February growth

Strong growth in February as Olympic announces its return

Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport has continued to report significant passenger growth. Last month, Serbia’s main airport handled 162.813 passengers, an increase of 19.1% compared to the same month last year. Belgrade’s most popular route in February was Rome, which is seeing up to 60% more passengers. The route is served by Jat Airways, Alitalia and most recently, Wizz Air. Despite low cost competition both Jat and Alitalia saw their numbers on the service increase by 20%. Both airlines have slashed prices on the route. The continuing good results put the airport on track to handle 3 million passengers by the end of the year. The value of the airport’s shares on the stock exchange has risen by 20% since they first appeared, less than a month ago.

Meanwhile, Greece’s national carrier, Olympic Air, is set to return to Belgrade. The airline terminated flights to the Serbian capital following its restructuring in 2009. Its rival, Aegean Airlines took over but suspended flights in 2010. Jat Airways is currently the only airline operating the service with daily flights to commence this summer. Olympic Air said it will discontinue flights to London, Paris, Brussels and Vienna and add flights to Belgrade, according to a statement on its website. Flights are set to begin on March 27. Details can be found here.