EU travel ban hits EX-YU airlines and airports
The European Union is closing its boarders for thirty days as of today to external visitors from non-EU countries in an attempt to limit the spread of the coronavirus Covid-19. The development will have a further impact on airlines and airports in the former Yugoslavia, which are outside of the block, and is expected to bring the majority of air operations to a halt.
Bosnia and Herzegovina
A large portion of flights from Sarajevo Airport have been affected. In a statement, Sarajevo Airport’s General Manager, Armin Kajmaković, said, “We still don’t have any official information whether the airport will be closed due to existing circumstances. We will see what happens next, but it is a fact that the number of passengers has declined dramatically. In the last two weeks, aircraft have been flying out half empty for the most part”. Start-up FlyBosnia has suspended all operations and has indefinitely discontinued services to London. The airline logged its last flight on February 29. Meanwhile, Wizz Air has suspended all operations from Tuzla Airport until the first week of April.
Croatia
The EU travel will only partially affect Croatia. Under the plan, only visitors from non-EU states will not be allowed to enter the region unless they are long-term residents of the EU, family members of EU nationals, diplomats, cross-border commuters, or essential workers like doctors, nurses, and researchers. The majority of Croatia Airlines’ network is concentrated within the EU, however, plummeting demand and various national restrictions will see the carrier cancel at least nine return flights today, among which are services to cities outside of the block such as Sarajevo and Skopje. Furthermore, flights from Zagreb to Copenhagen, Vienna and Munich have also been cancelled so far today. Despite the new circumstances, Aeroflot, Turkish Airlines and Qatar Airways will operate their flights to the Croatian capital today.
Kosovo
Pristina Airport remains closed until further notice for all commercial flights.
Macedonia
The new EU-imposed measures and the growing list of nationals banned from entering Macedonia is expected to have a significant impact on the country’s busiest airline - Wizz Air - in the coming days.
Montenegro
Montenegro Airlines has suspended all operations until April 1 inclusive. Podgorica and Tivat airports remain open, although both are expected to see little traffic.
Serbia
Air Serbia continues to maintain operations at this point, although with all non-Serbian citizens banned from entering the country and all Serbian citizens without EU residency banned from entering the bloc, the carrier is unlikely to be able to maintain the majority of its operations. The airline has suspended on-line check-in and so far cancelled 23 flights today. The new EU measures are also expected to have an impact on Wizz Air’s operations from its Belgrade base. Foreign carriers continuing to maintain services to the country at this point include Turkish Airlines, Aeroflot, Belavia, Etihad Airways, Flydubai, Qatar Airways, Lufthansa and Tunis Air.
Slovenia
All commercial air traffic has been suspended until further notice, resulting in the closure of the country’s airports to the general public.
European airlines that have suspended all operations (so far) include: Austrian Airlines, airBaltic, Czech Airlines, Lauda, La Compagnie, LOT Polish Airlines and Montenegro Airlines.
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