Ryanair has said it aims to continue growing strongly in the Balkans, with its CEO, Michael O’Leary, recently writing off Wizz Air as a challenger. Ryanair operates in four out of seven markets in the former Yugoslavia, the exceptions being Slovenia, Macedonia, and Kosovo. Wizz Air is currently the largest low cost carrier in Pristina, Macedonia and Serbia, with Ryanair having the upper hand in Croatia and Montenegro. It will overtake Wizz Air in Bosnia and Herzegovina this year to become the country’s largest low cost carrier, with close to 200.000 seats on the Bosnian market. Commenting ..read more

Dubrovnik will play host to another major aviation conference this year, with the Southeast Europe Aviation Network to be held in the coastal city on May 29. It marks the third dedicated gathering for the aviation industry in Southeast Europe, following successful events in Ljubljana in 2022 and Belgrade in 2023. Speakers this year include Air Serbia’s CEO, Jiri Marek, the CEO of Croatia’s ETF Airways Stjepan Bedić, CEO of Trade Air, Marko Cvijin, the General Managers of airports across Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, and Montenegro, representatives from Turkish Airlines, Ethiopian ..read more

NEWS FLASH Air Montenegro has cancelled its planned new service between Podgorica and Munich, which was to launch on June 2. Tickets for the two weekly flights, which have been on sale since December, have been terminated. "As a responsible company that prioritises the needs of passengers, as well as market demand, and which in these and similar situations always acts after conducting detailed analysis, we use the opportunity to apologise to our valued passengers", Air Montenegro said. EX-YU Aviation News ..read more

China’s President Xi Jinping has called on for the introduction of more flights from the country to Serbia. Speaking in Belgrade yesterday, Mr Xi said, “China welcomes plans for Serbia to introduce direct flights between Belgrade and Shanghai. We encourage airlines from both sides to launch more flights between the two countries, as well as direct flights between Belgrade and Guangzhou”. Air Serbia has already announced plans to launch services to Shanghai in November or December this year, although tickets for the service itself won’t be put on sale until the carrier’s third Airbus A330-20 ..read more

NEWS FLASH Zagreb Airport saw its busiest April on record by handling 369.302 passengers, representing an increase of 14.7% on last year. The number of aircraft movements grew 8.9% to 4.277. During the January - April period, Zagreb Airport welcomed 1.165.055 travellers through its doors, up 14.6% on the same period last year, or an additional 148.060 customers. As recently reported, Zagreb Airport is expected to record strong growth throughout the summer based on planned capacity levels. Zagreb's largest airlines by scheduled seat capacity April 2024 EX-YU Aviation News ..read more

NEWS FLASH Air Serbia recorded its busiest April since launching operations under its new name in 2013. The carrier handled 303.189 passengers during the month, up 7% on last year. It marks the first time the airline has carried over 300.000 travellers in April. During the first four months of the year, it welcomed 1.2 million passengers onboard its aircraft. “Last year was record-breaking for us, and already at the beginning of 2024, we noticed that the trend of increased passenger numbers is continuing. The results achieved so far show that all four months of the current year have been m ..read more

Markets across the former Yugoslavia are poised for a mixed summer based on existing capacity levels on scheduled flights during the second and third quarters. Notably, Wizz Air’s grounding of over forty aircraft due to engine inspections, and the subsequent cuts on a number of Eastern European markets including Macedonia and Serbia, will have an impact on the pair over the summer. Macedonia’s scheduled capacity is expected to contract by some 5% on last year, with 107.000 fewer seats than during the same period in 2023. On the other hand, Serbia’s capacity levels will remain flat, with min ..read more

NEWS FLASH airBaltic has inaugurated its seasonal two weekly flights between Riga and Skopje, marking its entry onto the Macedonian market. The launch follows several meetings and workshops aimed at promoting the country in the Baltics for tourism purposes. airBaltic is also targeting transfer passengers from Macedonia to Northern Europe and has scheduled its flights to and from Skopje to connect onto its vast network. “We used to be really big in Russia and Ukraine. A fairly big portion of our traffic came from those countries. Approximately 10% -1 \5% of all traffic was from Russia and U ..read more

NEWS FLASH Croatia Airlines and Lufthansa’s latest leisure subsidiary Discover Airlines (formerly branded as Eurowings Discover) have inked a reciprocal codeshare agreement. In a statement, Discover Airlines said, “Our two airlines have just signed a codeshare agreement to multiply the choice of travel options for our passengers. The agreement now enables end-to-end booking processes, seamless connections and choosing from an even wider range of destinations and departure times for passengers of both airlines”. The pair are yet to disclose which routes will fall under the codeshare. This s ..read more

Air Serbia is working towards reducing its dependence on wet-leased aircraft but has noted that a growing number of airlines are bringing in capacity operated by other carriers due to the current state of the aviation industry. A wet-lease is a leasing arrangement whereby the lessor provides an aircraft, complete crew, maintenance and insurance (ACMI) to another airline. Speaking at the recent Southeast Europe Aviation Summit, Air Serbia’s CEO, Jiri Marek, said, “If you look across Europe, wet-leasing has become inevitable for the time being. We are sometimes criticised that we are using to ..read more