Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport is set for strong passenger growth this coming winter, driven by expanded capacity from home carriers Air Serbia and Wizz Air, alongside the launch of several new routes. Although adjustments to the network remain possible in the lead-up to the 2025/26 winter season, which runs from October 26 to March 28, current projections indicate the airport will have over 639.500 additional seats compared to last winter, a year-on-year increase of 17.7%. Capacity growth is expected to be steady across the season, with increases of 14% in November, 15% in both December and January, 23% in February and 22% in March.
This winter will see the airport welcome flights from Kazakhstan, a market previously unserved. Wizz Air is introducing a new service to Madrid, while maintaining flights to Alicante and Friedrichshafen launched over the summer. It is also increasing frequencies and capacity across its network. easyJet will commence operations from Paris Charles de Gaulle, while Air Serbia has upgraded several routes from seasonal to year-round operations. In addition, a number of other carriers, including Flydubai, Austrian, AJet, Lufthansa, Air Cairo and TAROM, will increase capacity or frequencies on existing routes compared to last winter. Unlike the 2024/25 season, the airport is no longer served by Wizz Air Abu Dhabi.
The growth comes after a sluggish start to the year, when passenger numbers fell in both January and March due to Wizz Air’s network and capacity reductions, which have weighed on the airport’s performance over the past two years. Over the upcoming winter season, Air Serbia will continue to hold its position as the airport’s largest carrier, with more than 18.800 flight operations, representing a 15% increase year-on-year. Capacity is currently projected to rise by 9.7%, although the Serbian carrier frequently adjusts its schedule and capacity throughout the season, which could ultimately influence the final figures.
Good to see finally some stronger growth. Let's see if those seats get filled.
ReplyDeleteThey have had pretty strong growth since April. In June almost 12% passenger increase.
DeleteWhen Miami starts we will see it go even higher.
DeleteWell done Belgrade!
ReplyDeleteBravo BEG 🇷🇸🇷🇸🇷🇸
ReplyDeleteSo can we expect the airport to reach 9 million passengers this year?
ReplyDeleteI think it is achievable.
DeleteGood to see. I'm really interested whather they had a million passengers in August.
ReplyDeleteProbably not, they would have ran PR texts already if they did
DeleteYou are expecting less passengers in August than July??!?
DeleteI think they would have some one million pax ceremony on the 30th/31st August. It will be really close, 990k let's say
DeleteSo proud of the biggest in ex Yu, Nikola Tesla aiport!
ReplyDeleteWell, that comes as no surprise, really. It should be compared to other nearby large cities` airports. In that regard, they are better than Sofia, which is good, but Budapest and Bucharest are way ahead.
DeleteImagine, by far the biggest city having the airport with most passengers...
DeletePristina or Split are way more impressive.
^ he is not allowed to be proud of his airport without you being offended and triggered?
DeleteHe is triggered by the whole article so let him be.
DeleteI think we should all be proud of BEG as its network is more impressive than some who have much more passengers. Just compare the list of destinations from OTP. Even HiFly or whatever they are called are struggling on OTP-JFK and are cutting flights this winter. Meanwhile BEG's list of long-haul flights remains impressive.
DeleteThere are still some poor souls believing the size of the city determines the size of the airport.
DeleteSome people come here just to hate or spread negatobe vibes. If Zag SKP or LJU would get Ryan like we got in Zag, I wpuld cheer. On the other hamd usual suspects always point to Slatina airport or TIA
DeleteWell, KEF or even ATL have shown that when you have a clear business vision you can achieve what others consider impossible.
DeleteSurprise, TAROM is increasing. I guess frequency?
ReplyDeleteYes but they often increase and then reduce the month before.
DeleteThey need to find a replacement airline for Abu Dhabi.
ReplyDeleteEtihad would be the best.
DeleteCan Air Serbia fly there with any plane smaller than the A330?
DeleteAt least Flydubai increased flights in response to this.
Delete@9.12 yes, they can use A320 like they did for several years 2013-2016.
DeletePeople say JU could not compete with their product with Middle Eastern airlines but, Austrian recently announced low cost winter seasonal flights to Dubai. Basically they conceded they can't compete against Emirates so they are offering the same intra-European product but at lower prices.
DeleteWell if Wizz could have flights with their product anyone can. On the other hand, Wizz failed so it's not that easy...
DeleteWizz failed as a company. Not on this individual route.
DeleteYes, Wizz failed in Abu Dhabi, and previously Air Serbia did too, as well as Etihad. As a result, there's no direct link on this route. I guess it's not easy to make mathematics with this long turnover and not that high yields...
DeleteEtihad didn't fail. It flew daily until corona started and hasn't returned yet. Etihad average load factor on this route in 2019 was 94%.
Delete@10.15 how do you know what yields they had? They sent you the info?
DeleteYou really don't need memo to know Belgrade is not that high yield market, right?
Delete^ I'm glad you have the stats and figures.
Delete@10.22 it does not matter. He needed to write that everyone failed. It's his daily antidote on news like this.
DeleteI don't prove obvious things.
DeleteOf course. You have 0 proof. We didn't expect otherwise.
DeleteThe greatest proof is no one is flying Abu Dhabi from Belgrade. Unlike Amsterdam, for example. The yields, folks. JU is selling AMS for the price Wizz flied Abu Dhabi... The yields, common sense.
DeleteNo one is flying temporarily but route will be restored as you will soon see. But you managed to get it out that everyone failed and I hope it warmed your heart with misguided conclusions. Now move on.
DeleteThere is potential on this route, for sure, it just requires more planning around it, maybe even some new ac in the JU fleet. No hard feelings, have a lovely day.
DeleteIf yields from BEG to the UAE were trash then FZ would not be increasing flights to BEG. They would have kept them as they were, so...
DeleteAlso it's important to note that AUH-BEG was not the only route which was terminated but it happened as part of a much wider cost cutting move.
Yes, all three times when it was terminated it was part of some larger event, I'm well aware of that. But if the cost cut, or strategy shift, always kills this route (and not AMS, for example) then that is also very telling.
DeleteAre you comparing Amsterdam, as one of the most visited cities on planet earth with Belgrade and trying to draw a parallel between them?
DeleteNo. I'm trying to explain that Abu Dhabi is too long rotation for JU to make money when they can make same money flying to much closer destinations which actually fits their strategy. And it seems JU is sharing my point of view...
DeleteLuckily FZ does not share your point of view and they are a far more successful airline than JU is.
DeleteYes, that fits FZ strategy.
DeleteWhich is the point people are trying to make. The market itself is not the problem but rather that airlines such as Wizz Air Abu Dhabi or Air Serbia don't know how to make it work in their favor.
DeleteYes NEMJEE , but luckily FZ belongs to a much-much richer country and ownership than Serbia and flies from an enormus hub so they do not afraid to take the risk .
DeleteWell, JU risked with long-haul and it paid off in the long-term. Back then when they launched JFK their network was smaller, Serbia was poorer, they had less passengers than they do today etc.
DeleteSo at times you gotta risk in business. Demand to the UAE is there and FZ is the absolute king.
It is great that we shall have new airline this winter and that next summer airBaltic is returning.
ReplyDeleteRoyal Jordanian will come next summer too. They should put tickets on sale by the end of the year.
DeleteThat would be a great addition.
DeleteMore options for oneworld flyers.
DeleteReally interested to see how Astana will perform.
ReplyDeleteMe too. But it's great that BEG now has flights to Central Asia!
DeleteLet's just hope Air Serbia doesn't cull half of its network.
ReplyDeleteI dont think that will happen, but it is possible they will decrease some frequencies in February or November, it happened in the past. If the demand is there, better to cut a few flights than fly empty planes. At the end of the day, demand is key
DeleteTrue. At the same time, in the hub and spoke model, you fly some routes half-empty in order to fill other segments. Maybe Astana will not be full, but it will provide high yelding PAX for Moscow or New York.
DeleteIf you do not do that, you shrink and shrink like Tarom.
I love how you know Astana can provide high yielding pax to New York and Moscow. Some of you just make stuff up.
Delete^ you didn't read his comment from the above thread? If he says something it is "obvious" and his 0 proof are sufficient.
DeleteIf they cut too many flights then their connectivity will be gravely affected. They need to suck it up and weather the storm until their loads improve.
Delete@10:27 I did not write that I "know Astana can provide high yielding pax to New York and Moscow". This is something that only the airline knows and it is one of their secrets.
DeleteWhat I meant by my comment is that in the end, we the readers of this website, do not really know the detiled data behind the decisions. But the general truth is that in order for the hub-and-spoke airlines to operate, you need to maintain some routes that at the first sight might not seem very sucessful.
Once I flew BRU-HEL on an almost empty wide-body aircraft. I am sure the airline had a good reason for that flight... We just do not have all the info....
Air Serbia’s 15% increase in operations is impressive.
DeleteGreat to see Belgrade pushing ahead with strong growth for the winter.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteImpressive figures, but let’s see if the airlines can actually maintain this schedule. Air Serbia is notorious for last-minute cuts.
ReplyDeleteLet’s wait for the actual passenger numbers. Forecasts can change quickly.
ReplyDeletemeanwhile the airport is still a construction site with fully completed stores and cafes not open.
ReplyDeletethey are waiting on permits to open them.
DeletePretty good growth
ReplyDeleteAny news on Royal Jordanian flights?
ReplyDeleteThey have just started scheduling flights for next summer so it will probably be announced soon.
DeleteMiami this winter or not? Pretty big A330 fleet there, they'll have to put it in the air...
ReplyDeleteLet’s see if they will finally open the cafes, restaurants, and new Air Serbia businesses lounge that we’ve been wanting for for years.
ReplyDeleteGood!
ReplyDeleteSo many triggered people in the comments. Astounding.
ReplyDeleteDo you really think all of them enjoy seeing Air Serbia becomes bigger and bigger with every passing year?
DeleteMany f them are in agony, but I simply do not care. Their agony won't change the fact Air Serbia is the strongest in ex YU and ahead of national carriers of Romania and Bulgaria.
Not bad. Not bad at all.
Nice lineup on the photo
ReplyDeleteI am curious to see how easyJet's CDG flights perform. It's a shame they couldn't schedule them earlier as demand seems to be there.
ReplyDeleteLast week I flew to CDG and back and both flights were operated by the A320. On the way there we were 176/170 and on the way back 170/170 passengers. Given how expensive JU is to CDG, I am sure they made a lot of money on both flights.
Good thing is that easyJet forced them to respond to market needs so they boosted CDG to 16 weekly.
You mean 176/180 and 170/180, right?
DeleteBusiness class has middle seat blocked and is not sold.
DeleteIndeed and there were babies and infants onboard from what I could see... and even hear at times.
DeleteCan we expect growth next year? How much?
ReplyDeleteCapacity growth is expected to be steady across the season, with increases ... 15% in both December and January, 23% in February and 22% in March.
DeleteIt means 10M next year.
DeleteI must say Belgrades and especially Air Serbias network is impressive!
ReplyDeleteMore new routes are always welcome but still i am already very happy with the offer.
The big growth opportunity in future will be the expansion of frequencies.
To be honest I never thought Belgrade will be connected with direct connections to cities like Porto, Tbilisi, Astana, Alghero, Guangszhou, Kazan, Krakow, Salzburg, Shanghai,...
Delete+1
DeleteThere really is a huge variety of destinations at BEG.
DeleteFlights to Kazakhstan are a big surprise. It’s good that BEG is connecting to new regions
DeleteIt is really good to see those numbers growing, but we must not forget how careless Vinci does its job. The lack of toilettes especially on arrival and questionable hygiene is too well known. And now again it is impossible to book a parking online because that service appears to have been discontinued?! Terrible management.
ReplyDeleteI used the toilets last week, just before passport control, and they were fine.
DeleteI was at the airport 3 days ago flying JU BEG-IST and used the toilets at C12. They were clean and had no odour.
DeleteI dont know why people have the need to repeat the same lies all over again.
DeleteI frequently fly from BEG and their toilets are just fine. Last week I was in Krakow, their toilets were terrible!
Great to see Belgrade Airport finally bouncing back after the slow start to the year.
ReplyDeleteThis growth is much needed
Delete639,000 extra seats in one season is a big jump.
ReplyDeleteFebruary and March increases of over 20% are huge. That’s usually the weaker travel period.
DeleteMarch is usually when things start to slowly pick up. February on the other hand is dead.
Delete