Pristina Airport becomes former Yugoslavia’s busiest in Q1
Pristina Airport was the busiest in the former Yugoslavia during the first quarter of the year, achieving the milestone for the first time in history. It also became the first airport in the former Yugoslavia to mark an end to the monthly decline in passenger numbers, which began as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. In March it saw its figures grow 23.3% on 2020. The airport handled 330.787 passengers during the January - March period, compared to some 283.000 at second-placed Belgrade and 148.991 travellers at third-placed Skopje. However, Pristina Airport, as well as Belgrade, performed better than other major European airports including Budapest, Prague, London Gatwick, Luxembourg, Larnaca and Malta, to name a few.
| Month | PAX | Change (%) |
|---|---|---|
| JAN | 134.204 |
▼ 26.9 |
| FEB | 96.442 | ▼ 42.3 |
| MAR | 100.141 | ▲ 23.3 |
Pristina Airport has been more resilient than most others in the region to the Covid-19 downturn as it depends on a high volume of diaspora traffic who are based in the European Union, and, in turn, are permitted to enter both their country of residence, as well as their homeland. Furthermore, parliamentary elections aided figures in February when a large number of those living abroad, particularly from Switzerland, returned to their homeland to cast their vote. The pandemic has changed the usual traffic flow at airports in the former Yugoslavia. In addition to Pristina becoming the busiest during the first quarter, Skopje has leaped past Zagreb to become the third busiest, while both Sarajevo and Tuzla have overtaken Ljubljana, with Slovenia continuing to be among the most affected markets on the continent.
Pristina Airport’s Chief Operations Officer, Gokmen Aritay, told EX-YU Aviation News late last year, “Our traffic mainly relies on the diaspora, which lives and works abroad, meaning most of them hold citizenship and/or residency permits of the countries they are living in. Based on the abovementioned reasons, our passengers are not as affected by document limitations, while their desire to come and visit their families back in Kosovo continues despite the pandemic. This is one of the main reasons that passenger figures have seen a smaller decline compared to other regional airports”. Pristina Airport is in the process of extending its runway from 2.500 to 3.000 metres, while its Instrument Landing System (ILS) will be upgraded from category II to category IIIb, enabling aircraft to land in more adverse weather conditions. The project, which has been delayed by the pandemic, is expected to be completed in late summer.
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