Ryanair, Turkish Airlines and Lufthansa will record the largest year-on-year reductions in available capacity across the former Yugoslavia this coming winter season, which begins on October 25 and runs until March 27.
Ryanair will offer 225.092 fewer seats, taking its total below one million. Most of the reduction stems from the termination of its Niš operations and the suspension of its Sarajevo flights for the winter. Turkish Airlines will cut 75.029 seats as it reduces services to Podgorica, Pristina, Skopje and Zagreb, and suspends flights to Tivat. Lufthansa’s capacity will fall by 51.792 seats following the temporary suspension of Munich - Ljubljana flights, the termination of Frankfurt - Skopje services and reductions on its Zagreb routes. The use of larger aircraft elsewhere in the region will offset part of that decline.
Ryanair will account for the largest capacity reductions in both Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. In Croatia, Lufthansa will make the biggest cut, primarily because its Munich - Zagreb flights will be taken over by Air Dolomiti under the latter’s own code and flight numbers in January and February of next year, while overall frequencies will be halved during that period.
Air Dolomiti will record the largest reduction in Slovenia. It operated services on Lufthansa’s behalf last winter but will not serve Ljubljana this winter. It will be followed by Swiss. Lufthansa itself will offer more seats in Slovenia than last winter despite suspending Munich - Ljubljana flights, thanks to the use of larger Airbus A321 aircraft on its Frankfurt service.
Lufthansa will also make the largest capacity cut in Macedonia following the termination of Frankfurt- Skopje service this summer. In Montenegro, Turkish Airlines will record the biggest reduction as it scales back Podgorica operations and suspends winter flights to Tivat. At Pristina, locally based GP Aviation will make the largest cut after reducing its network and frequencies amid the opening of Wizz Air’s base at the airport.
How big is the cut of Turkish Airlines in Skopje?
ReplyDeleteThere were 14 weekly flights to Skopje last year. However, this winter there will be 12 weekly flights.
DeleteFrom 14 to 12 flights per week
DeleteIt was published last week
Deletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2026/09/turkish-airlines-further-reduces-ex-yu.html
Crazy to see Ryanair which grew the most last year now having the biggest cuts.
ReplyDeleteWhy are they leaving Nish?
DeleteBecause the refuelling provider at the airport is under US sanctions. You had articles here about it.
Deletelol if thats the reason then also Wizzair had to leave ...
DeleteThat is the reason and the airline has officially announced it. Or do you think Ryanair which is very public whenever they are leaving for any other reason is now hiding that out of love for Serbia?
DeleteNo, Wizz Air does not have to leave. Wizz Air is happy with using an intermediary fuel provider in Belgrade. Some airlines are not. In Belgrade too, like KLM, no longer take fuel in Belgrade. Airlines have different risk assessments. Ryanair was not comfortable with using an intermediary in Nis and left. Wizz Air is happy to do it.
^ he formed an opinion in his mind and whatever rational thing you say won't work. You are wasting your time.
DeleteKLM and Norwegian refuel now in BEG. They started doing so when the government secured an intermediary.
DeleteAnd Ryanair does not feel comfortable doing so in Nis. Or are you agreeing with 9.39 that there is a big conspiracy but that Ryanair, known for shouting off the top of their lungs about everything, is keeping quiet and a secret?
DeleteRyanair and rational ... give me a break
DeleteRyanair and very successful
Deletethey surely werent too succesful at INI with having only 2 year round routes
Deleteof all the airlines that fly to Serbia only Ryanair seems to have a "problem" with refueling
same as the magla with SJJ
Actually the refuelling is a major problem and with time will most probably become an even bigger issue if the situation is not resolved. Transavia cancelled its planned new flights to Belgrade because of this and it is not good for attracting new airlines at all. And no, Ryanair didn't mention "magla" as the reason for their withdrawal from Sarajevo. It straight out said it was for commercial reasons - ie their performance was not good.
DeleteIt will be interesting to see if GP Aviation survives the winter.
ReplyDeleteIt's not looking good.
DeleteFunny when you think that most comments here for ages have argued that GP is beloved of their old fashioned way of doing things and that was the reason Wizz is reluctant to enter the market.
DeleteNow that Wizz opens few routes everybody wonders whether it is going to kill an Airline of 1.5 mln PAX in a matter of months!
Oh yes the baggage thing
DeleteI agree that GP planes are old and bad, their booking websites are terrible etc etc, and i have personally never used them, but they were not expensive. I did multiple comparison of Wizz from SKP and GP from PRN on same routes (similar or same dates), and with checked bags, and GP was competitive. So that's why they were able to stay in the market this long.
DeleteThere is a big leap from reduced frequencies to predicting bankruptcy within months...
Delete@ 10:01
DeleteNothing competitive about GP.
Cheapest ticket with them was rarely under 200EUR. Connectivity was horrible. Scandinavian destinations, or even LJU for instance was on a 1x a week frequency.
Ease of booking via Wizz and via the GP Website is just not comparable!
It is such a long, long list....
Only plus is the 20kg luggage - but then again, who needs 20kg of luggage everytime you fly...
@10:01- I flew with them one way from osl to Prishtina this summer. Reason why the ticket was 69€ inc taxes because of poor load. It was an airbus A319 bulgarian chartered air bulgaria and spoke with the stewardess. This route was suposed to operate from march 2026 but because of poor loads all the flights to mid june was cancelled. I dont agree on the 20kg bag allowence and it got hard competition from norwegian and wizz air to skopje and tirana even during the season only 5 flights was fully loaded.
DeleteFR is generally cutting capacity across Europe this winter.
ReplyDeleteIt’s a matter of run out hedged fuel. Finally
DeleteFrankfurt–Skopje is the biggest loss in my opinion. A hub route like FRA offers connections that cannot be replaced by additional LCC flights.
ReplyDeleteYes, and Vienna cannot be compared to FRA in terms of connectivity.
DeleteAbsolutely agree
DeleteSo funny to read that gp aviation will reduce because of Wizz Airs new routes in Prishtina. I bet them bankcrupt within 2-4 months owing german state 9 million euros due to tax obligations and almost 3 thousand claims of cancellations they have not refunded or lost cases against passengers. Just a new Belle Air scene at PRN. Hope to see more Wizz air routes at PRN
ReplyDeleteI think they would have reduced regardless of Wizz Air. They cut a lot this summer as per reports here. This was why PRN had a decline for a few months in passenger numbers. I think they have many internal problems.
Deleteit doesnt say they cut BECAUSE of Wizz but AMID.
DeleteThey started cuting their flights even this summer
Interesting numbers. Thanks admin
ReplyDeleteHope we see biggest increases too.
DeleteIt will be a terrible winter for INI.
ReplyDeleteand SJJ
DeleteNis has some of its capacity replaced by Air Serbia. But its nowhere near the FR flights.
DeleteThey were never occupied, that why they left
DeleteIn RJK every winter is terrible. Summers as well lately...
DeleteWhat do they mean in article when writimg about Air Dolomiti not serving Ljubljana and then: “ It will be followed by Swiss.” Is Swiss also reducing Ljubljana?
ReplyDeleteIt means Swiss will have the second largest decrease in capacity.
DeleteYes there are fewer flights from January. 7 instead of 10 in January, 12 instead of 14 in February.
DeleteSo they really increased LJU operations last year, but it didn't work out, so they are reducing it again?
DeleteI don't think it necessarily has something to do with working out passenger wise. Airlines are looking to cut costs this winter any way they can. If they can make more money elsewhere they are going to use the plane there. It does not mean the extra frequencies last winter were empty or loss making.
DeleteNovember, first part of December, second part of January and February are traditionally the slowest months where almost no one from Slovenia flies. You see airlines adjusting these schedules in the mentioned periods every year.
DeleteIn December and February a lot of people does fly for holidays to warmer places but November and January are especially slow. Not neccesarily from Ljubljana aiport because a lot of people fly towards the East from Vienna/Venice and use Ljubljana mostly for FlyDubai and Turkish flights.
DeleteI see this as an optimisation in LH group. As it says in the article LH will use A321 and fuel most of the traffic via FRA.
DeleteEveryone is reducing in the region, probably economic perspectives are not favourable either locally or in western Europe.
ReplyDeleteWhat about JU? Any miracle that no reductions so far this winter are announced or they have really managed to navigate around the storm and not br affected?
They have significant growth this winter. They have not cut anything. Unlike previous years, they have announced their increases a week ago.
Deletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2026/09/air-serbia-adds-over-100-weekly-flights.html
And just to correct you, Air Serbia has had growth for several winters. Them making adjustments compared to what they originally planned does not actually mean they had an overall reduction.
Also I remember a very similar comment like yours for this summer and how it was inevitable that Air Serbia would follow and cut routes. It never happened.
"Everyone is reducing in the region"
DeleteThis article identifies the airlines making the largest cuts. It doesn’t say that total capacity across the region is falling.
Actually, they are leaving free space for JU, OU and 4O to jump in. Will they?
DeleteYes, Air Serbia has jumped in and is launching new flights from Nis.
DeleteOU jumping in? Are you for real? 🤣🤣🤣
DeleteFrom a passenger’s point of view, the question is whether fares rise.
ReplyDeleteWizzair have increased the fares I have a feeling
DeleteI was looking yesterday at tickets (various airlines across Europe) and I think they have definitely increased.
DeleteAgreed!
Delete50% no, 100% yes.
DeleteUnfortunately, with these news I can see Sarajevo going under 2 million this year.
ReplyDeleteRyanair’s winter suspension will affect the final months of this year, but most of the winter season falls in 2027. I wouldn’t draw a conclusion about Sarajevo’s full year 2026 total from this schedule alone.
DeleteAre the cuts spread across the whole winter, or mostly concentrated in January and February?
ReplyDeleteWinter is coming!
ReplyDeleteWhen airlines with a significant part of their fleets comprised of fuel efficient aircraft like NEOs and MAXs are cutting flights you know things are hard.
And airlines with fleets comprised of ola generation aircraft are going to be particularly hard hit.
I remember reading the same in March and April about this summer.
Delete^
DeleteYou should sent your rose tinted glasses predictions to the boardrooms of LHG and TK.
I'm sure they need it.
Jetfuek prices are more than double now than a year ago.
DeleteI don't know of a single major airline in Europe that hasn't announced cuts in its flying for winter 26/27.
Announcing some cuts here and there does not amount to overall cut across entire network.
DeleteThey are not cutting here and there.
DeleteBetter believe what their leadership says publicly since almost all of them are public traded companies and have to announce changes that significantly impact their operations.
Yet there is still a record number of flights and seats in Europe this winter.
DeleteOh my God dežurni negativci. Always doom and gloom. Winter is coming. (Get a more contemporary reference btw.) Bankruptcy. Collapse. You do know that not all of the outside world functions as we do in the Balkans? That not every temporary crisis means total destruction, right? People and airlines adapt and move on.
DeleteAircraft efficiency is only part of the calculation. An airline can have a modern fleet and still cut a flight if winter demand won’t support the fare it needs. I would be careful about treating these schedules as a forecast for every airline with older aircraft.
DeleteLooking at the photo, does Ryanair have any flights left to Frankfurt?
ReplyDeleteIt has had
Delete@admin do you have the total number of seats Lufthansa will offer in LJU during the winter compared to last year? I am curious since its written that it will be more even after the suspension of Munich.
ReplyDeleteThere are currently 83.032 Lufthansa seats this winter, up from 69.132 or 20%. Frankfurt capacity will increase close to 60%. Do note that Air Dolomiti operated part of last winter's Munich - Ljubljana flights.
DeleteAre a321s /a321neos scheduled on all opertions during winter?
DeleteThanks, so if we also count the Dolomiti flights as part of Lufthansa's Germany operations, last winter there was still more offered seats but the reduction will be somewhat offset this year by the FRA increase. Not too bad.
DeleteRyanair, Turkish and Lufthansa make biggest cuts on EX-YU markets, but Belgrade is not affected by TK and LH cuts. Nice flex by BEG.
ReplyDelete