Air Serbia, Croatia Airlines approach pre-Covid capacity and operations
Air Serbia and Croatia Airlines are increasing the number of available seats and flights next month, with the two national carriers approaching pre-pandemic levels in both metrics. Based on data provided by Cirium, Air Serbia has scheduled a total of 1.649 flights in March, which is at 84% on the same month during the pre-pandemic 2019. On the other hand, Croatia Airlines plans to operate 1.460 flights, which is also at 84% on pre-pandemic levels. As reported yesterday, both airlines will be increasing frequencies on select routes during March, with Air Serbia also restoring flights to four destinations - Banja Luka, Brussels, Sofia and Thessaloniki - while Croatia Airlines will increase frequencies to Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
In terms of available seats, Air Serbia has put 186.852 tickets on sale for the month of March, reaching 87% of available capacity during the same month in 2019. Its Croatian counterpart has 149.374 seats on sale during the coming month, down 20% on March 2019. Changes to the number of scheduled flights, which directly impacts available seat capacity, remains possible, with airlines responding quickly to both an increase and decline in demand as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. However, with countries across Europe lifting all entry requirements, consumer confidence is expected to rebound from next month onwards.
The figures are in contrast to the slow month of February, which was impacted by the emergence of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus late last year, which hit travel demand and saw the reintroduction of strict entry requirements across a number of European markets. During February, Air Serbia is operating 1.146 flights, which is at 66% of the pre-pandemic February of 2019, while seat capacity stands at 131.952, down 30% on the same month three years ago. On the other hand, Croatia Airlines is operating more flights this month than its Serbian counterpart, with 1.238 operations, down 20%. However, it is doing so with smaller Dash 8 turboprop aircraft, resulting in a 31% decline in capacity compared to the pre-pandemic era with the airline offering 119.460 seats this month.
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