Emirates currently has no plans to launch flights to either Zagreb or Belgrade, the carrier’s Deputy President and Chief Commercial Officer, Adnan Kazim, told EX-YU Aviation News at the IATA Annual General Meeting & World Air Transport Summit in New Delhi. Commenting on Zagreb, which the carrier served on a seasonal summer basis with its Boeing 777 fleet until the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, Mr Kazim noted, “To ensure a more beneficial network spread between Emirates and flydubai, we have identified routes like Zagreb, which are better suited for flydubai and target specific customer demographics and requirements. flydubai operating to and from Zagreb ensures that capacity is deployed to best serve customer demand, and we have been able to jointly fine tune our on-ground experience to allow seamless connections for passengers flying Emirates who want to continue to Zagreb on flydubai”.
The CCO said there are currently no plans to serve Belgrade either, with flydubai maintaining operations to the Serbian capital twice per day on a year-round basis. “At the moment, we have no firm plans to fly to Belgrade. This is a route that has been served by our partner flydubai for close to fifteen years, and during that time they have deepened their presence in Belgrade with two daily flights to meet increasing demand from the GCC and beyond. Nevertheless, we constantly evaluate new route possibilities, taking into account demand, market dynamics, available aircraft, along with several other factors when considering where to fly”, Mr Kazim said.
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| Emirates Europe network as of June 2025 |
Last year, flydubai handled 83.475 passengers on its Zagreb service representing a year-on-year increase of 33%. However, this is still below both 2018 and 2019 levels, when the route was served by Emirates. Back then there were 147.157 and 130.937 passengers respectively. On the other hand, flydubai welcomed 182.499 passengers on its Belgrade service last year representing an increase of 9.9% year-on-year and its strongest performance at Nikola Tesla Airport to date. 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.
