Irish low-cost airline Ryanair has officially confirmed that as of October 25, it is permanently suspending all flights to and from Niche. As the reason, she cited "regulatory problems with the supply of fuel at 'Konstantin Veliki' Airport", and Airports of Serbia confirmed that Ryanair first pointed out this problem at the beginning of July, linking it to the sanctions introduced Oil Industry of Serbia (NIS).
The last flight that has been on sale so far is the one to Vienna, on October 24 - after that the Irish company will no longer operate in Nis. Year-round routes to Vienna and Stockholm (Arlanda), as well as seasonal routes to Malta and Corfu, have been withdrawn from the flight schedule, despite the fact that tickets for certain flights were on sale even for the summer of 2027, writes the Business newspaper.
In response to Ryanair's withdrawal, the company Air Serbia announced that from October 25, it will operate direct flights from Niš to Vienna and Malta, thus continuing air connections with those European destinations. Those flights will be available twice a week, on Wednesdays and Sundays.
"With these flights, we want to provide passengers from Niš and the wider region with a reliable and high-quality direct connection to important European destinations. We believe that the flights to Vienna and Malta will further contribute to the development of traffic from the 'Konstantin Veliki' Airport", said Air Serbia CEO Jirži Marek.
"Konstantin Veliki" airport will not lose traffic
After the departure of Ryanair, two carriers remain at Nis airport - Hungarian Viz Er, as the only remaining representative of the low-fare segment, and Air Srbija, which until now flew from Niš exclusively on lines of public interest (PSO), subsidized by the state.
"The key moment for the analysis of Air Serbia's latest move is that the company is launching the two mentioned destinations from Nis on a purely commercial basis, which refutes the criticism that they are not interested in developing traffic from Nis without subsidies. The company cannot operate lines to Vienna and Malta under subsidies (PSO concept) because the state does not have time to carry out such a thing, it probably does not have the money, but even more importantly - even if this were possible, PSO on these routes would not be allowed due to the fact that some the airline has already operated on them commercially," assesses Petar Vojinović, editor-in-chief of the Tango Six portal, in his analysis.
He emphasizes that two lines have already been worked out by competitors and adds that Air Serbia will probably use the already existing capacity of the fleet that will fly from Nis during the winter, with minor adjustments to the flight schedule from Nis airport, specifically on flights to Belgrade.
"Konstantin Veliki Airport will not lose traffic due to this development, i.e. jobs that are directly or indirectly related to the termination of Ryanair traffic. What can be even more interesting is certainly the real possibility that, by some miracle, the situation around NIS will be resolved relatively quickly and that Ryanair will return to Nis. It is very likely that Air Serbia would then stop flying to Vienna and Malta and would redirect capacity to other destinations. A rare positive example when two competitors force each other to provide passengers constant connection", concludes Vojinović.
Photo: Pixabay/skyradarWizz Air plane
Niš practically remains without cheap flights to Western Europe
Wizz Air has offered three regular destinations from Niš for the 2026 summer season: Basel/Milhuz, Memmingen and Dortmund. It is a much more modest offer than the one the company has from Belgrade, where the company flies on thirty lines with more than 100 weekly flights this season - a difference that in itself shows how marginal the Niš market is, compared to the Belgrade one, in the Hungarian carrier's strategy.
Until yesterday, Air Serbia operated a set of routes from Niš that were part of the contract on routes of public interest (PSO), which means that they are financed by the state because they are not paid on a purely commercial basis. The current PSO network from Niš includes Belgrade, Frankfurt (Hahn), Cologne, Ljubljana and Istanbul, with seasonal flights to Athens and Tivat during the summer. At the end of 2023, the government extended the status of lines of public interest for the next four years, for the same destinations that Air Serbia already flew to in the previous cycle.
The message for travelers is clear: since winter, Nis is practically without cheap flights to Western Europe (the Viz Air offer is almost negligible, and the return ticket for an Air Serbia flight will certainly be at least five to six times more expensive than low-cost companies).
"The business models of Ryanair and Air Serbia are completely different. In this context, you cannot expect a ticket at a price of 14,99 euros per direction with the Serbian national airline, since it pays the full amount of airport taxes in Nis, Vienna and Malta, while with Ryanair, these amounts are not clearly and in detail shown to passengers in the final (cheaper) price of the ticket. When, in the case of flying with Air Serbia, you cancel your trip, depending on the tariff, part of the money will not be returned to you if the tariff is non-refundable, but you still have the right to a full refund of airport taxes for the flight you did not take," explains Petar Vojinović in his analysis.
"On the other hand, Air Serbia fares, which will not be cheaper than 90 euros (return ticket), include cabin baggage up to 8 kilograms and a personal bag up to 4 kilograms, which was not the case with Ryanair, but this type of baggage is charged additionally between 25-30 euros per direction, which is approximately how much it costs with Air Serbia to hand in luggage of 23 kg per direction. With Air Serbia, you do not pay the additional cost of checking in at the airport and do not do calculations with the size and by the weight of the luggage", emphasizes the editor of Tango Six.
Photo: Pexels/Drinu CutajarAir Serbia plane
Regional alternatives
For travelers from Nis, Leskovac, Pirot, Vranje or Prokuplje who still want to fly cheaply to Vienna and Stockholm, the next logical step is to go to one of the two nearest regional hubs - Skopje or Sofia. Both cities have long functioned as an informal "third terminal" for the south of Serbia, especially since Niš's offer of low-cost lines began to narrow.
Skopje (Aleksandar Veliki Airport) is closer - about 197 km or two hours and 15 minutes' drive from Niš. Viz Air has one of the most developed networks in the region in Skopje, with dozens of destinations. This means that passengers who previously flew from Niš to Vienna or Stockholm with Ryanair can find the same or similar routes from Skopje via Viz Air, with an additional two hours of travel by car or bus.
The distance from Niš to the airport in Sofia is between 175 and 200 kilometers, and the drive lasts from a little over two hours to almost three hours, depending on the route and the border crossing. What makes Sofia specific is that Bulgaria is a full member of the Schengen airspace from the beginning of 2024 (the land and sea borders were opened a little later), so a flight from Sofia to most destinations in the EU for a passenger from Serbia means entering the Schengen procedure already on the Bulgarian side, with border control when crossing from Serbia to Bulgaria, but without additional control when flying within the Schengen area.
Sofia Airport is the base of the low-cost carrier Wizz Air and hosts a dense network of Ryanair, izJet and Wizz Air to Western Europe.
The reality for travelers from the south of Serbia is as follows: they will be able to fly to Vienna from Niš with the national airline for 90 euros, or by Ryanair and Viz Air from Skopje or Sofia for 15-20 euros, plus gas and tolls, or a bus/train ticket and waiting at the border.
Source: Biznis.rs
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