The number of airlines using wide-body aircraft on flights to and from the former Yugoslav markets has declined compared to the pre-pandemic 2019. This August, there will be 103 flights departing the region on wide-body aircraft down 32% on the same month four years ago when it stood at 152. Total capacity offered by airlines operating wide-bodies to the former Yugoslav markets will decline 38%. Much of the drop is being generated on the Croatian market, which unlike four years ago is no longer served by American Airlines, Air Canada Rouge, Emirates and Korean Air. In August of 2019, Qatar Airways, which back then operated year-round flights to Sarajevo, performed eight services with the 260-seat Airbus A330-200 jet to Bosnia and Herzegovina’s capital, while Iran’s Mahan Air ran nine flights with its 210-seat A310 jet from Tehran to Belgrade, which it no longer serves.
This August, there will be the most wide-body capacity from Belgrade. Air Serbia will operate a total of 49 flights from the Serbian capital using its two A330-200 jets, one of which has the capacity to seat 268 passengers and the other 257. In addition, Hainan Airlines will be using its A330-300 jets on its nine flights from Beijing to Belgrade. The airline operates the aircraft type in two different configurations due to two different business class products, with one having 281 seats (scheduled on seven flights) and the other 292 (scheduled on two flights). Overall, wide-body flights and capacity have increased 114% and 124% respectively out of Belgrade on the pre-pandemic 2019.
Top five routes with wide-body routes in former Yugoslavia, August 2023
In Zagreb, next month will see two airlines operate wide-body services. These include thirteen flights from Toronto operated by Air Transat and four by Turkish Airlines from Istanbul. The Canadian carrier will deploy its 332-seat A330-200 aircraft on its Zagreb service next month, while Turkish Airlines will operate three flights with its 305-seat A330-300 aircraft and one with its 279-seat A330-200 jet. Due to the absence of Air Canada Rouge, Emirates and Korean Air, overall wide-body flights from the Croatian capital will be down 77%, from 76 four years ago to seventeen. Capacity will decrease 78%. Dubrovnik is the only other city to have scheduled wide-body services in the former Yugoslavia, operated by United and TUI Airways. In August, United Airlines will maintain eighteen weekly flights from Newark to the coastal city with its 203-seat Boeing 767-300, while TUI will deploy the 325-seat Boeing 787-8 from London Gatwick on five services and on another five flights from Manchester. In 2019, Dubrovnik was not served by United but American Airlines maintained operations from Philadelphia. As a result, despite having the same number of wide-body flights, capacity is slightly down.