Ryanair with no immediate plans to serve Belgrade
Low cost carrier Ryanair has said it has no plans to serve Belgrade due to high costs at Nikola Tesla Airport but it continues to monitor the Serbian market for opportunities. Within the country, the airline maintains operations out of Niš. “Belgrade Airport is too expensive and is not an option for us at the moment. We continue to track the [Serbian] market. It is interesting to us and if we can see that we can turn around potential into a profit, we will take the decision to further expand there. We believe the Serbian market has great potential. Basing an aircraft is currently not an option for us, but developments take place quickly with Ryanair. Of course, this does not mean that Ryanair will not continue expanding its network from Niš and attributing to its passenger growth”, the budget carrier said.
Ryanair’s rival Wizz Air has a base in Belgrade where it recently stationed its fourth aircraft. The airport’s management previously noted, “The low cost carrier market represents an important part of Belgrade Airport’s development. There is already a significant number of flights operated by budget airlines at Belgrade Airport. Even so, the decision to introduce flights to Belgrade is up to Ryanair”. Within the former Yugoslavia, Ryanair has a base in Zagreb and also maintains operations from Podgorica, among the capital cities. Regionally, the airline boasts bases in Budapest, Bucharest and Sofia, and will also launch flights to Tirana soon.
Over the coming 2023/24 winter season, Ryanair will be Serbia’s third largest low cost carrier based on available seat capacity, behind Wizz Air and Pegasus Airlines but ahead of easyJet and Norwegian Air Shuttle. It has put a total of 36.636 seats on sale during the winter, which runs between October 29 and March 30 of next year. It will maintain operations out of Niš to Malta and Vienna, while services to Stockholm Arlanda have been downgraded to seasonal summer flights. Air Serbia recently noted, “It doesn't matter whether the competition is Ryanair or Wizz Air. There aren’t many airports in the Balkans where these low cost airlines compete against each other. In Zagreb, in terms of low cost carriers, Ryanair dominates. In Belgrade it is Wizz Air. The markets of the former Yugoslav countries are not yet mature. The airlines see this and do not want to engage in a direct challenge through price stimulation”.
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