so big
DeletePercentage is big but numbers are small its so simple
DeleteEx-YU flag companies on the list as we can see Air Serbia is 2nd on the list and Croatia Airlines 4th on the list.
ReplyDeleteWhat about Tuzla?
ReplyDeleteNo demand.
DeleteTuzla is not a capital city.
DeleteI like it when airports grow in April.
ReplyDeleteEaster is in late April this year.
DeleteIt's great to see increasing LLC options from the region!
ReplyDeleteLCC*
DeleteThe fact SKP is coming close to 300k in April is amazing , despite W6 cuttings, well done and good luck!! 👏
ReplyDeleteHow come PRN is growing by 8%? There is only 1 new flight to Lyon. 1 or 2 a week!
ReplyDeleteLccs avoiding Belgrade as the plague just proves that Air Serbia is a small but succesful airline that can withstand fierce competition.
ReplyDeleteI have only respect for them.
Well there is Wizz Air with 4 planes plus LTN, LCA and AUH which are wholly or partially operatedy by planes from other bases. They have quite a presence at the airport.
Delete@17:27 Belgrade Airport is served by 2 out of 3 largest LCCs in Europe. Compare that with other airports like Zagreb where only 1 out of 3 is present.
DeleteEasyjet 🤣
DeleteBest of the three.
DeleteWhat percentage of the Belgrade Airport passengers are long-haul?
ReplyDelete...or long haul seats offered at BEG in April, if actual passenger numbers are not available?
DeleteMy guess less than 5%
DeleteEven 5% seems overly optimistic when long-haul frequencies are just twice weekly. If someone had told me 5-6 years ago that Guangzhou would have twice as many weekly frequencies than JFK this time of year I would not have believed it, but it's true. Long haul capacity at Belgrade in March is probably 2-3% at most.
DeleteIt feels like Wizz just doesn’t care for the region anymore. Now they started in Italy, UK, potentially Tel Aviv base too. Poland and Romania are their only focus left in Eastern Europe. Meanwhile, Ryanair expands. And Ryanair is only natural to grow when they offer slightly lower fares than Wizz and don’t cut constantly routes. Officially Ryanair is also the biggest airline in SOF, after years of Wizz kindgdom. I just want to see them expanding more and hopefully wake up Wizz which have taken the region which made them big, for granted. Competition is always good for consumers…
ReplyDeletePersonally I started avoiding Wizzair, whenever possible. Main reason being unreliability (canceling flights on short or long notice) as this affects other plans, mainly accommodation. Using Easyjet and Ryanair even if its slightly more expensive (and often is the same).
DeleteSKP needs Ryanair as well
ReplyDelete