Austria - EX-YU travel market lags in recovery
Austria is one of the biggest air travel markets from the countries of the former Yugoslavia owing to large diasporas and transfer traffic through Vienna, however, passenger numbers have, for the most part, been slow to recover from the coronavirus pandemic. Austrian Airlines dominates on linking the region and has increased its services during the second quarter of the year with the carrier operating from Vienna to Pristina, Belgrade, Skopje, Podgorica, Sarajevo, Zagreb, Dubrovnik, Split and Zadar this summer. Stricter entry requirements into Austria during the first quarter resulted in a lag in recovery on most markets with pre-pandemic figures yet to be reached on services from Vienna to Belgrade, Sarajevo, Podgorica and Zagreb.
In 2021, Vienna - Pristina was the busiest citypair in the region, overtaking Vienna - Belgrade which was dominant prior to the pandemic. Last year, 134.870 passengers flew between the Austrian capital and Pristina, while during the first quarter of 2022, a further 32.802 travellers made the journey by plane. Unlike the majority of other markets in the former Yugoslavia, figures for the first three months of this year overtook pre-pandemic levels. Austrian and Wizz Air maintain operations between the two cities. Austrian Airlines increased its frequencies from Vienna to Pristina from double daily to seventeen weekly services this summer, marking the most flights the Austrian carrier has ever maintained out of Pristina.
Passenger performance on flights from Vienna to EX-YU capital cities, 2021
Austrian Airlines competes against Air Serbia on flights between Vienna and Belgrade, with the Serbian carrier also operating short-lived services between Kraljevo and the Austrian capita; in 2021, while low cost airline Ryanair maintains operations from Niš to Vienna. Last week, Air Serbia inaugurated year-round flights from Belgrade to Salzburg, its second destination in Austria. “We are very happy that by introducing services to Salzburg, we are contributing to the strengthening of the air connection between Serbia and Austria, an extremely important market for our country due to its large Serbian diaspora. We are sure that Salzburg, as an important tourist destination due to its proximity of the Alps and ski resorts, will be an attractive option for planning a vacation for our passengers”, Air Serbia said. During the first quarter of this year, 26.243 passengers flew between Belgrade and Vienna, which is still down 40% on the same period in 2019.
On the other hand, Austrian Airlines and low cost carriers have notably skipped the opportunity of commencing services between Vienna and Ljubljana, despite passenger figures indicating there is solid demand. Flights to the Austrian capital were one of Adria Airways’ better performing routes prior to its demise, with double daily flights maintained over the summer months and an average of around 60.000 passengers per year. In late 2019, Ljubljana Airport expressed hope Austrian would commence operations from Vienna in the summer of 2020, which never materialised. Austrian Airlines had previously maintained its own flights to Ljubljana, suspending its daily service at the end of the 2005 summer season. Adria Airways then increased its operations to the Austrian capital, maintaining four daily rotations until the 2009 global financial crisis.
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