Wizz Air, Ryanair and Croatia Airlines will add the most new seats in the former Yugoslav markets during the upcoming fourth quarter (October - December), compared to the same period in 2024. Among them, Wizz Air and Ryanair, together with Air Serbia, will rank as the largest carriers by available seat capacity. Wizz Air will lead the growth, adding more than half a million extra seats. This growth stems from the expansion of its Skopje base, the reopening of its Tuzla base and further expansion in Belgrade. Overall, the airline’s capacity will rise by 40.8% year-on-year.
Fastest-growing airlines by added seat capacity in Q4, 2025
Ryanair will add 186,084 seats in Q4, increasing its capacity by 21.8% to more than one million. Much of this growth comes from the expansion of its Sarajevo operations over the summer, with most routes set to continue through the winter. The airline will also boost frequencies from Banja Luka. Croatia Airlines will add 135.210 seats, driven by its ongoing fleet renewal, which will see the carrier operate seven Airbus A220 aircraft during the fourth quarter. The carrier has also expanded its network, with several routes launched this summer set to be maintained throughout the winter.
Largest airlines by available seat capacity in Q4, 2025
Wizz Air’s growth will position it as the largest carrier in the former Yugoslavia by available seat capacity during the fourth quarter. It will be followed by Air Serbia, which plans to add over 40,000 additional seats to the market, then Croatia Airlines and Turkish Airlines, with the latter maintaining extra frequencies introduced on select regional routes over the summer. In Q4, Croatia Airlines will be the largest carrier in Croatia, Air Serbia in Serbia, Turkish Airlines in Slovenia, Ryanair in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Air Montenegro in Montenegro, GP Aviation in Kosovo and Wizz Air in Macedonia.
Oh my. I’m really not optimistic about OU filling those extra 135210 seats. Potentially lowest ever occupancy rate in Q4?
ReplyDeleteI'm wondering that too. Wish them luck nonetheless.
DeleteUnless OU starts cutting their network ahead of the winter season. Their LF last year was low enough, I can imagine what it will be like with extra 135.210 seats.
DeleteIt will be terrible.
DeleteOr agressive pricing and advertising locally... which we know wont happen haha.
DeleteWhen OU grows people complain.... When OU doesn't grow people also complain...
DeleteWhat do you guys want?
I find their prices now more competitive. I purchased a one way ticket ZAG-MUC in December for 77€, which is ok.
Delete@11.36 there is no way to satisfy anyone here with any airline.
DeleteIssue is not with their growth but rather with its poor execution. We saw this summer how many newly launched routes were eventually reduced. They need to improve their sales given their low average LF.
DeleteGood to see OU finally recovering but like people say, they really need to fill those seats.
DeleteOU execution is hopeless. A friend with a family of 5 and who was excited about flying OU because he likes the A220 attempted to book a flight from Italy to Dubrovnik with OU. Every option had 1 to 2 stops (via Star hubs) and would have taken all day to get to his destination. he is looking for alternatives, most likely Ryan Air.
DeleteWhere was he flying from?
DeleteRome to Dubrovnik
DeleteGP aviation in top 10 largest is a bit of a surprise!
ReplyDeleteIt shows just how unique Pristina’s market is compared to the rest of the region.
Deletethe rest of Europe too.
DeleteIt is the only market in Europe where family tour operators run the show. Kind of crazy in 21st century.
DeleteIt works :)
DeleteIs it just me or is LH loosing its position in the market a bit? 10 years ago, their airlines would be dominating.
ReplyDeleteCould be due to the growing presence of LCCs, especially at secondary and tertiary regional airports.
DeleteAlso, in recent years airlines such as JU or LO have actually expanded their long-haul network so there is less need to transfer via LHG hubs.
Finally, their current CEO destroyed a whole series of brands. There is the Allegris disaster at LH, the introduction of BoB, hiking fares... which all contributed to people shifting away from them.
^ it's a combination of all of those.
DeleteWell, if you look at the LH Group, then they jump to the fourth spot, ahead of Croatia. So I would not call them losers.
DeleteI don't think anyone calls them losers but LH alone was number 1 or two 10 years ago. Let alone with all the airlines they bought.
DeletePlus lets not forget that two of their airlines, SN and EW, are have more or less failed in our region. Even Swiss has a limited presence.
Deleteit would be interesting to see how much the Lufthansa group has in total.
DeleteWhat is Wizz Q4 growth compared to 2023?
ReplyDeleteIt says in the article
Delete"Overall, the airline’s capacity will rise by 40.8% year-on-year."
Compared to 2023, not 2024
DeleteCompared to Q4 2023, growth is at 14.1%.
DeleteSo they are bigger in the region than pre-engine trouble right?
DeleteYes
DeleteDon't forget they also have another round of growth in Q2 2026.
DeleteThe are not the only airline expecting growth in 2026. Just 10 days ago: Air Serbia aims for up to six new routes in 2026
Deletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2025/09/air-serbia-returns-to-growth-in-august.html
Wizzair back on track!
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteFinally
DeleteDoes Ljubljana have any growth or is it a stagnation?
ReplyDeleteIt was written in an article here a week or so ago that LJU will have strong winter since capacity will grow by around 20% each month. I will try to find it.
DeleteFound it "According to filed schedules, Ljubljana’s available seat capacity is expected to grow by more than 20% year-on-year in November and December, with increases in the high teens projected for the remainder of the winter season."
Deletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2025/08/air-albania-unlikely-to-launch.html
Bravo Fraport!
DeleteFor what it's worth, it's compensation for the disaster that was last winter
DeleteHalf a million extra seats from Wizz Air is massive.
ReplyDeleteRyanair seems to be quietly building up Bosnia. Sarajevo + Banja Luka.
ReplyDeleteGood to see Croatia Airlines keeping some of those new summer routes over winter. They usually just retreat to Zagreb–Frankfurt and call it a day.
ReplyDeleteIt’s impressive how fast Wizz Air bounced back in Tuzla after shutting the base. Demand from the diaspora is clearly there.
ReplyDelete@Admin, do you have data how many seats Air Serbia has added since 2019. Maybe Q4 2019 vs Q4 2025?
ReplyDeleteIt added 439,402 seats or 50.1% growth.
DeleteThank you very much!
DeleteBravo Air Serbia 🇷🇸🇷🇸🇷🇸
ReplyDelete😆
DeleteYes, bravo for a 3% capacity increase,,,
DeleteAnd how many do you expect? The airline has DOUBLED in size since 2019. You expect infinite growth every year? Capacity levels are more than fine at the moment.
DeleteCompared with Q4 2024 JU has two extra A330s. I also expected more than 4% capacity increase.
DeleteIdeally by increasing frequencies on existing routes.
Just my2cents
Air serbia does not have two extra A330s compared to Q4 2023. Check your 'facts' again.
DeleteActually it does. It did got them on BEG last year but they did not join the flight schedule until 2025.
DeleteAir Serbia had three A330-200s in service in Q4 2024. YU-ARD entered into service on October 18 on charter flight between Belgrade and Tokyo, followed by Chicago on October 23.
DeleteI love how many people here just make things up like anon @11.35. Thanks admin.
DeleteA330s are going for maintenance in winter and YU-ARB will be used as back up.
Delete@10:30
DeleteAre you Zamagirl?
ex-Yu has become LCC central.
ReplyDeleteEurope is LCC central.
DeleteRyanair is the biggest airline in almost all western European markets.
DeleteWhich is in line with the economic reality.
Delete^ The reality of Europeans traveling more and more.
DeleteThe only reality is that people everywhere wants to travel cheaper.
DeleteThat for sure means Slovenia is most developed country in Europe. Too premium for LCCs 😃
DeletePeople here been saying since 2014 that the European economy will collapse any minute now
DeleteAnd instead te Russian one did. But they keep hoping... 😆
DeleteLCCs clearly winning the growth race. More competition is always welcome.
DeleteYes, the German economy is thriving or the French one with its massive debt.
DeleteAnon 10.28
How did the Russian economy collapse? They are doing better than most European ones
10:28 No, you are still dreaming. Keep on, but when you wake up, some unpleasant reality may hit you hard
DeleteBravo Hrvatska!
ReplyDeleteLast Monday, I looked on Croatia Airlines' website to see how much a flight from Munich to the Osijek would cost. The price with hand luggage was €185. Since I didn't know if I'd be flying there, I didn't book anything yet. Today I'm flying to Osijek, so I looked again to book a flight, and today it actually only costs €85 with hand luggage, which is €100 less than five days ago. Strange, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteWelcome to OU's non-sensical pricing department. I wonder if it's like that on other routes. They keep fares high and then decrease them when they are unable to fill the plane a few days our.
DeleteThat's really strange but I have read many people with similar examples when it comes to OU fares.
DeleteAnyone know how the load factor to Osijek is? Do the companies with manufacturing in Osijek use this route for business travel
DeleteIt's just their booking software doing backwards
DeleteNo big surprises to me from the list.
ReplyDeleteAmazing how much Pegasus Airlines has grown in the region
ReplyDeleteThey would have grown even more if they didn't face regulatory issues in Serbia, Croatia and Montenegro.
DeleteThat's true. Their CEO says they have regulatory probems throughout Europe. Turkey has very restrictive bilaterals with many countries.
DeleteAnd to add to my comment above, they all favour TK on the Turkish side.
DeleteDon't EU and Turkey have common air agreement?
DeleteNo. It was planned and drafted but never ratified. Each EU state has its own agreement with Turkey.
DeleteDidn't know that. Interesting
DeleteI've noticed that Pegasus and AJet are now competing on many routes. I wonder if it is sustainable to have to players on all those flights or if one of them will beat the other.
DeleteBravo Hrvatska!
ReplyDeleteGP Aviation isn't such a small player 😀
ReplyDeleteThey have been quietly growing for several years.
DeleteHow many planes do they have based in PRN?
DeleteAnd also, is the crew local? Where are the pilots from?
DeleteFrom all over
DeleteMost of the crew is Albanian, but I also saw others most likely Bulgarian
DeleteAlways interesting to see these numbers.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteWhre is all the AJet growth coming from?
ReplyDeleteThey started a lot of new Skopje routes this year.
DeleteMostly coming out of Skopje they started new routes this June which are as I heard with high LF
DeleteRyanair doing great in Bosnia!
ReplyDeleteReally hoping they open a base in Sarajevo.
DeleteReally hoping they not leave after subsidies finish , after that we can talk for base
DeleteWhen I said couple days ago on some article here that Wizz air will be dominant in Ex-yu everyone was laughing on me , here is clear evidence!! Btw Wizz air will offer 3 million seats in Macedonia in 2026. Ryanair will not be even close to those numbers in their Ex'yu network.......
ReplyDeleteI remember that comment, no one laughed.
DeleteThere was sceptic people saying not possible ryanair is the biggest and stories like that , starting from 2026 next years that coming Wizz will brake records especially in ex-yu airports !!!
DeleteI think most of this growth from Ajet and Pegasus is thank to their Skopje flights , btw does Ajet will continue operating the 3 new routes in winter too ? Does they have their winter schedule?
ReplyDeleteNo, they are seasonal. This winter Ajet is flying only SAW-SKP.
DeleteThank you for the info. I was hoping maybe Ankara would became year round but maybe in future
DeleteThank you for the info. I was hoping maybe Ankara would became year round but maybe in future
DeleteWho would have thought two Turkish airlines.
ReplyDeleteNumber of seats being added in ex-Yu is actually really low.
ReplyDeleteReally low? I don't think so.
DeleteGreat to see KLM in the top. Hope they introduce Sarajevo next.
ReplyDeleteYes daily with B777-300
DeleteQuite a few new routes by easyjet this winter. Hopefully they won't be gone by the end of the season.
ReplyDelete