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Ljubljana Airport, 1984

Wizz Air readies for major expansion across former Yugoslavia

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Wizz Air is gearing up for a strong winter season across the former Yugoslav markets, increasing its number of flights by 25% and boosting capacity by more than 50% between October 26 and March 28. The airline will deploy Airbus A321 aircraft on the majority of its services in the region, alongside a growing network, enabling significant growth. Over the season, Wizz Air plans to operate 6.393 flights, up 25.1% compared to last winter, and will offer 1.51 million seats, an increase of 53%, or 524.481 additional seats. Macedonia will remain the carrier’s largest market in the region, followed by Serbia, with capacity and frequencies rising across all EX-YU markets.

This winter, Wizz Air will offer 622.886 seats on the Macedonian market, representing a 65% year-on-year increase. The airline will introduce six new routes from the country during the winter months, with additional expansion planned for next summer, including the basing of a sixth aircraft at Skopje Airport. The carrier’s CEO, Jozsef Varadi, said, “We are very excited to strengthen our presence in North Macedonia by basing a sixth aircraft in Skopje and adding 13 new routes to our already extensive network. This expansion demonstrates our long-term commitment to the country. It allows us to add new routes, increase frequencies on popular destinations, and ultimately give our passengers more choice and flexibility at our famously low fares paired with high quality. North Macedonia is one of our most important markets in the West Balkans, and Skopje continues to be a base of growth for Wizz Air”.

In Serbia, the airline is expanding its presence with the launch of new services from Belgrade to Madrid and from Niš to Dortmund. Capacity will grow by 61.9% to 521.399 seats, marking its largest winter operation on the Serbian market to date. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, Wizz Air will reopen its Tuzla base on December 12 with the stationing of an A321neo, which will be joined by a second aircraft in the summer of 2026. “We are delighted to be back at our Tuzla base, exactly ten years after our initial entry into the city. The reopening of this base, supported by the deployment of two state-of-the-art Airbus A321neo aircraft, signifies an important milestone in our ongoing growth across Bosnia and Herzegovina, making Wizz Air the biggest airline in Bosnia and Herzegovina”, Roland Tischner, Managing Director of Wizz Air Hungary said. The airline will boast 165.401 seats on the Bosnia and Herzegovina market, an increase of 45.2%.

In Pristina this winter, the airline has 131.148 seats up for sale, an improvement of 9.9%, while Montenegro will register growth of 16.4% to 52.580. However, further expansion may be afield on the Montenegrin market. The Montenegrin Minister for Transport, Maja Vukićević, and the CEO of operator Airports of Montenegro, Roko Tolić, met with senior Wizz Air management this week to discuss the airline’s potential expansion in the country. “The meeting focused on a range of concrete measures aimed at further enhancing what has already been a successful partnership, with the goal of opening a new chapter in Montenegro’s air connectivity. Discussions centred on increasing the number of destinations served by Wizz Air from Montenegro, which would further strengthen the country’s links with key European markets”, the Ministry said in a statement. Earlier this year, Mr Tolić revealed that discussions were underway to establish a two-aircraft Wizz Air base at Podgorica Airport, planned for early 2026, describing it as “an opportunity not to be missed”.


September 29, 2025
Belgrade bosnia and herzegovina Feature Kosovo low cost airline macedonia Niš Priština serbia Skopje Tuzla Wizz Air
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Comments

  1. XYZ09:00

    Expanding everywhere bar Slovenia :(

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    1. Anonymous09:03

      Does Wizz fit into Fraports business model?

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    2. Anonymous09:07

      Why did they let Vueling in then

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    3. Anonymous09:11

      Congrats for getting 2 weekly flights while basically every other LCC is either discontinuing or reducing flights. Bravo Fraport!

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    4. Anonymous09:29

      They are also not expanding in Croatia. They completely gave the market to FR.

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    5. Anonymous10:58

      but arent they flying more flights this season compred to last one also in Ljubljana? and probably using a321 instead of a320?

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    6. Anonymous11:22

      well there is surely more then 25% capacity increase on their LJU-SKP route in comparison to last year

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    7. Anonymous11:32

      They flew 3 weekly CRL and 4 weekly LTN before discontinuing both, now it's 4 weekly SKP that is subsidised.

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    8. Anonymous12:27

      The SKP flight is negligible. Hopefully they launch something but I don't see it happening any time soon.

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    9. Anonymous17:52

      that flight is surely the top 10 of busiest routes of LJU, if thats negligible ok

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    10. Anonymous17:54

      @11.32 that flight is successful regardless of the sibsidies (just look at the pax numbers) or are you maybe the high density expert

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    11. Anonymous17:58

      If the airport is too expensive they will leave, just like they did with routes to CRL and LTN.

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    12. Anonymous21:56

      and Luxemburg ...

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  2. Anonymous09:03

    No way ryanair to ever catch those numbers , W6 will be dominant im Ex-yu!!!
    Btw the growth in Macedonia is huge, 600k+ only in winter is massive and staying number 1 base in Ex-yu !!!

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    1. K U M10:03

      Well, next summer Ryanair will open a base in Sarajevo, we'll see how it develops. Also, one million seats from Spain will have to be compensated somewhere. Tirana is certainly the most realistic option, I think that Zagreb and Dubrovnik will also strengthen.

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    2. Anonymous10:29

      dream on, SJJ will never never surpass SKP. But good luck!

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    3. K U M10:43

      Read my comment again, you missed the point. Just as Sarajevo will never surpass Skopje, Skopje will never never never surpass Priština, but good luck .

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    4. Anonymous10:59

      Its also a bit difficult for SJJ to surpass SKP when there are 4 airports in Bosnia, vs 2 airports in North Macedonia.

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    5. Anonymous11:00

      brag all you want..

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    6. Anonymous11:17

      and if they open a base it will be first to accomodate the existing routes

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    7. Anonymous13:43

      @10:59 Even the airport of SJJ is smaller then the airport of SKP. Just like the city of Sarajevo is smaller then Skopje. The number of airports doesnt mean anything, with that logic i am sure BiH has more then 2 million population.

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    8. Anonymous18:09

      KUM for ryanair to open a base in SJJ thats just a plan ,when it happend then we can talk about that. Even if that scenario happend you think that they will surpass Wizz air nunbers ? Definitely not,next year Wizz will have one of the most record numbers in Ex-yu since present here , and if this trend of Ryanair continues to leaving airports across Europe and cutting routes so then there is no such a bringht future for them here

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    9. Anonymous19:34

      Sarajevo is not smaller than Skopje, Skopje has 10x larger administrative limits and incorporates some places that are a 30min drive away from the outskirts of the urban area. If you include the Sarajevo metro with East Sarajevo, Visoko and other places it's about the same. Sarajevo has more potential than Skopje and 4x as many tourists, it's hard to catch up with a country that's been subsidizing LCCs for 10 years but my money is on Sarajevo by 2035.

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    10. Anonymous20:38

      Skopje is bigger then Sarajevo in population as well area , open google and you will see , it is so easy to search and see the difference.
      SJJ will never catch SKP with the numbers , SKP is handling +300k every month while SJJ is going -200k down

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    11. Anonymous10:53

      20:38 Omg, please go play outside. Your mother will be mad because you’re spending so much time on the PC.

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  3. Anonymous09:04

    I am happy to see that Wizz air will launch new routes in 2026 and expanding the options for flying, clearly saying how important Macedonian market is for them with adding 3 million available seats for 2026

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  4. Anonymous09:09

    Also worth to mention is that W6 planning to base 7 or 8 aircrafts in Macedonia by 2026 summer , just showing how important Macedonian market are for them , I think the real potentinal is yet to come

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    1. Anonymous09:42

      Really, where did you see this? If it's true it's huge! Skopje could be going for 4M pax in 2026 if such a thing happens.

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    2. Anonymous10:35

      It would also be nice if they increased frequencies on existing routes, such as Eindhoven, which had 5 per week 2–3 years ago and now has 3. The same goes for Dortmund, which had 9 per week and now has 7.

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    3. Anonymous11:13

      Maybe Eindhoven has less frequencies because theres Transavia from AMS.

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    4. Anonymous11:21

      No different target group. I have flown many times EIN-SKP and the majority are gasto. When i flew AMS-SKP with Transavia the majority of the plane was Dutch.

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    5. Anonymous11:37

      @9.42 no, he made it up. They have already announced their summer expansion from SKP. You have the routes on the right.

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    6. Anonymous11:38

      @10:35 totally agree! Berlin is only 5 times weekly, or Ljubljana still being only 3-4 times... also way too low. I think Wizzair's network from Skopje is great now, focus should be on adding frequency.

      And hopefully those flights from FlyDubai finally materialize...

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    7. Anonymous13:46

      @11:37 Well yes he made t
      it up cause Naples and Budapest from next year doesnt mean 7-8 based planes in SKP next summer. What they are doing now is trying their luck if a route will work or not, and half of them
      will not, not just from SKP but from many of their bases.

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    8. Anonymous18:11

      09:42 Varadi was guest couple weeks ago in the government and had short intevriew with Alpha TV and said that with all this new added routes,increasing frequencies 6 planes probably would not be enough and they add at least 1 or 2

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    9. Anonymous18:14

      11:38 Wizz will launch new routes in 2026 too from SKP buddy , this is just beggining , I am not talking for already annouced routes , new ones are coming in after winter period that will be yet shared

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  5. Anonymous09:12

    +600k in winter just in Macedonia is impressive numbers , well done SKP and OHD 👏👏

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  6. Anonymous09:14

    No Croatia during the winter?

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    1. Anonymous09:18

      Why would we? We have Ryan!

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    2. Anonymous09:30

      And OU

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    3. Anonymous10:30

      yes OU with new planes! They are really great. wishing them good luck!

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    4. Anonymous10:35

      Because out of 3 biggest European LCC's only 1 flies to Croatia during the winter.

      And it is certainly not good.

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  7. Anonymous09:24

    Great to finally see Wizz in growth mode in the region. I'm hoping for some more surprises

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  8. Anonymous09:24

    And of course nothing new from Ljubljana. Is there any chance they will apply for current subsidy tender?

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    1. Anonymous09:50

      Nope, let's hope PSO will be better written

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    2. Anonymous12:23

      Unlikely. If they were interested in Slovenian subsidies they would have applied for one of 9 rounds already.

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    3. Anonymous13:47

      You guys had 9 rounds of subsidies??

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  9. Anonymous09:25

    The best thing about their Tuzla expansion is that they are opening up completely new markets from Bosnia like Cyprus. Hope it works out this time

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    1. Anonymous12:23

      +1

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  10. Anonymous09:42

    Would be nice to introduce Tenerife from BEG.

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    1. Anonymous10:38

      It would be amazing, but I do not expect it.
      Wizz is extremely conservatiove when it comes to opening certain a bit more exotic destinations from BEG.
      I remember when they hesitated to open BEG-BCN for many, many years although there was a market and although they were flying SKP-BCN.
      After JU started flying to BCN they suddenly remember that Barcelona can be flown from Belgrade.

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    2. Anonymous10:44

      Well they did launch Alicante, that was rather unexpected.

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    3. Anonymous10:58

      Madrid too. So there is a leisure market for Serbia to Spain . If not Wizz, then JU should go for Tenerife.

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    4. Anonymous11:24

      only during winter, as it needs a long way there and back. JU does not have free planes to stand over there during summer.

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    5. Anonymous13:49

      No need to stand there, the crew is legal to operate both sectors.

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  11. Anonymous09:58

    Almost 62% increase this winter in Serbia?
    It's impressive.....but those seats need to be filled, so we might see fierce competition between JU and W6 .
    Hot winter ahead in BEG...

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    1. Anonymous12:24

      W6 generally has very good loads on most flights. They put Alicante on sale a month and a half before it launch and LF was already over 90% in first month of flights.

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  12. Anonymous10:14

    "This expansion demonstrates our long-term commitment to the country."
    mhm, sure. Don^t want to downplay their "expansion" in the region, but with extra planes which they have after having left VIE they now can think about airports which are not on the very top of their list.
    Same goes with Ryan btw. Left many airports in Spain, Germany and Vienna and now they are "expanding" in the Balkans.

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    1. Anonymous11:20

      Ryanair just started Saarbrücken... so much for leaving german airports. They leave only those that they cannot blackmail

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    2. Anonymous12:24

      Yes but in General they have reduced their Germany flights.

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  13. Anonymous10:39

    Belgrade goes this year over 9 million.

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    1. Anonymous11:57

      I am wondering what will happen in 2026? 10M?

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    2. Anonymous12:25

      I don't think 10 million will be reached in 2026. But yes in 2027. We will see.

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    3. Anonymous13:04

      Aviation is very unpredictable but I think 9 million will be reached this year.

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  14. Anonymous10:45

    Let's see what happens in Paris and how well easyJet does next to JU and W6.
    I am rooting for them.

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    1. Anonymous13:03

      I think it will mostly be a battle between U2 and JU on this route. Wizz has its base of customers flying to Beauvais which is nowhere near. Although I think easyjet should really do some promotion of this route in Serbia.

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    2. Anonymous19:19

      On the Paris route JU has a long history plus is tied with AF that for now is not getting into the route directly or through Hop!
      The only option for EJU is to slash the price....but that will be hard for them to overthrow JU from the leader's position.

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  15. Anonymous12:16

    If Podgorica gets a proper Wizz base in 2026, it’s going to change the game for Montenegro.

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    1. Anonymous12:25

      I'm wondering if they will be applying for the PSO routes from Montenegro or will all those be reserved only for Air Montenegro.

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    2. Anonymous13:02

      Wizz might get some but definitely bulk will be for Air Montenegro. The whole idea of Montenegro having PSO is to prop up Air Montenegro.

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  16. Anonymous12:17

    Interesting how Wizz is growing everywhere in ex-YU but still ignores Zagreb. Ryanair must be loving that.

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    1. Anonymous12:26

      They said years ago Zagreb is too expensive. And many other LCCs said the same. Ryanair exploited an opportunity during covid when Zagreb airport management realized OU would not recover for several years (and they were right).

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    2. Anonymous13:02

      Wizz's coverage of Croatia is generally very low. Just Split flights.

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    3. Anonymous08:56

      Used to be better.

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  17. Anonymous12:17

    Impressive numbers, but let’s see how reliable they are this winter. Wizz tends to cancel a lot if things don’t sell well.

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    1. Anonymous13:01

      Well it makes sense. They are in the business of making money.

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  18. Anonymous12:17

    Just hope SKP can keep up with the extra traffic, it already feels crowded at times.

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    1. Anonymous12:51

      Wonder what the load was on today's first flight to Stuttgart

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    2. Anonymous13:52

      Full ofc.

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    3. Anonymous18:16

      12:57 TAV announce they will expand airport with additional spaces from offices that are not in service such as more lane for passport control and luggage check

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    4. Anonymous08:56

      Let's hope so. They have been announcing Ohrid Airport expansion for years now and still nothing.

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  19. Anonymous12:18

    Wizz ignoring Slovenia completely once again. Guess we’re stuck with expensive Lufthansa and Air France connections.

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    1. Anonymous12:27

      It's just an expensive airport for most LCCs.

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    2. Anonymous12:51

      And that's why locals go to Trieste, Zagreb and Venice to catch cheap flights.

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  20. Anonymous12:51

    Is this an increase compared to winter 2023/24 when they were still not affected by engines?

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    1. Anonymous12:54

      yes

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  21. Anonymous12:54

    The Madrid route is long overdue, but Niš also deserves more attention. Wizz should think about adding flights to Scandinavia from Niš, not just Germany.

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    1. Anonymous13:01

      +1

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    2. Anonymous17:47

      not sure what you want but there is ARN j(seasonally) already and Malmö didnt work

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  22. Anonymous13:01

    It’s a pity Wizz never considered Mostar.

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    1. Anonymous13:06

      A few years ago Mostar management had a meeting with someone from Wizz literally in the hallway of their office in Budapest. It didn't stop Mostar's management from presenting as if Wizz was introducing flights. Of course it never happened.

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    2. Anonymous13:07

      Mostar is a tricky airport to operate to. Demand is not massive and year-round ops are impacted by wind and need for pilots to have extra certification. All of this is not appealing for an LCC.

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  23. Anonymous13:12

    They could be doing more from Pristina. Lots of potential for them there.

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    1. Anonymous15:05

      There is big potential for a base there. But they probably wouldn't want to affect SKP.

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    2. Anonymous08:22

      Its because PRN is only Airport in ex YU that does not subsidize LLC's in Balkans.

      If they did they would have 8 mln PAX annually by now

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    3. Anonymous08:54

      They recently published an incentive policy which is very useful for LCCs.

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    4. Anonymous08:54

      https://www.exyuaviation.com/2025/03/pristina-airport-launches-wide-ranging.html

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  24. Anonymous16:05

    LJU not on radar again GG ...

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  25. Anonymous18:28

    Tuzla have big expansion

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  26. Anonymous20:41

    I think next year Tuzla airport with Wizz air , will have same passengers as Ryanair in Sarajevo :D

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    1. Anonymous08:55

      Well it has a lot more routes than Ryanair so it would be logical. But Ryanair will expand from Sarajevo next year.

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VINTAGE EX-YU


Ljubljana Airport, 1984

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