Former Yugoslav airports saw a significant surge in passenger traffic in 2025, with commercial airports across the region handling a total of 39.3 million travelers, a 3.3 million increase from the previous year. This growth was particularly notable at ten airports, which recorded their busiest years on record: Belgrade, Zagreb, Pristina, Split, Skopje, Dubrovnik, Sarajevo, Zadar, Banja Luka, and Kraljevo. Conversely, ten airports, including Ljubljana, Tivat, Pula, Niš, Tuzla, Ohrid, Rijeka, Osijek, Brač, and Maribor, fell short of their pre-pandemic passenger numbers from 2019. Among these, Tuzla demonstrated the most impressive growth rate, while Podgorica Airport experienced the largest decline, shedding just over 5,000 passengers. Despite this, Podgorica remained the only capital city airport to witness a slight decline in 2025, influenced by Ryanair's capacity cuts and the temporary reintroduction of visa requirements for Turkish nationals entering Montenegro. In terms of aviation markets, Croatia maintained its position as the largest, handling over 14 million passengers, and saw the most significant year-over-year growth, adding one million extra passengers compared to 2024. The airline landscape witnessed a shift as well. Wizz Air reclaimed its position as the largest airline in the former Yugoslavia, surpassing Air Serbia in terms of offered capacity. This comeback was accompanied by a significant increase in seats, adding 875,505 in 2025, a stark contrast to the 1.2 million seats it reduced in 2024 compared to 2023. Conversely, Condor experienced the most significant seat reduction, shedding 113,432 seats, followed by British Airways, Qatar Airways, airBaltic, and Volotea. These figures highlight the dynamic nature of the aviation industry in the former Yugoslavia, with varying trends in passenger growth, airport performance, and airline capacity.
