Commercial airports across the former Yugoslavia handled a combined total of 11.061.657 passengers during the first five months of the year, with 3.33 million travellers in May alone. Among them, during the fifth month of the year, three airports stood out for their high growth rates. They include Zadar with a year-on-year increase in May of 106.4%, Tivat with 54.2% growth, and Dubrovnik, which had a 31.2% boost in numbers. All three recorded their busiest May on record. On the other hand, several regional airports underperformed during the month, including Tuzla, which saw an 81% slide in figures, Ohrid, which had 24.1% fewer passengers than in May 2023, and Niš, which shed 19.8% of its travellers year-on-year. A number of other airports also saw their figures decline compared to last year, among which are Banja Luka, Kraljevo, Rijeka and Mali Lošinj.

During the January – May period, Belgrade Airport ranked as the 73rd busiest on the continent, just behind Stuttgart, Palermo, and Sofia, but ahead of Glasgow, Reykjavik, and Larnaca. Zagreb positioned itself as the 103rd busiest, behind Tbilisi, Trondheim in Norway, and Rome Ciampino, but in front of Stavanger in Norway, Wroclaw, and Pristina. The airport in Pristina itself took 106th place. It was just behind the abovementioned but ahead of the likes of Santiago de Compostela, London City, and Leeds. Skopje ranked 127th, with the Macedonian capital behind Cluj, Cork, and Tromso in Norway but outperforming Poznan, Menorca, and Ponta Delgada. During the first five months of the year, the Slovenian market was the fastest growing in the former Yugoslavia in percentile terms, increasing its overall figures by 23.5%. Croatia saw a 22% increase, the market in Kosovo grew 21.6%, Montenegro 15.7%, Serbia 13.7%, Macedonia 12.7%, and Bosnia and Herzegovina reversed its downward trend and grew 6.6%.

The majority of European markets saw year-on-year growth during the first five months of the year. The exceptions were Russia (-17.7%) and Armenia (-0.9%). London Heathrow was once again Europe’s busiest airport over the five-month period, with 32.415.464 passengers, while Istanbul’s main gateway was second with 31.056.963 travellers. The pair saw growth of 7.9% and 7.4% on 2023 respectively. They were followed by Paris Charles de Gaulle with 26.918.783 passengers, Madrid with 25.901.750, Amsterdam with 25.843.073 travellers, Frankfurt with 23.122.176, Barcelona with 21.023.610, Rome Fiumicino with 17.927.352, Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen with 16.223.545, and London Gatwick with 15.710.436 passengers. Out of Europe’s top ten busiest, four are still below their pre-pandemic 2019 records. They include Paris Charles de Gaulle (-8.6%), Amsterdam (-7.8%), Frankfurt (-14.6%), and London Gatwick (-11.3%), EX Yu Aviation news writes.