Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport and Sarajevo Airport have recorded their busiest month since opening their doors five decades ago, with both seeing solid growth throughout July.
Belgrade welcomed 589.159 passengers, an increase of 4.3% compared to the same month last year. The figure is also 4% above the airport's previous monthly record, achieved in August 2015, when it handled 574.654 travellers.
During July, Belgrade saw its flight operations improve 3% on last year. The airport's busiest 24 hours on record was registered on July 28, when it handled 20.908 passengers.
The number was almost surpassed the following day when it saw 20.871 travellers use its services.
In a statement, Belgrade Airport said, “During August, which is traditionally our busiest month of the year, we expect to achieve another historical record in terms of passenger numbers”.
During the first seven months of the year, the airport welcomed 2.700.849 passengers, which is still down 0.04% on the same period last year, following a mixed performance during the first six months of 2016.
The airport will surpass the three million passenger mark during August.
Sarajevo Airport staged a comeback and registered its busiest month on record in July, with 109.141 passengers handled.
It is only the second time Sarajevo Airport has surpassed the 100.000 passenger threshold in a single month, the other being in August of last year.
The figure represents an impressive increase of 22.2% compared to the same month in 2015. So far this year, Sarajevo Airport has seen 466.606 travellers pass through its doors, up 5.7%.
The historic monthly record is expected to be surpassed during August, which is traditionally the airport's busiest month of the year. The acting General Manager of Sarajevo Airport, Armin Kajmaković, says he is certain 2016 will be remembered as a “turning point” for the airport.
“With ambitious projects and innovations, we look forward to keeping up with modern trends. Already in November, travellers can expect the opening of Qatar Airways’ service from Doha, and we have also resumed negotiations with the Hungarian airline Wizz Air”, Mr Kajmaković notes.
