All but one capital city airport in the former Yugoslavia will see their capacity levels grow during the first month of 2026, with Wizz Air remaining the region’s largest carrier.
Belgrade Airport has the most available seats on scheduled flights in January, standing at 810.129. The figure represents an increase of 7.6% on 2025. Air Serbia will continue to maintain its position as the largest carrier, holding 47.5% of all available scheduled capacity. Wizz Air will add over 56.000 seats, growing by 45.8% with a total share of 22.2%. Zagreb follows as the second largest with 424.682 available seats on scheduled flights during the month. It represents an increase of 4.7% on the previous year. Croatia Airlines, which will grow its seat count by 25.895 or 15.1%, will be its largest carrier with 46.6% of total capacity followed by Ryanair with 25.7%. After years of capacity growth, the low cost airline will, for the first time, have fewer seats at its Zagreb base compared to the previous year, declining 2.6% in January, or by some 2.950 seats.
Pristina Airport will have 384.631 available seats, with capacity growth currently projected at 4%. GP Aviation has the largest volume, holding a 32.1% share. It is followed by easyJet with 14.5% of total capacity. Skopje Airport will boast 359.596 seats in January, up a notable 37.2% on the back of Wizz Air’s expansion. The low cost carrier will grow its seat count by 87.580 or 60.4% on the same month in 2025. It will hold the largest share at 64.5%. It is followed by Pegasus Airlines with a 9.2% share. Sarajevo will have 179.093 scheduled seats on the market in January, representing an increase of 11.9% on 2025. Ryanair, which is growing its capacity by 17.436 seats or 98.8% year-on-year, is the largest carrier with 19.4% of total capacity, followed by Pegasus Airlines with 16.5%.
Podgorica Airport has 120.780 seats on scheduled flights in January, down 1.8%. It marks the second consecutive month that capacity has declined compared to the previous year The decrease is being primarily fuelled by fourteen fewer Ryanair operations, as well as a reduction in Turkish Airlines flights. However, the latter will retain the title as Podgorica’s largest carrier with a 21.2% share, followed closely by Air Montenegro with a 20.4% share. Finally, Ljubljana has a total of 118.810 seats on scheduled services, up 13% on January 2025. Turkish Airlines will be the airport’s largest, holding 17.9% of all seats, followed by Lufthansa with a 10.8% share.
Largest carriers by scheduled seat capacity in the former Yugoslavia, January 2026
Fall in Ryanair Zagreb capacity is interesting. Anyone know the reason? What did they cut?
ReplyDeleteI think they are reducing some frequencies in the second half of the month.
DeleteBravo OU!
DeleteFR are a business not a vanity project. Seems prudent.
DeleteWhen Ryanair cuts flights it is "prudent" when other airlines do it it is a disaster lol. People here...
DeleteClearly someone is reducing hidden subsidies to FR.
DeleteAt least, when they leave, OU will finally have a chance to raise the load factor to 61%.
DeleteNo. Ryanair is putting pressure on ZAG ahead of negotiations. They probably met their contractual needs so now they are starting to become more difficult.
DeleteI don't think ZAG can keep things like this since they are not doing well financially.
Ryanair trimming capacity might actually be good news. Less volume chasing subsidies, more focus on yields.
DeleteSorry I still can't get over the fact that Zagreb has 0 new routes next summer. And the fact that OU hasn't added any next year makes me think the operator is encouraging airlines not to introduce new routes. I really don't have another explanation.
DeleteAirlines are increasing frequencies in ZAG and also increase their season by starting earlier and finishing later.
DeleteThat's all nice but no new routes is suspicious. Especially since it seems everyone has new routes next year.
Delete^ It is probably some conspiracy as usual in our region...
DeleteOk then I guess ZAG is the weak link considering it has 0 new routes.
DeleteWho is increasing frequencies for next year?
DeleteOU
DeletePodgorica keeps underperforming. No wonder they called Wizz to open a base.
ReplyDeleteNot sure about that especially in winter, Podgorica is really small capital even in Balkan terms...
DeleteBravo Fraport!
ReplyDeleteYes but again behind Podgorica...
DeleteIt's not a race you know.
DeleteSkopje numbers are impressive on paper, but having over 64% of capacity tied to one airline is risky. We’ve seen how fast that can change.
ReplyDeleteForgot to add putting all the eggs in one basket.
Delete^ So you think 64% share by one airline is smart? Ok, each to their own.
Deletealso wizz adding more flight to ljubljana, going daily in APril and May
DeleteIt's not. Repeating the same thing over and over again is also not smart. To each their own.
DeleteIt's the first time I have actually written a comment relating to Skopje. Perhaps some people can have similar opinions. No need to get upset.
DeleteIt's true, if Wizz sneezes, the whole airport catches a cold but the airport has been doing quite a bit to attract new airlines in the last year. So they are aware of it and trying to diversify.
DeleteLJU is officialy five weekly for summer season. Only in April and May it is dailu because they will not operate to Basel, the airport is closed or smth during that period.
DeleteIf wizz air and ryanair collapse one day , all ex-yu airports will suffer not only SKP ,so plese look the succcess not the black scenarios!!
DeleteInteresting to see Croatia Airlines growing faster than the airport average in Zagreb. Whether that growth is profitable is another question.
ReplyDeleteIt’s not organic growth. That’s just larger planes with even poorer LF
DeleteThey added seats but will they fill them?
DeleteAbsolutely not. LF will be like 50% or less
DeleteLjubljana quietly doing well again.
ReplyDeleteAnd without having the state prop up a loss making national carrier.
DeletePeople need to stop complaining about LJU. For its location and size the offering is sufficient/good.
Delete@ It is propping up foreign airlines instead. None of which employ Slovenians.
DeleteIt offers miniscule subsidies compared with what Adria was costing.
DeleteLjubljana once again proving that slow and steady works
DeleteI’m really impressed by the diversity of airlines flying to Ljubljana. There are 26 different airlines operating regular flights, plus an additional four offering charter services. Amazing!
Delete^ I agree. It is impressive.
DeleteVery impressive, but not
DeleteVery impressive that Trieste will take over Ljubljana. Trieste!!! Third or fourth tier airport.
Delete@9:47 If you were actually working either in ATC or in the cockpit, you would be surprised how often you get a "Ljubljana tower, dobro jutro" in perfect Slovenian from foreign airlines.
DeleteWizz Air dominating half the region is great until they decide to redeploy aircraft elsewhere.
ReplyDelete+100
DeleteW6 is getting more new A321s from Airbus than they know what to do with them.
DeleteAll their bases in our region will be fine.
I think Ljubljana numbers is incorrect. What I can see in sheduled Ljubljana have 122.500 avalible sits in January.
ReplyDeleteThe numbers are correct.
DeleteAdmin do you have JU numbers for January?
DeleteIt is currently down 0.8% year-on-year. Do note that the airline has replaced wet-leased A320s with A220s, which are listed in the system as operating with 143 seats, compared to GetJet's 180-seat A320s.
DeleteWizz Air growing everywhere again
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteWizz Air being the largest carrier across the region also means the region is extremely exposed to one business model.
DeleteBeggars can't be choosers.
DeleteWow. Wizz adding 56.000 seats in Belgrade, while the whole airport grew by 57.221 seats. @Admin, did Air Serbia add any seats, or did they reduce?
ReplyDeleteIn November they did reduce vs last year. TK and most other airlines too. I think YM had an increase though.
DeleteGP aviation having more seats scheduled than Pegasus has for the entirety of exyu countries is wild.
ReplyDeleteIt's an interesting business to say the least.
DeleteWizz launched quite a few flights from Skopje this year, does anyone have some insights which routes are best performing and which one are worst performing from the new routes this year
ReplyDeleteBarcelona is doing amazing with a huge LF ,Stockholm is great, Larnaca performing well too , for other routes is still early to comment as they were launched soon
DeleteSource: Trust me bro
DeleteARN, BCN, CGN are for sure doing well. BCN is increased to three times per week for next summer, this time travel agencies are also offering summer holiday packages in Spain. For Larnaca, Bari and Madrid as well Prague i am not sure how much they will survive. I dont have any info this is just my opinion based on the market in SKP.
DeleteGo Wizz!
ReplyDeleteNow that the fleet situation is returning to normal they are on a roll again!
Delete...they are on a rollercoaster again. There, fixed it for you. Always expect unplanned base closures, base reopenings, engine issues etc with that airline.
DeleteI was hoping to see more new routes from Ryanair next year.
ReplyDeleteIt is odd that they have announced very few new routes. Maybe they will surprise us in January or February.
DeleteThey seem to eb very cautious. Although many airlines are (except Wizz)
DeletePristina still feels underdeveloped compared to its catchment area. Plenty of growth left if the airport and authorities play it right.
ReplyDeleteUnderdeveloped? It is the third busiest airport in ex-yu and might even be number 2 next year.
DeleteI was referring to the fact that the airport could easily be an LCC base. Traffic would further grow.
DeleteYes but Skopje is in its catchment area, in my opinion Skopje-Pristina game is zero-sum game, or close to it. Right now it's time for Skopje to grow. On the other hand, I think SJJ has so much room for growth. Maybe not in January due to very well known fog issues but it seems to me SJJ should be double the size of Podgorica during winter.
DeleteJanuary growth is nice, but winter schedules are still weak across the region compared to Western Europe.
ReplyDeleteIt is a smaller and poorer area. What would you expect?
DeleteZagreb’s numbers suggest Croatia Airlines is finally using its fleet more aggressively. Hopefully not at the expense of profitability.
ReplyDeleteIt's not profitable in general so it's not like it will change much even if they generate even more losses.
DeleteOU do not know what profit is...
DeleteSKP will have 22 departures per day only from WizzAir next summer, 6-7 more then this summer, probably they will base 7th jet and open three more routes. Together with the others, SKP
ReplyDeletewill have 45+ deps per day on certain days next summer season.
Nice. Good job SKP
DeleteNot bad overall
ReplyDeleteSo JU cancellations are having visible effect, as they are either decreasing capacities or flat as a pancake.
ReplyDeleteEX-YU editor explained above.
DeleteAt the same time their load factor is growing. So it means planes are fuller.
DeleteLjubljana is doing well and there is still more potential for growth.
ReplyDeleteI read that Wizz Air is opening bases in Israel and will eventually get a Israeli AOC. So there is a possibility they start some ex-Yu routes. But until they get it they will fly with European AOC so that excludes possibility of non-EU members in ex-Yu.
ReplyDeleteWizzAir is trying where they can. Out of all of Europe, they opened Yerevan base, now Tel Aviv, previously Abu Dhabi which failed. Clearly they cant really compete on the markets already controlled by RyanAir and easyJet. Wizz is almost non existent in France, Spain and Portugal. If it wasnt for Poland and Romania where 2/3 of their bases are they would have been much weaker. Ryanair has over 90 bases across Europe and Northern Africa in comparation. Let alone WizzAir managment is a disaster, they are threating their employes like garbage, minimal salaries, non existent customer service department, nothing. Ryanair is not much better but at least they are 100 times more on time then any other LCC airline in Europe. Plus they dont terminate routes overnight or change the flight schedule out of nowhere in the middle of the season.
Delete