✈Chair Airlines to start Zurich-Tuzla flights

The route will be served by a mix of Airbus A319 and Airbus A320 aircraft. The Airbus A319, configured with 150 seats, will operate Thursday services, while the larger Airbus A320, offering 180 seats, will be deployed on Sundays. Over the course of the season, Chair Airlines will operate a total of 64 round-trip flights, with 10,560 seats available for sale.

This new service makes Tuzla the second city in Bosnia and Herzegovina to be connected with Zurich and marks the first direct air link between Zurich and Tuzla Airport. Zurich is already connected to Sarajevo, with Swiss International Air Lines operating up to nine weekly flights during the summer season.

Chair Airlines will include one piece of carry-on baggage (up to 8 kg) and one piece of checked baggage (up to 23 kg) with every ticket at no additional cost, a benefit that has become increasingly uncommon among European airlines.

Source: Zahid Krkić

✈ Swiss International Air Lines upgrade Zurich-Sarajevo service

Due to very successful summer season Swiss International Air Lines has upgraded its summer seasonal service between Zurich and Sarajevo to year-round operations. The airline initially scheduled two weekly flights at the beginning of summer season, increasing it to five flights per week at the peak summer season during the months of July and August.

✈ Swiss to resume Zurich-Sarajevo flights

 

Swiss International Air Lines is resuming Zurich-Sarajevo flights from July 02. Flights are scheduled to operate twice weekly (Friday and Sunday) until the end of August. Flights are scheduled to operate with Airbus 220 aircraft. After Wizz Air has announced Sarajevo base, Lufthansa group has decided to step up its Sarajevo operations with launching flights from Frankfurt and reintroducing flights from Zurich. In upcoming summer season Lufthansa Group will operate flights from Sarajevo to Cologne, Frankfurt, Vienna and Zurich.

Source: Flying Bosnian

✈Sarajevo – Zurich route analysis

Indirect passengers are just one measurement of unmet demand and potential opportunities.  Yet it can be extremely helpful for future route development. Zurich- Sarajevo is the route with undoubted possibility, but due to high cost of airport taxes and aircraft handling fees at both Zurich and Sarajevo airports, this route is still served indirectly, mostly via Star Alliance and its hub airports in Munich and Vienna.

Indirect traffic between Sarajevo and Zurich in 2017 was 8.000 one-way passengers, in 2018 was 9.000 passengers and 10.000 in 2019. In the past this route was operated by Cross Air, Air Bosna, BH Airlines and Swiss Air. There is big opportunity for this route to be established again, with mix of VFR, business, and transfer passengers this route should be operated at least five times weekly (Monday-Friday) increasing to daily.

Swiss International Air Lines operated this route for short period of time but due to low frequency (only two weekly flights), the schedule that was not timed for connections onto Swiss network to North America and Asia and not having proper marketing campaign, the flights were discontinued after only one season. Even though Swiss International Air Lines in its fleet has a perfect aircraft for this route, an Airbus 220, unfortunately the airline gave up on this route for “more lucrative “ routes in wester Europe. With the pandemic getting under control the airlines will be looking for new (old) markets with high possibility of Swiss International Air Lines returning to Sarajevo again.

Source: Flying Bosnian

✈Wizz Air-Tuzla Airport statistics for 2019

Wizz Air statistics data for Tuzla International Airport for 2019. Data is showing: total number of flights and seats offered each month, total number of passengers carried in and out Tuzla Airport. Average cabin load factor is calculated and shown by each month. Busiest routes to/from Tuzla Airport (January-September 2019) are: Basel, Dortmund, Malmo and Gothenburg.

Source: Flying Bosnian

✈Passengers and cargo air traffic statistics between Switzerland and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Zurich Airport photo by Flying Bosnian, August 2016

During last year a total of 29.811 passengers traveled by air between two countries. Last year majority of the passengers traveled on Basel-Tuzla route with Wizz Air. Sarajevo airport is connected to Zurich airport during summer months only. Swiss Air is holding monopoly on Zurich-Sarajevo route, and flights are often very expensive for such a short sector. Low cost carriers such Easyjet would be perfect solution for Sarajevo-Zurich flights, since Swiss Air is catering mostly to transatlantic transfer passengers. In the past BH Airlines offered five weekly flights from Sarajevo to Zurich with stop in Banja Luka. Zurich was most successful route for BH Airlines.

Year 2016

Route	Passengers	Change from last year
Basel Mulhouse-Tuzla	19.172	+3,69%
Zurich-Sarajevo	10.197	-15,66%
Geneva-Sarajevo	371	Flights discontinued
Basel Mulhouse-Sarajevo	71	Diversion
Total	29.811	-16,31% *

Route	Cargo kilograms	Change from last year
Basel Mulhouse-Sarajevo	2.326 kg	-15,78%
Total	2.326 kg	-15,78%

*Decrease in passengers from Sarajevo to Zurich is due to Swiss Air operating flights on seasonal basis
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Year 2015

Route	Passengers	Change from last year
Basel Mulhouse-Tuzla	18.489	+
Zurich-Sarajevo	12.091	+
Geneva-Sarajevo	3.632
Basel Mulhouse-Sarajevo	251	Diversion
Zurich-Banja Luka	1.142
Total	35.623

Route	Cargo kilograms	Change from last year
Basel Mulhouse-Sarajevo	2.762 kg
Total	2.762 kg

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Source: Flying Bosnian and Swiss Federal Office for Statistics