Wizz Air has lost its position as the largest carrier in the territory of the former Yugoslavia
Air Serbia for the first time overtook Wizz Air in terms of both the number of flights and the available capacity and became the largest carrier on the market of the countries of the former Yugoslavia during the first quarter of 2024.
This comes after Wizz Air implemented temporary wide reductions in its network during the three-month period compared to the original schedule due to the need to inspect aircraft equipped with certain Pratt & Whitney engines.
The airline is moving two of its six planes from Skopje and one of its four jets from Belgrade during the first quarter. Furthermore, it will use the smaller Airbus A320 instead of the A321 on a number of its flights to Skopje and Belgrade.
Wizz Air is temporarily suspending two routes from Skopje, one each from Niš and Ljubljana, and will also reduce frequencies on selected routes from Ohrid and Priština.
In contrast to the period January – March last year, Wizz Air no longer has a base in Tuzla, which in the first quarter reduced the total capacity of air seats in Bosnia and Herzegovina by 11 percent compared to the previous year.
Air Serbia also reduced its network during the first quarter compared to the original plan, but will be just ahead of Wizz Air in the region with 1.23 million seats and over 10,200 flights (including both directions).
Both indicators are still higher by 33.5 percent and 28.3 percent, respectively, compared to last year.
During the first quarter, Air Serbia’s busiest routes in terms of available capacity are Istanbul, Podgorica, Zurich, Moscow, Paris, Athens, Tivat and Barcelona. The Serbian carrier previously identified Wizz Air as the main competitor in the market.
“Wizz Air is a tough player in Belgrade. We compete with each other on several routes. Sometimes we win, sometimes they win. There are also routes where our offers complement each other. We are open to competition because then we are forced to improve our efficiency and change our approach to the user,” the carrier pointed out last year.
In the first quarter, Croatia Airlines will be the third largest air carrier in the territory of the former Yugoslavia with slightly more than half a million seats, followed by Turkish Airlines and Ryanair, Ex-Yu Aviation News reported.
