December will mark the first time in 25 years that British Airways will not operate a single flight to any market in the former Yugoslavia. It also represents the first time in a quarter of a century that the Oneworld member will have no year-round service in the region. Today, British Airways will operate its final flight of the season to Dubrovnik. The airline will return to the coastal city in early March, with services to Ljubljana and Zagreb scheduled to resume at the start of the 2026 summer timetable later that month.
The Slovenian capital was initially served only during the summer season. In 2023/24, British Airways upgraded Ljubljana to year-round operations, offering several weekly flights from Heathrow. Yet, only a few months later, the airline reversed course, discontinuing winter service and returning to a summer-only operation from 2024 onwards. Zagreb, considered the airline’s most stable route in the region over the past decade, has followed the same trajectory. British Airways resumed year-round Heathrow flights to Croatia’s capital in 2012 and built up strong frequencies during peak periods. However, this year the airline has shifted Zagreb entirely to seasonal operations. On the other hand, operations to Pula were discontinued at the end of the 2024 summer season.
After a thirteen-year absence, British Airways restored flights between London Heathrow and Belgrade in late October 2023, branding its return as an important link for both point-to-point and transfer traffic. However, the carrier announced the route’s suspension less than a year later, with the final service operating in September 2024. The carrier also exited Pristina after operating just two summer seasons from Heathrow, despite post-pandemic efforts to diversify its network. Planned year-round services to Podgorica were announced on more than one occasion but never materialised, while upcoming flights to Tivat in 2026 mark a renewed attempt in Montenegro.
British Airways has also altered its approach in Dubrovnik multiple times. The coastal city saw flights throughout the winter reinstated as recently as 2022/23, only for them to be withdrawn again after a single season. The carrier will maintain a limited seasonal presence, but its inconsistency has opened opportunities for competing airlines that have steadily strengthened their winter offering this year.
During the 21st century, British Airways has served Belgrade, Dubrovnik, Pristina, Pula, Sarajevo, Skopje, Split and Zagreb. Recently, the airline announced the suspension of several European routes, including Cologne, Riga and Stuttgart.
Shame. They used to be an important airline in ex-Yu. Now not so much.
ReplyDeleteThey launch, they withdraw, they flip seasonal/winter… zero strategy.
ReplyDeleteOn the contrary, their strategy is clear. They fly if they make a profit, they stop flying if they make a loss.
DeleteThey are making losses on routes like Cologne, Stuttgart, Frankfurt. Wow
DeleteInteresting. When ex-Yu airlines cancel routes it is described by commentators to be because the airline is a failure, because their sales teams are poor, because they don't know what they are doing. When BA cancels routes left and right it is because of sound business practice.
DeleteThis is all about slots at Heathrow, not demand.
ReplyDeleteThey have enough slots to fly 4-5 daily over the summer to LCA but not 4 times a week to BEG?
DeleteLCA has historical links with UK, as well as two UK military bases.
DeleteYes, Cyprus is a popular tourist destination, it is a former British colony and there is a huge Cypriot diaspora in the UK.
DeleteOf course they have 4-5 daily flights to LCA.
Delete1. Cyprus used to be a British colony until 1960.
2. There are roughly 250.000 Cypriots living in the UK with most of them being in London.
3. Brits are number 1 tourists in Cyprus. For example, in June 2025 alone, 181.610 British tourists visited Cyprus (36.4% of all arrivals).
4. They have a monopoly on LHR-LCA with both Cyprus Airways and Aegean terminating flights.
Meanwhile Serbia and the UK have frigid, unfriendly relations (a long-standing tradition established in 1865). On top of that, BEG-LON is well covered by both Air Serbia and Wizz Air.
If BA wanted to make it big in Belgrade, then they should have copied what KL did.
"Meanwhile Serbia and the UK have frigid, unfriendly relations (a long-standing tradition established in 1865)"
DeleteRather overly dramatic reading of history mate.
But yep, Belgrade is not high yielding enough for BA
Hi Nemjee
DeleteDont forget the military bases. That's quite some government sponsored often good yield travel. Around 3500 soldiers and 7000 civillians working there. (Civilians probl most locals)
But guess what: I prefer not to be occupied and have no foreign military base in my country and I would not even trade it for 50 flights a day during winter timetable period 😉
BEG was an absolute waste of a prime LHR slot pair. Much better to fly to a more higher yielding destination.
Delete^ have Cologne, Stuttgart, Riga and City Airport-Frankfurt also been low yielding waste of slots?
DeleteZagreb and Ljubljana have also been low yielding waste of slots in winter it seems.
DeleteBA are in business to make money, so obviously that cut the weak routes that do not deliver a ROI. OU could step in and fly from SPU and DBV in the winter if it was a cash cow.
Delete@"^" 10:23 clearly enough to be cut so yes. IAG is in the business of making money. Given Heathrow (and LCY's) congestion they have to be ruthless. Flights to the EXYU region are best served with local carriers or low cost carriers.
DeleteAnon 10:30, OU flies from Split to LHR until January
DeleteTo the person repeating "non-high yielding" ad nauseum, what you are saying is that Belgrade for example was high yielding for British Airways from 1996 until 2010? Or that Pristina was high yielding for them from 2001 until 2014, but they are no longer? Living standards must have gone way down compared to the fantastic economic situation of the 90s and early 2000s.
DeleteAnon 09.52
DeleteWhen it comes to the two military bases, they have regular military flights from Akrotiri to the UK. Most of their staff flies on these, not on commercial flights.
CY-UK traffic is predominantly a mix of ethnic and tourist traffic.
As for BA in the region, they failed because they lacked a clear and concise strategy.
...and the region lacks the premium demand to North America which is their bread and butter. I agree their strategy has been confused in the region which has undermined the maturity of routes.
Delete@13:19 while living standards have risen in the region, they have elsewhere in Europe too - substantially higher since the 1990s and early 2000s when BA had no competition from LCCs. Tourist patterns have also changed dramatically since then too and BA is right to adjust its network accordingly given the constraints of Heathrow.
Anon 09.39
DeleteUnfortunately no. The last time the UK was friendly towards Serbia was during the Crimean War.
Of course BA can do no wrong in your books 😂
DeleteAnon 13.48
DeleteYet BA has lost many premium passengers because of their outdated and generally underwhelming premium product. It's only recently that they started addressing this issue.
I rather think BA has so much local demand so they don't feel the need to chase transfers. Just look at Virgin Atlantic and the size of their operations. All of that is predominantly from p2p demand.
Our region just doesn't have enough premium traffic to North America for BA to be interested in serving.
ReplyDeleteThat is their main business over the last 20 years.
True dat.
DeleteBritish Airways has cut or reduced several routes in the West. From what I remember they recently terminated LHR-CGN, LHR-STR and LCY-FRA.
DeleteThese cuts go beyond our region.
Or simply JU long haul won again?
DeleteBA seams not to see much value on this market, therefore there is no strategy for it. That's why LH and especially KLM lately are capitalising on it.
ReplyDeleteBig win for Star Alliance!
ReplyDelete❤️🇩🇪
DeleteYet the ex-YU region will have winter flights to London (LHR, LTN and STN).
ReplyDeleteSo in reality it's not so much about the market as it is about the airline. Before someone jumps and says how we are a low yielding market, airlines such as KLM or Lufthansa maintain a considerable presence over the winter.
I think British Airways failed because they are slot restricted at LHR but also because their service no longer justifies the prices they are charging.
Yes, Lufthansa has also deteriorated their product but at least they have multiple daily flights to key ex-YU cities so they benefit from the convenience factor.
That said, British Airways has recently terminated some high profile routes such as LCY-FRA. This is a good indicator of the current state of the economy in the West.
Go big or go home. British Airways refused to go big (like KL did) so market dynamics forced them to go home.
You can't really compare LH and BA's circumstances in our region. There's a massive Ex-Yu diaspora in all LH-group countries, unlike the UK. On top of that, the majority of our region needs expensive and humiliating visas for the UK. This results in a very different playing field for these two flag carriers.
DeleteYes but Lufthansa has a lot of LCC competition. Just look at the amount of Ryanair and Wizz Air flights from our region. I dare say that Lufthansa primarily does well because of transfers.
DeleteI am not saying they don't carry O&D passengers just that they positioned themselves as a reliable option when traveling beyond MUC and FRA. That's what KLM understood very well. In order to remain competitive and relevant, they needed at least two daily flights to the main airports in the region. BA refused to understand that and that is why they were pushed out.
They could have captured a large chunk of the transfer markets to the Americas but they failed. However, who knows what's going on over there given all the cuts they had in recent times.
Two daily flights to Belgrade would have been perfect but its a tough undertaking given Heathrow's constraints. I think perhaps you overestimate the premium traffic between Serbia and North America despite improvements over the years.
DeleteBA know they can make more money flying tourists to the Canary Islands, or an extra rotation to Geneva/Larnaca/Amsterdam than they will sending the same aircraft to the Balkans during large parts of the year.
Despite the adjustments BA remain highly profitable with IAG making record profits in 2024.
Love the demeaning attitude where you are telling people from the Balkans they are poor and stupid... thankfully none of that among thr BA brainstrust.
DeleteJust because an airline is profitable does not mean it has the right strategy for each market and that it is not missing out on more opportunities.
DeleteI agree with the anon above, in the multitude of comments you have posted today you come off as rather rude and patronising. I assume BA is discontinuing Cologne and Dusseldorf because these markets are low yielding and their people are poor
LHG airlines loving this!
ReplyDeleteGo 🇨🇭🇩🇪🇦🇹!
I hope the LHG 🇮🇹 airline will start soon to connect the region again. A shame AZ is not in BEG anymore. But not just BEG. They should be in LJU ZAG SPU DBV TGD TIV PRN SKP too
DeleteAt least SLO have their AZ TRS departures
When it comes to BEG, I'd prefer to get a year-round morning departure to MUC rather than AZ from FCO.
DeleteThey have a code-share with JU so this market is already covered.
09.58
DeleteIt's not only Slovenia to have AZ TRS flights. Rijeka is closer to TRS than Ljubljana and people from Rijeka and Istra use TRS a looot as well. Although I would prefer AZ to reintroduce flights from all over ex-yu, at least to FCO
JU needs to start a morning departure to MUC pronto!
Delete@ PIR
DeleteU are right, TRS is not just a "Slovenian" Airport but also a "Croatian" airport 😊
It is well known that the Balkan market at BA is handled by their Sofia office and their only priority is to keep Sofia flights and for nothing to risk their Sofia flights. And this has been the case for decades.
ReplyDelete🙄
DeleteYou can roll your eyes all you want. It is true.
Delete👀
DeleteWhat does the Sofia office have to do with Ex-Yu flights?
DeleteThere is no point in explaining to you. When you are in aviation circles and know a bit more about it someone will explain to you.
DeleteBritish tourists are not interested visiting our region in the eintery.
ReplyDeleteAnd during summer they just want to go to the coast.
Ljubljana is very popular with UK tourists.
Delete@09:13 untrue.
DeleteThey do visit EX-YU, but they prefer LCC, especially Ryanair.
DeleteThe visa issue needs to be resolved.
ReplyDeleteBA flew to most of the region when visa requirements were even worse and stricter than today.
DeleteThat was pre-wizzair and pre-Ryanair. Back in 2000s getting between Belgrade and London often meant Alitalia via Milan or Swiss for me.
DeleteThe American visa is way easier to get, Brits really need to get off of their high horse, Their country has gone down the drain and is no match for good old America
DeleteIt isn't the British populace who decide this issue, rather governments. Distinctions should be made between governments and populations which the region knows only too well.
Delete"It also represents the first time in a quarter of a century that the Oneworld member will have no year-round service in the region. "
ReplyDeleteWhat about Qatar?.
What about it? It does not say that a oneworld member has not served the region it says " that THE oneworld member" referring to BA.
DeleteBA - The World's favourite airline? Not even in the top 100 these days
ReplyDeleteHow are the mighty fallen
Lol sure
DeleteService wise they have fallen a lot on all fronts. Their short haul product is terrible, getting through to their call center is almost impossible, they have one of the worst long haul business class layouts in the world (bar the recently refurbished planes), their crew are terrible and are increasingly being arrested for drug possession, drunk conduct or found naked on board on drugs
DeleteNow KLM flies double daily to Belgrade year round.
ReplyDeleteThey have a multitude of connections to the UK and Ireland.
BA is really not needed any longer.