Wizz Air is set to dominate this summer, with an additional 1.923.897 seats already scheduled. The airline will add a second aircraft to its Tuzla base and station two aircraft in Podgorica. Furthermore, it plans to operate an all-Airbus A321neo fleet at its bases in Skopje and Belgrade, compared to last year. The carrier is expanding across every market in the former Yugoslavia compared to last year and will deploy more capacity than it did prior to the engine issues affecting its A320neo family aircraft, which forced it to scale back operations over the past two years.

Ryanair, which topped the region for growth last year, will rank second this summer with an additional 219.640 seats. Although the low cost carrier has so far scheduled just two new routes to the region – from Poznan to Podgorica and from Gdansk to Dubrovnik – it will boost frequencies across its existing network. The main driver of growth will be its Dubrovnik base, followed by Zadar.

Air Serbia rounds out the top three, narrowly ahead of Croatia Airlines. The Serbian carrier is adding 178.986 seats to the market compared to last year. This growth is driven by the launch of five new routes during the summer season – Santorini, Baku, Toronto, Alicante and Seville – although none will commence at the very start of the season. In addition, the airline is further densifying its network, increasing frequencies on more than twenty existing destinations.

Croatia Airlines follows closely, adding 176.109 seats year-on-year. Its growth is primarily supported by the ongoing replacement of its fleet with A220 aircraft, as well as the earlier resumption of seasonal services from Zagreb. Furthermore, the carrier is introducing new routes, including Split to Nantes and Dubrovnik to Stuttgart.

Top five fastest growing airlines across former Yugoslav markets, S26