Flights to Montenegro from the UK

Booking flights to Montenegro from the UK is less straightforward than it looks, because routes change enormously between winter and summer and the two airports almost live in different worlds. I’ve gone through the seasonal tables published by Airports of Montenegro, the company that runs Podgorica and Tivat, and this is what’s really on offer for winter 2026-27, plus what I’d do with it.

Direct from London and Manchester

Podgorica is the winter airport for the UK. Wizz Air UK flies from Gatwick on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays between 26 October 2026 and 26 March 2027, with Sundays added from 20 December. The Ryanair UK service from Stansted operates four days a week (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday) until 23 March 2027. Between them, there’s a direct London departure on six days of the week. Getting from the terminal into town or down to the coast is covered in Podgorica Airport.

Tivat is thinner in winter. easyJet’s Gatwick flights appear only on a handful of dates up to 1 November 2026, and its Manchester service returns on Wednesdays and Sundays from 3 to 24 March 2027. Nobody had put out the summer 2027 schedule by 10 October 2026, and summer is when the map changes most.

If there’s nothing direct from your airport

Connecting is easy enough through cities with daily flights into Podgorica. On the winter table, Belgrade has flights every day with Air Montenegro and Air Serbia, Istanbul twice daily with Turkish Airlines, and Vienna almost daily with Austrian Airlines. Those are the three hubs I’d trust, because if you miss a connection there’s another one tomorrow. British Airways doesn’t feature in either airport’s winter tables.

There are many more Wizz Air routes from German cities, Budapest and Milan, but on few weekly frequencies, so they suit a two-country trip more than a journey from Britain.

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Tivat, the summer airport

Tivat is the Bay of Kotor’s airport, 8 km from Kotor and 21 km from Budva by the operator’s figures. Its own history page says more than 80% of traffic arrives during the summer season, and the winter table proves it, with Belgrade, Istanbul, Yerevan and a few late-October flights to Germany, Austria, France, Israel and London. Travelling between June and September, a routing that lands you there is worth hunting for. The terminal itself is covered in Tivat Airport, and I weigh one against the other in Montenegro’s airports.

Flying in July and August

Summer is busy at both airports. gov.uk warns of possible delays at check-in, security and passport control in the summer months and advises getting there well ahead. Tivat opened a second terminal of more than 3,000 m² for departures in December 2018, which the airport says doubles its capacity, but it’s still a small building for July peaks. I’d allow more than two hours in high season and have the boarding pass on my phone.

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Landing, passports and customs

At Tivat you queue at one of six passport desks after leaving the plane, then pick up your bags and choose the red or green customs channel. gov.uk lists what matters for a British visitor. Meat and dairy products stay at home, sums of €10,000 or more in cash or travellers’ cheques go on a declaration, and medicines containing narcotics need declaring with a doctor’s letter. Ask for a passport stamp on the way in, which gov.uk recommends, since it proves when your 90 days started.

What if nothing works?

Dubrovnik is the classic fallback. Kotor’s tourist board puts its airport 71 km from the town, though with Schengen’s external border to cross, and gov.uk mentions summer congestion at border crossings. For a short break I wouldn’t choose it. The journey is in Dubrovnik to Kotor.

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On the day

Airports of Montenegro asks you to be at Tivat two hours before departure. Desks open two hours before take-off and shut half an hour before, sooner if the airline says so. The limit per checked bag is 32 kg. There’s free wifi, duty free and a lounge that welcomes every passenger, and on the way home, if you’ve spent €100 or more on one invoice in Montenegro, you can claim the VAT back at the customs counter. The bigger picture, from visas to trains, is in how to get to Montenegro.