Visa free

Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

From today, passport holders of Bosnia and Herzegovina can travel to 25 members of the Schengen Area as well as Bulgaria, Romania, Cyprus and Lichtenstein without a visa for up to 3 months. The visa liberalisation is anticipated to have a big impact on passenger numbers travelling to and from airports in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Last night, Sarajevo celebrated the lifting of the visa restrictions with a “New Schengen Year” party in the city centre. B&H Airlines will today operate a special flight to Strasbourg in France, carrying deserving citizens as well as politicians and members of the media. From Banja Luka, a special flight will be chartered to Brussels. Sarajevo Airport has seen a massive increase in passenger numbers mostly due to B&H Airlines’ increased flight offering. Both the airport and airline will hope to see an even better 2011. Whether foreign carriers will be enticed to commence flights to either Sarajevo, Banja Luka, Mostar or Tuzla remains to be seen.

Last December the same visa restrictions were lifted for citizens of Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia. All three countries have seen a sharp increase in passenger numbers at their airports this year. Belgrade Airport has so far recorded an increase of 13% with the visa liberalisation coinciding with the introduction of the open sky policy. Similar growth has been recorded at Macedonia’s two airports, with numbers at Skopje increasing by 12.6% and at Ohrid by 9.3%. Meanwhile, Montenegro’s two airports saw a combined passenger increase of 20% (Podgorica up by 47% and Tivat by 2%).