As 2025 draws to a close, almost all airports in the former Yugoslavia will increase their available capacity during the first three months of 2026 when compared to the previous year. Skopje and Belgrade are set to record the strongest growth in the region, each adding over 200.000 seats. A resurgent Wizz Air is driving the expansion in both cities, boosting capacity by 286.124 seats in Skopje and 141.905 in Belgrade.
Q1 2026 capacity compared to Q1 2025
Zagreb Airport completes the top three, with Croatia Airlines acting as the main driver of growth. The flag carrier is adding 65.678 seats in the Croatian capital as it expands its fleet and network while transitioning to a single type fleet. Ryanair, which was responsible for a significant portion of Zagreb Airport’s growth in recent years, will see a more modest increase over the first quarter, adding 11.960 seats, which is fewer than Turkish Airlines with an additional 13.006. On the other hand, Ryanair’s rival Wizz Air is also driving growth at several smaller airports in the former Yugoslavia over the first three months, including Tuzla, Niš, Banja Luka and Ohrid.
Overall, the former Yugoslav markets will offer 7.514.798 seats on scheduled flights during Q1 2026 across 48.428 operations, up 20.9%. When considering the entire region collectively, the busiest international destination is Istanbul Airport, with 278.839 seats, followed by Zurich with 242.623 and Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen with 207.556. Some of the routes operating during the first quarter, which were not available the previous year include Tbilisi, Astana and Grenoble from Belgrade, Gran Canaria from Ljubljana, as well as Larnaca and Prague from Skopje, to name a few.
Why the Mostar downgrade? Skyalps?
ReplyDeleteI think Air Serbia is operating one weekly flight less compared to last winter.
DeleteSkyalps actually removed Mostar base and now operate just W flights from mostar throught the summer
DeleteYes, Air Serbia operated 3 weekly last winter and this winter it is 2 weekly. At smaller airports one weekly frequency less makes a huge difference.
DeleteOnly 4 destinations too
DeleteOther than OMO and ZAG is there any other destination in our region that JU has reduced frequencies compared with last winter?
DeleteThe only other route is LJU which depends on the month. Sometimes 1 flight less per week sometimes 2 but they have at least 14 weekly this winter. They added Split with 2 weekly.
DeleteHonestly a great couple of quarters for Ljubljana. Let's hope they keep it up...Any news about that EasyJet route?
ReplyDeleteI think the biggest number gap will be in summer. FRA is now all on A319s, A320s, Iberia with more than double the flights, ATH 1/3rd more flights, LGW daily thoughout the summer season, BCN is yet to be scheduled, SAW added, maybe more...not sure if EasyJet route is happening or not, but that would mean 2x daily EasyJet flights
DeleteThere is also EDI, Podgorica with Wizz, Riga and FlyDubai increase ... the summer is gonna be tremendous for LJU!
DeleteNow all we need is a few vacation destinations... Give us greek islands...
DeleteAny news on the tender? Nothing since the last one happened
DeleteFraport has been doing an amazing job!
DeleteGood to see Skopje with over a million seats in Q1.
ReplyDeleteNever seen numbers like this before in Skopje, huge come back
DeleteBy the summer season Skopje will already have 2 millions reached...
DeleteSummer season begins at the end of March. Table above shows total capacity at just over 1 million for Skopje. So you expect for every flight to be 100% full plus people will sit on each othe's laps in ordrr for the airport to have 2 million by summer season. Well done.
Delete😂
DeleteThen all those numbers for each airport we need to throw away if we dont expect those numbers...? :D
DeleteBtw I didnt say summer schedule I said for summer months which are starting from June, by all this numbers SKP will reach 2 million
Let's pray nothing happens to Wizz, otherwise Skopje is kaput !!
DeleteIf that happens Ryanair will step in or the government will bring back a national carrier. If Serbia or Croatia can have it then so can Macedonia.
DeleteMacedonia's tax payers might take issue at that. Its not in the best shape finacially.
Delete@10:47 i wouldnt be confident the North Macednian governemnt could organise a national airline, and thats being polite. The policy of supporting and helping Wizz has payed off well for Skopje and has yielded levels of connectivity no locally based airline could ever reach.
DeleteFor july 2026 there at 470.000 scheduled seats until now. Huge numbers!
Delete10:33 lets pray no LLC get kaput, than all region will be kaput not only Macedonia, all airports here are dependent on wizs air and ryanair ;)
DeleteWizz air schedules 3 million seats in 2026 from Macedonia, thats amazing comeback
So main driver is the expansion of Wizz? Interesting.
ReplyDeleteAfter it was the main driver of decline in 2024 :D
DeleteI told you it will be Wizz air, Ryanair will not be even close to their numbers, everyone was sceptic , but it comes to be true :D
DeleteThis is a big surprise
ReplyDelete"Ryanair, which was responsible for a significant portion of Zagreb Airport’s growth in recent years, will see a more modest increase over the first quarter, adding 11.960 seats, which is fewer than Turkish Airlines with an additional 13.006."
We all know why...
DeleteDo we? Why?
DeleteContract negotiations between ZAG and FR approaches. Ryanair doesn't want to grow until they know ZAG won't change their conditions.
DeleteWill be interesting to see what happens because ZAG finances are not great.
^ Thanks. Forgot that their contract is expiring. I guess that's why they haven't announced any new routes from ZAG next year so far.
DeleteZagreb’s numbers look decent, but without Ryanair pushing hard anymore, growth will depend almost entirely on Croatia Airlines. Risky to say the least.
DeleteGenuinely interested in people's opinion (and no hate or agenda intended). Do you find it odd that neither Croatia Airlines or Ryanair have new routes planned for Zagreb next summer (at least for now)? Makes me think the airport is discouraging growth so they don't have to expand the terminal.
DeleteZAG needs additional revenue so they would get whatever they can. I think it has more to do with sluggish demand for next summer. There are quite a few cuts all around Europe so airlines are not rushing to expand left and right.
DeleteAny proof for that "sluggish demand"? Ok..not..
DeleteProof? FR cut all around Europe and have more than enough spare planes to utilize. Why do you think they are skipping ZAG if the demand is here? Proofs please
DeleteSkopje definitely needs some more destinations from EasyJet if they want to move to another level. With Wizz I think they are reaching the ceiling, especially with the 6th plane starting to operate from next week.
ReplyDeleteWizz actually will restore old routes as well new routes in 2026 , stay tuned!!
DeleteWhich flight destinations will be restored by Wizz Air next year? Do you have any information?
DeleteAll routes that were making profit are restored. For sure they will not return Vaxjo, Billund or Turku lol.
DeleteThey have already indicated which routes are next
Deletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2025/10/skopje-targets-finland-denmark-and.html
I hope that the flight destination to Hannover will be reinstated.✌🏻
Delete10:14 Copenhagen is coming back, and there will be more routes to Spain and Italy this is for Wizz air. But there are also talks for Helsinki, Dubai or Doha and UK routes
DeleteWhat are your sources?
DeleteThat is an unexpectedly high growth in Nis. Is it only Wizz? Or someone else is starting/increasing flights?
ReplyDeleteFR has also increased some frequencies.
Delete^Yes, they added 1 extra weekly flight on both routes they operate.
DeleteBoth routes are Malta and Vienna, for those who don't know.
DeletePodgorica has really been underperforming this entire year and it does not seem it will improve until Wizz opens its base.
ReplyDeleteThat's why they invited Wizz to launch flights.
DeleteI mean, to open base.
DeleteTheir numbers will explore when Wizz opens its base
Delete*explode
DeleteIt will reduce the number of people transferring in BEG though.
DeleteCurrently that is a big part of its business.
Tuzla passengers are big part of BEG's business? lol
DeleteAny numbers or facts to back that claim?
He meant Podgorica, not Tuzla.
DeleteWow look at you INI! Do we know where this growth is coming from? Is it only Wizz Air from DTM?
ReplyDeleteRyanair has 1 weekly flight more to both Malta and Vienna compared to last winter.
DeleteBut that`s more like 16.000 seats, long way to 60.000.
DeleteThere must be sometning more.
Yes Wizz introduces new route and all flights operating with A321neo instead of A320.
DeleteBravo OU!
ReplyDeleteBravo Hrvatska!
ReplyDeleteBravo Skopje , amazing numbers and great start of the year...!!!!
ReplyDeleteToo much dependence on Wizz in the region
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteAnd whats wrong with that ? Europe is dependend on Ryanair and Wizz air
DeleteEven more stronger economy countries in Europe are independent on Wizz air and Ryanair , I domt ser nothing wrong with that
DeleteThanks to the LCC business mode hundreds of millions of people can now fly.
DeleteSome people are still stuck in the '80s though, longing for the days of state owned monopolies and strict bilaterals.
If there is no LLC Germans,British,French people amd etc will jusy dream about their holidays packaged
DeleteNot to mention many people in our region would still travel to the rest of Europe only by buses.
DeleteBravo Fraport!
ReplyDeleteW6 schedules 3 million seats for SKP in 2026 , basically they planning handling 200k + passengers on a montly basis which is huge growth, plus other airlines, SKP will easily reaching 300k + in a single month ... this is big return for SKP
ReplyDeletenever expected to see Tuzla in front of Sarajevo :P
ReplyDeleteNice to see Tuzla in top 5
ReplyDeleteAnd Nis for that matter
DeleteI love Nis.
DeleteWe will see if Wizz Air delivers on this plan. They are known to announce a lot of new routes buy often don't follow through
ReplyDeleteActually they are announcing new routes every single day, just follow their FB page, they are expanding their network alot
DeleteGood numbers all around
ReplyDeleteIf INI had management that's interested in attracting new routes, it would be seeing much higher numbers. Such a shame.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteOn the contrary, I believe they are nearing their limit.
DeleteI think 2026 will be Skopje most succesfull year in term of passengers numbers, handling 300k passengers each month is big growth... most likely 2026 will come close to its maximum and 2027 will reached, and thats 4.5 million passengers. TAV announce they have master plan for expanding the capacity by 2031, I am curious what they are planning
ReplyDeleteLove these stats. Thanks admin!
ReplyDeleteAgree
DeleteNot surprising that Skopje and Belgrade top the list. Wizz Air is clearly back in growth mode after two weak years.
ReplyDeleteA lot more A320neos are coming to W6 now.
DeleteAnd they are brand new 10:48
DeleteInteresting to see Ryanair’s growth in Zagreb slowing down while Croatia Airlines takes over as the main driver. That’s a big change compared to the last three years.
ReplyDeleteYes, and a big headache cause we all know who flies with 90 and who with 50% LF...
Deletelol true
DeleteCroatia is underperforming, they don't take seasonality seriously. Zagreb is some 20% bigger than Skopje or Pristina, I think they need to up their winter game finally. Specially when you take a look on these dire numbers in Pula, Rijeka, Osijek, Zadar.
ReplyDeleteCatchment area of ZAG and PRN is about the same.
DeleteKeep in mind PRN has no transfer traffic. It's often overlooked that Zagreb has a lot of domestic transfer passengers.
DeleteAnd the very different financial and socio-economic landscapes of both catchment areas.
DeleteWhen will Air Serbia announce the new destinations from? The end of November and the beginning of December have already passed, which is when it was reported that they would be announced.
ReplyDeleteFrom Belgrad
DeleteTowards the end of the next working week.
Delete@10:55 patience
DeleteOnce Air Serbia announces new destinations and they show up in the system, BEG number will get even more impressive.
Delete11:34 well thats obvious.
DeleteBut the article is related to Q1 - first three months of 2026. So it does not include Air Serbia's new routes. Even if their new routes start at the start of summer season, maybe one or two flights will fall in Q1.
DeleteHopefully JU is cooking something nice, since we have to wait so long
Delete@13:13 lol
DeleteThey will do things when its finanically right. Waiting? They are a business dude not here to satisfy aviation enthusiasts' dreams.
Skopje is getting close to PRN and ZAG, plus there are charters from SKP every day during the winter season, lets see the results from Q1.
ReplyDeleteConsidering North Macedonia has seen a 9% decline in population in a decade there are clearly more people to move between 'home' and their former homes. Like elsehwere in the region aviation increases are also an indication of significant demographic decline.
DeleteIn normal nordic conditions, there will be no SKP or PRN, it will be one airport in the middle, with great road and train connectivity which will serve bigger area and have much more options for travelling
DeleteHope it never happens.
Delete12:39 there are like 15 charters out of Skopje which is absolutely amazing, every day there are 1 or 2 charter flights
DeleteBEG is adding 4 times more Q1 capacity than ZAG.
ReplyDelete