Airlines and airports across the former Yugoslavia will be heading to the CONNECT Route Development Forum next week to negotiate the launch of new routes or the expansion of existing services. The event, which takes place from February 17 - 19 in Lublin in Poland, will bring together airline, airport and tourism stakeholders. From the former Yugoslavia, the event will be attended by Air Serbia, Air Montenegro, Croatia Airlines and ETF Airways, as well as airports from Belgrade, Banja Luka, Dubrovnik, Kraljevo, Mostar, Niš, Ohrid, Osijek, Pristina, Pula, Sarajevo, Skopje, Zagreb and Zadar. So far, the top three companies by confirmed meetings are easyJet, Wizz Air and Volotea, while Ryanair has the most active meeting requests.
Croatia Airlines has said it is seeking new opportunities as it ramps up its fleet renewal process with seven Airbus A220 aircraft to be delivered this year, complementing the seven active jets of the same type. This year it will introduce services to Nantes and Stuttgart from the Croatian coast. However, the airline notes that seasonality remains an issue. “Demand on the Croatian market continues to grow but remains strongly shaped by seasonality. Demand retains a distinctly seasonal character and is increasing year after year, yet the gap between the summer and winter seasons shows no signs of narrowing”, the carrier said. While some of Zagreb Airport’s top unserved routes remain those to distant markets in the North America and Asia, its busiest unserved destinations in Europe include the likes of Lisbon, Geneva, Porto, Riga and Vilnius.
Air Serbia plans to add seven new routes to its network this year but has indicated it could further grow that number in 2026. “During the comprehensive evaluation process for any new destination, we develop a detailed business case that is required to demonstrate a positive financial outcome. This assessment incorporates a wide set of criteria, including projected passenger demand, anticipated average fare levels, the existence of visa‑free travel arrangements, the presence and distribution of diaspora communities, as well as the broader potential for economic and tourism cooperation”, the airline noted. Some of Belgrade’s top unserved destinations in Europe remain Manchester, Yerevan, Dublin, Luxembourg, Marseille and Bilbao.
Air Montenegro faces considerable competition this year, with Wizz Air launching seventeen new routes from its Podgorica base. The flag carrier plans to launch flights to Bari during the summer in cooperation with the Maestral Resort and Casino in Budva. “We will unveil the details together and inform the public
when the time is right. Last year’s traffic levels are not expected to undergo
any major changes this year, provided there are no unforeseen circumstances
that could have an impact. At this moment, nothing suggests that such a
scenario will occur, and we are also reviewing several additional destinations
that we could potentially serve this year”, the airline said. It added, “Due to
certain ongoing discussions and negotiations, we are not in a position to
announce them just yet, as we are not entirely certain how easily they can be
brought to fruition. A number of factors could influence this, foremost among
them the anticipated congestion at Podgorica Airport, which will make it
challenging to add additional flights”.
Sarajevo Airport has been courting new routes, primarily from its partner Ryanair. The airport has recently held discussions with the low cost airline over potential expansion. It has shown particular interest in new services to Dublin and Prague. Some of its top unserved routes on the continent include Amsterdam, Brussels, Prague, Munich, Helsinki, Hamburg and Geneva.
TAV Macedonia, which manages Skopje and Ohrid airports, is currently targeting new services from Skopje to Denmark, Finland and destinations in the Middle East. In addition, from the markets already served, it is focusing on greater connectivity with Spain and the United Kingdom. Over the past several months, Wizz Air has introduced a number of new routes from the Macedonian capital, with a particular emphasis on leisure services.
Pristina Airport is proactively targeting leisure markets, specifically in Spain and France, as part of its 2026 growth agenda. “We are currently in active discussions with both low cost and scheduled carriers regarding seasonal leisure routes to Spain and France, and we are optimistic that these efforts will result in new services”, the airport said.
As usual, no Fraport ig
ReplyDeleteBravo Fraport!
DeleteWas about to say that it's amazing LJU saw no reason to attend.
DeleteDoes any of the Fraport operated airports in Germany, Bulgaria, Greece or Turkey attend?
DeleteYes. Burgas and Varna are attending
DeleteFor what it's worth, Varna and Burgas are a joint venture rather than a fully owned Fraport subsidiary
DeleteI would think that LJU management would be the first in line to send someone there.
DeleteFraport is too busy for this.
DeleteIts not airport’s burden to actively look for new route opportunities, its the decision of operators (like if these 2 weren’t complimentary) has been stressed by Mr Krasnja.
DeleteNo it does not.
DeleteKrasnja is too lazy to do anything meaningful.
DeleteThe Fraport managed airports in Greece this year will be ghost towns since their operator did not attend the prestigious CONNECT Route Development Forum in Lublin in Poland.
DeleteCorfu, Kavala, Kefalonia ... are attending as well as Fraport Greece in general
Delete^ No they are not, only the airport of Athens and Sky Express attend from Greece.
DeleteNeither Fraport nor Aegean participate.
Source: https://event.connect-aviation.com/attendees/?type=airp&country=greece&sort=ascending#submit
Krašnja. Who does he know that he is still there???
DeleteIt's February and Air Montenegro still not sure where it will fly...
ReplyDeleteWasn't Air Montenegro saying how Wizz will have no impact on them. Now they are saying how they can't launch new routes due to congestion at TGD.
DeleteThey are either putting on a show or are so confident they will get state funds that they don't care. So far they have done nothing in the face of 17 new Wizz Air routes.
DeleteMore like they have guarantee the government will give them money so they don't care.
Delete“Last year’s traffic levels are not expected to undergo any major changes this year" Nothing to see here, move on... :)
Deletethey will probably start one exyu destination
Delete^Banja Luka
DeleteInteresting to see Bilbao showing up in the top for BEG.
ReplyDeleteBecause AirSrbia and Wizz are already covering other bigger cities/destinations. If YU starts with the flights to Bilbao, maybe another exotic destination in Spain will pop up (like Granada, Cadiz, Vigo who knows) :))
DeleteI am amazed how Bilbao is before Seville o.O
DeleteRoutes that are launching in the coming months, such as Cologne and Seville, are not included on the list.
DeleteThanks, admin. I am disappointed that Helsinki is not TOP6 unserved BEG list, while it is on SJJ’s. But still should be no brainer for JU, as well as Manchester and Yerevan. Strange how Marseille failed 3 years ago, but maybe circumstances changed in the meantime
DeleteIt should be noted that although these routes rank among the busiest unserved in Europe, in the case of Belgrade overall passenger volumes on most of them remain very modest, largely due to the wide range of destinations already served from the airport. Services to both Luxembourg and Marseille were previously operated but ultimately proved unsustainable. With the exception of Manchester and, to a lesser extent, Dublin, there are currently few unserved European routes with strong standalone potential. That said, demand dynamics evolve over time, and airlines can still stimulate additional traffic through pricing, connectivity and network strategy.
DeleteJU launching MAN, DUB, MUC, EVN, TLV, HEL would be successful with 2-3 weekly frequencies and timed to get regional connections.
DeleteManchester is already linked to much of the wider region such as Croatia, Tirana, Greece and Romania direct. What would JU bring to the game? Next to nothing tbh. Dublin issues have been discussed many times here.
DeleteExactly, why would we add new destinations? Actually, we can terminate all of them except Istanbul and Frankfurt and we can use famous German or Turkish airlines to fly everywhere with just one stop. How conveniet.
DeleteCroatia Airlines talking about seasonality again… At some point they will need to develop a winter strategy instead of just repeating the same message every year.
ReplyDelete+1
Deletethey should stimulate winter demand
Long time overdue! Looooon time
DeleteThey could start with adjustments to pricing strategies and marketing.
Delete@anon 09:40 again long time overdue.
DeleteTop unserved routes for Croatia are on distant markets. Clearly written in the article. And Croatia Airlines goes to single type fleet to continue being humiliated feeder for LHG. Bravo Hrvatska!!!
DeleteHumiliation! Oh the shame!
DeleteOur region loves LCC airlines!
ReplyDeleteNot LJU.
DeleteLJU doesn't have too. It has ZAG and TRS close by.
DeleteGreat then just close LJU if we have other airports.
Deletesame for Italy and Spain
DeleteSarajevo should absolutely prioritise Amsterdam. Massive hub and also both diaspora and city break.
ReplyDeleteAgree. Sarajevo needs at least one strong Western European hub beyond Vienna and Frankfurt.
DeleteBut the reality is Amsterdam-Sarajevo is a leisure route which makes it rather unlikely KLM would launch it anytime soon.
DeleteIsn't it mainly a diaspora route? Didn't even B&H Airlines fly there with ATRs?
DeleteNot enough Bosnian diaspora in Benelux, France, Italy or the UK.
DeleteMore than enough diaspora in Netherlands and South France, especially Lyon metropolitan region. Amsterdam is also a leisure route and people would rather choose a LCC but they currently only have Charleroi and Weeze
DeleteDo the 'diaspora' fly or drive back? I mean having a large(ish) diaspora does not equal sufficient profitable traffic from an airport as restrictive as Schipol.
Deletewill Ryanair add something substantial in Sarajevo? Seems like they pulled the breaks
ReplyDeleteThey will, but not for the summer season. In autumn, there are increases and new lines, maybe even a base.
DeleteCroatia Airlines with 14 A220s by year end should be more ambitious. Nantes and Stuttgart are fine, but the fleet allows for much more.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteFleet does, management does not.
DeletePatience is a virtue.
Delete35 years of patience is not virtue anymore. It's masochism, combined with humiliation
DeleteMost airports are still heavily focused on leisure routes. Very little talk about year-round business connectivity.
ReplyDeleteLeisure is where the money is at the moment.
DeleteYou need to have enough business demand from our region to get that year round business oriented routes.
DeleteWe don't have many multinational companies headquartered here and the big majority of business demand is coming from abroad and happy to connect to FRA, MUC, VIE and AMS.
It is just the way things are.
Just my2cents.
+1
DeleteSkopje's never ending search for Middle East flights...
ReplyDeleteThey are doing everything they can but the Middle Eastern carriers are not interested. Even Flydubai which was awarded subsidies rejected SKP and launched several new routes in Europe instead.
DeleteSKP is much more interested in routing everybody through IST and SAW.
Deletethe conspiracy guy again.
DeleteWould love to see more easyJet and Volotea in the region.
ReplyDeleteDoes Volotea even fly anywhere in the region?
DeleteJust Croatia, but they have downsized there big time too.
DeleteAnd BCN-LJU.
Delete@10:05 Vueling yes ... :)
DeleteI wonder how many of these discussions are about frequencies rather than brand new routes.
ReplyDeleteInteresting seeing Luxembourg in top unserved routes for BEG, as two cities were connected but in the end route did not work
ReplyDeleteWell Luxair was flying the route in the midst of covid. They launched it because diaspora traffic was recovering quicker than other segments at the time. Route probably can't survive on diaspora only and there was barely any awareness they were flying to BEG at all. With connecting traffic, Air Serbia could work.
DeleteShould not be a problem with Luxair’s ATR 2-3 pw. But they retreated from most of the Balkans. They fly only to LJU with subsidies?
DeleteLuxair fly Dash 8-400 and they tried Belgrade once. Too thin a route.
DeleteNo Rijeka either.
ReplyDeleteThey would be selling car park spaces.
DeleteMost of the routes the airports seek need small aircraft. I do not think LCC can fill their 197 B373-200 or 239 A321neo seats with those destinations. Airlines with A220s or Embraers with "little" support/incentives could open up these new routes.
ReplyDelete373-200 ????
DeleteYou know what was meant
DeleteNo, I don't know. I understand 373 could be mistaken for 737. But 200 series? It doesn't fly even in Africa any more, let alone european LCC
DeleteI wrote it short for Boeing 787 MAX 200.
Delete787 Max 200 does not exist. Neither 737 Max 200. 787 has much larger capacity. And it's only operated by Norwegian, which is in disastrous situation and does not operate it to our region. And with such a knowledge you could be a consultant for Jasmin Bajić
DeleteNorwegian is profitable and does not operate B787s. You don't have better knowledge than @12:26.
Delete737 Max 8 with modifications which allow for up to 200 seats is called 737 Max 200. Ryanair was their first customer of them for this variant. Basically Boeing made a variant according to Ryanair needs but recently other LCC are ordering it.
DeleteNice to see Bilbao in the top for BEG.
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised that Geneva has strong demand from both ZAG and SJJ and that easy Jet at least has not taken up the opportunity to launch it.
ReplyDeleteWe know that there is demand, but not strong. Being the busiest unserved destination does not necessarily mean that there is enough demand to launch the route.
DeleteSeeing FR24 timetable of Skopje departures today and overall in February, we can see how much it depends from wizzair, since very few other airlines are operating currently to the airport
ReplyDeleteok and?
Delete"Air Serbia plans to add seven new routes to its network this year but has indicated it could further grow that number in 2026."
ReplyDeleteHere's looking at you W6.
It’s unclear what they are waiting for, it’s almost mid February. If they plan to, go for it now
DeleteI agree. People nowadays tend to schedule their holiday travel much earlier than they did even 10 years ago.
DeleteMy point was that JU will not introduce further new routes this year unless W6 do it first. The fight between two escalated recently, matching each other new routes.
DeleteCroatia Airlines.... HAM-DBV is free
ReplyDeleteIt's not. Eurowings has rescheduled it. But even if it was free, why should they bother. They have guys hailing Bravo to them anyway
DeleteNot quite correct. The months of May and June are bookable and have been available the whole time. The connection is available starting in July.
Delete