Belgrade Airport saw continued growth on its Spanish routes during the first half of the year, with a record six destinations served. Between January and June, Air Serbia and Wizz Air jointly handled 164.578 passengers on flights between Serbia and Spain, representing a 7.7% increase compared to the same period in 2024, or 11.751 additional travellers. In June, Wizz Air launched a new route between Belgrade and Alicante, marking the first time the two cities have been connected by a scheduled air service. The route achieved an average cabin load factor of 87.1% during its first month of operation. Across all six routes to Spain, the average load factor from Belgrade stood at a strong 82.6% during the first half of the year.
Two-way passenger traffic between Belgrade and Spain, H1 2025
Barcelona remains the most popular Spanish destination from Belgrade, despite a slight decline of 401 passengers in the first half of the year. The drop is largely attributed to Wizz Air’s 10% reduction in capacity on the route. In contrast, all other Spanish destinations recorded growth, with Madrid posting the largest increase of close to 5.000 additional passengers year-on-year. Overall, capacity between Belgrade and Spain grew by 5.2% during the first six months, accompanied by a 7% rise in the number of operated flights. Air Serbia continues to lead the market, accounting for 73.8% of total seat capacity.
Air Serbia had planned to launch flights to Ibiza this year; however, the service did not materialise due to slot unavailability caused by handling constraints at Ibiza Airport. Air Serbia’s General Manager for Commercial and Strategy, Boško Rupić, recently affirmed the airline’s commitment to launching flights to Ibiza, noting that the route is now likely to commence in 2026. “It’s a destination that sees strong point-to-point demand, along with a significant volume of transfer passenger”, he explained. Late last year, the city of Granada in southern Spain initiated talks with the Serbian flag carrier over the potential introduction of flights from Belgrade, presenting a comprehensive business case to the airline.
Very happy to see Alicante working out for Wizz Air
ReplyDeleteYES!
DeleteAlicante Belgrade 206 pax Per Flt
DeleteValencia Belgrade 139 pax Per Flt
Yes but don't forget that Alicante is operated by a large A321 with 239 seats while Valencia is with the smaller A319 or A320.
DeleteIbiza would be a fantastic addition for summer! It’s disappointing the route didn’t launch this year but fingers crossed for 2026.
ReplyDeleteglad Air Serbia is still pursuing it
DeleteSlots at some of these Spanish airports are unfortunately very limited, I remember Madrid constantly having issues before their expansion as well
DeleteWith the right schedule, it could also feed connecting traffic to the US market.
Deleteplease they need ibiza for the parties. did you know that jose “pepe” garcia-gonzales from season seven of love island USA is from spain. cool fact for the reality tv people here!
Delete😱
DeleteBravo Belgrade!
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteBelgrade-Spain connectivity has come a long way. I remember when Madrid and Barcelona were the only options. Time for Air Serbia to push into secondary cities more aggressively now.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteSpain really exploded on Serbian market for leisure travel around covid times.
DeleteFor a long time, Barcelona was the only option and only during the summer. Air Serbia changed that. JU and W6 chased away useless Vueling which was never serious about BEG.
DeleteMAD was briefly served by Spanair and only for one summer. I think it was sometime in 2005.
The demand probably existed before. Someone just had to capture it.
DeleteSpanair was serving MAD-BEG in 2010 for quite a short period (maybe only summer season), and for little bit longer period BCN.
DeleteMAD was definitely only one season and I think for about three months.
DeleteBCN survived for two summer seasons before they pulled the plug. That said, the market back then was much smaller and we needed visas to travel to the EU.
Hopefully Granada becomes a reality soon. It’s a beautiful city and a perfect fit for both tourism and transfer traffic.
ReplyDeleteWouldn't Seville make more sense?
DeleteGranada is very niche.
DeleteI think Tenerife or Ibiza are more realistic future destinations from BEG.
DeleteGiven the sector length, BEG should offer this market to FR and give them whatever conditions they are demanding. Since the flight is long, it's important for fares to remain low.
Yes, Seville and Bilbao should be next JU points of interest.
DeleteLOT sucessfully launched Tenerife from WAW. I am sure Air Serbia can do the same from BEG.
DeleteRyanair does not always have low fares, especially to the Canaries.
Seville is only two hours away from Malaga. It would be better to increase the number of flights to AGP. Granada is even closer to Malaga. That just doesn't make sense. Isn't it better to increase the number of flights to one destination and thus collect as many transfers as possible than to "dilute" the flights even though the airports are an hour or two apart.
DeleteFrom what I remember, Granada is offering some nice subsidies
DeleteA Belgrade–Granada route would be unique. Not even many major hubs in Europe offer that.
Delete^ for a reason
DeleteRupic already said they are planning Canary islands. It was published here maybe a month ago.
DeleteWell, Florence and Bologna are 50 minutes away, but they are working all year long. Malaga is special due to Russian diaspora and tickets are crazy expensive. Seville could be more p2p leisure route. They could complement on different days
DeleteGood results
ReplyDeleteLoad factor above 80% in first half of year is excellent. Definitely room for more growth.
ReplyDeleteThat’s impressive demand consistency.
DeleteWasn't there a statement by Marek where he said that adding new frequencies to VLC did not produce more passengers? So how come BEG-VLC recorded a 7% growth in H1 2025?
ReplyDeleteAnyway, these numbers are impressive. Air Serbia was definitely a pioneer in developing this market and given their growing presence over there, they will no doubt become an increasingly important player on the transfer market in Spain.
He didn't say that. He said that there is a limit to which you can grow routes like Valencia.
DeleteWhich still make no sense. If there was a limit then they wouldn't have a 7% growth in passenger numbers. If he was right then H1 25 growth would be negative, zero or minimal. A 7% growth during the slow period of the year is almost double digit growth.
DeleteGrowth potential in VLC is huge especially if you are a hub carrier which can offer transfers. Wizz Air might have growth potential restrictions since they rely on O&D.
Carriers such as Air Serbia have both O&D and transfers.
“That said, densifying leisure routes isn’t always feasible. In some markets, Valencia, for example, adding extra frequencies doesn’t necessarily stimulate additional demand. You simply have to accept the limitations of leisure-driven traffic. On the other hand, routes like Madrid, Barcelona and similar markets present clear opportunities for densification, and we will continue to build frequency there where demand supports it”.
DeleteAlicante will level that. JU will increase for transfer passengers, while W6 will increase leisure demand
DeleteFrom his statement:
Delete'In some markets, Valencia, for example, adding extra frequencies doesn’t necessarily stimulate additional demand.'
So how come there was no additional demand when the market grew by 7% in H1 2025? As they would say in Serbia: лупио и остао жив.
Hope Iberia comes.
ReplyDeleteOr Air Europe
DeleteVueling and Volotea also
DeleteRyan
DeleteHighly unlikely in short/medium term. Ibera is not interested in expanding Serbian market as they do not see sufficient potential for their Latam flights (there is very limited demand between Serbia and Latam). They are not pursuing lesiure and point to point european passangers - Latam is their cash cow.
DeleteI think JU's growing presence on BEG-MAD is what is discouraging IB from launching flights. Sure, connections to Latin America plays a role but so does the size of the O&D market. This is where JU thrives and they captured this market.
DeleteIberia had its chance and it missed it. For BEG and Serbia, it's better to have JU because they attract transfers via BEG.
Do we have a diaspora in the flight to Barcelona? Or is it only Madrid that is a diaspora?
ReplyDeleteI don't think there's much of diaspora at Madrid either.
DeleteI second that, it's mostly leisure pax.
DeleteI remember the conversation of cabin crew on my flight to BCN and the difference between pax on diaspora routes to Germany and Sweden, in terms of behaviour and cleanliness :)
There is quit a big diaspora in Madrid..Loads of ex- sportsmen and their families...Barcelina also has Serbian diaspora, mostly women who got married to spanish guys and moved there..I personally know at least 5 of them..
Delete@ Treshnja - there are approx 400 Serbs living in Madrid (I am one of them) and I would not consider that a "diaspora" (not even a community LOL).
DeleteP.S. and hopefully, Madrid will stay this way :)
Anon 11:11 where that number comes from? 400 Serbs in Madrid, seems like too little to me, is that just for Madrid capital, excluding the suburbs?? Btw. I am one of those living in one of Madrid, suburbs so starting today I can say there are 399 Serbs + me :))
Delete@11:11 so why should we trust you by word? How did you get to that quite exact number? I very much doubt it...
DeleteWhat percentage of BEG's passenger flow is with transfers? Not counting Serbs traveling to Doha, for example. I mean transfer passengers from Skopje, Sarajevo, Moscow...
ReplyDeleteThe further we go into the future, the fewer people will use Belgrade as a transfer point.
DeleteWhy do you think so 10.01? In my opinion, with more long-haul planned, more regional aircraft acquired and frequencies upped, along with fair prices, there would be more transfers in BEG, not less
DeleteObviously, but anon 10:01 went to certain aviation academy where that school of thought is mandatory.
DeleteLove them! This year transfer percentage goes from 40 to 45%. As long as they are claiming opposite, percentage is growing. Keep up the good work!
DeleteExcellent
ReplyDeleteIt would be nice to see Bilbao in near future. That way all parts of Spain would be covered
ReplyDeleteThis is great news for both tourists and the diaspora. Spain is a popular destination, and the more direct routes we have, the better.
ReplyDeleteThe 87% load factor to Alicante right from the start says a lot! Well done
ReplyDeleteEspecially since it means there was demand in both directions.
DeleteNo. Thetraffic is only to Spain Alicante
DeleteNo, the load factor includes both directions.
DeleteSolid growth overall, but I’d love to see data on connecting traffic to Latin America through Madrid from/to BEG flights.
ReplyDeleteWould you expect many pax from Serbia to Latin America overall?
DeleteBEG-MAD - direct P2P around 60%. Transfers through BEG - 25% (XXX-BEG-MAD). Transfers through MAD - 5% (BEG-MAD-XXX). Transfers through both - 5% (XXX-BEG-MAD-XXX). Appx. numbers
Delete@11:20 how did you get those numbers? Some people including myself, flys to Madrid often, on Air Serbia flight, and than continues with low cost to other spanish towns..I know 3 of my collegues doing the same..So how can you count us, for example?
Delete@Treshnja 16:52 - data is only for connected tickets bought through JU and code-share partners. Not including your example (I assume you fly with JU to MAD on one ticket and then continue further on another separate ticket). There is no way knowing that data directly
DeleteCan anyone tell me what kind of passengers we have in these Spanish destinations? Are they mainly tourists? PMI, AGP, VLC, BCN...
ReplyDeleteThere are more and mroe people living there or working remotly for extended periods of time - especially off the high season. I guess Air Serbia captured part of this traffic as well.
DeleteWell, as flying to Spain and back at leadt twice a month, to all destinations, have to say that load factor during winter and spring months was huge, on some flight literally 0 empty seats..Other ones only few left..But since june I see quite empty flights..I flew BCN twice since june ( one way), MAD twice ( one way), and AGP 4 times ( 2 rounds) and in E319 it was always around 40 empty seats, in E320 for Malaga was even more...Don't know why is that so, but seems like these destinations are more popular as city hops, or Andalucia tours , than summer seaside destinations among our Balkan tourists..Nobody goes to explore Andalucia during summer when is 40 degrees..I'm bit surprised about Valencia, 'cause its nice seacoast below..Lets see Alicante how it goes..
ReplyDeleteFirst time hearing about E319 and E320 :)
DeleteSorry, A320 and A329, mea culpa
DeleteA319 😉
DeleteMaxima culpa Treshnja 🙂
DeleteWizz Air could easily add Bilbao
ReplyDeleteThey should concentrate to Canary Islands
DeleteThese numbers show consistent demand. Now it's time for more frequency.
ReplyDeleteAny info on what the split is between tourists and transfer passengers on these Spain routes? Would love to see that broken down.
ReplyDeleteBCN has benefited a lot from Russian transfers.
DeleteAt this point and given the growing size of JU's network, transfers probably come from all around the place. I wrote the other day that 29 passengers from BCN connected to LCA.
DeleteAir Serbia is doing a solid job with Spain
ReplyDeleteLoad factors over 80% in the first half of the year and that’s before peak summer travel. Very good
ReplyDeleteEspecially since more than 70% of flights are by a legacy airline and not LCC.
DeleteHope this encourages some Spanish airline to launch flights.
DeleteIf JU was part of Oneworld their Spain routes would be even busier.
ReplyDeleteIs Alicante year round on Wizz?
ReplyDeleteYes, 3x weekly
DeleteHopefully we will see a third player soon on one of lines. Personally would love to see Iberia
ReplyDeleteJust three? Not enough. Use common sense, 4-5 would give more choices to consumers.
DeleteBefore you have 4-5 players on this market you have a third, than fourth, and so on.
DeleteUse common sense.
Common sense says better ask for a launch of yet unserved destination in Spain than to ask for a third carrier on existing route.
DeleteCommon sense says if you got three airlines on one route, because of high demand, then ticket price comes down for passengers.
DeleteNow that's common sense.
Not really, except in your neck of the woods academy. Belgrade had three operators to Geneva and, as common sense would have it, it was way too much so it came back to one airline at that time. Way better to open a new route, and many fine candidates were mentioned in comments. It is a win-win for both airlines and passengers: those who can afford it will have nonstop service, and airlines will have no competition (instead of fighting two competitors as per your proposal). You can't beat common sense.
DeleteOk bro, seems like you don't have any common sense. Peace out.
DeleteAh yes because the third player was a serious one... the mighty Etihad Regional with their ancient SAABs.
DeleteAre there Spain numbers for the entire 2024 available for BEG?
ReplyDeleteBarcelona: 201.166
DeleteMadrid: 48.847
Valencia: 29.367
Malaga: 29.265
Palma de Mallorca: 23.513
Air Serbia going daily to Madrid will be a breakthrough and i guess it will already happen next year!
ReplyDeleteAir Serbia should launch Alicante, is an important point in Spain, Wizz Air knows….
ReplyDelete