Capacity provider GP Aviation has become Pristina’s busiest airline, handling just over 900.000 passengers in 2024, overtaking Wizz Air, which came out on top the previous year. GP Aviation added close to 400.000 additional travellers year-on-year. A key factor in its success was securing access to high-demand routes to Switzerland. In 2024, the Bulgarian-registered carrier obtained authorisation to operate flights between Pristina and Switzerland, following a public tender aimed at designating a European Union-registered airline to fly between the two markets. Since Switzerland, which is not part of the EU, regulates air traffic rights through bilateral agreements and Pristina lacks a domestic carrier, Kosovo was permitted to assign an EU-based operator to bridge the regulatory gap.
Chair Airlines and easyJet positioned themselves as the second a third busiest carriers, with 540.000 and 505.000 travellers respectively. Wizz Air, which was last year Pristina’s busiest came only fourth, with 420.000 passengers, shedding over 100.000 customers year-on-year. Faced with fleet issues throughout much of last year, Wizz Air wiped out 100.000 seats from its Pristina flights compared to 2023, decreasing its overall capacity by 16.8%, while the number of operated flights declined 17.5%. Unlike in 2023, the airline did not operate from Pristina to Basel and Baden Baden last year.
Pristina Airport’s busiest airlines in 2024
Austrian Airlines overtook its Turkish counterpart to become the busiest legacy carrier operating out of Pristina, handling 150.000 passengers, an improvement on the 133.000 travellers the year before, despite capacity levels remaining unchanged. Pegasus Airlines outperformed Turkish Airlines to become the largest carrier operating between Turkey and Pristina. Overall, low cost carriers and flights sold through tour operators again took a leading role at the airport, which saw its busiest year on record in 2024. Pristina Airport was also the fastest growing in the former Yugoslavia last year, adding over 600.000 additional travellers on 2023.
