PREMIUM
Podgorica Airport had a twofold impact on its operations last year with the coronavirus pandemic, as well as the collapse of Montenegro Airlines, although the latter occurred in the final days of 2020. Despite this, the busiest unserved route out of Podgorica both last year, as well as during the pre-pandemic 2019, was New York. In fact, routes with the largest volume of indirect traffic changed little over the two-year period. Podgorica Airport handled 674.366 passengers in 2020, down 79.6% on the previous year. It was served by more airlines and offered more destinations than its usually busier counterpart in Tivat, which was severely impacted by an entry ban imposed on Serbian and Russian nationals for the better part of last year.
The list below represents the total number of indirect passengers that flew to/from Podgorica to/from any airport located within a certain city (this includes the total for points which have multiple international airports, such as New York and Beijing). Furthermore, 2020 data only includes cities that were not served for the entirety of the year, therefore, routes discontinued as a result of Montenegro Airlines’ demise are not listed.
Top ten unserved routes to/from Podgorica in 2019
Podgorica is one of the busiest markets for flights to the Big Apple in the former Yugoslavia. New York was also the busiest unserved route for airports in Zagreb, Skopje and Pristina, however, the Montenegrin capital had more indirect passengers to the largest city in the United States than either of the three. On Podgorica's busiest unserved route, Air Serbia dominated as the largest feeder airline, transporting 12.285 travellers between the two cities, or 41.6% of all traffic. It was followed by Turkish Airlines and Austrian.
Overall, the Turkish carrier and its hub in Istanbul were the main transfer airline and connecting airport for travellers flying to and from the Montenegrin capital. Air Serbia was outperformed mainly because connecting passengers flying via Belgrade were divided between both the Serbian carrier, as well as Montenegro Airlines, with which Air Serbia had a wideranging codeshare agreement.
Top five busiest connecting carriers to/from Podgorica in 2019
Top five busiest connecting airports to/from Podgorica in 2019
In 2020 the top unserved routes out of Podgorica changed little, although traffic volumes were significantly down. Notably, Zagreb made it in the top ten, with Croatia Airlines shelving plans to launch flights between the two cities in 2020. Furthermore, Dubai, which reopened to tourists from June onwards, was also a popular choice. Flydubai maintains limited seasonal summer flights to Tivat. Air Serbia's share of connecting passengers eroded last year, with the airline not flying to Montenegro for over five months, far longer than its competitors.
Top ten unserved routes to/from Podgorica in 2020
Top five busiest connecting airlines to/from Podgorica in 2020
Top five busiest connecting airports to/from Podgorica in 2020
