The 2026 summer season began today on a more subdued note than initially planned, with airlines cancelling 455 flights this week (or around 227 departures and arrivals) for April to markets in the former Yugoslavia. The adjustments come amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, which has driven jet fuel prices in Europe up by 30%. Carriers continue to revise their operations, with short-term frequency cuts primarily impacting the month ahead.
Croatia Airlines is further reducing frequencies on existing routes in April, following the recent discontinuation of its seasonal services from Zagreb to Milan and Bucharest, as well as additional network adjustments. During April, the airline will cut services from the Croatian capital to Munich from twelve to an average of ten weekly, while flights to Frankfurt will decrease from 21 to twenty per week. Frequencies on both routes are expected to be restored in May. Meanwhile, operations between Split and Munich will be reduced from the planned eight to seven weekly rotations. Furthermore, Croatia Airlines is delaying the resumption of its seasonal Zagreb - Tirana service. Initially scheduled to restart on May 15, flights will now resume on May 24.
Royal Jordanian Airlines is further delaying the launch of its new Amman - Belgrade service. Initially scheduled to commence on April 1, the airline had earlier pushed the inaugural flight to April 25. It has now postponed the introduction of the two weekly service until September 19. The Jordanian army said yesterday that it had intercepted and destroyed 242 missiles and drones out of 262 launched toward the kingdom since the start of the US-Israeli war on Iran. The Jordanian army said 22 missiles were launched from Iran toward Jordan during this week.
airBaltic is reducing planned frequencies on its Riga - Ljubljana service in April. The carrier will operate two weekly rotations between the two capitals during the month, down from the initially scheduled three weekly services. Frequencies are expected to be restored to their original levels from May.
Vueling will reduce flights on its seasonal Barcelona - Tivat service in April, operating two instead of three weekly rotations until May 5, with the exception of the Easter week when three weekly departures will be maintained. Furthermore, easyJet is also cutting planned frequencies between Berlin and Tivat, reducing operations from three to two weekly until May 15, again with the exception of the Easter week when three weekly services will be in operation.
Eurowings is reducing frequencies on its Munich and Dusseldorf services to Pristina during April. Flights will operate once per week, down from the initially planned two weekly rotations.
Kuwait’s Jazeera Airways will not resume its seasonal service to Sarajevo as planned this April. Kuwait City Airport, which has been targeted in drone attacks this week, remains closed, while the airline has temporarily relocated its operations to Saudi Arabia. As a result, the carrier will not return to Bosnia and Herzegovina’s capital on April 22 as scheduled. Jazeera Airways now plans to resume flights from Kuwait City on May 2, although this date remains likely to change.
easyJet will also implement minor frequency adjustments, with its Geneva - Split and Geneva - Dubrovnik services reduced by one weekly rotation each, to two and one weekly respectively during April. Furthermore, flights between Bristol and Split will be cut from the planned five weekly to four per week until May 4.
Wizz Air will reduce frequencies on its Belgrade – Larnaca service from the initially planned five weekly to three weekly throughout April, with the exception of the Easter week. Frequencies are set to increase to the planned five weekly from May 19, before rising to daily operations from June 1.
EX-YU Aviation News has recently reported about other frequency reductions by Air Serbia, Wizz Air and Flydubai.
Must be a lack of pilots at all these airlines, according to experts on here from yesterday.
ReplyDeleteYou're trying to be sassy and smart but Air Serbia has cut capacity while easyJet and Vueling have relocated it and other airlines are stuck in war zones. The only exception is Croatia Airlines which is failing to fill its aircraft but this is not unexpected
DeleteeasyJet has reduced its number of flights for April by 2% within the last week, while Vueling has decreased it by 2.4%.
DeleteSo we have have:
DeleteJU: -4%
VY: -2.4%
U2: -2%
^ didn't you just claim quote: "while easyJet and Vueling have relocated it" i would be quiet if I was you. A 2% easyjet reduction is hundreds and hundreds flights more than JU. You can't make this stuff up. The funny thing is, you would be the first to screech and scream if JU was unprofitable.
DeleteHe also does does not seem to realise that JU still has 4% growth in April. Analiticar logic.
DeleteME wars and jump in oil prices is the cause of reductions. It affects most airlines.
ReplyDeleteHa ha ha this is just the beginning. Expect more cuts from airlines including W6 and LH
ReplyDeleteSo far W6 had minimal cuts. So far in the region OU has cut the most followed by JU.
Delete^ the airine with no cuts is Ryanair because they hedged their fuel at the price of 64 USD per barrel.
DeleteRyanair is well prepared, but imagine the battle if both Easyjet and Wizzair enter the Zagreb market.
DeleteNo cuts from Trieste by FR but the luxurious LJU keeps getting cuts every day. So I suppose this year the gap between them is going to be even bigger?
DeleteLJU will for sure overtake Trieste again this year. Ljubljana is on track to add more than 200k seats meanwhile the growth in Trieste is close to none.
Delete^ Why did you have to say that? Now you ruined his Sunday.
DeleteIt's going to be a tough year.
ReplyDeleteThe terrible weather we have been having in the region these last couple of days fir perfectly with today's news.
DeleteSome are expecting to resume frequencies in May, which i think is optimistic.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I've been reading, even if the oil flow returns to normal tomorrow, it would still take several months to normalize oil/jet fuel supply. It is not only that the strait of Hormuz is closed, it's also that some oil rafineries were damaged, most weren't but many were shut down, and it would take months to get them operational again.
455 cancelled flights in a week is not insignificant. It might not look dramatic individually, but combined it shows a clear slowdown for April.
ReplyDeleteA new era of "covid times" is approaching this season ...buckle up!
ReplyDeleteReminds me of that too.
DeleteAnd the main reason behind the both being sharp oscilation of values on stock markets and making ultra rich even richer
DeleteApril is shaping up to be a soft start to the summer season. Hopefully demand rebounds quickly.
ReplyDeleteNot looking good at all.
ReplyDeleteIt's mostly 1 to 2 weekly flight reductions per route but it adds up.
DeleteAirlines are clearly playing it safe rather than risking low loads with high fuel prices.
ReplyDeleteDelays, reductions, cancellations… not the best look heading into peak season.
ReplyDelete.... and add to it airport mess due to ees screening
DeleteHopefully things can go back to normal in May
ReplyDeleteI doubt there will be any Jazeera flights to Sarajevo this summer. Kuwait Airport's radar system was hit overnight. I doubt the airport will be able to reopen for civilian traffic by September even if the war ends tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteControllers would need to get back to the paper strips.... If properly done it's amazing the traffic you can process, less than with a full radar coverage but far from a closed airport.
DeleteSKP seems unscathed so far
ReplyDeleteThere is a link in the article redirecting to news about Skopje-Larnaca route cancellation.
DeleteAnd OU and JU lowering frequencies
DeleteThank you for all these updates about network changes.
ReplyDeleteFuel uncertainty is begining to bite!
ReplyDeleteWas ZAG-TIA supposed to started on 1 May? When did they push it to 15? And now to 24😅
ReplyDelete