B&H plans ATR sale

Turkish Airlines to call all the shots from now on

According to internal sources from B&H Airlines, Source : EXYU aviation news : http://exyuaviation.blogspot.com can reveal that the national carrier of Bosnia and Herzegovina is planning on selling one out of its two turboprops ATR72 aircraft. The orders have apparently come from Turkish Airlines which owns 49% of the company and plans to buy out the airline by the end of the year. Besides the two turboprops, B&H also operates an Airbus A319, used on more popular routes to Scandinavia as well as Amsterdam. The ATR has come in handy for lower yielding services such as Vienna, however, with 3 aircraft in its fleet and a small destination network the aircraft is no longer needed. Some sources claim that B&H had to sell the aircraft due to mounting debt, although this cannot be verified.

Furthermore, B&H Airlines will finally get a CEO. Buyuk Yilmaz from Turkish Airlines will run the company and is expected to be named as the new CEO within the next two weeks. According to Bosnian press, Turkish Airlines insisted that they name the new CEO rather than the government. In addition, Yilmaz will have to draft an action plan for B&H Airlines which is struggling with losses and debt as is the case with all other EX-YU airlines. He will have 30 days to deliver the plan to the government with his term expected to last 3 years.

B&H Airlines flies to 10 destinations. Although it was planned for the airline to receive another Airbus A319 this summer, this now seems unlikely and ultimately Turkish Airlines will call all the shots from now on. Although the airline is reporting financial losses and its passengers must now pay additional taxes at Sarajevo Airport rather than directly through the ticket price, B&H is reporting significant passenger growth this year.