Wizz Air yesterday scheduled a further two routes, bringing its total number of new services from the former Yugoslavia this March to 41. These include seventeen new routes from Podgorica, six from Tuzla, four each from Belgrade and Ohrid, three from Dubrovnik and Rijeka, and two each from Skopje and Pristina. The low cost carrier could unveil additional routes for the upcoming summer season. The airline’s aggressive expansion across the region, following almost two years of stagnation and decline caused by engine issues affecting its Airbus A320neo family fleet, has prompted a response from competitors.
Ryanair, the region’s second-largest airline this summer, previously capitalised on Wizz Air’s engine-related challenges to significantly expand its footprint. However, for the upcoming season it has scheduled just two routes from the region, one from Podgorica and the other from Dubrovnik. In a statement to EX-YU Aviation News, the carrier left the door open to a potentially broader response to its low cost rival. “Our summer 2026 schedule is currently being finalised. We will be announcing our summer schedule in the coming weeks”, the airline said.
Air Serbia has moved swiftly to counter Wizz Air’s growing presence, announcing a new route that will see the two carriers compete head-to-head. The airline has also adjusted its pricing strategy on flights between Belgrade, Podgorica and Tivat by introducing a new lower fare tier without checked baggage, an option that was previously unavailable on services between the Serbian capital and Montenegro. In addition, Air Serbia launched a network-wide promotional sale this week, which generated more than 50.000 bookings within its first day.
With capacity ramping up across the region, competitive pressures are expected to grow in the coming weeks.
I dream that day when we get additional Wizz flights to Ljubljana too... No idea why we don't have any
ReplyDeleteIncentive policy is likely not attractive.
DeleteBravo Fraport!
DeleteYou have Lufthansa, KLM, SWISS, Air France, Turkish, Brussels, Air Serbia, flyDubai, easyJet and now also Vueling. These airlines are committed and offer stable schedules.
DeleteWizz comes and goes. I can guarantee you that not all of these 41 routes will exist next summer already.
I dream that day when we get Ryanair flights to Belgrade too... No idea why we don't have any.
Delete^ You don't have an idea? They said why. It's too expensive for them. There was an article about it.
DeleteBravo Vinci!
DeleteThe airport was expensive before Vinci as well. Wizz and easyjet are Vinci group's biggest clients. In fact before Vinci came, Wizz Air's presence in BEG was even smaller and they cut down to just 1 plane in BEG.
DeleteEasyjet has no issue flying to expensive airports, Ryanair is different.
DeleteI'm really interested to see if their Podgorica expansion will work.
ReplyDeleteI’m curious how sustainable 17 new routes from Podgorica actually are. That’s a lot of capacity for a relatively small market. We’ve seen rapid expansions before followed by quiet cuts.
DeleteThey are getting subsidised for these routes. That's why they are launching them in big numbers.
DeleteMeanwhile Air Montenegro with 3 planes could not care less it seems while Wizz Air opens 17 new routes from their home.
ReplyDeleteOf course they care, but what can they do?
DeleteI don't think they care. They will get money from the state so they will just sit and watch.
Delete"The low cost carrier could unveil additional routes for the upcoming summer season.", It feels like the admin knows something... Where could they expand more?
ReplyDeleteAny airline "could" do anything at any time.
DeleteExactly that, that's why it would be unnecessary to put it in the article if there was no extra hidden info.
DeleteThats just a dream but the summer schedule for LJU - SKP seems unfinished - imagine them finally planning something more for Ljubljana this year, like basing an aircraft or two.
DeleteLooking forward to them adding another A321 to BEG base for next year!
ReplyDeleteDo they have Serbian pilots? I know they do have cabin crews.
DeleteYes, they do have Serbian pilots.
DeleteWhy would they wait? They may add this spring with 7-8 new routes
DeleteBEG is expensive. It's not an easy airport for LCCs.
DeleteI would love to see W6 launch ATH, VEN, LGW, NAP, SOF, WAW from Belgrade.
DeleteWhy LGW when they already operate LTN?
Delete^ MXP too!
DeleteLots of fantasy route planning over morning coffees i see.
Delete@Anon 09:42
DeleteBecause it serves a different part of London and the southeast of England and in many markets they serve them from both of these airports.
09:31 these are good suggestions! Poland while a very strong Wizz market has no service to BEG. I could see both Warsaw and other destinations being successful for W6.
DeleteFrom BEG there are actually no real LCC prices....BEG is one of the most expensive airports in Europe, together with CDG, LIS, FRA, MAD, so Wizz is struggling in keeping its prices as much low as possible, but still they are not in the range of "normal" LCC prices, but exceed them...Not an easy jpb fpr them.
DeleteBratislava, Bergen, Bilbao, Bremen, Las Palmas, Gdansk, Manchester, Helsinki, Turin, Genoa, Leipzig
DeleteCmon guys, I just bought Pisa-Belgrade for 26 euros, that is definitely ULCC price. Combine it with JU's promotional prices right now to Bologna or Florence, cca 60-75 eur, and you'll have great Tuscany escape for 90 euros. You have Milan return with Wizz for as low as 44 eur, Rome for 70 or BCN for 80 eur, return. The thing is to plan a bit in advance, as always.
DeletePeople are delusional since they want to fly for €20
DeleteAnonymous 12:16
DeleteUnfortunately Wizz doesn't fly to MAN.
@09:45 you are not correct on this. Wizzair have very little overlap on Luton/Gatwick when it comes to Eastern European destinations. Only Tirana/Prague/Krakow are served from both airports. Wizzair isnt even going to be flying daily to Belgrade during the summer this year as things stand which means very unlikely they'd introduce a Belgrade Gatwick service.
DeleteIt's good to see JU responding quickly.
ReplyDeleteWizz new routes from INI, BNX and LJU equals 0.
ReplyDeleteThey are launching Podgorica from LJU
DeleteIs this just bait from Ryanair or will they actually announce an expansion in the next few weeks? What do you think?
ReplyDeleteI can't believe they will add just 2 routes (to Poland) from ex-Yu this summer. Makes no sense.
DeleteFingers crossed!
DeleteDo they prepare anything new for the base in SKP?
ReplyDeleteWhat do you mean?
DeleteTwo new routes are scheduled and there are plans for mote.
Delete*more
DeleteMore routes out of SKP will come this year for sure
DeleteYou know? Or just your hope?
DeleteWizz Air clearly isn’t holding back this summer.
ReplyDeleteJU and YM better be prepared. I think we are going to see more announcements from Wizz.
DeleteThe real winners here are passengers. More capacity + more competition = lower fares.
ReplyDelete+1000
Delete50,000 bookings in one day for Air Serbia’s sale shows there is strong underlying demand. The market can clearly absorb more capacity.
ReplyDeleteFrom a strategic perspective, Wizz needed this comeback. Two years of stagnation cost them momentum in the Balkans. This summer looks like a reset.
ReplyDeleteNot sure how is JUs introduction of cheaper fare to Montenegro related to WizzAir. It seems to me as an action to counter Air Montenegro on the route that is catching up and in some periods overtaking JU on the Serbia-Montenegro market
ReplyDeleteThey are trying to attract with these those passengers that used to connect to BEG and now instead can fly direct to European destinations from Montenegro with Wizz.
DeleteJU gets a lot of feed from TGD for its network.
^ true dat!
DeleteNothing from Sarajevo yet...
ReplyDeleteWizz was never big on Sarajevo except for that short base adventure.
DeleteI wonder if they would be tempted to reopen a base in SJJ. It's not like Ryanair has expanded crazily from SJJ as they originally promised.
DeleteRome has been extremely successful for them, London so-so, but given that Ryanair didn't open a base (yet) I would expect 2-3 new lines from them as there are some unserved routes in their bases.
DeleteI don't see them entering a fight with FR in SJJ, especially since the management is in talks with Ryanair to expand. But let's see.
DeleteI wouldn’t be surprised if Ryanair announce several additional routes once Wizz fully loads its capacity.
ReplyDeleteAt the moment they are just removing flights. For example they have completely cancelled Zagreb-Sofia for several months in mid summer.
Deletei think that is just subject to them finalizing the schedule. Because it makes no sense if you look at it.
DeleteThey are juggling capacity around all the time.
Delete@An.10:19
DeleteThey have 6 weekly Zagreb-Sofia in April and May. Do you really think they will cancell it in July, August and September when demand is the strongest and prices the highest?
It is sad that only 2 airlines can respond to this expansion in the ENTIRE ex-Yu. So much for the local aviation industry.
ReplyDeleteWell everyone is bankrupt. There is no other airlines to respond.
DeleteIs it just me or is that BEG on the photo?
ReplyDeleteYes it is. New hangar in the background.
DeleteThanks
DeleteWhat old plane is that behind Wizz?
DeleteCV-240
DeleteAnd how many did they closed in 2023 and before that?
ReplyDeleteI think they will still have more routes than they did in 2023. This is a record.
DeleteCompetition is great! JU announced a new low fare to Tivat.
ReplyDeleteAnd yet some commenter(s) here tend to hate competition when it puts pressure on their favorite national carrier to adjust its prices.
DeleteYou are finding imaginary haters. But no one needs to be in love with LCCs like you are either, nor need you to tell them what to think and what is the correct way of thinking.
DeleteIt's interesting how the competition in Podgorica, unrelated to BEG flights, influenced this change, via Air Montenegro. Long overdue but it's good that happened before liberalization of MNE-SRB flights so both national carriers can get ready for the competition on these truly successfull routes...
DeleteWizz Air seems determined to reclaim its regional dominance
ReplyDeleteIndeed
DeleteI’m more interested about winter 2026/27 than summer. That’s when we’ll see which of these routes were truly viable.
ReplyDeleteProbably around 30% of these routes won't be around in winter.
DeleteSummer 2027 will be much more interesting.
Delete