Ryanair delays Serbia return until 2021

Low cost carrier Ryanair has pushed back the resumption of its flights to Niš Constantine the Great Airport until March 2021 after the airline announced it would cut winter capacity from the initially planned 60% to 40% due to increased flight restrictions and weaker bookings. Furthermore, the budget carrier has decided to terminate operations between Bratislava and Niš.

The low cost airline now plans to restore services from Bergamo to the south-east Serbian city on 2 March, followed by Malta on 5 March, while operations from Berlin will be reestablished on 28 March.

“While we deeply regret these winter schedule cuts, they have been forced upon us by government mismanagement of European Union air travel,” Ryanair said. The majority of Serbian citizens are still unable to enter most EU member states.

Niš Airport has seen a significant decline in traffic as a result of the pandemic. Air Serbia has restored just part of its network from the city – to Hahn, Hanover and Nuremberg – while Wizz Air continues to maintain the majority of its flights from Niš, with exception to Vienna, which will resume in December and

Malmo in March 2021. During the first three quarters of the year, Constantine the Great Airport handled 136,811 passengers, representing a decrease 53.7% on the same period in 2019. The number of aircraft operations stood at 849, down 34.4%.

In addition to delaying its return to Niš, Ryanair will also push back the resumption of most of its flights to Banja Luka. The airline will delay the launch of new flights from Vienna to Bosnia and Herzegovina’s second largest city until 28 March, while its planned new route from Bergamo has been terminated. The resumption of its flights from Charleroi, planned for next weekend, will not go ahead, however, the service is yet to be rescheduled. The carrier will launch its new route from Gothenburg to Banja Luka on 25 October, as initially planned.