Interest from low cost airlines to fly to Sarajevo Airport

Sarajevo could soon see low cost flights from London, Rome and Dusseldorf as the Bosnian government relaxes its conditions towards no frills airlines. The government currently requires low cost airlines to pay a levy of ten euros per passenger in order to operate flights to the country. Until recently, the levy amounted to fifteen euros but the state government gave up on its share of the takings while the Federation government is expected to follow suit. According to the Al Jazeera Balkans network, interest has been shown for flights to commence from London, Rome, Dusseldorf and a city in Sweden to Sarajevo this summer. Recently, the low cost Austrian airline Niki, owned by Air Berlin, said it was evaluating the Bosnian market.

New airlines would be more than welcomed by airports in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In February, the country’s busiest airport, Sarajevo, suffered a 21% passenger decrease by handling only 26.278 passengers. During the month the airport was affected by bad weather but also B&H Airlines’ route suspensions. However, the full brunt of the carrier’s woes is to be felt at the airport in March. Currently, B&H operates a single daily flight to Istanbul with an ATR72. During February, Banja Luka Airport welcomed 424 passengers and Mostar 318. Tuzla did not manage to attract any passengers last month.

Sarajevo Airport is served by two low cost airlines - Germanwings and Norwegian Air Shuttle. Norwegian operates flights on a seasonal basis and will be resuming services from Oslo and Stockholm to the Bosnian capital this summer. On top of its all year round service from Cologne, Germanwings will resume seasonal flights from Stuttgart to Sarajevo this summer as well.

Soon in Stockholm and Gothenburg

B&H Airlines will be resuming flights to Stockholm and Gothenburg this summer, as a seasonal service only. B&H suspended flights to both cities in August 2011. Services to Sweden, used primarily by the Bosnian diaspora, are extremely seasonal and see high passenger numbers in the summer months but struggle during the low winter period. Flights to both cities will operate twice per week. They will be separate services unlike last year. Both will operate with an Airbus A319, from June 2 to September 1. Flight details for the Sarajevo - Stockholm service can be found here, while details for the Gothenburg flights can be viewed here.

Late last year, B&H Airlines’ CEO, Altan Buyukyilmaz, said the airline was looking to expand its operations in 2012. Italy has been viewed as a potential new market for the Bosnian carrier after it successfully performed charters from Mostar to Pescara last September. The airline is in talks with Mostar Airport management to launch two weekly flights to the city from Sarajevo but is requesting handling fee exemptions.

Meanwhile, it was a matter of bad luck for B&H’s hub Sarajevo Airport as it handled 599.996 passengers, four short of its 600.000 passenger goal. The airport was hampered by foggy weather throughout November and December, which saw many flights diverted or cancelled. Still, the airport can be content with a 6.5% passenger increase on 2010. Bosnia’s second busiest airport, Mostar, saw impressive growth of 107% thanks to numerous charters for religious pilgrims and welcomed 36.807 passengers. Despite all of its financial problems, Banja Luka Airport pulled of a notable 74% passenger increase by handling 8.367 passengers. However, Tuzla underperformed with only 4.527 passengers, down 20% on 2010.

Soon in Tuzla?

Tuzla Airport is finalising talks with the no frills airline Ryanair, which could see it offer direct flights from Germany to Tuzla, according to the airport’s management. Tuzla Airport CEO, Enver Jukanović, says that Ryanair could commence flights from Frankfurt and Dusseldorf to Tuzla at the start of the 2012 summer season, next March. “We have been in talks with Ryanair since 2006. We have to secure sufficient funds from the local government to subsidise the flights. After this is achieved, Ryanair will begin a six month marketing campaign”, Jukanović explains. He adds that it is extremely difficult to attract low cost airlines as they request financial support. “We negotiated with Wizz Air for years but in the end they chose to fly to Belgrade. Unfortunately, our country is still not affordable for tourists”. Jukanović explains that the local authorities are willing to provide the funds so Europe’s largest low cost airline could begin flights to the city.



Tuzla Airport was recently dealt a blow when local tour operators, in cooperation with Air Arabia, decided to terminate the short lived Dubai service. On the other hand, charter flights from Antalya in Turkey are ongoing this summer. Tuzla has seen its best passenger figures over the summer since it opened its doors for commercial flights more than a decade ago.



The airport’s CEO believes that the future Ryanair services will attract Bosnians living in Germany. Ryanair is in talks with the Montenegrin Government to commence flights to Podgorica this winter. It currently only flies to the Croatian coast, out of all the former Yugoslav republics.

Farewell Tuzla

Air Arabia, which was hired to perform 2 weekly summer charters from Dubai Airport to Tuzla has cancelled its service. The flights, which were to mark the rebirth of Tuzla Airport have been terminated due to extremely low loads. According to the airport’s management in Tuzla, on one flight there was only one passenger, representing the difficult the route faced to attract passengers. Before services were launched in July, the airport’s management expected strong figures thanks to tourism and connecting passengers from Australia and the United States.



Originally, a total of 31 flights were planned to operate this summer with the possibility of extending the flights if they proved successful. Last month Source : EXYU aviation news : http://exyuaviation.blogspot.com reported that the airline was experiencing a slow start to its services. Return ticket prices for the Dubai – Tuzla flights hovered between 460 to 700 Euros. Jat Airways now remains the only airline to offer flights from the former Yugoslavia to the largest city in the United Arab Emirates.

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.

Dubai - Tuzla flights begin

The Tuzla – Dubai service was inaugurated yesterday with flights operating twice per week with an Air Arabia Airbus A320 and organised by a local tour operator in cooperation with Middle East Passenger Services Group. However, the flights got off to a slow start. Only a 25% cabin occupancy rate was recorded on the first return flight, although it’s still early days. Enver Jukanović, the CEO of Tuzla Airport, told the “Sarajevo-x” portal that the service will attract Bosnians living in the Middle East region but also those transiting from Australia and even the United States. If the flights prove successful they will continue to operate throughout the winter as well.

There are several types of passengers Tuzla Airport is trying to attract for these flights with the Bosnian diaspora living in the Middle East and Bosnians holidaying in Dubai the most likely to use the service. Air Arabia’s flights mark a rebirth for the airport which has failed to attract airlines for over a decade. Ticket prices for the Dubai – Tuzla – Dubai service varies from 455 to 688 Euros.

Tuzla could become a cargo airport

Tuzla Airport has struggled to attract airlines and passengers since it opened its doors for commercial use in 1998, however, a brighter future is ahead for the airport as flights to Dubai begin next week and the government announces much needed investment. From July 1, flights from Dubai to Tuzla will begin, with Air Arabia being the operating carrier for the local tour operator organising the flights. The service will operate twice per week until the end of October but could be extended if the flights prove popular. Thus, Tuzla becomes only the second EX-YU city to offer flights to Dubai. The new service will provide much needed passengers for the airport which only handled 8 in May 2011. This statistic will also improve with Sky Airlines from Turkey recently commencing charter flights from Antalya.

The Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina recently announced a 220.000 Euro investment which will be used for the purchase of machinery which will improve the handling of aircraft once they arrive at the airport. There are plans to turn Tuzla into a cargo airport with investors from the United Arab Emirates interested in the project, according to the head of the Tuzla Canton, Sead Čaušević. Turkish Airlines has also expressed its interest to turn Tuzla into a cargo hub.

Flight details for the upcoming Dubai – Tuzla service can be found here.

B&H to commence Pescara service

Mostar Airport has announced it is finalising an agreement with B&H Airlines to commence seasonal summer charters from the city to Pescara in Italy. Mostar Airport’s managment is visiting Pescara in order to finalise the flight details. The project is being propped by a local tour operator. This is welcomed news for the airport as it has been struggling to attract airlines for years. If all goes to plan flights could commence next month, local media reports. In April, Mostar handled 2.193 passengers thanks to charter flights from Italy and Lebanon. It is believed Mostar Airport could attract airlines offering flights to religious pilgrims visiting the nearby Medjugorje.

On the other hand, Tuzla is anticipating the start of Air Arabia’s Dubai service, which commences on July 1. The airport handled only 54 passengers last month. Meanwhile, Bosnia and Herzegovina’s second largest city, Banja Luka, saw 719 passengers pass through its doors. Finally in April, Sarajevo handled 49.489 passengers. In total, Bosnia and Herzegovina’s four airports handled 52.455 passengers in April.

Sharjah – Tuzla replaced by Dubai - Tuzla

As was exclusively reported several weeks ago on Source : EXYU aviation news : http://exyuaviation.blogspot.com, Air Arabia, the low cost UAE based airline, will commence flights to Tuzla in Bosnia and Herzegovina in cooperation with the airport’s tour operator. With the deal between the two sides now finalised, there have been some changes. Instead of flying into Sharjah (as was initially planned), located 15 kilometres from Dubai, the flights will now originate and operate directly from and to the United Arab Emirates’ largest city – Dubai. Instead of the planned June 10 start the service has been pushed back to July 1, however, both the operating days and times have stayed the same. A total of 31 flights will operate until October 24. Although Air Arabia is based in Sharjah the flights will operate out of Dubai as agreed between tour operators and the operating carrier.

Tickets for the Dubai flights can be booked via several local travel agents. Prices for a return ticket with all taxes included vary with prices running between 460 and 700 Euros. Tickets will not be sold via Air Arabia’s website.

Tuzla becomes only the second city in the former Yugoslavia to have flights to Dubai after Belgrade. Jat Airways operates 4 weekly flights to the UAE’s most populous city. Flight details for the Dubai – Tuzla – Dubai flights can be found here.