More passengers and new control tower for Belgrade

The Serbia and Montenegro Air Traffic Services Agency has announced that it will finance the construction of a new control tower at Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport. Construction will begin next year and is set to be completed by 2014. According to the agency, the land on which the tower will be built has been selected and work on the project design is now in progress. The new tower will stand at 52 metres tall. The current air control tower, being used at Serbia’s busiest airport, was built back in 1962. In 2010 the multi million euro Air Control Centre was opened within the airport complex.

Meanwhile, Belgrade Airport continued to report growth in 2012. In February the airport welcomed 173.606 passengers, an increase of 6.6% compared to the same month last year when it handled 162.813 passengers. The airport was served almost by the same amount of flights - 2.988 compared to last year’s 3.010. In the first two months of the year, Nikola Tesla Airport welcomed 388.185 passengers through its doors, an increase of 13.7% compared to the same period last year.

This summer, Belgrade will see new Croatia Airlines flights to Split which replace Dubrovnik from last year, new flights from Copenhagen by Norwegian Air Shuttle, a 23% increase in flights from Jat Airways while Air One and Qatar Airways will also launch flights to the Serbian capital this summer season.

Soon in Belgrade

Qatar Airways will launch services to Belgrade in September this year, connecting the capitals of Qatar and Serbia with an air link for the first time in history. The Qatari national carrier will operate four weekly flights to Belgrade, the airline’s CEO, Akbar Al Baker, said at the ITB Convention in Berlin yesterday. Flights will operate via the Turkish capital Ankara, four times per week with an Airbus A320. It is highly unlikely that the airline will receive commercial rights on the Ankara - Belgrade - Ankara sector. Passengers most likely to use the service are those transiting to far east Asia and Australia.

The news comes as the Qatari national carrier plans to launch services to the Croatian capital Zagreb on May 9. The flights to Zagreb will operate on a daily basis via Budapest. The airline does not have local traffic rights on the Budapest - Zagreb - Budapest sector.

From September, Qatar Airways will go into indirect competition with the no frills Fly Dubai which will be operating five weekly nonstop flights from Dubai to Belgrade this coming summer season. Jat Airways, which planned to resume services to Dubai this summer has decided against the move for reasons unknown. However, Jat will have the most competition on its hands. Fly Dubai has failed to attract transit passengers and is being used primarily by point to point travellers. On the other hand, Jat, which continues to enjoy strong cooperation with Emirates, has simply rerouted its passengers transiting to Australia via European cities served by Emirates rather than directly via Dubai since it suspended flights to the city in November 2011.

Soon in Belgrade

The Croatian national carrier will compete against Jat Airways on the Split - Belgrade service this summer season, a source close to the airline says. Croatia Airlines has applied for a license from the Serbian Aviation Directorate. The flights will replace last year’s summer service from Dubrovnik to Belgrade. They are to be operated by the Bombardier Dash 8 aircraft.

This summer season, Jat Airways will operate two weekly flights between the Serbian capital and Split. In 2011, the two airlines went head to head on the Belgrade - Dubrovnik line twice per week. The Serbian national carrier on average, per flight, carried approximately 45 passengers on its 66 seat ATR72, while an average of 30 passengers chose Croatia Airlines. However, flights were sold out during peak season. So far, Jat has been selling return tickets for its Split service at a price of between 113 and 130 euros.

This summer will see the most air links between Croatia and Serbia since the breakup of Yugoslavia, with services between Pula, Split, Dubrovnik and Belgrade. During the 1980s the Belgrade - Dubrovnik flights were JAT Yugoslav Airlines’ most popular with thousands of passenger per year.

UPDATE

Since the publication of this news item Croatia Airlines has officially confirmed it will launch services between Split and Belgrade, twice per week, every Monday and Friday from June 1. Flight details can be viewed here.

USA to give all clear

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of the United States is to grant Serbia a “category one” rating this year, paving way for scheduled flights between the United States and Serbia. As part of the FAA’s International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) program, the agency assesses the civil aviation authorities of all countries with air carriers that operate or wish to operate to the United States and makes that information available to the public. The assessments also determine whether or not foreign civil aviation authorities are meeting international safety standards. Specifically, the FAA determines whether a foreign civil aviation authority has the adequate infrastructure for international aviation safety oversight as defined by international standards.

The head of the Serbian Civil Aviation Directorate, Nebojša Starčević, has told the media that Serbia has applied for an assessment by the FAA, with the review set to take place by August. “Serbia meets all international safety standards and there is no doubt that American authorities will confirm this”, Starčević said. He noted that obtaining the category one rating would be much quicker if an airline were to apply to launch flights between the two countries. Serbia held a category one rating until 2002 when it was downgraded to category two. It has since been reviewed twice when there was both the will and political backing for Jat Airways to launch flights to the United States, in 2004 and 2006. While it is highly unlikely for the Serbian carrier to be able to launch flights to the United States now, a category one rating would give it rights to code share on flights operated by airlines from the United States. However, Starčević remains optimistic, saying that Jat could be ready to launch flights to the US by 2014.

The announcement coincides with the opening of a tender by Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport for interested parties to work on the development of a feasibility study for flights between the Serbian capital and the United States. The last commercial flight betwen Belgrade to the United States was operated by JAT Yugoslav Airlines on May 19, 1992 from New York. Recently, on January 27, 2011 the FAA granted Croatia a category one rating.

No Tripoli comeback for Jat

Jat Airways has cancelled plans to resume services to the Libyan capital Tripoli this summer. Flights were to launch on March 26, more than a year after they were suspended due to the implementation of a no fly zone over Libya which eventually led to war. The Serbian carrier planned to operate flights to Tripoli as a triangle service via Malta (Belgrade - Malta - Tripoli - Belgrade), as it has done so in the past few years.

Most European airlines will resume flights to the Libyan capital this summer, including Austrian, British Airways, KLM and Air France. Recently, sporadic gun fighting between rival clans has been reported near Tripoli Airport. Before the fall of the Gaddafi regime several Serbian engineering and construction companies worked in Libya with Jat flights mostly being used by workers. With all investments now stalled there is little need for the planned two weekly flights to resume.

Despite the cancellation of its Tripoli service Jat will go ahead and launch flights to Malta which were suspended when services to Tripoli were dumped. The airline has pushed back the launch date for the Malta service to June 18 and has slightly revised its flight times. Details can be found here.

Soon in Belgrade

Alitalia’s low cost subsidiary Air One will launch flights from Milan to the Serbian capital, ending Jat Airways’ monopoly on the service. Flights from Milan Malpensa Airport to Belgrade will launch on September 18 and will operate three times per week with an Airbus A320. Flight details can be found here. Air One’s new service will compete directly against Jat Airways, which plans to operate six weekly flights onboard its Boeing 737-300 this coming summer season. Alitalia will continue to code share on Jat Airways’ services to both Milan and Rome.

Air One does not operate flights to other former Yugoslav republics. Last September the airline scheduled services to Zagreb, however, due to poor ticket sales, the planned flights were cancelled. Air One will expand this summer as it add new destinations to its route network besides Belgrade such as Munich, Sofia, Brussels, Warsaw, Amsterdam, Bucharest, Saint Petersburg, Barcelona, Istanbul, Kiev and London Gatwick.

Air One merged with national carrier Alitalia in January 2009, though it continues to operate as a separate brand. The two use an integrated booking system. Air One operates a fleet of seven Airbus A320s, with a further three arriving soon. Some of its aircraft have a high density cabin layout of up to 180 seats while others have a somewhat smaller capacity.

Construction work at Belgrade Airport

Construction work on the modernisation and expansion of Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport is in full swing. Currently, work is being carried out on the A gate departure lounges and transit areas. By mid summer the airport will have completed the expansion and reconstruction of its C1-2 and A1 to A6 gates. As a result, an extra 2.750 square metres will be added. After the summer rush, expansion work will begin on gates C3-4 and C5-6, the airport says. Air bridges at the A gates, which belong to terminal one, are also to be replaced. An additional new floor stretching over 4.900 square metres will be built above the current terminal two building with construction to begin next year so as to separate arriving and departing passengers.

Construction work at terminal two

Work has also begun on the expansion of the terminal two security and passport control area. Due to a big increase in passenger numbers, long queues are now a constant at the airport, especially during the morning rush hour period. The “Aviokarta.net” portal reports that new x-ray and body scanner machines will be added to cut waiting time, with Belgrade becoming the first airport in the former Yugoslavia to use specialised shoe scanners. The new technology was first rolled out in the United States in 2010. They should cut down on queuing times as the machines do not require passengers to take their shoes off for security checks. Work on the security and passport control area will be completed by the start of the 2012 summer season, on March 25. This has resulted in Jat Airways having to temporarily move its check in operations to terminal one.

Visualisation of Belgrade Airport after expansion completion

Within the next three years 52.985.000 Euros will be invested into the airport. Belgrade is not the only airport in the former Yugoslavia being modernised. Soon it will be known whether a new terminal will be built in Zagreb, while a new terminal is already under construction in Priština. Last September, Skopje Airport opened its new terminal building while Ljubljana Airport will begin construction on a new terminal later this year. Work on the expansion of Sarajevo's terminal is expected to begin this year as well.

EX-YU cities loose Budapest flights after Malev collapse

Following Malev’s demise on Friday, EX-YU cities have been left without direct air links to Hungary’s capital Budapest, which, amongst other things, attracted many transit passengers. None of the national carriers of the former Yugoslavia have attempted to introduce flights to Budapest and try to scoop stranded passengers. On Friday Lufthansa, easyJet, Wizz Air and Air Berlin were quick to react and increase frequencies while Ryanair announced over thirty new destinations to the Hungarian capital.

Malev had an extensive network in the former Yugoslavia operating flights to Belgrade, Priština, Podgorica, Sarajevo, Skopje and Zagreb. The Hungarian national carrier operated nine weekly flights to Belgrade. Recently, the airline had seen sliding passenger numbers on the route as more competition saw fewer transit passengers. The airline planed to reduce the service to one daily flight from the 2012 summer season. Malev operated two daily flights to Priština and thirteen weekly to Skopje, from which it saw numerous transit passengers. There were no plans to either increase or reduce flights over the coming summer. Sarajevo enjoyed daily flights and Podgorica six weekly while nearby Zagreb saw 18 weekly services between the two cities this winter. None of the former Yugoslav national carriers operate flights to the Hungarian capital and none have jumped at the opportunity to inaugurate services between the two cities since Malev’s demise. While the Hungarian low cost airline Wizz Air is based in Belgrade, it is unlikely it will be tempted to launch flights between the two cities as its aircraft are too big and inter Eastern European flights have proved unsuccessful for the airline in the past.

Officials at Budapest Airport, one of the biggest losers of Malev’s grounding, said it doubts the flights will ever be reinstated. "There are some estimates that over 20 or 23 routes of Malev will never be served by other airlines", airport spokesmen Mihaly Hardy said. It is believed that the Hungarian government will work to set up a new national carrier by the start of the 2012 summer season, which begins in over a month. It remains to be seen whether EX-YU destinations, on which Malev had a complete monopoly, will be resumed.

Flight delays and cancelations across EX-YU

UPDATED 21.00 CET

Snowstorms, fog and freezing weather have disrupted flight operations across the former Yugoslavia. Podgorica has been closed on and off for the past three days while Sarajevo Airport closed its doors this morning until 20.00 CET. In Belgrade meanwhile, the airport was evacuated when an anonymous call came that there was a bomb on board Air France's jet, which turned out to be false.

Both snow and fog are proving to be a problem at Sarajevo Airport. Sarajevo closed this morning with all departures cancelled for the day. Nearly all flights from Sarajevo were cancelled yesterday as well. Only early morning departures and B&H Airlines’ flights to Zurich and Istanbul were unaffected. Austrian was forced to divert its evening Sarajevo service to Belgrade. Operations resumed in the evening hours with Austrian, Jat and Croatia Airlines performing their flights as normal.

Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport saw short delays throughout the day however there was some panic after an anonymous phone caller said there was a bomb onboard an Air France jet which was being prepared for its return flight to Paris. The airport was forced to evacuate and the flight cancelled although no bomb was found. The caller, a 62 year old from Bor, was later arrested. He said he was “only having some fun”. It was later disclosed that the man in question is mentally challenged.

In Montenegro, most flights to and from Podgorica Airport have been cancelled for the last three days due to heavy snowfall. There is now a big backlog of passengers on the Podgorica - Belgrade - Podgorica service with both Montenegro Airlines and Jat Airways cancelling most flights between the two cities. The two airlines attempted to operate flights to Tivat yesterday but before making their descent into the coastal city were forced to turn back to Belgrade. In order to clear the backlog of passengers Jat planned to operate an early morning service to the Montenegrin capital at 4.40 today but has cancelled the flight.

In Skopje, Priština and Ljubljana, flights have been operating normally (other than those to Montenegro) although all with an average forty minute delay. Out of all the airports in the former Yugoslav region, Zagreb was operating most smoothly with nearly all flights taking off from the airport yesterday, registering only minor delays. Split Airport has been closed due to snow and extreme winds reaching up to 180 kilometres per hour.

All of Eastern Europe is grappling with a Siberian freeze which is spreading westwards. Freezing conditions, which have claimed hundreds of lives across the continent, are set to persist for days to come.

Even more passengers lining up at Belgrade Airport

Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport is continuing to record impressive growth in the new year. Serbia’s main hub welcomed 214.579 passengers, an increase of 20.1% compared to last year’s 178.732. January also saw the end to the decline in the number of flight operations. Since October the airport has been recording a slide in the number of flights being operated to and from Serbia’s capital. Last month, however, Belgrade handled a total of 3.304 flights, an increase of 5.4% compared to last year. The airport’s busiest route is Vienna with 49 weekly flights followed by Podgorica and Frankfurt.

Meanwhile, the airport is continuing construction work on the overhaul of its departures area. Yesterday, Jat Airways moved all of its operations to terminal one. The airline says that all check in procedures will now be carried out at the old terminal due to construction work taking place at the airport. However, some are suggesting that Jat has decided to move because of lower costs at terminal one, which is currently used by Wizz Air and charter airlines. Still the airline insists that it will move back to terminal two after construction work is completed, which it says will take at least a month.

Belgrade Airport was recently left without a customer as Spanair suspended all of its operations. Nevertheless, the airport will hope to materialise on Jat’s summer expansion as well as frequency increases from many airlines. In 2012 the airport hopes to handle more passenger than in its record breaking 1987, when it welcomed 3.3 million travellers.

Priština overtakes Ljubljana as third busiest airport in the former Yugoslavia

Priština has finished 2011 as the third busiest airport in the former Yugoslavia, for the first time since it opened its doors in 1965. The dethroned Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport fell into fourth place with Dubrovnik Airport hot on its heels. A total of six airports managed to handle more than one million passengers.

Ljubljana Airport was affected by Adria Airways’ crisis last year and its significant reduction of flights, which were felt during the months of August, November and December. Since January the airport has recorded declining or break even numbers compared to those from 2010, with the exception of April when the airport saw significant growth. As a result, Slovenia’s capital city airport welcomed just under 1.370.000 passengers, a decrease of 1.3% compared to 2010. It should be taken into account that Ljubljana was closed for almost an entire month in 2010. Since 2008, when Ljubljana saw record traffic by handling 1.673.050 passengers, its figures have steadily decreased each year. Ljubljana Airport expects lower traffic volumes and revenue in 2012. Still, the airport says that Adria’s decline should be substituted by foreign airlines and charter flights this year.

Priština Airport handled 1.422.302 passengers, an increase of almost 9%. The three busiest airlines operating out of Priština were Edelweiss, Adria Airways and Belle Air. The most popular destinations out of the city were Zurich, Vienna and Dusseldorf. As has previously been reported, Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport is well ahead of its competition and in 2011 strengthened its position as the busiest airport in the former Yugoslavia. Other notable achievements were recorded by Zagreb, Dubrovnik, Skopje, Ohrid and Tivat. Joining Ljubljana as the only EX-YU capital city airport to see its figures decline in 2011 was Podgorica.

Below you can review the number of handled passengers by the ten busiest airports in the former Yugoslavia in 2011:

Airport	Passengers 2011	Passengers 2010	Change (%)
Belgrade	3.124.633	2.698.730	▲ 15.8
Zagreb	2.319.098	2.071.561	▲ 11.9
Priština	1.422.302	1.305.532	▲ 8.9
Ljubljana	1.370.000	1.388.651	▼ 1.3
Dubrovnik	1.349.501	1.270.062	▲ 6.3
Split	1.300.381	1.219.741	▲ 8.1
Skopje	759.928	681.080	▲ 11.6
Tivat	647.169	542.000	▲ 19.4
Podgorica	611.666	651.478	▼ 6.1
Sarajevo	599.996	563.266	▲ 6.5

Spanair ceases all operations

At midnight Spanair, Spain’s second largest airline, ceased operations after the carrier failed to find a buyer. On Friday, Qatar Airways had walked away from talks to take over the money losing airline after months of negotiations. The government of Spain's Catalonia region is Spanair's main shareholder, while Spanair's former owner, Scandinavian airline SAS, still owns an 11.9% stake. However, the Catalan government says it can no longer finance the airline.

Spanair has ceased all operations, suspending with it scheduled flights to Belgrade and its planned seasonal summer service to Zagreb and Dubrovnik. During this winter season, Spanair operated three weekly flights between Barcelona and Belgrade and on Friday morning announced it would increase the service to four times per week during the summer. Furthermore, the airline has also operated seasonal flights from Madrid to the Serbian capital in the past. Zagreb Airport will also be at a loss as Spanair operated seasonal flights to the Croatian capital from its Barcelona base. Last summer, Spanair also operated flights from Barcelona and Madrid to Dubrovnik. As Star Alliance partners, Spanair and Croatia Airlines code shared on each others' flights.

As a result, Jat Airways is now likely to resume seasonal summer flights to Girona while Iberia and Vueling Airlines will be operating flights from several Spanish cities to Dubrovnik and Split. Croatia Airlines should resume seasonal summer flights from Zagreb to Barcelona.

More flights from Belgrade to Croatia

Jat Airways is making further changes to its upcoming seasonal flights to the Croatian coast. The airline has increased the number of weekly flights from Belgrade to Dubrovnik to three per week, from the original two flights planned. The service from Belgrade to Dubrovnik turned out to be successful for the airline when they were resumed last year after a twenty year suspension. Furthermore, Jat is expected to be the sole operator on the route in 2012 as Croatia Airlines is unlikely to resume the flights, although no firm decision has been made yet. The revised details for the service, which launches June 15, can be found here.

The Serbian carrier has also made changes to its two weekly Pula service, which is now set to begin on June 2 rather than a month later as originally planned. Flights to Split, which will be resumed after 21 years remain unchanged and are set to be inaugurated on July 3.

Back in 1963

Besides flights to Croatia, Jat will be operating seasonal flights to London Gatwick and Ohrid this summer. It is unsure whether the airline will resume its seasonal flights to Girona in Spain which it launched over the summer of 2011, proving popular with passengers. Jat plans to operate its 2012 summer network with 13 out of its 14 member fleet.

Adria and Jat plan for the summer

Adria Airways will be resuming services to Barcelona and Manchester on a seasonal basis this upcoming 2012 summer season, however, ten destinations that were operated last summer won’t make a comeback in the airline’s network. The Slovenian carrier will operate 170 scheduled flights per week to 18 destinations. The only new additions compared to last summer will be the Priština - Verona service and Ljubljana - Luton, which replaces services to Gatwick. The airline will not be resuming flights to Athens, Banja Luka, Dublin, Kiev, Paris, Ohrid, Split, Stockholm, Warsaw and Toulon, which were all featured last year. Adria will once again be operating charter service all summer round to Greece, Malta, Egypt and Turkey, with Greece to see most Adria Airways flights.

Meanwhile, Serbia’s Jat Airways will increase frequencies to many of its destinations as it formulates its preliminary summer timetable. Some highlights include a nonstop service to Brussels, which will now operate separately from the Amsterdam flights. Flights to Paris Charles de Gaulle will operate eleven times per week (up from seven) during the peak summer season, there will be new seasonal flights to London Gatwick Airport while Moscow will see ten weekly flights (up from seven) with an introduction of a late evening service from Belgrade and a morning flight from Moscow. The airline has also made minor readjustments to its new seasonal Pula flights and has moved the service forward by a month from July 2 to June 2.

Croatia Airlines unlikely to launch Zagreb - Belgrade

Despite Croatia Airlines’ CEO announcing last December that the carrier will operate seasonal flights between Zagreb and Belgrade in 2012 and a recent confirmation by the airline to the “Večernji list” daily, Croatia Airlines is now saying that no decision has been made in regards to the service. Croatia Airlines spokesperson Davor Janušić says, “We still haven’t made the decision to extend seasonal flights from Dubrovnik to Belgrade this year or to introduce any other new line between Croatia and Serbia”. It will come as bad news for all of those that hoped for flights between the two largest cities of the former Yugoslavia to resume after twenty one year. Last year Croatia Airlines competed against Jat Airways on the Dubrovnik - Belgrade - Dubrovnik service, with Jat managing slightly better figures than its rival. The route proved popular with Serbian tourists in 2011 with traditional holiday destinations like Tunisia and Egypt off limits. It remains to be seen whether the return of these markets in 2012 will impact the aforementioned route.

On the other hand, Jat Airways has no plans to resume flights to the Croatian capital. It maintains that the two cities are too close and are connected by efficient road infrastructure, rendering flights unnecessary. The airline will operate seasonal flights from Belgrade to Dubrovnik, Pula and Split in Croatia this summer. Tickets for all of the flights have gone on sale this week.

Zagreb and Belgrade were once connected by several flights per day. In 1989, which represented Yugoslav Airlines’ final year of normal operations (in 1990 the airline was hit by the breakup of the Eastern Bloc and a severe economic crisis within the country), Zagreb was JAT’s second hub. That summer season it operated nonstop international flights from Zagreb to Algiers, Amsterdam, Berlin, Brussels, Cairo, Chicago, Copenhagen, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, London, Lyon, Los Angeles (via Chicago), Madrid, Munich, Milan, Montreal, New York, Paris, Prague, Stuttgart, Toronto (via Montreal), Vienna and Zurich. Domestically, besides Belgrade, flights in 1989 operated to Dubrovnik, Split, Pula, Skopje, Zadar, Niš, Sarajevo and Mostar.

Soon at Gatwick

Serbia’s Jat Airways has made changes to its upcoming London Gatwick service. Flights to London’s second busiest airport will be inaugurated on June 15 and will operate on a seasonal summer basis (to September 14) to cope with high passenger demand experienced during the summer months on the existing Belgrade - London Heathrow route. In addition to the two weekly flights to London Gatwick, Jat will also serve London Heathrow nine times per week over the summer. Passengers departing from the Serbian capital will be spoilt for choice as they will also have the option of using Wizz Air’s four weekly service to London’s Luton Airport.

A return ticket with taxes included from Belgrade to both London Gatwick and Heathrow will set passengers back 175 Euros. Flight details for the upcoming service can be viewed here.

Meanwhile, Montenegro Airlines, which also recently announced its seasonal service launch from Tivat to London Gatwick, has now announced it will launch flights from its hub Podgorica to the British capital as well. Services will operate once per week and will launch on March 30 with details available here.

Belgrade most successful EX-YU airport in 2011

In 2011, Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport saw its most successful year in the past twenty two years and its third most successful year in history. The airport handled 3.124.633 passengers in 2011, an improvement of 16% on 2010 when it saw 2.698.730 passengers. The significant passenger surge was recorded despite the number of flights increasing by only 1.7%. In December, the airport maintained its double digit growth by handling 217.684 passengers, an increase of 13.2% compared to the same month in 2010. The busiest month of the year was July while the busiest route was Vienna. Strong passenger figures were propped up by Jat Airways, which itself managed to significantly improve its passenger figures as well as Wizz Air which opened its Belgrade base in March.

During 2011, the airport also managed to report a strong profit, decrease its aircraft handling fees several times and begin a multi million Euro overhaul and expansion project at the very end of the year. Despite the success, several airlines cancelled services to the Serbian capital in 2011. They are: B&H Airlines (Sarajevo), Cimber Sterling (Copenhagen), ČSA Czech Airlines (Prague) and Aerosvit Airlines (Kiev). On the other hand, several carriers commenced operations to Belgrade Airport in 2011. They include Olympic Air (Athens), Croatia Airlines (Dubrovnik), Flydubai (Dubai) and Sky Work Airlines (Bern).

Below you can view Belgrade Airport’s five most successful years since opening its doors in 1962

Year	PAX
1987	3.311.951
1988	3.277.537
2011	3.124.633
1979	2.839.995
1986	2.822.908

Zagreb to Belgrade after 21 years

The CEO of Croatia Airlines, Srećko Šimunović, announced at a recent Star Alliance meeting in the Ethiopian capital Addis Abeba, that the national carrier will launch seasonal flights from Zagreb to Belgrade this summer. It will mark a resumption of services between the two cities after twenty one years. No flight details for the planned service were revealed. Last February, at a meeting between the Serbian and Croatian national carriers, it was initially arranged for Croatia Airlines to operate flights between the two capital cities, although little of the agreements made back then were carried through.

JAT Yugoslav Airlines operated its final service from Zagreb to Belgrade on August 6, 1991. There have been no revenue flights between the two cities since. Most flights were operated with the DC9s although due to the amount of frequencies and connecting services, the flights also saw B727s, B737s and DC10s. During the 1980s, the Belgrade - Zagreb - Belgrade service was the airline’s second busiest, trailing behind the Belgrade - Dubrovnik - Belgrade flights.

If all plans are carried through, Belgrade will be served from four cities in Croatia - Zagreb (Croatia Airlines), Dubrovnik (Jat/Croatia Airlines), Split (Jat) and Pula (Jat) this summer season, all of which will be operated on a seasonal basis. Meanwhile, Croatia Airlines has suspended plans to launch new services from Dubrovnik to Munich. They were scheduled to be launched on April 16, two times per week.

Germanwings to suspend Cologne - Belgrade flights

The low cost Germanwings will be suspending services from Cologne to Belgrade from January 29. The airline will keep its presence at the airport with flights to Stuttgart. During this winter season, flights between Cologne and Belgrade were operated three times per week. Germanwings was the first low cost airline to enter the Serbian market several years ago. Its Stuttgart service has had success, taking away passengers from Jat Airways and forcing the Serbian national carrier to significantly reduce prices on the route in order to compete. The reason behind the Cologne suspension is unknown. Germany is one of the biggest markets being served out of Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport with flights to seven cities, now that Cologne will be suspended (Berlin [Jat], Munich [Lufthansa], Memmingen [Wizz Air], Stuttgart [Jat/Germanwings], Frankfurt [Jat/Lufthansa], Dusseldorf [Jat] and Dortmund [Wizz Air]).

Meanwhile, the airport’s management announced that it has reduced fees for airlines using airport facilities, the third time it has done so within a year. “This way we will ensure even greater competition amongst airlines”, Velimir Radosavljević, the airport’s CEO, says. He adds that in 2012 the airport will see new arrivals with Qatar Airways planning to commence flights from Doha and Astra Airlines from Thessaloniki in Greece. This summer, Norwegian Air Shuttle will introduce its third destination to Belgrade, from Copenhagen, Croatia Airlines will resume its seasonal flights to Dubrovnik while Jat has scheduled to launch six new routes (Dubai, Tripoli, Malta, London Gatwick, Split and Pula) and resume seasonal flights to Dubrovnik and Ohrid.

Croatia Airline expands into Eastern Europe

The CEO of Croatia Airlines, Srećko Šimunović, has said that the national carrier plans to expand its services into Eastern Europe by 2014. As has previously been reported, Croatia Airlines will inaugurate flights to Moscow this summer season. In 2014 the airline will be launching flights to Sofia and St. Petersburg, which should coincide with the arrival of new aircraft. Although the first of four ordered Airbus A319s are set to begin arriving from 2013 through to 2014, there are indications that the arrivals could be pushed back until 2015 and 2016.

Despite frequency increases throughout the network over the summer and the introduction of flights to Moscow, plans are also being made for the carrier to suspend several loss making routes. The action is needed in order for Croatia Airlines to reach its goal of operating with a profit in 2012. Last year showed encouraging trends as the airline managed to slash its losses.

Croatia Airlines has also made an announcement that it will resume its seasonal summer flights from Dubrovnik to Belgrade, launched last year. It will once again compete against Jat Airways on the route. On its new Zagreb to Moscow service, Croatia Airlines will face competition from Aeroflot.