Airlines are increasing winter capacity between Montenegro and Serbia to 76 flights a week for the 2026/27 season, extending a route network traditionally dominated by summer demand and reinforcing Belgrade’s role as Montenegro’s main regional aviation hub.
Current schedules for the season beginning October 25 provide for 45 weekly flights between Podgorica and Belgrade and another 31 between Tivat and Belgrade.
Montenegro’s flag carrier Air Montenegro plans 18 weekly flights between Podgorica and Belgrade, up from an initially planned 14, while Air Serbia is scheduled to operate 27.
Between Tivat and Belgrade, Air Montenegro plans 10 weekly flights, compared with seven during the previous winter season, while Air Serbia is scheduled to operate 21.
The planned increase comes after the Montenegro-Serbia aviation market carried 685,316 passengers in 2025, up 6.6% from the previous year.
Podgorica-Belgrade accounted for 356,896 passengers, while Tivat-Belgrade carried 328,420.
The figures underline the unusual importance of the Serbian market for Montenegro.
The routes serve tourism, business, family travel and onward international connections through Belgrade, creating demand that extends well beyond the coastal summer season.
That makes them particularly valuable as Montenegro seeks to reduce the extreme seasonality of its tourism economy.
Tivat traditionally experiences a sharp fall in direct international connectivity after October.
Many European airlines reduce or suspend coastal services during winter, leaving Belgrade as one of the few high-frequency gateways available throughout the year.
Increasing Tivat-Belgrade frequency to 31 weekly flights therefore gives the Bay of Kotor more than four daily connections on average even outside the peak season.
That supports hotels, restaurants and tourism operators seeking to remain open later in autumn and reopen earlier in spring.
It can also help Montenegro’s expanding luxury residential and marina sector, where owners and visitors often require year-round access rather than purely seasonal leisure flights.
The Podgorica route serves a broader market.
The capital generates government, corporate and family travel throughout the year and also acts as a gateway to central and northern Montenegro.
A total of 45 weekly flights would mean more than six daily departures on average between Podgorica and Belgrade.
That level of frequency allows travellers to make same-day or short business trips and increases the usefulness of Belgrade as a connecting hub.
For Air Serbia, Montenegro remains a strategically important short-haul market feeding passengers into its wider European and long-haul network.
Belgrade connections can give travellers from Montenegro access to destinations that are not served directly from Podgorica or Tivat, particularly during winter.
Air Montenegro has a different commercial incentive.
The Serbia routes are among the few markets capable of supporting high-frequency year-round flying from both Montenegrin airports.
That makes them important for aircraft utilisation and cash flow outside the summer peak.
Expanding frequencies can improve scheduling flexibility, but it also intensifies direct competition between the two national carriers.
The market therefore provides an early test of whether additional capacity is being supported by underlying demand rather than simply producing lower fares and weaker load factors.
Passenger growth of 6.6% in 2025 provides some support for expansion.
The key question will be whether demand continues to grow sufficiently during the winter months.
Montenegro’s tourism authorities have made extension of the tourism season a strategic priority.
The country receives millions of overnight stays annually, but a large proportion remains concentrated between June and September.
That creates seasonal employment, underutilised hotel assets and volatile business revenues.
Improved air connectivity is one of the main conditions required to change that pattern.
Hotels cannot easily build winter demand if visitors cannot reach the destination conveniently.
At the same time, airlines will not maintain flights without sufficient passengers.
The increase in Montenegro-Serbia services therefore provides a practical mechanism for testing off-season demand.
The Tivat schedule is particularly significant.
The airport serves some of Montenegro’s most internationally oriented tourism developments, including the Bay of Kotor, Porto Montenegro, Luštica Bay and the wider Tivat-Kotor-Herceg Novi region.
These destinations increasingly target affluent travellers who are less constrained by traditional summer holiday periods.
Year-round flights can help support conferences, wellness tourism, gastronomy and residential stays outside the July-August peak.
Serbia itself remains one of Montenegro’s most important visitor markets.
Geographic proximity, linguistic familiarity and extensive family and business links generate strong repeat traffic.
That makes Serbian travellers particularly suitable for weekend and shoulder-season tourism, where shorter stays are easier to sell than long summer holidays.
Air capacity can complement road travel, which remains important but can be slow and unpredictable during periods of congestion.
The aviation expansion also comes as Montenegro prepares larger investments in Podgorica and Tivat airports.
Passenger growth has increased pressure on terminals, aprons and runway infrastructure.
The government is preparing a 10-year airport development plan and has discussed investment needs potentially reaching €200 million-€300 million.
Higher winter utilisation strengthens the economic case for some of that investment.
Airport infrastructure that is heavily congested for two months but underused for the remainder of the year is difficult to finance efficiently.
A more balanced annual traffic profile improves asset utilisation and can support stronger airport revenue.
That is especially important for Tivat, where seasonal concentration is extreme.
The rise in winter flights should not, however, be interpreted as proof that Montenegro has solved its seasonality problem.
Aviation capacity is one input.
Hotels, restaurants, attractions and public services also need to remain available outside summer.
Pricing must be competitive, and destinations need products that give travellers a reason to visit in November or February rather than July.
The airline schedules nevertheless provide a stronger foundation.
With 76 weekly flights planned between Montenegro and Serbia, the market is moving closer to a high-frequency year-round transport corridor rather than a seasonal tourism connection.
For Air Montenegro, the expansion increases exposure to one of its core markets.
For Air Serbia, it strengthens Belgrade’s role as the principal connecting hub for Montenegro.
For the tourism economy, the greater significance is that Tivat and Podgorica are becoming better connected precisely during the period when Montenegro most needs additional demand.
The success of the winter schedule will be measured not by the number of flights announced but by whether the additional seats are filled without materially weakening yields.
If they are, the Montenegro-Serbia corridor could provide a template for extending other international routes deeper into the winter season.
