Commercial airports across the former Yugoslavia handled a combined total of 5.428.484 passengers during the first quarter of the year. In March alone, 1.931.234 travellers were welcomed. March saw Podgorica overtake Ljubljana, despite both shedding passenger numbers on last year. Podgorica saw its weakest March performance since 2022, with Ryanair being the main culprit for the 4.9% passenger decline. The low cost airline suspended all but one route from the Montenegrin capital over the winter season, reducing its capacity by over 50% in March. Niš and Ohrid continued to see reduced figures with both airports impacted by Wizz Air’s capacity cuts. Meanwhile, Kraljevo Airport doubled its passenger numbers on 2024.
Passenger performance by airport, March 2025
During the first quarter of the year, both Belgrade and Pristina ranked among Europe’s top 100 busiest airports, taking 67th and 94th place respectively. Belgrade Airport positioned itself just behind Sofia, Malta and Fuerteventura but ahead of Tenerife, Cologne and Palermo. Pristina was preceded by Gothenburg, Luxembourg and Tbilisi but in front of Pisa, Trondheim, and Rome Ciampino. Zagreb positioned itself as the 103rd busiest, behind Vilnius, Stavanger and Tromso, but ahead of Wroclaw, Cagliari and London City. Skopje took 123rd place. It was immediately behind Poznan, Cork and Santiago de Compostela, but ahead of the likes of Salzburg, Innsbruck and Paphos. Sarajevo ranked 144th, with Bosnia and Herzegovina’s capital behind Kaunas, Montpellier and Bremen, but outperforming Leipzig, Lille and A Coruna.
Passenger performance by airport, Q1 2025
European rank for select regional airports by passenger numbers
London Heathrow was Europe’s busiest airport during the first quarter with 18.258.402 passengers, while Turkey’s main gateway of Istanbul second with 17.973.085 travellers. The pair recorded a decline of 1.5% and an increase of 1.6% on 2024 respectively. They were followed by Paris Charles de Gaulle with 15.903.578 passengers, Madrid with 15.506.167, Amsterdam with 14.821.876 travellers, Frankfurt with 12.415.039, Barcelona with 11.798.550, Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen with 10.304.101, Rome Fiumicino with 10.275.290, and London Gatwick with 8.440.669 passengers. Out of Europe’s top ten busiest, four are still below their pre-pandemic 2019 records. These include Paris Charles de Gaulle (-3.5%), Amsterdam (-4.3%), Frankfurt (-16.1%) and London Gatwick (-12.8%).
Largest airlines by scheduled seat capacity across the former Yugoslavia, March 2025
