Wizz Air will reduce frequencies on most services from former Yugoslav markets to London Luton during the upcoming winter season, which runs from October 26 to March 28. All flights are operated by the airline’s UK subsidiary using 239-seat Airbus A321neo aircraft.
The airline will discontinue its Luton - Sarajevo service, with the final flight scheduled for September 23. Last winter, the low cost carrier operated the route four times per week. Between January and May this year, Wizz Air carried 19.815 passengers on the service, marking a 41% increase compared to the same period in 2024. The average cabin load factor stood at 63.7%. The airline faces indirect competition from Ryanair, which operates between London Stansted and Sarajevo. Over the same five-month period, Ryanair transported 16.742 passengers on the route, achieving an average load factor of 72.6%.
In Belgrade, the airline will reduce frequencies on the route from daily last winter to five weekly during the 2025/26 season. Between January and May, Wizz Air carried 48.848 passengers between the two airports, an increase of 7.9% year-on-year. The average cabin load factor stood at 69.5%. The carrier faces indirect competition from Air Serbia, which operates the route from London Heathrow and carried 39.269 passengers over the same period, with an average load factor of 79.5%.
Frequencies will also be reduced on the Luton - Skopje service, from four to three weekly. Between January and May, the airline carried 29.537 passengers on the route, up 18.9% compared to 2024. The average cabin load factor stood at 71.9% over the five-month period. The low cost carrier faces no competition between the two cities.
Finally, Wizz Air will initially reduce frequencies on its Pristina service from six to five weekly until December 8, after which operations will increase to daily, representing one additional rotation compared to last year. During the first five months of 2025, the airline carried 49.579 passengers on the route, up 14.5% on the same period in 2024. The average cabin load factor stood at 85.7%. Wizz Air faces no competition between the city-pair.
Those loads are terrible. The cuts are fully justified.
ReplyDeleteAnd in Sarajevo’s case service cancellation.
Deleteagree, especially for LCC.
DeleteBear in mind that A321neo is a cheaper aircraft to operate so the break-even load factor should be lower. Also, it has a really high capacity and a lower load factor doesn't mean it's too bad. In case of Belgrade LF - 69.5% * 239 seats = 166 seats, which is still more than Air Serbia's A319.
DeleteStop writing nonsense. Airlines want as high of a load factor as possible.
DeleteOh, hell, but it is not so cheap an aircraft to buy, is it? No way they are OK with 69%.
Delete@Anonymous 09:17
DeleteYou are exactly right and this is why W6 floew9 thousand more pax than JU did with fewer flights.
Flying A319s and E-jets to LHR is a waste of valuable slots. Just my humble opinion.
Tickets to LTN are always the cheapest ones in Wizz network of flights from BEG.
DeleteOne can easily find a flight for as low as 20€, which is almost impossible for other routes.
Well, combined with the low load factor, that ammounts to a financial Chernobyl.
Delete9:17 Bear in mind that you have no idea about aviation, this post is expected. Break even with 25 euro ticket is 100% LF
DeleteThe FR load on Sarajevo route is not much better.
Delete@Anon 09:17: You have this all wrong. A321 has lower operating costs per pax IF (really important) you can fill the seats. If you have 180 pax, that you could have easily fit into an A320, and operate A321 instead, you have higher fixed costs (purchase/lease) and operating costs (engines fuel).
DeleteI can only imagine the load factor on their newly launched Gatwick - Medina flights with the A321XLR.
Delete^ and they are operating it DAILY no less.
DeleteBecause the Saudis are paying for it. Like all the new routes that have launched there in the last year.
DeleteExactly, routes to SA generally start with terrible loads but long term they increase by a lot.
DeleteJU could take advantage of the generous incentives and launch JED and RUH.
To me this looks like a W6 reorganization since 5W went belly up. They definitely need though reorganization since PW issues has made long term planning a mess and 5W hasn’t made results. Let’s see Varadi magic and Make Wizz Great Again, just outside a BEG market ;)
DeleteWizz scheduling on BEG is horrendous. Departs LTN at 06:30 (?!?!) and then returns only 40min after JU on return leg.
Delete09:43 It actually is MUCH better, near 90
DeleteFrom January to May the figure published in the article is the correct load factor, as per the UK Civil Aviation Authority.
DeletePricing is always optimized for maximizing LF as that's the cornerstone of their strategy. Only once you hit 90% sales LF / 85% flown LF can one talk about optimizing. If they're not achieving even 85% the routes are major loss makers.
Delete@Anon 09:58
DeleteBear in mind that it is A321neo that we are talking about, and compare it with A320ceo (W6 has a very little amount of A320neo in their fleet). I'm not sure about the exact fuel burn but I wouldn't be surprised if the fuel burn is close to A320ceo - of course it depends on a load of factors like the load, winds, cost index...
Make no mistakes, a lot of airlines have ordered A321neo to replace their fleet of A320ceo and they are aware that the load factor will be lower logically. Same is with switching to A320neo for airlines which previously operated A319 and A320 and it is ultimately why A319neo failed as a product.
That is why I wrote the comment at 09:17 - indicating that the break-even might be lower for A321neo and that Wizz would be "okay-ish" to operate it at 70% load factor. Of course that every ULCC wants a 95+% load, I'm not ignoring that.
They are not 'aware of the load factor being lower', but are counting on continuous growth and filling more seats than before. If you don't grow, you go bust or get aquired by a larger company; stagnation is strictly forbidden - that's basics of capitalism. And that's why you change smaller aircraft for larger: growth.
Delete23.14
DeleteIf you could please share your knowledge with "management" of Croatia Airlines 🙂
@Anon 21:24: I doubt any ULCC can break even at 70%, unless they are pricing the tickets very high. Yes, neo is more efficient, but they have to cover capex, too.
DeleteThis is a great chance for British Airways, easyJet and Ryanair to enter the very lucrative Skopje - London market
ReplyDeleteSkopje and lucrative could never go in the same sentence. Even in same paragraph
DeleteLol
DeletePerfect. So true.
DeleteHaha my guy tried to sneak Skopje and lucrative combined.. and we say Bosnians are worse than us by saying SJJ will get to SKP somehow 😂
DeleteThe arrogance will never fade on this blog. Such a pity, you just can't get over yourselves.
DeleteIt's obviously very lucrative for the ones with vision and strategy.
On the other hand, London - exYu does not go in the same sentence as lucrative if not for the Croatian coast. Nothing to do with Skopje in particular.
No idea how they can achieve such a low load factors on the London routes. Surely 65% is not viable in any case. Admin do we maybe have any information on the LF when they operated Ljubljana? I remember flying with them quite often and it always seemed like LF was 80+%
ReplyDeleteBecause there is competition flying from LHR, not LTN.
DeleteDuring last full year of operations (2023), there were 40.561 passengers on the route with an avarage annual load factor of 74.7%.
DeleteShould work with Easjet and their A320s
DeleteFlying 239 seat aircraft sure doesn't help with achieving high load factors.
DeleteBut flying ac with so many seats is the reason that it transports more people from BEG to London than JU does while having lower load factor.
@09:18
Delete+1
I still think they made a mistake not going for A320neos too
DeleteTheir A321neos are just too big. There is not that much point to point traffic with exception to PRN considering the size of the diaspora. Other ex-Yu diasporas in the UK are relatively small. Tourism is very low and one directional because an expensive visa is needed which takes weeks to be issued and you need countless documents and proofs to get one, which is ironic considering the amount of illegal immigrants entering the UK in boats.
ReplyDelete+1
Delete+100
DeleteIt is as if the UK governments prefer Sudanese and Somalis coming with boats instead of people from our region going there legally.
It's the same in Germany. At passport control 2 weeks ago the guy took out a calculator and went page by page to calculate my entry and exit stamps for EU countries. In the end he gave up. Meanwhile Germany created the biggest illegal migrant crisis in modern Europe 10 years ago.
DeleteI would have thought that Serbian or Croatian diaspora in UK would be much larger that Kosovar! Do Serbs and Croats travel less than Kosovars?
DeleteNot sure what Croatia has to do with this article. No, Kosovar diaspora in bigger than the Serbian one in the UK. Close to 30,000 Kosovo borns live in UK (as per latest UK census) compared to 9,000 from Serbia. In 2015 there was a mass exodus of people from Kosovo (over 100,000 left) and many settled in the UK. https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2015/3/13/baffling-kosovo-mass-exodus-exposes-domestic-hardships
DeleteAnd for your second question, it's a no. If you bothered to read the article, you would see that between January and May there were 88,117 passengers between Belgrade and London compared to 49,579 betweenb Pristina and London.
@Anon 10:35 You know, both Serbia and particularly Croatia are much more developed than Kosovo, so population is not so much in a need to move abroad.
Delete@1043 that exodus was not towards UK but mainly Germany. Most of Kosovo Albanians migrated in 90s and during the war.
DeleteBut just a few days ago I was reading in the comments that Wizz is “teaching” Air Serbia a lesson” across the network.
ReplyDeleteYeah. Right. 🤣
DeleteAnd new sheriff at BEG wearing pink! 🤠🎃🤡
Delete^ haha yes.
DeleteIt's not surprising, the UK will be in recession by the end of the year.
ReplyDeleteThanks Nostradamus. Poor load factors last year are definitely connected to the Uk being in a recession by the end of this year 🤣🤣
DeleteIn case of LJU poor results are because of Brexit (while every other airport has increase in passengers numbers).
DeleteIf you consider standard of living as measured by the real wages, UK has been in a long decline since 2008 crisis.
DeleteIt seems that booking flights with Wizz is a gamble. You never know which flight might get canceled and when. Abu Dhabi, London… just not worth paying a ‘cheap’ price and then having to struggle last minute to book an alternative flight at a very high cost.
ReplyDeletemy man for 20 euros everything is worth it
DeleteExactly, what else you expect for the money u paying ? Go pay flag carrier 15x time higher and u will not get any cancellation issues
DeleteIg there goes the hope of Wizz relaunching Luton to LJU or any Croatian city
ReplyDeleteLJU has way more demand for London than SKP, SJK or PRN. Now that they have free aircraft it makes sense to launch LJU.
DeleteDefinitely LJU has more potential of London sucsess than any other ex-Yu airport (with exception to Croatian coastal airports in summer).
DeleteI flew Luton-Ljubljana for 15 euros and the aircraft was half empty. No wonder Wizz discontinued it
DeleteSure they flew for 10 years just for fun.
DeleteIn May 2025 on LJU to London rute, British and Easy had together 86% LF both ways.
Delete09.05
DeleteStrange you say LJU has the most traffic and most demand. I thought ZAG had more flights to London than Ljubljana, 2-3 daily, operated by FR, BA and OU
BA suspending ZAG in winter.
DeleteChance for easyJet to start Belgrade from London?
ReplyDeleteI think they even applied for slots in Gatwick.
They applied for those a few years ago.
DeleteAs a London resident i find that one-way tickets to Belgrade with KLM can be very reasonable nowadays. Also it avoids having to fly at 6am which i hate. The afternoon Air Serbia flight is also a really nice time for flying if the price is right.
ReplyDeleteIt's really a pity that BA did not fight harder in BEG.
ReplyDeleteWhole their strategy was wrong.
British Airways doesn't need to have a strategy because it has a fixed number of slots and it is hyper profitable. If a route is failing like Belgrade was failing then they just give the slot to another destination.
DeleteWell they can't be sucsesfull with 3 weekly flights and a flight that does not have a good connection to US and Canada. Meanwhile, the UK now charges if you are transferring through any of its airports.
DeleteBA makes more money flying a 6th flight a day to ATH or to FCO or a 5th flight a day to LCA than a single one to BEG.
DeleteThey do not care about connectivity to our region, they only care about profit margins.
Sad but true.
DeleteAnd that is why LHG is the undisputed ruler of the region in connections to the rest of Europe and the rest of the world.
Although as a business it is not "Sad" not to want to fly routes that don't make enough money. IAG has shareholders after all...
DeleteLH group hubs have much higher P2P demand from the region compared to London. Not least because of the visa requirements, but also the diaspora
DeleteBA gave the BEG route the best possible connections. Why do sad people spout such nonsense on here? Serbs didn't pay to fly BA so they moved the flight to a more profitable destination.
DeleteThe connecting time for Toronto flight was 6 hours.
DeleteLuton is too far and inconvenient
ReplyDeleteWho you perhaps. But not for all. That comment has no meaning.
DeleteNot all of the people live in center of London , for most of them especially flying short routes Luton is way better and convinient.
DeleteWizz is clearly chasing higher yields. Even with more passengers, the low load factors aren’t worth it for them.
ReplyDeleteLoad factors in the 60s and low 70s aren’t great for a low cost carrier. No wonder they’re trimming capacity.
ReplyDelete70+ for them are still okay , but under 70 definitely not good at all
DeleteI think this has more to do with aircraft availability and network priorities than just route performance.
ReplyDeleteSarajevo is clearly cancellex because of low average cabin factor or just 63% which for low cost is really bad , plus Ryanair competition. Other airports like Skopje,Belgrade,Pristina are clearly aircraft aviability with their network..
DeleteThose A321neos are big for winter demand.
ReplyDeleteYeah, but with them they got rid of the competitors.
DeleteA321neos are more efficient , low fuel consumption , ceo emission , and etc... they are new , no heavily repairs just regular maintenance ..
DeleteThese winter cuts will make tickets more expensive, especially from Belgrade and Skopje.
ReplyDeleteThats why Turkish and Austrian doing boom in winter at Skopje :)) Plus the new addition of Geneva , here follows Paris orly,Madrid,Barcelona,Prague,Cologne,Stuttgart
DeleteNot surprised Sarajevo didn’t work out long-term. UK-BiH market is still too niche for multiple LCCs in winter.
ReplyDeleteWe will see if Ryanair will manage. So far this route has not worked for BA, Wizz or Fly Bosnia.
DeleteFor Ryanair will work until they recieving subsidies for it , after that we will see the scenario..
DeleteInteresting that PRN has the highest load and most passengers of all.
ReplyDeleteKosovo has the biggest diaspora in the UK out all too.
DeleteAnd fewest connecting flights also because only Swiss, Austrian and I believe Germanwings provide reasonable connecting opportunities from London.
DeleteQuite a few options buy the look of it.
DeleteSure. But far fewer than some other cities which have LOT and Lufthansa and KLM
DeleteWell London to PRN by connecting somewhere is very rare. I agree that having more hub connections would be a better offer for travelers but still very few would use it as LTN-PRN is mostly daily throughout the year.
DeleteAnyway, nothing can beat a direct flight, especially when combined with cheap ticket...
DeleteNot unexpected
ReplyDeleteSurprised LTN-SJJ is being cancelled, I fly that route every few months to see my partner, sucks because Luton is so close to home and I love Wizz air. Not happy at all about going to Stansted and using ryanair. The planes have been full every time this past year 🤷♀️
ReplyDeleteThe average load factor of the cabin is 63.7 % , not quiet sure if the planes were ''full' all the time, as you saying ... doesnt' mean that 1 flight you travel was full and all others was same , clearly they are not. 63% for a low cost like Wizz is not even close to satisfaction percentage
DeleteMacedonia gives wizz air 40 million a year for subsidies to keep these planes going and the rates ridiculously low. So yes quite a lucrative deal and most of you ‘smarties’ have no clue what you are talking about
ReplyDelete40 million a year , are u out of ur mind ? The total time Wizz is present in Macedonia with 15 million passengers handled is not even close to 40 million. Wizz air is present in Macedonia more then 10 years and for subsidies jave earned around 20 million , plus all the routes are not subsided
Delete