Is Air Serbia right to call Wizz Air ‘obsolete’ in Belgrade?

In a bold post on social media to announce its newest route, Air Serbia has indirectly called out Wizz Air, with the airline sharing an image of the low-cost carrier’s colors and describing them as “obsolete.” The Serbian carrier threw the jab as part of its announcement of an overlapping route from Belgrade, Serbia, to Alicante, Spain.

On January 14, 2026, Air Serbia, as part of its announcement of its newest route from Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport (BEG) to Alicante Airport (ALC), threw some not-so-subtle shade at Wizz Air.

Both airlines will now operate on the BEG-ALC route, with the low-cost carrier offering three weekly departures and Air Serbia’s twice-weekly seasonal itinerary launching on June 1.

In a post on LinkedIn, Air Serbia indirectly called Wizz Air’s colors “obsolete,” while its statement about the route outlined that the airline will be able to offer passengers “the benefits of travelling with the national carrier.”

“The high level of quality and comfort compared to low-cost travel, as well as an excellent price-to-quality ratio, with an average fare in line with market needs, make this service additionally attractive.”

Does Air Serbia’s claim stack up?

In 2025, Wizz Air’s share of total capacity at the airport, measured in available seat kilometers (ASKs), was 16%, according to Cirium’s Diio Mi data, up from 10% in 2019.

During the same timeframe, Air Serbia’s capacity share at BEG grew from 42% to 50%.

On flights from BEG to Europe, Wizz Air’s capacity share in 2019 was 15%, growing to 25% in 2025, while Air Serbia’s share grew from 44% to 53%.

In terms of one-way seats, Wizz Air represented only 11% of BEG’s total seats in 2019, while Air Serbia’s share was 46%. By the end of 2025, those numbers had both increased to 20% (Wizz Air) and 54% (Air Serbia).

The Serbian flag carrier welcomed 4.6 million passengers in 2025.

Assuming Wizz Air’s flights from/to BEG performed in line with its network-average load factor of 91%, Wizz Air would have ended 2025 with approximately 1.7 million passengers or around 37% of Air Serbia’s total. 

An impressive result for an airline with four aircraft based at the airport compared to Air Serbia’s 33.

Overlapping routes

The latest schedules filed on Cirium’s Diio Mi showed that ALC will be the 10th destination where Air Serbia and Wizz Air compete directly, in addition to four routes where the two carriers serve the same city but different airports.

The route map of directly overlapping and same-city services in June is displayed below.

Will Wizz Air grow further at BEG?

Cirium’s Diio Mi showed that during the first six months of 2026, the low-cost carrier’s ASKs at the airport are scheduled to grow by 29% compared to the same period in 2025 as a result of the annualization of its fourth aircraft based at BEG.

Wizz Air is also upgauging its operations at the airport. Almost all of its BEG-originating flights are now scheduled to be operated by the Airbus A321neo, instead of the A320, which was the case during the first six months of 2025.

Not so obsolete after all, eh?