It’s been a while since I shared a travel experience relevant to the Ex-Yu region.
This time, I’m sharing my recent trip from Banja Luka via Belgrade and Vienna to Dubai, the place I call home for over a decade now.
A bit of a background. I am from Banja Luka and in the past 10 years I have been usually flying to either Zagreb or Sarajevo, on flydubai and in good times with Emirates, or depending on the prices also with Turkish Airlines and Wizz Air Abu Dhabi (which I miss a lot!). During the time Air Serbia/Etihad had flights to Abu Dhabi, I also managed to find (good) connections from Banja Luka.
However, after the last trip to Banja Luka (Dec ’25) when I had my flight to/from Zagreb, I have sworn to myself I will never use that route only because of the BiH/Croatia border. It took me (+2 small kids) 3 hours to pass that sad bridge, and we barely made it to our flight.
I would usually fly to Sarajevo, but not in winter. I had experiences of flights being cancelled due to fog, diverted etc and with kids, that is not a fun experience.
Back to this experience: I had a flight to Vienna with Emirates, and from Vienna we took a Ryanair flight to Banja Luka. We had to spend a night in Vienna, but we took this trip slowly so we could also be tourists and enjoy the first days of spring.
Unfortunately, I did not take any pics of that trip but it was packed, 13th of Mar, with a bit of delay due to airspace closures and restrictions.
Side note: I had an option with my company to book any flight from Dubai to anywhere, and prices on flydubai to Sarajevo, Zagreb or Belgrade were DOUBLE compared to Emirates to Vienna on the A380. Flydubai has been delusional for a while, with the same comfort as Wizz Air but with triple the prices. Now they offer food and in-flight entertainment but for the price of ~$850+ for a flight. No thanks.
Due to some personal circumstances, I had to extend my stay in Banja Luka, and I couldn’t fly back with Ryanair, and then the only option I had was Banja Luka - Belgrade - Vienna
BNX - BEG 10/4
I don’t recall the last time I took the flight from Banja Luka. Unfortunately, though. It saddens me how many missed opportunities this airport had. However, even these few flights are better than nothing.
I don’t understand why the airport/whoever is obviously giving subsidies to Wizz/Ryan doesn’t give money to Air Serbia then to have at least 4 flights per week that could connect to their waves.
I had a 6-hour layover in Belgrade, but again, I was in a rush this time and had no choice.
The airport now has a parking machine, an outdoor terrace, even a small duty free shop and they are trying to make it function. I guess without proper expansion, this is the maximum we’ll see.
There is also a bus drop off and it was a busy terminal with just two flights: Air Serbia to Belgrade and Wizz to Dusseldorf.
Soon after, the Air Serbia’s ATR arrived for this ~40 min flight on a loud machine. The flight was I’d say 95% full with many connecting passengers to Switzerland, Germany and Norway.
I spent the flight eating the little pack of plazma and looking at a rather impressive map of Air Serbia’s regional and European presence. This made me even more puzzled how come it isn’t in Banja Luka’s interest to ensure more flights to BEG. Banja Luka used to have flights just after the war to Vienna and Zurich, via Sarajevo also to Istanbul, and now with the amount of cultural, economic, political, family ties to Belgrade it makes no sense this route cannot be maximised.
Anyways, I looked to the left and saw the Sava river and the border to Croatia. A kind reminder to myself not to complain about the noise of the plane.
Upon arrival at BEG, a bus took us straight to the passport control - which was a nice surprise. Last time I was in Belgrade (Sept ’25) I flew from Dubai and had to walk I think 15-20 min. Honestly, the new terminal in Belgrade is not as amazing as I imagined it would turn out. It became dark and long.
The prices are insinsane,wever! Hleb & Kifle: espresso for ~4EUR and a tiny croissant for ~4.5EUR! Dubai seemed like a bargain compared to Belgrade. Especially that at both places you get served by Filipino workers so I thought I started losing my mind on where I am.
On arrival from BL, passport control was super-fast, however on departure ,from 12 desks, 2 people worked, one who did not make any eye contact but had a very impressive chewing gum skill. The security workers are extremely rude, they need some proper training that they aren’t in prison. The amount of shouting and treating people with kids and foreigners as criminals is another reminder of our public service clerks. I will not spend many words here.
As I had 6 hours in Belgrade, I went to the city, had lunch there, met some people, walked around and headed back to the airport.
The flight to Vienna was full, also done by ATR and super loud. I don’t think ATR is for a flights longer than 1h, especially if you are taller than a strawberry.
A grey and coldish night welcomed me (again) in Vienna, so I headed out to hotel to get some rest for tomorrow’s flight to Dubai.
VIE - DXB 11/04
This leg was operated by Boeing 777, not A380 as on my way to Vienna. However, I was very happy to see the Emirates flag.
Despite reduced schedule and demand, this flight was absolutely full in economy at least. I’m not sure about the other classes, as I’m not in that income bracket for personal trips 😊
As a family we were seated in the last row (49) in the economy, and you can see that there was no single free seat.
The crew was amazing as always. I really love Emirates. The food (which I didn’t take many pics of) was tasty, kids got gifts, we got photos, and got spoiled and reminded why we love the UAE.
Upon the arrival at T3 at DXB, we could see that the chunk of terminal is ‘under reconstruction’ due to the events we shall not speak about. You could also notice that it’s not as busy in the duty free areas but traffic is picking up. Many people on our flight were connecting to their holiday destinations in Thailand or to Australia and further.
Either way, it was a long trip but we were happy to get back to Dubai! It is a different planet indeed!
Bottom line, I wish that Banja Luka Airport and our corrupt politicians realise the key importance of having a well-functioning and connected airport. Start from the low hanging solutions – increase flights to Belgrade. I spent a lot of time walking around the city, and if the city and RS authorities could spend ~EUR 25 million + for the tennis court for a one off tournament, there is obviously space and money to use for airport development.
Until the next time.
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Great report. Interesting observations and i agree BL airport has potential that isnt used well enough.
ReplyDeleteGreat report, thank you very much.
ReplyDeleteFully agree with your thoughts about BNX and JU.
Airport Banja Luka doesnt have money to give subsidies to anyone.Ryanair,Wizz air and Air Serbia are flying on commercial bases without subsidies.BNX - BEG needs to be somekind of PSO
ReplyDeleteAll of them are getting subsidies! Don't talk nonsense!
DeleteDo you have any facts?
DeleteThere are no direct subsidies, just lower taxes per passenger ...
DeleteGreat trip report. You perfectly described Belgrade Airport
ReplyDelete+1000
DeleteI couldn’t agree more about the behaviour of the security staff at Belgrade airport. They give orders as if they are prison wardens! Once I told them that the requests in English MUST end with “please” . Otherwise they sound as if they rudely order you to do something. They just looked at me with a blank expression.
ReplyDeleteWhilst I do not think we should allow this to turn into a discussion on airport staff, personally I am have always found it ok. Yeah not a lot of smiles, but at least its very efficient in my experience.
DeleteInteresting trip report, thank you.
ReplyDeleteI don't know why people has such negative prejudice on turboprops. ATR 72-600 is very quiet actually. I have 184 cm and have no seating issues in it. For a short regional routes like BEG-VIE or BEG-BNX ATR is a perfect type both capacity and economy wise.
Fully agrew. ATR72-200 was loud but ATR76 is really quite airplane.
DeleteB777 is much more loud.
Problem is when the send it on longer routes, like Prague, Krakow..
Delete@anon 12:00
DeleteKrakow, Prague wouldn't exist non-stop from BEG otherwise. That unless some other carrier steps in. So it's a choice to fly 2h non-stop in ATR or to take transfer. At the end of the day JU makes profit flying ATR. With E -jet fleet rising we will see more regional rotations with jet plane. Like OTP. If there is demand ofc.
I am 187 cm and I have absolutely no problem with the seats in ATR.
DeleteI am 1.82cm and I have an issue with ATR seat pitch.
DeleteAnd it isn't just a JU issue, I have flown with Olympic ATRs and it was just as bad.
I flew Air Serbia BEG-LJU and thoroughly enjoyed it: my friend and I were both 183 and 90+ kg and didn’t feel cramped at all. Excellent seats, too.
DeleteGreat report and a very accurate reflection of the situation at BNX and BEG. I hope someone, somehow, will take action so we can start catching up with the rest of the world.
ReplyDeleteGreat report --- thank you. BEG airport and AirSerbia have so much potential, and it really saddens me that the people working for these companies have zero experience with regards to proper customer interaction and treatment. I live in CH, and normally during summers I have always flown ZRH-OHD via BEG, but after last summer never, ever again.
ReplyDeleteOffering good customer service is not our strongest characteristic.
DeleteSadly in aviation it leaves a very bad impression to people visiting our region.
Not flying through BEG as the easiest connection between ZRH and OHD only due to some rude personal you see once and never again is not very smart decision.
DeleteI fly twice per month to BEG and I have never expirienced it. However I believe there must be some.
I agree. I havent seen any cases of 'rudeness' per se in Belgrade airport. I'm from London and i fly in and out of Belgrade 5-6 times a year and have rarely had issues.
DeleteI used BEG airport about 6-7 times and never experienced rudeness. Many gasto people are quite sensitive when visiting ex-yu countries and interpret things too negative. I can't believe it was that bad to completely avoid the airport.
DeleteVery bad report. Guy flies Ryanair, cries for Wizz, but finds seat pich on JU's ATR problematic. 😂😂 Totally delulu
DeleteComments about Belgrade airport are extremely subjective. When your home airport is one of the largest in the world, everything else seems small and wrong. Recent trip report talked about passport control at Rome airport. Belgrade is far superior in that respect. Bad trip report
DeleteIts not a bad trip report at all. All reports are people's views. There is nothing wrong with that at all.
DeleteThere is if most people had more objective experience. One-off experiences happen, but people generally look for objective reports, not biased or with some agenda. When your report calls Flydubai delusional and claims Wizz offers the same, when you claim ATR on a 40min flight is very loud, readers know report is not from objective and knowledgeable source.
Delete@16:54 all opinions are subjective, but if majority of people with experience have similar opinion, that means its valid...And you don',t even need to be specialist, or experienced traveler, but only not to be blind to see that Belgrade airport looks like dark cave..And very cheap materials..Ugly airport, thats true however you want to be positive,but when something is ugly, its ugly..
Delete+1000
Delete@19:19 Али ништа од тога аутор није написао у свом путопису о Аеродрому Београд. То је све твоја малограђанштина.
DeleteHi all, I'm the author (I.G.), thank you for your comments!
DeleteThis is a personal travel report, and as rightfully pointed, it is subjective. No one is "crying" for anything, apart from lack of your vocabulary maybe.
I'm 190cm tall and for me, when seated next to a guy of the same size, it was not comfortable to fly on this plane. The end.
I fly with all airlines be it Ryanair, Air Serbia, Singapore Airlines, Wizz, Ethiopean or Emirates. What matters for me is the connections, i.e. how fast I can be at my end destination.
In case of Banja Luka (e.g. destination) there are no other options but: Ryanair, Wizz or Air Serbia. Ryanair (Lauda to be precise) flight from Vienna was btw great! They use the same terminal, no bus gates, 40min to BL.
Air Serbia's ATR just doesn't compare. In case someone missed my point, I would love to see Air Serbia in Banja Luka in the same volume as in 2013 for example (you can google this).
At BEG, there are probably very nice people who love their job. However, I have been to over 50 countries and even more airports and no where have I seen so much entitlement and lack of training. Again, I'm holding back with oversharing, but simply, they can be much better.
Cheers.
@23:04 well, you can say whatever you want, but people have eyes, and that`s it...I personally visited probably more than 50 mid-size airports all over the world ( so not talking about big ones that we cannot compare with BEG) and BE|G is definitely one of the ugliest, and considering that its newly refurbished , that`s even worse...its dark cave
DeleteWhat makes you think I didn't visit more airports than you? No one claims BEG is among the best, but only small number of extremely prejudiced would claim it's one of the worst/ugliest.
DeleteI didn't say that BEG was one of the worst..I don't think that BEG stuff is bad, or that they are not efficient..On the contrary, I think that BEG employees do pretty good job, and that security and passport control are done pretty fast and professional..But I said that is one of the ugliest, like dark cave and made with very cheap materials..Can you really argue with something that everyone can see?
DeleteI travelled on the Banja Luka–Belgrade route some years ago (when there was still a train from Zagreb to Sarajevo), and the airport hasn’t changed much. Plus, I agree with you—more flights to Belgrade would be nice for better connectivity to the Air Serbia network.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the very interesting report! Agree about the border crossing between Croatia and BIH. Especially the one in Gradiška is horrible.
ReplyDeleteThe two need proper connection. There are no trains and the bus option is either 7 hours via corridor or unknown time via 4 borders...
ReplyDeleteI'd say 3x daily BEG-BNX, 5x weekly INI-BNX and 2x weekly KVO-BNX. Subsidised of course.
Three times a day? Are u mad. Why should serbian tax payers pay for empty aircraft. Kraljevo BL? My gosh...leta build some trains
DeleteWith 3x daily flights between BNX and BEG, you would actually generate more demand. A lot of 'drivers' would consider switching to flying, which is not viable with 2 weekly flights. Plus, you would offer proper connections to entire JU network. People like the author of this TR would not consider driving to places like SJJ.
DeleteAs for KVO, this would be a connection between western Srpska and central Serbia which is non-existant now. If wasting taxpeyers money, I'd rather have BL, Prijedor and entire Vrbas connected with Kraljevo, Krusevac, Pazar and Kragujevac, rather then obscure routes such as INI-HHN and CGN which should not be subsidied.
Obscure routes to Germany? You might think demand can be 'created' between BL ans BG but not enough for 3 flights a day. Have you any idea how small BiH is? And as for flights between Kraljevo and Banja Luka its just madness. Keep dreaming but people who wish to travel that route can get in their car and brave the roads.
DeleteAgain, you are right from the pure capitalist perspective. The same logic that destroyed effective public transport in USA.
DeleteI was referring to cultural, political and economic connection between 2 distant Serbian regions. In the same way that you have 2x daily ATR flights between Dublin and Donegal where the avg load is just 15 pax. It is unacceptable that Belgraders find it easier to go on a weekend trip to Berlin, Zurich or Barcelona rather than BL. In fact, the only day-trip option between the two cities is to spend 14 hours on a bus!
Even BEG-INI could work with 2x daily PSO flights, until the railway is sorted.
Take a bus man. Serbia and Bosnia are not rich enough to fund empty flights just to promote aviatiom connections. What world do you think the Serbian tax payers live in? A very poor one last time i checked when it comes to schools, roads, trains etc. so nice idea but rubbish reality.
Delete"Unexceptable?" Lol
DeleteBNX-BEG-VIE-DXB. Might have taken a bus from Banja Luka to Vienna instead of having these transfers and unnecessary hours spent at airports.
ReplyDeleteHi, I'm the author (I.G.). The bus from BL to Vienna is 'allegedly' 8h, but with the Croatian border nowadays it's probably at least 10 hours. It was less time to get to Vienna like this even with the 6h layover.
DeleteWe're on Aviation website, I am trying to encourage flying, as I'm not a bus enthusiast at all :)
Great trip report, one of the best. I had no idea that Banja Luka airport was in such bad shape.
ReplyDeleteLooking at the pics, airport has car park, taxi, car rental, bus drop off, outdoor terrace, coffee shop or a restaurant, duty free shop. In the same range as Mostar or Tuzla, ahead of Kraljevo or Maribor. Last year Banja Luka had almost half a million passengers, far ahead of Nis, Tuzla, Ohrid and Rijeka.
DeleteWell, all of it listed above is really there on BNX, but you should visit it on Fridays and Sundays/Mondays, when several LCCs land and depart in just a couple of hours - it looks worse than the oldest bus station. Overcrowded, not enough space inside the building so people must stay outside (not nice on hot or rainy days), parking machine line streching up to 30 m, closing the building entrance doors when rainy (there is no canopy, what makes a problem for people waiting for incoming passengers to exit the "building" after custom clearence), only one (1) parking exit ramp, often jammed, because many drivers are not avare of the fact that there is no more "kiss and fly" 15 minutes free of charge, approaching the exit ramp without paid parking etc... Shortly, to many frustration sources for such a facility ...
DeleteSame comments were posted for Nis before expansion. Now that is has been expanded, comments claim it's way too big for the number of passengers :D
DeleteBanja Luka has a "good" problem. It's time for BNX expansion, but it's better to have more passengers than Nis, Tuzla, Ohrid and Rijeka than to have nice airport like Morava or Maribor with almost no passengers :D
Excellent report, as if I wrote it. You are right about Banka Luka, and I also mention the tennis courts of 25 million, but the government "earned" money there...Unfortunately, things will not change for the better, because the current government cannot "earn" at the airport... Greetings!
ReplyDelete"Dubai seemed like a bargain compared to Belgrade. " The audacity to write this. Nice report, btw.
ReplyDeleteI agree. Great report. Clear and honest personal views of a trip/place/airport/airline are what we need. Well done
ReplyDelete