B&H strikes gold

A reason to smile

The start of the year did not start that well for the national carrier of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The introduction of many new routes failed to produce a big increase in passenger figures, but the end of the 2009 summer season changed the airline’s fortune dramatically. B&H Airlines, which is owned partly by Turkish Airlines, has for the elapsed 9 months of the year transported a total of 65.517 passengers, an impressive 30.4% passenger increase compared to the same period last. This means that the airline managed to lure 15.260 passengers more than the same period last year. During this crisis year, B&H Airlines operated a total of 1.317 flights (up 24.2%), of which 1.235 were scheduled regular flights (up 23.7%) and 82 were charter flights (up 32.3%). Within these figures, B&H Airlines has not included it’s numbers from Banja Luka Airport, from which it operates two weekly flights to Zurich.

B&H welcomed its first jet engine aircraft earlier this year. The airline is expected to receive a second jet engine aircraft in the near future.

Meanwhile, for the same period, Sarajevo Airport has managed to profit from B&H’s success and itself post a 3.5% passenger increase, compared to the same period last year. That means that the airport handled a total of 408.925 passengers.