Wizz Air (W6, Budapest) will slash its Belgrade operations by half after the airport's operator, Aerodrom “Beograd - Nikola Tesla” P.E., hiked service charges by 40 per cent. Among the routes affected are Oslo Torp and Brussels Charleroi whose services will be axed from May 6 onwards.

Executive Vice President, John Stephenson, lamented the move stating that the fee increase would benefit carriers like Air Serbia (JU, Belgrade) at the expense of the Serbian travelling public as well as tourists.

"As one of the most expensive airports in Europe it should incentivise low cost air travel instead of unfairly protecting high fare wannabe monopolist Etihad Airways (EY, Abu Dhabi International)/Air Serbia. Wizz Air was willing to grow traffic and low fare services in Serbia, but regrettably we now must take one of the two Belgrade-based Airbus A320 to Latvia where low cost flights are welcomed and where a vision for passenger growth exists. The loss of half of our Belgrade capacity is reversible if Belgrade Airport reduces costs and competes with other, cheaper airports in the region,” he said.

The Hungarian LCC also warned that remaining services to Basel/Mulhouse/Freiburg, FR, Dortmund, Eindhoven, Gothenburg City, Larnaca, London Luton, Malmö, Memmingen, Paris Beauvais and Stockholm Skavsta will also see their frequencies reduced.

Wizz Air designated the Serbian capital a base in 2010.