Air Serbia and Croatia Airlines plan busiest December in two years

Air Serbia and Croatia Airlines will boost operations on a number of routes next month in the lead up to the festive season, however, the ongoing resurgence of Covid-19 across the continent threatens to dampen the recovery in demand. Next month, Air Serbia plans to operate 1.764 scheduled flights, up 116% on the same month last year. The airline will increase frequencies on a number of its routes from mid-December until mid-January and will also restore limited operations to its summer seasonal destination of Rostov-on-Don, on December 24 and December 26. In addition, the carrier will operate charters to Hurghada on December 23 and 29, Sharm el Sheikh on December 24 and 30, as well as to Dubai on December 12, 19 and 26.

Overall, during the month of December, Air Serbia has put 195.926 seats on sale, up 108% on last year. The most capacity has been allocated on flights to Zurich, followed by Podgorica, Paris, Moscow, Tivat, and Istanbul. On the other hand, the most flights will be operated to the Montenegrin capital, then Zurich, Tivat, Vienna and Paris. The Airbus A319 will be the most utilised aircraft in the fleet, operating 55.8% of all flights, followed by the ATR72 turboprops, which have been scheduled on 41.5% of all operations. In addition to Belgrade, the airline will maintain one route each from Niš and Kraljevo.

Top ten Air Serbia destinations by capacity, December 2021

Air Serbia fleet utilisation in December 2021

Croatia Airlines plans to operate 1.409 scheduled flights this December, up 93% on the same month last year. The carrier will increase frequencies on some routes, most notably to Brussels, where the number of flights will grow from six weekly this November to eleven weekly for most of December. Furthermore, Croatia Airlines’ Dash 8 turboprop will be deployed on behalf of MyWings on flights between Zagreb and Pristina three times per week starting December 13. As per tradition, the Croatian national carrier will not be operating any flights on Christmas day on December 25.

Overall, during the month of December, Croatia Airlines has put 148.958 seats on sale, up 115% on last year. The most capacity has been allocated on services to Frankfurt, followed by domestic flights from Zagreb to Dubrovnik and Split, then to Paris, and Munich. Similarly, the most flights will be operated to Frankfurt, then domestic services from Zagreb to Split and Dubrovnik, followed by Munich and Zurich. The Dash 8 turboprops will be the most utilised aircraft in the fleet, operating 58.3% of all flights, followed by the A319s, which have been scheduled on 37.3% of all operations. In addition to Zagreb, the airline will maintain international flights from Split and Osijek.

Top ten Croatia Airlines destinations by capacity, December 2021