Air Serbia handled 2.062.488 passengers during the first half of the year, representing an increase of 2.9% on the same period in 2025, or an additional 57.367 travellers. The two-millionth customer of the year was handled on June 27, three days earlier than a year ago. At the same time, the company operated 23.225 flights, over 1.000 more than in the first six months of 2025. Over the second quarter alone, between April and June, the flag carrier welcomed close to 1.25 million passengers onboard its aircraft and operated 13.192 flights.
Air Serbia’s most in-demand regional destinations were Tivat, Ljubljana and Podgorica. In Western Europe, the strongest demand was recorded for Zurich, Paris, Vienna, London, Barcelona, Amsterdam and Milan. Within the broader Euro-Mediterranean network, Athens, Larnaca and Istanbul stood out, while New York was the airline’s most sought-after long-haul destination.
During the third quarter, Air Serbia has made several adjustments to its network. As previously reported, the airline will temporarily reduce frequencies to Guangzhou over a two-month period, offsetting the capacity reduction by adding flights on selected European routes, including Tivat, which will see up to 43 weekly services in August. Overall, over the past week, the carrier has scheduled one additional weekly flight across its European network in July, four in August and three in September compared to its initial plan, while it will have an extra 38 to 47 weekly flights year-on-year.
Commenting on the results, Air Serbia’s CEO, Jiri Marek, said, “We’ve had an extremely successful first half of the year, marked by stable demand growth and strong results - we welcomed our two-millionth passenger earlier than last year. We are extremely proud that at the very beginning of the second quarter, specifically starting April 30, we commenced the first flights to new, attractive destinations such as Santorini, Baku, Munich, Toronto, Alicante and Brač, confirming that we understand the needs and expectations of our passengers well and successfully respond to their specific tourism and business requirements”. He added, “In addition to network expansion, this quarter also brought a strategic innovation – we introduced the new Elevate loyalty programme, designed to provide our loyal customers with additional benefits and raise the flying experience to an even higher level”.
What are the European routes that have increased. Besides the mentioned Tivat?
ReplyDeleteSVO and LED as far as I can see. These routes must be making them a fortune.
DeleteSVO increased from 21 to 23.
DeleteLED increased from 7 to 8.
TIV increased from 41 to 43.
CAN decreased from 2 to 1.
Oh... from the article I was under the impression they increased pretty much their entire network. So just three destinations in the end. I think there is more room for growth in Spain.
DeleteHow could you have been under that impression? Did you even read it?
Delete"Overall, over the past week, the carrier has scheduled one additional weekly flight across its European network in July, four in August and three in September"
How can 4 extra weekly flights be "pretty much their entire network"? unless you misunderstood, as these are changes from the past week. Not their summer 2026 changes compared to last year.
How many passengers can we expect by the end of the year?
ReplyDeleteThey said just under 5 million
Deletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2026/05/air-serbia-eyes-record-year-shy-of-five.html
Great pic again!
ReplyDeleteI think it's from Pista 011, the angle seems about right. But they don't allow professional cameras so I might be wrong.
DeleteAnother solid set of results. Nearly 3% growth on top of last year's record numbers is nothing to complain about.
ReplyDeleteNot bad considering competition has become much stronger this year, especially from Wizz Air.
DeleteThe increase may only be 2.9%, but after several years of rapid expansion it's natural for growth to moderate. Maintaining momentum is more important than chasing huge percentages.
DeleteI might be the minority but 2.9% for an airline the size of JU is nothing spectacular. It's meh at best. They are not FR, EK, LH... where 2.9% is considered a solid result.
DeleteWith all the additions, Q3 should have minimum growth of around 10%.
What a utter nonsence!
DeleteIt seems here to be easily forgotten the impact of war against Iran on internation air traffic.
So many airlines including OU cancelled many, many flights, the fuel got more expensive and unrealistic people believe 2.9% is not good result.
I am speechless.
I think OU has even bigger pax increase than 2,9% but the cost of it is spectacular. JU also gain some pax from this conflict (in long haul), it really didn’t hurt their pax numbers much. Their finances for sure, everyone suffered from this financially.
DeleteGrowth percentage is completely irrelvant. OU's base number is more than half lower than JU's, making percentile increases much easier.
DeleteWhat does OU cancelling flights have to do with JU numbers?
DeleteShows trending in aviation last few months. Just that
DeleteSo what is the trend this is showing?
Delete43 weekly flights to Tivat in August is incredible.
ReplyDeleteIs it really? It is a leisure route with extremely high demand in peak summer months. That's like saying MUC-PMI demand is incredible.
DeleteWell, there used to be more than 30 daily flights on some summer days in 1992. :)
DeleteDid they introduce some flights with stop at Uzice/Ponikve those years with full scale embargo? It’s like I have some memories or read somewhere?
DeleteNo way, that is unimaginable. Where did you get that info? That is amazing to hear
DeleteIt's true. When Croatia was closed for travel all traffic for the summer was redirected to Tivat.
Delete@12.02 yes
Delete@12:14 'closed for travel' being the euphemism of the day. 43 weekly flights is a lot and reflects Montenegro's bumper tourist season. Tivat airport's remains for this season a total hole however. Embarrassing, particularly to depart from.
DeleteI saw hundreds of clips from TIV this summer and it seems like it's bad, bad, bad.
DeleteChaos seems to be a daily occurrence over there. I don't understand why they don't move some traffic to TGD.
Yeah its not a nice airport. Taxi mafia central also.
Delete@Anonymous 11:12
DeleteWere there really 30 flights on some days in summer 1992? That is just unbelievable. I guess people still had not fully adjusted to the emerging new reality...
The record stands at 34 flights in a single day.
DeleteIn a world with good roads there would never been the need for that
DeleteYou have a good road to Vienna yet we have 6-7 daily flights. The plane is faster and more efficient. Not everyone wants to spend hours driving. Also going by road doesn't mean it's not cheaper than flying.
DeleteIndeed. But the fact remains that road connections have been historically dreadful. Not to mention the rusty sauna on wheels. I love aviation, but i would defiantly rather train connections to CG were modernised with urgency.
DeleteI wonder what the average load factor was.
ReplyDeleteThe number of flights was increased by 4.5% so the average number of pax per flight is lower.
DeleteIt would be interesting to know the loadfactor though too.
You are forgetting that they have much fewer charter flights this year, which generally have high loads.
DeleteThey have also smaller planes. A319 left and E195 arrived.
DeleteAlso GetJet A320 left and BT’s A220 came. Also a downgrade
DeleteYes but in H2 they will have additional A320s.
DeleteOverall they'll still have less A320's compared to last summer. JU isn't replacing them 1 for 1.
DeleteExactly. Last year were 4 GetJet, this year one new in Q2. Second had first flight just yesterday
DeleteYou guys don’t know how LF is calculated obviously.
DeleteLF is not just numberOfPassengers/numberOfSeats.
What is it then?
DeleteReducing Guangzhou while adding more European flights makes sense. Airlines should always move capacity where it generates the best returns.
ReplyDeleteThey should also ask themselves why they had to make those cuts and learn from that experience.
DeleteFive increases in frequency, one decrease. Learn from that 5:1 experience.
DeleteThe loyalty programme was long overdue. I am pleasently surprised that my status match has been completed. On Thursday I flew for the first time under the new frequent flyer number and am happy to say that I got an email the following day with my new points accounted for.
ReplyDeleteGood to hear
DeleteInteresting that Ljubljana is among the top regional destinations.
ReplyDeleteAt some point they planned on sending E90, I think it was on Mondays and Fridays in the morning. Such a shame they gave up on that idea. I see Prague got many E90/E95 flights so hopefully LJU gets it as well.
DeleteMUC seems to be operated by Atr quite often so maybe they can make the switch?
@09:46 well the economic and social links are strong between Belgrade and Ljubljana. Furthermore JU provide excellent regional links from Slovenia to places where direct flights remain unworkable such as Sofia, Bucharest, Thessaloniki.
DeleteI think fast and reliable transfers from LJU is what made JU popular in Slovenia. Hopefully they add the E90/95 soon.
Delete...or a 4th daily
DeleteBravo Air Serbia 🇷🇸🇷🇸🇷🇸
ReplyDeleteWhat's driving ATH to stand out compared to previous years?
ReplyDeleteI guess netowkr growth. I flew BEG-ATH twice this year. Once in January and once just 2 weeks agon (both full). Almost all passengers from Athens were transfers. On my last flight two weeks ago there were passengers to Sofia, Ljubljana, Sarajevo, Dubrovnik, Mostar (big group to Dubrovnik was from US). On my flight in January more than half of the plane was heading to Germany and Zurich. Which goes to show that many experts in the comments here are wrong and that just because some airport has flights to somewhere does not mean other airlines won't be used even with one stop in between.
DeleteYea, I was surprised the redeye ATH-BEG flight was actually full with transfer and not locals looking to save a few bucks (this flight is usually much cheaper than the day one).
Delete@11:32 the 'red-eye' flights are ghastly for point to point travel for all but the most committed of traveller. However for connections they're a vital part of JU's model which they do well.
DeleteI flew Belgrade-Budapest recently and there were a lot of passengers from New York.
JU is profiting from Greek tourism doing extremely well. Also adding those morning/evening departure has freed extra space for transfers on the noon departure.
Delete@13:12 They sure are, but some of us are not swimming in cash and are happy to save some money even with the ghastly flight :)
DeleteTotally! But arriving into Tirana or Sofia or Athens at 02:00 isnt for the casual tourist.
DeleteYeah but like Anon 17.29 said, for many that is the only option since the alternative can be very expensive. Also I think the overall market increased because Aegean also boosted BEG this summer. I think they fly daily now.
DeleteThe introduction of flights in the morning and evening waves was a complete success for JU. First, you free up more places for transfers in the night and afternoon waves, and for P2P passengers, timing is much better because you get more time at the destination. And secondly, you are pressuring Aegean, which carried the most of these passengers. Why leave Athens at noon when you can in the evening.
DeleteAir Serbia should do much more than 2.9% growth
ReplyDeleteYou're saying that as as some statement, wish, demand?
DeleteMaybe as the three?
DeleteWizz outperformed them in H1 which, I think, was expected after bouncing back from unfortunate fleet issues. Also, JU schedules new routes later in the year compared to previous expansion which should bring them better growth % in H2. Long haul is becoming most pressing issue to address… But overall, OK performance in another challenging year.
ReplyDeleteOutperformed them? Are you suggesting they had more passengers than JU? That would be impossible even if every single Wizz flight was sold out.
DeleteWizz is still struggling to restore their own capacity, not to outperform anyone. They would need another 8-10 jets to outperform JU. But that will not discourage you writing BS
Delete@11:49 Agree, Long haul is becoming most pressing issue to address at Wizzair. After Abu Dhabi fiasco and adventure with overestimated A321XLR order, Wizz applied for transatlantic flights as charters during the World Cup. None seem to be operating so far.
DeleteWizz outperformed them when it comes to growth % compared to BEG growth %. Wizz grew faster this year, as expected. In other terms: the gap between the two is smaller this H1 than it was last year.
DeleteWizz growth is expected given their earlier engine issues and capacity reductions. On the other hand, Air Serbia in 2023 had 53 per cent more passengers than in 2022 (adding over 1.4 million passengers in one year), 44 per cent more flights operated compared to 2023 and 23 new destinations. That was not just a postpandemic rebound as they almost reached 2019 levels by the end of 2022. Air Serbia growth comes in spurts and they are capable of beating Wizz growth when opportunity presents itself.
DeleteYes but there is a fundamental difference between the two. JU can grow thanks to transfers while W6 relies only on local demand. That is why Wizz Air growth is even more impressive and it makes you think why wasn't JU able to stimulate it?
DeleteMunich will be a major test for JU. They are attacking two of their main competitors on the market. So far they seem to be failing there, let's see if that changes in the future.
Comment @1:44 was chock full of actual numbers proving Air Serbia can grow faster than Wizz, you got naught in response :D typical zamaliticar answer. Wizz growth now is similar to that other airline from the region with incoming new aircraft, increased capacity and passenger numbers but struggling to show benefits to the bottom line. Nothing to be proud of.
DeleteDo we know what is performance of new Munich route? They started quite optimistic with daily fligths on E jet but last few days we see that ATR is now common on route. Also JU is maybe in price war with LH because they lowered ticket price.
ReplyDeleteIts an important addition to their network and even if it takes time to mature as a route I'm sure it will.
DeleteTough competition on this route.
DeleteLufthansa smacked them really fast with three daily plus Wizz Air has a strong presence in FMM.
DeleteIt will take time for MUC to consolidate and to start doing well. Without daily flights they wouldn't stand a chance.
I knew that is a long shot. Never liked MUC as a destination for JU.
DeleteI've always thought it was a missing destination, along with Warsaw.
DeleteJU like any airlines will need over a year to consolidate the MUC route.
DeleteThey seized the opportunity to jump im, logically LH counter JU arrival.
JU needs to maintain its presence for a few months to start to pick the benefits of it's presence in MUC.
No doubt, but they could earn money on some other side much easier
DeleteNot necessarily. It takes time to build a route, to consolidate and coordinate with your other holdings.
DeleteYes it takes time but here it's a specific case since they are being attacked by both Wizz Air and Lufthansa. In order to survive in that market they will need to invest a lot in marketing, not just n Serbia but in Bavaria as well.
DeleteDowngrading MUC to ATR so soon during the busiest period of the year isn't a good sign y'all.
Better operating every day with a well loaded ATR in the beginning than using an half empty E95.
DeleteEven if the route is not yet profitable, the ATR drastically reduces the costs thus the losses.
It's a big challenge and it needs time and marketing investment