ZAG is percentually more growing than BEG. If BEG wants to be a dominant leader it must catch a pace, not to barely surpass its competitor.
However, the real comparison should be with TIA. Although not in Ex-Yu, it's very close and it is growing like crazy and already stealing traffic from MNE and NMK.

In 2012, last full year before Air Serbia rebranding, BEG was ahead of ZAG by 1.021.610 passengers. Last year it was ahead by 4.190.423. Investing in airport infrastructure and supporting growth of flag carrier resulted in gap increasing since 2012 by over four times, or 410%. Belgrade didn't just barely surpassed next competitor, it crushed it based on this!

Well BEG already surpassed SOF and SKGvwhuch used to be ahead. Baby steps, they will overtake TIA as well at some point

Its unlikely to overtake Tirana for ages, but the real comparisons are Budapest and Sofia. Although no airport nearby has a full service carrier with a hub and spoke system. So well done BG

That's what people said about SOF or RIX once upon a time And look at BEG now guys!

How on Earth could be BEG and TIA compared??!? Serbia is not Mediterranian country and have no huge tourist demand. But Croatia is and can and should be compared to Albania. Real question is how could Tirana have more passengers than whole 8 Croatian airports together? Croatia have 6000 km of coast, while Albania have only about 400km

When BEG vs ZAG facts are completely against you, Vrapche aviation strategy calls for distraction by shifting conversation away to unrelated topic, such as non-ExYu aviation. In the world of LHR, BUD or ATL, Belgrade will always be pint-sized, miniature airport that's easy target. But this is not a global aviation site, and the topic is 2025 BEG performance. In the ExYu domain, BEG is a true leader, the only real hub and a growing civil aviation force to be reckoned with. Tough night for those who can't cope with that.

@00:03 because a vast number of tourists drive to Croatia. Whereas a tiny number do so to Albania. But yes Albania's figures are impressive as you note, Belgrade's figures are not (primarily) driven by inbound tourism which makea the profile and sucess of the aviation sector in Serbia a real sucess.

Admin, can you pls post how many passengers from Macedonia are allegedly usind TIA? Due to long distances and bed roads in Alabia, makes very little sense to me, but would be curious to see numbers.

@Anonoymous 09:19

As a Macedonian, I can tell you that quite a few of my friends have used TIA airport, especially for routes that cannot be flown from SKP or have bad and expensive connections. A good example are flights to Sicily. It works especially well if you are 3-4 passengers, since the car would be parked at TIA airport. And I am talking about people living in Skopje, which is 5-6hrs from Tirana.

Obviously, I don't think this would be a huge number. A very uneducated and optimistic estimate would be 50k passengers per year. Not an insignificant number, but still small enough to start certain routes from SKP. And this number wouldn't make a big change in either TIA, SKP or BEG's numbers as somebody has mentioned.

Ohrid is as close to Tirana as it is Skopje by road also. I can imagine a fair few people from
North Macedonia use Tirana if the price/route is right.

Check the data, the last two months had been always on the same level. Plus there is a public holiday in middle of November which is boosting traffic.

And December 2025 also had weather disruptions

I do not think weather disruptions really had impact. in the end, all flights took place

No they didn't. In December there were several days when fog disrupted flights and passengers disembarked at other airports and were bussed from there. In any case BEG had less passengers in December than November in 2024 too

9.5 million next year without a problem

With 15 new destinations announced so far, steady JU and huge W6 growth, I am expecting 10 million without a problem

Next year SOF will be closer to BEG. W6 will add eight plane. With FR have large capacity than E190s and ATRs with more flights :)

Yeah but BEG will also have growth :)

Comparisons are fine, this site provides comparative charts and figures for upcoming airport and airline capacity all the time. Most airports are growing but Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport is the only one above 5 million annual travellers, so it deserves praise for being at the top and still going strong and setting new records. Last year it also had more than a million passengers in one month, a first time any Ex Yu airport managed to cross that mark! Congratulations Belgrade on a fantastic year!

Both are growing very well, BEG and ZAG.

They both are, and Belgrade clearly has an edge here. With much higher capacity expected in the first half and 14 new routes announced for this year it will certainly keep that edge in 2026.

Two different leagues, ZAG should be compared with SKP and PRN.

Air Montenegro will have tough times at TGD given the recent W6 expansion so they must keep BEG as strong as they can.

Record year for Belgrade despite your efforts

@12:58 can you explain what what are you trying to say and what is not true in the previous post? BTW I am not anon @ 09:53!

It has been written many times that the lounge in qurstion is shutting down and that it is moving to the current Air Serbia lounge.

True dat! At one point it wasn't bad at all, but now it is kind of a disgrace for BEG.