Flydubai leads as Gulf carriers gain ground in Belgrade

Flydubai is Belgrade’s busiest carrier from the Gulf region, outperforming both Qatar Airways and Wizz Air Abu Dhabi. The Dubai-based airline boasts the most flights and capacity out of the three with a double daily rotation throughout the year. It handled 182.499 passengers on its Belgrade service, representing an increase of 9.9% year-on-year and its strongest performance at Nikola Tesla Airport to date. The carrier’s annual average cabin load factor on the route stood at 75%. Compared to the pre-pandemic 2019, Flydubai has increased its passenger figures between the two cities by 148% or an additional 109.000 travellers per year.

Qatar Airways registered its best performance in Belgrade since it began operations in 2012. The Doha-based carrier handled 103.766 travellers on the route, up 25.2% on 2023. The airline introduced an additional three weekly flights to the Serbian capital, for a total of ten weekly, during the first quarter of the year, with its average annual load factor standing at a strong 90.1% on its Airbus A320 aircraft. Prior to the pandemic, the Qatari carrier served Belgrade on a daily basis with its larger A321 aircraft, which it has since retired, as well as ten weekly services during the peak summer travel period. However, it managed to outperform its 2019 result by 6.1% last year.

Wizz Air Abu Dhabi is the only of the three that did not manage to increase its year-on-year passenger volume, primarily due to its capacity cuts on the route. However, the carrier managed a turnaround by the fourth quarter. It welcomed 82.883 travellers on the route, down 11.2%, while its cabin occupancy stood at 82.2%. The budget airline deploys the A321neo aircraft between the two capitals. Wizz Air Abu Dhabi commenced operations to Belgrade in 2021, filling some of the void left by the departure of Etihad Airways, which, until it discontinued flights in 2020, was the busiest of the Gulf carriers in Belgrade. Figures on the route are still some way off Etihad’s 2019 record, which stood at 114.256 travellers.

Gulf carrier Belgrade capacity, 2024

Gulf carriers handled 369.148 passengers between Belgrade and the region in 2024, despite rising competition. This includes the Air Serbia – Turkish Airlines partnership, offering over thirty weekly flights to Istanbul with numerous onward connections, Air Serbia’s expansion into the Far East and the entry of China Southern Airlines onto the Serbian market in September 2024, providing competitive fares to the Far East, Southeast Asia and Australia, all of which are key transfer markets for both Flydubai (in cooperation with Emirates) and Qatar Airways.