PREMIUM
Air Serbia will see indirect competition on several of its top performing connecting destinations to and from Zagreb as low cost carrier Ryanair continues to grow out of the Croatian capital. In particular, Ryanair’s plan to commence services from Zagreb to Podgorica, Sofia, Thessaloniki and Paphos in Cyprus could impact Air Serbia’s loads. Around half of all the carrier's passengers on flights to and from the Croatian capital are fed from other cities in its network. The airline handled 48.822 travellers on its Zagreb service in 2019, out of which 25.018, or 51.2%, connected through Belgrade to or from other destinations. Overall, Air Serbia was Zagreb’s eleventh busiest in terms of transfer volumes in both 2019 and 2020.
Podgorica was Air Serbia’s second busiest connecting route to and from Zagreb in 2019 with 2.731 passengers. It was followed closely by Sofia and Thessaloniki. Although the Serbian carrier does not fly to Paphos, it serves Cyprus through Larnaca, which was also amongst its top connecting routes to and from the Croatian capital. Of the four aforementioned destinations, Air Serbia handled 63.1% of all of Zagreb's Podgorica traffic, 13.6% of Sofia traffic, 54.4% of Thessaloniki traffic and 14.9% of Larnaca traffic. Even though Air Serbia will offer more frequencies on these routes via Belgrade than Ryanair, which will maintain two weekly rotations on each, the prospect of a nonstop flight at a significantly lower fare would be reason enough for most passengers to opt flying with the budget carrier.
Air Serbia's top O&D destinations to/from Zagreb in 2019
Air Serbia's top O&D destinations to/from Zagreb in 2020
Air Serbia will have to put a greater emphasis on its Zagreb operations if it wishes to improve its share of transfer traffic from the city. It held a connecting traffic market share of just 3% in 2019 and 2% in 2020 and was outperformed by almost all European carriers serving the city. The Serbian carrier launched operations to Zagreb in 2013 with an ambitious double daily morning and evening schedule, aimed at providing transfer passengers seamless connectivity via the carrier’s Belgrade hub. However, with a number of new airlines launching nonstop operations to the Croatian capital over the past few years and Air Serbia undergoing a restructuring in 2016, which saw it discontinue a handful of routes and severely reduce frequencies on others, the number of flights was decreased, and passenger numbers declined. Figures only began to recover in 2019 in the lead up to the coronavirus pandemic.
Air Serbia's passenger performance on Belgrade - Zagreb - Belgrade route by year
