PREMIUM
The year 2020 has been the worst in the history of aviation by various metrics, as stakeholders across the industry struggled for survival because of the Covid-19 pandemic and the consequent travel bans. However, people flew far and wide from former Yugoslav markets. Data for indirect travel to and from EX-YU airports indicate passengers either originated or were bound to places such as Noumea, Punta Arenas, Papeete and Alta. The following is a selection of exotic or far-away markets flown to or from cities in the former Yugoslavia last year. Many of them were conducted in January and February, prior to the global lockdowns and travel bans.
Serbia
Among the more peculiar destinations travelled to from Belgrade last year was Ushuaia in Argentina. The city of some 57.000 is the country’s most southern. Data indicates a total of fifteen passengers flew from Belgrade to Ushuaia last year but did not return. However, they did not all travel the same way but all had to make two stops to reach their final destination, with the second stop being Buenos Aires for all fifteen. Three passengers opted to fly with Air France from Belgrade to Paris, continuing on to the Argentinian capital before boarding an Aerolineas Argentinas flight to Ushuaia, the latter being the same for all fifteen travellers. Two passengers flew with Air Serbia to Amsterdam and then with KLM to Buenos Aires. While two each opted for Lufthansa via Frankfurt and Alitalia via Rome. Overall, combinations involving Air France were the most commonly used. In total, 598 passengers flew between Argentina and Serbia last year. Other far-away destinations flown in 2020 include Noumea (two passengers) in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, as well as twenty travellers headed to Papeete, the capital of French Polynesia.
Croatia
Three passengers flew from Zagreb to Port Vila, the capital of Vanuatu in the South Pacific Ocean. In order to reach the archipelago, the travellers had to endure a long trip, flying from Zagreb to Sydney in Australia via Doha with Qatar Airways and then continuing their journey with Air Vanuatu. They were also the only travellers to fly between Croatia and Vanuatu last year. Other exotic destinations included Miri in Malaysia, which saw a group of 27 passengers fly via Kuala Lumpur with Malaysia Airlines, and continue with Qatar Airways via Doha to Zagreb.
Slovenia
It might come as a surprise that five passengers flew between Ljubljana and Punta Arenas in Chile in 2020, however, the city is known within the former Yugoslavia. The southern Chilean city has one of the biggest Croatian communities in South America. Most migrated in the nineteenth century and established roots. The passengers from Ljubljana reached Punta Arenas with Air France and LATAM, flying first to Paris, then continuing to Santiago de Chile and finally onwards to their final destination. Other exotic points flown to or from Ljubljana last year included eight travellers to El Calafate in Argentina and five to Reunion in the Indian Ocean.
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Two passengers departed the picturesque Caribbean island of Martinique to reach Sarajevo. In order to do so, they flew from Martinique to Paris with Air France and then continued their journey with Croatia Airlines to Zagreb and onwards to Sarajevo. Data indicates there were also six passengers flying to the Norwegian town of Alta, out of a total of 2.601 passengers flying between Norway and Bosnia. Further afield, Sarajevo Airport also logged passengers headed to Denpasar Airport, which serves the popular tourist destination of Bali.
Macedonia
Sangster International Airport, the leading tourism gateway to the island of Jamaica, registered fifteen passengers heading to Skopje. The fifteen travellers did not fly together as a group, instead opting for different ways to reach their final destination. They primarily used JetBlue to fly to New York and then continued their journey with Turkish Airlines to Istanbul. On the other hand, four travellers also headed to New York with JetBlue but connected with Air Serbia via Belgrade. Other far-away markets reached from Skopje in 2020 included Honiara, the capital of the Solomon Islands in the Pacific, as well as Anchorage in Alaska.
Montenegro
Three passengers flew from Curitiba in Brazil to Podgorica last year. They embarked on their long journey by boarding a LATAM flight to Sao Paolo, then from Sao Paolo to Rome with Alitalia and completed their trip by flying on Montenegro Airlines’ service to Podgorica, which was codeshared by Alitalia at the time. Twenty travellers flew between Montenegro and Barbados last year, while three passengers journeyed from Reykjavik’s Keflavik Airport in Iceland to Podgorica. Two reached the Montenegrin capital by initially flying to Amsterdam with Icelandair and then continuing their journey with Air Serbia via Belgrade. Another passenger opted to fly to London Heathrow with Icelandair and then also continued their journey with the Serbian national carrier.
