Air Serbia recorded a historic first quarter in terms of passenger numbers, with the airline highlighting the significance of the result against the backdrop of ongoing disruption in the global aviation industry caused by the war in the Middle East. The Serbian carrier handled 813.188 passengers between January and March, representing a 3.1% increase on 2025 figures, or an additional 24.087 travellers. Although the airline did not disclose its average cabin load factor for the period, it is estimated to have hovered around 74% based on available capacity. During the first quarter, Air Serbia expanded its capacity levels by 2.5%, while the number of operated flights grew by 2% to 10.032. During the ongoing second quarter of the year, Air Serbia has a 3.7% increase in capacity, complemented by a 5.6% increase in scheduled flights.
Commenting on the figures, Air Serbia’s CEO, Jiri Marek, said, “The results achieved in the first quarter confirm efficient network and capacity management, as well as growing passenger confidence in Air Serbia’s services. This success at the beginning of the year gains additional significance when considering the current challenges in the global aviation industry - from the complexity of supply chains to operational pressures at major European hubs, thereby confirming Air Serbia’s resilience and operational stability. The trust our passengers place in us motivates us to continue optimizing our destination network and to enter the summer season with fully prepared capacities, with continuous adaptation to current market conditions”.
According to the airline’s figures, the busiest destinations within its network were Podgorica, Tivat and Ljubljana within the region. It further noted that Paris, Zurich, Milan, London, Barcelona, Vienna, Frankfurt, Rome and Amsterdam ranked among its busiest routes in Western Europe, while Athens, Istanbul and Larnaca topped the list in the Euro-Mediterranean region.
Bravo Air Serbia 🇷🇸🇷🇸🇷🇸
ReplyDeleteCould they reach 1 million in Q1 by 2030?
ReplyDeleteThey will need bigger growth for that
DeleteЗначи, ЈУ то неће достићи по Вама, за 4 године?
Delete^ What?
DeleteЗнате, када коментаришете, онда прочитајте све. Мој коментар се односи на то да ли ће ЈУ остварити 1 000 000 путника до 2030, у I кварталу те године. Сада је I квартал 2026. Значи до тада има 4 године. Да ли је сада мало јасније?
DeleteFor 1M they should have more than 5% growth every year.
DeleteRelatively good load for Q1
ReplyDeleteIt is for the slowest quarter in aviation.
DeleteWizz Air hedged fuel, Air Serbia didn't. This might be a real problem as W6 might become more competitive and aggressive in Belgrade.
ReplyDeleteHaving a fuel efficient fleet really pays off when the price of jet fuel doubled within two months.
DeleteMaybe it's doubled for W6, but it's almost the same for JU. At BEG at least
DeleteThe price of jet fuel has doubled for all airlines.
DeleteIf some airline continues to buy it at February prices it is either because of hedging or because someone else is subsidizing it for them.
^ source for the above:
Deletehttps://www.iata.org/en/publications/economics/fuel-monitor/
It's not the same for JU, they did not hedge so they are paying the market price which is out of control. That is why their April growth was reduced by 50%
DeleteYou now even know if they hedge fuel, at what rate they buy fuel etc.
DeleteFuel for citizens went up not more than 10 cents since war at ME started. How on Earth do you expect that JU is paying double price then??
DeleteAircraft engines don't run on unleaded gasoline, they run on jet fuel A1.
DeleteAnd this type of fuel has more than doubled in price.
Things are only going to get worst
Delete"Italy Sets Jet Fuel Limits at Some Airports on Supply Gap"
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-04-05/italy-sets-jet-fuel-limits-at-some-airports-on-supply-shortage
And from where you've got the information whether they've hedged fuel or not?
DeleteThey wouldn't be cutting flights if they hedged plus Marek wouldn't miss the opportunity to brag.
DeleteSo, in other words you don't know and are presenting your guesses as fact.
Delete13:32 Please give some proofs that NIS doubled JET price last 3-4 weeks. Or stop making things up
DeleteThe real question is profitability.
ReplyDeleteWho is questioning profitability?
Delete09:14 is that a question? Or a statement? Seems weird either way
DeleteThey are clearly playing it safe with capacity increases. Probably smart given the uncertainty in the market.
ReplyDeleteLarnaca staying strong.
ReplyDeleteA lot of Israelies use it now too.
DeleteTop OD is Moscow- Larnaca.
DeleteConsidering ongoing war, fuel prices, news about higher prices and inflation this year, 3% growth is a solid number
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteGrowth in flights (+2%) lower than capacity (+2.5%) suggests larger aircraft or better utilisation.
ReplyDeleteThese numbers show Air Serbia has matured into a stable mid-sized carrier
ReplyDeleteNot sure what qualifies as 'mid sized' but its about the same size as Icelandair which is not bad going at all.
DeleteIt has more than 40 planes this summer and more than 100 destinations in portfolio. How is it small?
DeleteIn european terms is still small. But in regional terms excellent
DeleteWell, no, small would be airlines with a handfull of planes. JU doesn't compare to those. It is medium sized.
DeleteWhatever you say
DeleteAirlines are often grouped as small, medium, or large based on a mix of operational and financial criteria. There’s no single global standard, but these are the most commonly used benchmarks:
Delete✈️ 1. Fleet Size (most common criterion)
Small airlines:
Usually fewer than 20–50 aircraft
Medium airlines:
Around 50–150 aircraft
Large airlines:
More than 150–200+ aircraft
🌍 2. Route Network & Coverage
Small:
Regional or domestic routes only
Medium:
Mix of domestic and some international routes
Large:
Extensive global networks across multiple continents
👥 3. Passenger Volume (annual)
Small:
Up to a few million passengers/year
Medium:
Roughly 5–30 million passengers/year
Large:
30+ million passengers/year (often far more)
💰 4. Revenue
Small:
Typically under $1 billion annually
Medium:
Around $1–10 billion
Large:
$10+ billion (major carriers can exceed $50B)
🏢 5. Organizational Complexity
Small:
Simple structure, limited hubs
Medium:
Multiple hubs, moderate workforce
Large:
Complex operations, alliances, subsidiaries, thousands of employees
🌐 6. Alliances & Market Presence
Small:
Usually independent or niche
Medium:
May partner or join alliances
Large:
Often members of major alliances like Star Alliance, SkyTeam, or Oneworld
✈️ Examples
Small airline:
Air Serbia (on the smaller side globally, though regionally important)
Medium airline:
JetBlue Airways
Large airline:
Delta Air Lines or Emirates
🧠 Key takeaway
The classification is relative, not fixed. Aviation analysts usually combine fleet size + passengers + revenue + network reach rather than relying on just one factor.
So Air Serbia is small by some criteria (fleet size, revenue) and also medium by others (destination, organization structure) so like often, everybody is right!
DeleteGrowth is there, but clearly slowing compared to previous years.
ReplyDeleteThey keep adding flights but not improving the product. It will bite them in the end
ReplyDeleteWithin Europe their product isnt any worse than other airlines doing what they are doing. I cant comment on longhaul, but that will always omly be a small part of their game. But their service clearly no worse (or better) than other airlines looking to capitalise on a heavy degree of connectivity and in the 6/7 flights a year i do with them i've yet to have a really negative experience. (I'm not from Serbia btw)
DeleteTheir intra European product is the same as any other European legacy airline. I don't know what more you expect.
DeleteHe's not expecting anything, nor have idea about JU's product. He's just trying trolling same things at every topic.
DeleteSo what if intra European airlines give you nothing? What about Turkish or Aegean? This refined wheat soggy sandwich in Air Serbia is ok? And what about super hard seats on 319 and 320? Don’t get me wrong - I’d love JU to have better catering and seats. Most EU onboard services are extremely frugal.
DeleteIs it soggy or stale? You need to decide when spitting on everything regarding this airline. But one thing I know for sure is that you would be the first to cry if they were unprofitable.
DeleteI expected stronger growth given the China demand surge mentioned recently.
ReplyDeleteThere is only so much you can do with 4 weekly flights. They just filled up seats that were already there.
DeleteLF manji za samo 4% u odnodu na celogodišnji LF je odličan rezultat. Ako i poslednji kvartal bude isti možemo očekivati da ukupan LF premaši 80% ove godine.
ReplyDeleteIdemo dalje...
ReplyDeleteIt would be nice to see the occupancy of the cabin in domestic and international traffic separately
ReplyDeletedomestic? you might want to rephrase that..
DeleteYes, I meant domestic.
DeleteEven if they sell 5 tickets on BEG-INI leg, its extra money compared to them operating repositioning flights
DeleteThey should start selling tickets to KVO also...
DeleteLower CLF on the BEG-INI route could be dragging down the overall CLF for JU at BEG, which I believe was the OP's point ie that JU's occupancy is actually slightly higher if you exclude INI from the statistics.
DeleteWe should do this primarily or also for Croatia Airlines
DeleteIt is done for Croatia Airlines. When the airline publishes its quarterly financial results it publishes loads for international and domestic ops and it's always reported here. There is always a higher load factor on domestic flights.
DeleteDont JU's flights from Belgrade to Niš add up to 4 round trips a week?
Delete@13:04 hardly seems worth it
DeleteWe need to talk about fuel scarcity in the coming weeks and months. Fuel hedging or government-controlled prices have little impact when fuel supply runs dry.
ReplyDelete