No airport for Trebinje

Bosnia and Herzegovina to stay without a fifth airport

For the past two years, local authorities in Trebinje have claimed that they will build Bosnia and Herzegovina’s newest airport. However, the project has been cancelled. Local authorities say that they failed to find a party interested in participating in the construction together with the government of the entity of Republika Srpska, despite initial interest from a Chinese corporation. The Government of Republika Srpska has spent 1.6 million Convertible Bosnian Marks (820.000 Euros) for the Trebinje Airport project documentation. It envisaged for the airport to handle up to 250.000 passengers per year. Within a 120 kilometre radius from Trebinje there are airports in Dubrovnik, Mostar, Tivat and Podgorica.

Bosnia and Herzegovina currently has a total of 4 international airports – Sarajevo, Mostar, Tuzla and Banja Luka and most are struggling, both financially and passenger wise, with Sarajevo being the only exception. The 4 airports handled a total of 42.151 passengers in March 2011. While Sarajevo saw 40.803 passengers, it was followed by Mostar with 696 passengers, Banja Luka with 640 and Tuzla at a distant 4th place with a total of 12 passengers handled in March.