Belgrade Airport recovery undermined by travel bans
Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport’s modest recovery in June has been affected by the introduction of travel bans and flight restrictions from core markets in the European Union. The airport registered 1.008.088 passengers through its doors during the first half of the year, down 61.4% on 2019. Since July, the few markets in the EU which had reopened for Serbia’s nationals have again closed, while Italy, Poland, Romania and Austria introduced flight bans, although the latter was lifted at the start of August. As a result, Air Serbia was forced to reduce its network through July and August, with a number of routes set to resume towards the end of the month. Wizz Air has also delayed the expansion of its base operations in the city, with the launch of nine new routes now scheduled for March of next year.
| Month | PAX | Change (%) |
|---|---|---|
| JAN | 403.145 | ▲ 16.0 |
| FEB | 356.729 | ▲ 13.0 |
| MAR | 163.568 | ▼ 56.0 |
| APR | 5.894 | ▼ 98.7 |
| MAY | 9.666 | ▼ 98.1 |
| JUN | 69.086 | ▼ 88.5 |
Charter flights to Egypt and Turkey now account for a notable share of Belgrade Airport’s traffic, with the two countries having no entry restrictions or regulations. Yesterday alone saw eight flights to Hurghada and Antalya, which are being operated on a daily basis. Among scheduled carriers, Air Cairo, Air France, Austrian Airlines, Belavia, easyJet, Etihad Airways, Flydubai, Lufthansa, Norwegian Air Shuttle, Pegasus Airlines, Qatar Airways, Swiss, Transavia and Turkish Airlines, in addition to Air Serbia and Wizz Air, have resumed operations to the Serbian capital, albeit at a significantly reduced rate. Aegean Airlines, LOT Polish Airlines and TAROM are set to restore services in September, depending on entry restriction regulations. Both the Greek and Romanian carriers flew to Belgrade in late June and early July.
Following the tentative coordination of the lifting of travel restrictions at EU level as of mid-June, traffic recovery has been slower than expected across the continent. As a result, passenger traffic across European airports declined by 78% in July compared to the same month last year. This translated into an additional 208 million passengers lost, bringing the total passenger loss since the start of the year at 969 million. Over the past two weeks, the pace of recovery has further slowed down. This is due to several states re-imposing travel restrictions. Olivier Jankovec, the Director General of Airports Council International Europe, said, “The recovery is far too slow-paced and uncertain. Despite desperate efforts to trim down their costs, Europe’s airports are burning cash at the height of the summer. Revenues are weak because of the combination of low volumes with rebates and incentives to airlines to attract and incentivise air traffic. Considering the seasonality of demand, this does not bode well for the coming months. If the recovery does not accelerate significantly, many airports will simply run out of money”.
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