Manchester and Dublin are now Belgrade Airport’s busiest unserved destinations in Europe, after the airport added more than forty cities to its network since the start of the pandemic. Most of the new routes added from the Serbian capital were previously among the fifteen busiest unserved roads on the continent. Lisbon, which was number one until last April, is now served by Air Serbia and Wizz Air, while Cologne, which was in second place, was launched last May. As a result, Manchester now takes first place, with an average of around 10,000 point-to-point passengers per year traveling on a single ticket. Dublin follows, with around 8,500 point-to-point travelers. These figures exclude potential transfer traffic and market simulation.
Neither Manchester nor Dublin were previously served regularly from Belgrade. In 2019, Air Serbia submitted a request for slots for a three-week service to Manchester, but never followed through with the announcement or launch of flights. Visa requirements for Serbian passport holders remain an issue for both destinations, particularly the United Kingdom, which requires a lengthy and costly visa application process for general visitors. However, Air Serbia previously said that adding new routes would likely involve cities with longer flight duration. The Serbian carrier currently codeshares on KLM’s three daily flights between Amsterdam and Manchester, while it has its identification code and flight numbers on Air France’s service between Paris and Dublin six times a day. week.
Following the recent addition of Porto to Air Serbia’s network, which was also among Belgrade’s busiest unserved destinations, the remaining cities on the list are mainly secondary points on the continent, including Bilbao, Bergen in Norway and Birmingham. In the Caucasus region, Yerevan sees the highest indirect demand, while in Turkey, Antalya is the most popular, although the city is served by many charter flights throughout the summer. Air Serbia CEO Jiri Marek recently said: “Air Serbia continually strives to improve its route network and forge strategic partnerships that benefit our passengers and expand our global reach. In terms of road expansion, we have several exciting projects in the pipeline.”
Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport and Air Serbia will participate in the upcoming Routes World conference in Istanbul, where aviation stakeholders will discuss and negotiate new routes. EX-YU Aviation News will also be present at the event and will bring you the latest developments.