Pristina-based GP Aviation retained its position as the airport’s busiest carrier for a second consecutive year, handling just over 1.3 million passengers in 2025 and posting a strong 42% increase. The airline accounted for more than 28% of all travellers at Pristina last year. GP Aviation has since announced plans for a major network expansion for the 2026 summer season, with new services planned from Pristina to Bergamo, Bremen, Brussels, Oslo, Salzburg and Vienna, adding to its existing sixteen-destination network. With its announced summer 2026 additions, the airline is aiming to deepen its presence and defend its position against low cost competitors.
GP Aviation was followed by easyJet, which handled approximately 580.000 passengers. Wizz Air ranked as the third-busiest carrier with around 520.000 travellers, representing a 23.8% increase. Chair Airlines, which held second place last year, slipped to fourth with 410.000 passengers. They were followed by Pegasus Airlines, Eurowings and Edelweiss Air. Overall, low cost carriers and flights sold through tour operators once again dominated traffic at the airport, which recorded its busiest year on record in 2025. Pristina was also the second-fastest growing airport in the former Yugoslavia last year, adding more than 500.000 passengers compared to 2024.
Austrian Airlines remained the busiest legacy carrier serving Pristina, ranking ninth overall, and handled just over 100.000 passengers. It was followed by Turkish Airlines and Swiss. Germany narrowly overtook Switzerland as Pristina’s largest country market, accounting for 36% of all passengers compared to Switzerland’s 35%. They were followed by Turkey, Austria and the United Kingdom. New York retained its position as the busiest onward destination in 2025, followed by Frankfurt, Chicago and London.
This airline is an absolute mystery to me.
ReplyDeleteThe mistery to me is why are people willing to pay for airplane tickets to tour operators when they can book a ticket online
DeleteDid you ever check who manages GP Aviation. That might be the key...
DeleteIt's rather simple. A significant number of people feel like low-cost airlines are out to get them. Adding a checked luggage to a Wizz Air booking to London, for example, often costs more than the air fare itself (as much as two return air fares from my experience). Secondly, changes are allowed with these operators and considering that our people are more spontaneous than your average European, they can shorten or extend their stay as needed with minimal or no fees. Then there's the carry on luggage restrictions, and they don't want to land a €50 fine at the gate because their bag is 0.5 wider than the limit. In short, rightly or wrongly, a large enough number of people think that it's better to pay €350 return air fares from cities like Basel than pay €250 to easyjet or Wizz Air or Pegasus Airlines and not know how much the real cost will be in the end.
DeleteLegacy airlines are different. So, the completion is between legacy ones and Airlines like GP Aviation for those passengers.
In any case, the market is very healthy: decent (not great) legacy offering, good low-cost offering with easyjet, Wizz Air, Pegasus, Norwegian and the like, and an excellent offering by GP Aviation, Eurowings (booked through travel agents), Chair Airlines and the link
The latter group is missing in most other markets. Passengers get to pick what their mind prefers and pocket allows.
To resolve the mystery
DeleteA Swiss registered company, founded by an Indian national, with base in Pristina, using a Bulgarian AOC :D
made it even more mysterious for me!
Delete*inserts "Confused Math Lady"- Gif
They are on their way to overtake Croatia Airlines lol.
ReplyDeleteIt's impossible. Croatia Airlines is in plus, always and for everything. Plus they have Intergalactic Spaceship, bright and shiny, which will raise LF, grow market share, first reduce losses and than increase profits and everyone in both Buzin and Središnjica will continue living in their Pink Dream
DeleteThat is already a serious number of passengers.
ReplyDeleteWith the planned growth they will probably surpass 1.6 million this year.
DeleteIf an LCC was able to open a base in PRN they would do wonders. But the high fees that are set by the government make it impossible. So PRN is resigned to these no name shady airlines.
ReplyDeleteAlso possible that they're struggling to attract more LCCs or even a base due to Kosovo's political status
DeleteThey are beginning to dominate in PRN.
ReplyDeleteWho is their owner?
ReplyDeleteGanesh Piga from Zurich. The main company is registered in Zurich - GP Aviation Switzerland Gmbh. They have only AOC in Bulgaria for better access to EU.
DeleteSwiss story like most of companies, banks and money-making in this country 🙄
DeleteWell done GP Aviation!
ReplyDeleteI hear that GP Aviation is planning on some intercontinental connection by the end of this year.
ReplyDeleteReally? Wow to where?
DeleteWhen you say intercontinental you mean like Egypt or US? haha
DeleteFirst both the country and the company need to obtain FAA CAT 1. Very long way ahead.
DeleteBut short term lease for Hajj flights is a possibility
Delete09:19 Very good. From where is this information?
Delete09:29*
DeleteIf they would get a 767 or 777 I am sure they would get the ETOPS approval quickly as all their cockpit crew are long haul experienced on wide body jets... They could launch New York.
ReplyDeleteWhat has ETOPS to do with the pilots? Their pilots flying narrow body are experienced on wide body? You took too much white today?
DeleteYes they are. Most of them flew the Boeing 777 or Boeing 747 before they joined GP Aviation. They joined the company because they all (or most of them) know each others for many years. It’s kind of an old friends club….
DeleteType rating expires if you don't fly the aircraft. If they flew wide body before, good for them, but they will have to go to the school again. And it costs. So....
Deletethey have a very nice cabins at least on the Boeing 737. And very nice and attentive cabin crews too. Most of them seem to be from Kosovo.
ReplyDeleteHow many planes do they have in the fleet now?
ReplyDelete10. 5X A320, 2X A319 and three 737 Classic.
DeleteOld jets with one or two rotations per day.
DeleteJust three legacy (flag) carriers flying to PRN??? That's not good.
ReplyDeleteWell there are airports such as Stansted with very few legacy airlines as you call them and massive connevtivity. The market to Kosovo is realively well catered for and will increase with time.
DeleteThe largest airline ever in PRN!
ReplyDelete...the other with this number of destinations was Belle Air Europe but not like GP Aviation.
DeleteGP Aviation is good airline but why planes are white?
ReplyDeleteMost of them are leased but will be nice to see A320 in GP livery.
DeleteThey've had an A319 for a year, now they've even got two. So it would be nice if they were branded.
DeleteBad marketing. Easy money with Prishtinaticket.net and other agents.
DeleteThey need new and more 737NG on dry lease less ACMI or maybe leased jets are contracted by tour operators and IV in partnership 🤔
DeleteSwiss airline with bulgarian AOC is the largest airline in Kosovo. The owner is indian. 😁
ReplyDeleteSwiss business
DeleteThe owner is Swiss, Italo Indian to be precise. Spent his whole life in Switzerland though..
DeletePretty sure they'll go for one or two 767s in the next few years
ReplyDeleteWhy not 787 😁
Delete767s make sense when you see they fly 35 year old 737s
DeleteI thing they will go for the Boeing 777
DeleteWhat does the "GP" stand for in GP Aviation?
ReplyDeleteMost likely for Ganesh Piga, the name/surname of the founder.
Delete:D why not
Deletebetter than Chair ^^
DeleteAll airlines with scheduled flights from Switzerland have flights in PRN. Swiss, Edelweiss, easyJet Switzerland, GP Aviation, Chair and Helvetik. It's really wonderful!
DeleteWizz Air really needs to crack this market.
ReplyDeletethey didnt crack Basel at all
DeleteWizz Air appears to be waiting or hoping for an unfair advantage over other airlines in order to deliver passenger figures like those of GP Aviation.
DeleteThey're welcome to base aircraft and operate to the European market like other airlines and have access to the same incentives as others, but it would be a mistake to give them unfair advantage over others and then be forced to provide new incentives for each new route or aircraft based at the airport. Others at PRN are doing it without special incentives.
Yes, agree. Just see what happened to Macedonia… now they are blackmailing the state. If you don’t lower the taxes then I (WizzAir) will not fly this route etc.
DeleteWizzair is not blackmailing Macedonia, and certainly not asking for lower taxes. This is just BS rumors, nothing else.
DeleteYou might have missed it, but this year they will offer record nr of seats from SKP.
Btw flights are bookable and on their website Gp-aviation.ch not only in travel agents.
ReplyDeleteBasel, Zurich and Geneva are under government approval by the Swiss Government as scheduled flights, others are in partnership with Pristinaticket.net, AirTiketa.
DeleteZRH, BSL, GVA also are on their website but yes on government approval from Switzerland.
Delete..on Prishtinaticket.net
DeleteFrom LJU point: gp aviation to PRN, perfect balkan flight - sve ide, no surprise fees, no arguing with pax. Only downside is trouble of finding emex appropriate pax and seating all the newborns. Meanwhile wizzair to SKP, mamamia ...
ReplyDeleteIs GP Aviation low-cost or hybrid airline?
ReplyDeleteI don’t know where to place them. Somehow the Flag carrier of Kosovo.
DeleteGP Aviation is not so bad as people think. I have flown with them 3 times, two times to germany and once to switzerland. On time and affordable tickets but so old airplanes and they leises a bulgarian air company sometimes, In the summerseason GPs ticket prices are not that cheap as similar to Easyjet, Wizz.
ReplyDeleteWhen I compared Wizz Air tickets from SKP go same destinations GP flies from PRN, GP is often cheaper than them when checked bags are added. No wonder this tour operators are handling these numbers.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I see that many of the readers do not understand that GP just handles flights for tour operators. These tour operators are like virtual airlines who wet lease from a provider and they just handle the sales part.
Hey admin, the fifth busiest unserved airport was Ankara’s.
ReplyDeleteDid you add Gatwick, City and others in London number or just LHR?