Two EX-YU capitals see complete recovery on Vienna route
Austria is one of the biggest markets for most capital city airports in the former Yugoslavia, with 929.514 passengers handled between Vienna and the six capitals in 2022. Ljubljana is the only capital city in the former Yugoslavia not to be linked with Vienna, having lost flights with the demise of Adria Airways in September 2019. Only two capital cities managed to increase their passenger numbers with Austria’s largest city last year when compared to the pre-pandemic 2019, with Podgorica seeing the biggest jump, amounting to 88.9%. The growth in travel on the route was fuelled by the demise of Montenegro Airlines, reducing transfer options for travellers via other European hubs. Unlike the former flag carrier, Air Montenegro does not have codeshare agreements in place with other airlines which would enable it to shuttle passengers for onward journeys via its partners. As a result, Austrian Airlines, as the only Lufthansa Group carrier in Podgorica, benefited. Furthermore, budget airline Wizz Air added a significant number of passengers on the route. This summer, Austrian Airlines will launch seasonal operations to its second destination in Montenegro, between Vienna and Tivat.
Passenger performance on Vienna flights, 2022
Pristina saw figures on the Vienna service increase 71.5% on 2019. During the 2022 summer season, Austrian Airlines increased frequencies on the route from double daily to a record seventeen weekly rotations. Furthermore, Wizz Air maintains operations between the two, which were launched in mid-December 2019. On the other hand, passenger numbers between Belgrade and Vienna almost recovered to pre-pandemic levels. Both Austrian and Air Serbia maintain services between the two capitals. This summer, the latter will increase frequencies to Vienna to a record eighteen weekly rotations, while last year it introduced flights to Salzburg, its second destination in Austria. It should be noted that travel to Austria was restricted for most nationals from the former Yugoslavia whose countries are outside of the European Union during the first quarter of 2022 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Skopje, Sarajevo and Zagreb failed to reach pre-pandemic passenger levels on their respective Vienna routes last year. The Croatian capital saw the biggest drop in travel between the two. During 2022, Austrian Airlines suspended operations to Zagreb for almost two months. This summer, Croatia Airlines plans to operate just five weekly rotations between the two cities, down from twelve weekly in 2019. On the other hand, Austrian Airlines will maintain up to thirteen weekly rotations.
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