Strong figures for Sarajevo

Passenger numbers increase across Bosnia and Herzegovina

Sarajevo Airport handled 81.042 passengers in July 2011, an increase of 12% compared to the same month last year. Driving the growth are larger capacity aircraft foreign carriers are sending, an increase in travel from the diaspora as well as visa free travel for Bosnian citizens to Schengen Zone countries, introduced in December last year. So far this year the airport handled 355.772 passengers and will comfortably surpass last year’s annual result of 563.266 passengers. Although the airport saw numbers slip in January compared to last year, business picked up from February with the airport enjoying 6 months of consecutive growth.

Other airports in Bosnia and Herzegovina also saw their figures improve, particularly Tuzla. Thanks to charters to Antalya and seasonal summer flights to Dubai, Tuzla Airport welcomed over 1.000 passengers in July. Similarly, Mostar, which has been enjoying a flurry of charters this summer, saw over 5.000 passengers pass through its doors. However, there is trouble at Banja Luka Airport which is seeing its numbers decrease as summer progresses. The airport handled just over 500 passengers, putting it in last position for the month amongst Bosnia’s international airports for the first time in several years.