✈Sarajevo Airport statistics for February 2021

 

Source: Flying Bosnian and Sarajevo Airport

✈ Sarajevo Airport open tenders for 2021

Sarajevo Airport terminal and administration building under construction 

Sarajevo Airport is undergoing major development with main terminal building expansion, administrative building construction, parking and road access construction etc.… 

✈ Ryanair plans to resume Banja Luka flights in May

Ryanair has resumed the sales of air tickets for flights to/from Banja Luka to European cities. According to the information available at the moment, if everything goes according to the plan without any lockdowns, Ryanair flights to/from Banja Luka will restart first week of the month May.

After a long break, caused by the coronavirus pandemic, tickets can be purchased again for flights from: Berlin, Brussels-Charleroi, Frankfurt-Hahn, Gothenburg, Memmingen and Vienna.

Resumption of flights to Banja Luka is scheduled as follows:

Currently, Air Serbia is the only airline operating flights to Banja Luka with just one weekly service from Belgrade onboard of 66 seater turboprop ATR-72 aircraft.

Source: Flying Bosnian

✈Hifa Oil to build jet fuel terminal at Sarajevo International Airport

Future Airport hotel

Hifa Oil will start construction of new modern jet fuel terminal at Sarajevo Airport. Aircraft fuel terminal will have underground tanks with capacity of one million liters of kerosene. In addition to the aircraft fuel terminal Hifa Oil plans to build a hotel and other ancillary facilities next to Sarajevo Airport, along the Sarajevo-Foca highway. In September of last year Municipal Council of Novi Grad Sarajevo made decision to sell 169 m2 of land, which resolved the issue of one of the traffic accesses to the future business hotel complex, jet fuel terminal and gas station at Sarajevo Airport. The total area of ​​the land on which the facilities will be constructed is about 8.500 m2.

One of the most important private distributors of oil and oil derivatives in Bosnia and Herzegovina, company Hifa Oil in 2017 began to supply jet fuel to airlines operating at Sarajevo International Airport. The year after a cooperation agreement was signed between Hifa Oil and Tuzla International Airport, to provide jet fuel to airlines operating at Tuzla Airport. With this agreement  Hifa Oil has positioned itself as largest distributor of jet fuel in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The past year was marked by the COVID-19 virus pandemic, which had a negative impact on the global economy, which resulted in a decline in economic activity in Bosnia and Herzegovina, a collapse in air traffic and several other negative consequences. Hifa Oil has adapted to the new situation by finding solutions through the Strategy of Business in Crisis Situations and Emergencies, and thanks to its financial and human capacities it has focused its resources on returning airlines to Bosnia and Herzegovina by providing jet fuel at very favorable rates.

Source: Flying Bosnian and Hifa Oil

✈ BHANSA - new generation of 53 air traffic controllers

The largest project of training of air traffic controllers in the history of Europe, conducted in six countries (Czech Republic, Croatia, Finland, Serbia, Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina), has been successfully completed and as a result, today BHANSA has a complete generation of 53 new air traffic controllers, and thus improved efficiency and flow of air traffic in Bosnia and Herzegovina. 

In 2014, BHANSA announced a public tender for scholarships and professional training for air traffic controllers. This announcement generated tremendous public interest and total number of 2,215 candidates applied. After completion of selection and public procurement in 2017, BHANSA and ANS of Czech Republic, i.e. their training center CANI (Czech Air Navigation Institute), signed Contract for training services for a new generation of 69 air traffic controllers.

Considering that the realization of this project was one of the main requirements for takeover of responsibility in the entire Bosnia and Herzegovina airspace, by signing this Agreement we were one step closer to the above-mentioned goal. We are especially proud of becoming the youngest air navigation service provider in Europe as we fulfilled our goal on the night of 4/5 December 2019.

Training of an air traffic controller, excluding the selection process, lasts for about two years and it is conducted according to the rigorous international standards and regulations.

"Many thanks to ANS CR and CANI, because without their long-lasting training experience and professional approach it would be impossible to realize this project. Easy communication, synergy and good organization of ANSPs and regulators in six European countries, resulted in the accomplished success. We hope better times are ahead of us, given the fact that the air traffic industry is going through the worst crisis since its inception, we also hope we will emerge from all this even stronger, and enjoy the success of joint projects in the future", emphasized CEO of the BHANSA Mr. Primorac.

CEO of ANS CR, Mr. Jan Klas also notes that this is an extraordinary international success.

"We consider this exceptional commercial contract to be a very prestigious achievement of CANI because, in its scope, it was the biggest commercial contract in the history of our company and one of the biggest contracts of this kind in Europe over the last ten years. Of course, it is the most important event for Bosnia and Herzegovina, namely in terms of successful taking over of its own airspace", Mr. Klas, CEO of ANS CR pointed out.

Source: Bosnia and Herzegovina Air Navigation Services Agency (BHANSA)

✈ Freebird Airlines charter flights Tuzla-Antalya

This summer season Firebird Airlines will operate two weekly charter flights from Tuzla to Antalya. Flights will operate on Tuesdays and Fridays from June 08 to September 14, 2021 with Airbus 320 aircraft. Total of 29 round-trip flights are scheduled, offering 5.220 seats in each direction. Flights will operate on behalf of Goldentours, a travel agency from Tuzla offering vacation packages to Antalya.

Source: Flying Bosnian

✈ 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

✈ Lufthansa to launch Frankfurt-Sarajevo flights

 

Lufthansa is launching Frankfurt-Sarajevo flights on May 03, 2021. Flights from Frankfurt will operate four times per week (Monday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday) increasing to daily from June. Lufthansa’s second destination from Sarajevo, Munich resumption date is unknown. Flights from Frankfurt will operate with Airbus 319 aircraft.

Source: Flying Bosnian and Lufthansa

✈ FlyBosnia Sarajevo – Turkey and Egypt charter flights

This summer season FlyBosnia will perform majority of charter flights between Sarajevo and Turkey. The largest two tourist agencies in the country Fibula and Centrotours have signed agreement with FlyBosnia to operate the flights on their behalf. FlyBosnia will operate flights with an Airbus A320 aircraft, offering 180 seats in all economy class. The airline will operate flights from Sarajevo to two destinations in Turkey, Antalya and Bodrum. Antalya will be served with six weekly flights, while Bodrum flights will run once weekly. New charter destination for FlyBosnia this summer season will be  Hurgada in Egypt with one weekly flight from June 07 to September 23. In total FlyBosnia will operate a total of 72 round trip flights to Antalya, 11 round trip flights to Bodrum and 13 round trip flights to Hurgada, a total of 96 round trip flights, offering 34.560 seats in both directions.

✈ FlyBosnia to lease an Airbus 320 aircraft

FlyBosnia is about to take an Airbus 320 aircraft from Onur Air. The aircraft is currently being painted in FlyBosnia livery in Istanbul. According to the airline’s website, not a single destination is available for booking but in upcoming summer season, the airline plans to operate daily charter flights to Antalya on behalf of Centrotrans Tours travel agency. In November of last year Sarajevo International Airport has terminated its contract with Fly Bosnia after the airline failed to pay its debts. Most likely the debt issue has been resolved, since FlyBosnia flights will be mostly charter flights for tourist from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait visiting Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Source: Flying Bosnia

✈ Anadolujet to start Sarajevo flights

Anadolujet will start three weekly flights between Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen Airport and Sarajevo with the beginning of summer timetable 2021 (first week of April). Flights will operate on Thursdays, Fridays, and Sundays by Boeing 737-800 aircraft offering 189 seats. Anadolujet is fully owned by Turkish Airlines and all Anadolujet flights carry Turkish Airlines flight numbers. Turkish Airlines operated flights from Istanbul-Sabiha airport to Sarajevo back in 2014. Anadolujet will directly compete with Pegasus Airlines operating up to nine weekly flights between Istanbul’s Asian side airport and Sarajevo. During the summer season Sarajevo and Istanbul will be connected with record 33 weekly flights (Turkish Airlines 21, Pegasus Airlines 9 and Anadolujet 3).

Source: Flying Bosnian

✈Aljazeera Balkans-Aviosaobraćaj na respiratoru

IATA je obznanila da je od rekordne 2019.godine sa prevezenih 4,5 milijardi uslijedila “Annus horribilis” 2020.u kojoj je prevezeno 1,8 milijardi putnika, a da se gubici kompanija u pomenutoj godini procjenjuju na sto milijardi eura.

Alen Jazić /08 Feb 2021

Prethodna, 2020. godina je historijski najlošija godina za sektore turizma i avio-saobraćaja. Pandemija Covida-19 sa svojim popratnim dejstvima – zatvaranjem granica, blokadama i (samo)izolacijom, distancom, PCR testovima i najavljenim zdravstvenim pasošima, je nivo civilnog avio-saobraćaja vratila decenijama unazad. Međunarodna asocijacija zračnog saobraćaja (IATA) je obznanila da je od rekordne 2019. godine sa prevezenih 4,5 milijardi uslijedila “Annus horribilis” 2020.u kojoj je prevezeno 1,8 milijardi putnika, a da se gubici kompanija u pomenutoj godini procjenjuju na sto milijardi eura.

U takvim okolnostima je državama dozvoljeno da reaguju na način koji nije bio moguć prije pandemije u većem dijelu zapadne hemisfere – uz direktnu državnu pomoć. Pa ipak, 43 kompanije nisu opstale na tržištu, a brojne se i dalje nalaze na ivici ambisa. Regija Balkana, kao kap u moru na globalnom nivou, dijeli sličnu sudbinu. Nakon slovenačke Adrie, ugašen je Montenegro Airlines, a Fly Bosnia trenutno bez aviona i zaposlenih posada hibernira i nada se čudu.

Na prostoru nekadašnje Jugoslavije, na 24 civilna aerodroma je lani opsluženo 7,46 miliona putnika, što je u odnosu na 29,8 miliona putnika iz 2019.godine dramatičan pad. Kao i u svemu, nakon krize ovakvog obima moraju slijediti krupni koraci prepuni rizika. Analitičari avijacije i specijalizovani portali nude bezbroj analiza, često međusobno oprećnih.

‘Upumpavanje novca’

„Na prostorima bivše Jugoslavije, nacionalni prevoznici Srbije i Hrvatske su dobili pomoć države, dok u Crnoj Gori nije bilo novca u državnoj kasi, pa je i nacionalni prevoznik Montenegro Airlines doživeo krah. Gotovo svim prevoznicima širom sveta je potrebna pomoć da bi preživeli ovu nesvakidašnju situaciju. Države koje su prepoznale važnost ovog sektora svoje ekonomije su investirale novac, dok one koje nisu mogu imati dugogodišnje posledice svojih odluka“, smatra Luka Popović, urednik EX-YU Aviation News portala.

Koliko je javnog novca „upumpano“ u pomenute kompanije nije i vjerovatno nikada neće biti poznato široj javnosti. I to zbog više razloga, a osnovni bi mogao biti sakrivanje stvarnih budžetskih izdvajanja od EU regulativa koja su prije pandemije bile rigorozne. Pa ipak su ih mnoge zemlje uspješno zaobilazile i plaćale „svojim“ kompanijama kroz PSO (Public Service Obligation)linije, regionalnu povezanost, turistički i državni marketing, ali i otpis dugova prema državi. Zbog toga je ovaj sektor prilično netransparentan.

„Vrijedi li Air Serbia 650 miliona eura koliko je država Srbija od 2013.godine uložila u nju kroz direktna ulaganja, plaćanja dugova bankama i agencijama, potom otpremnina radnicima, izdvajanja za restrukturiranje i dokapitalizaciju, subvencijama, dotacijama i donacijama…“ pita se u svojoj kolumni na sajtu ZamaAero, analitičar Alen Šćuric iz Zagreba?

Iz Srbije u kojoj nikada nisu javnosti predočili ugovor sa Etihadom iz 2013.godine negiraju tolika izdvajanja, pa se „sporna“ izdvajanja svode na oko 400 miliona eura. Jasno je da je samo u 2020.godini za dokapitalizaciju država izdvojila 100 miliona eura, a bivši ministar finansija Božidar Đelić smatra da je Srbija u kompaniju kojoj je sada vlasnik sa 82 posto, prošle godine uplatila 150 miliona eura. Ako je Air Serbia prevezla oko milion putnika, računajte…

Otvoriti aerodrome za nove destinacije

„Ova procedura je u skladu sa novim pravilima Evropske komisije o državnoj pomoći. Procenjeno je da će ova suma, za sada, omogućiti kontinuitet u poslovanju Air Serbia. Croatia Airlines, koja je nešto manja od Air Serbia po broju aviona i linija, dobila je približno sličnu sumu, nešto više od 90 miliona evra, koja je data kako bi se održala likvidnost firme. I hrvatska vlada je izvršila dokapitalizaciju mada je ona skoro 100-procentni vlasnik Croatia Airlines-a. Prethodna vlada Crne Gore je tokom leta 2020. izvršila finansijsku injekciju u Montenegro Airlines u iznosu od 10,4 miliona evra u julu i 25 miliona evra u avgustu, kako bi kompanija imala dovoljno sredstava da isplati plate i osigura tekuću likvidnost. Međutim, nakon promene vlasti, utvrđeno je da dodatnih sredstava nema. Zakon o finansijskoj pomoći MA, koji je donet pre korone, u decembru 2019.godine, predvideo je finansijsku pomoć prevozniku i iznosu od 155 miliona evra u periodu od šest godina“, zaključuje Popović.

Vlada Crne Gore je donijela odluku da dosadašnju kompaniju ugasi i osnuje novu – ToMontenegro i u nju uloži 30 miliona eura. Bosna i Hercegovina i Sjeverna Makedonija trenutno nemaju tih problema. Iz svojih budžeta ne izdvajaju sredstva za državne kompanije i to nakon što su propali projekti Air Bosna, BH Airlines, Bosnian Wand, Air Srpska, Sky Bosnia, MAT Airways, Avioimpex… No, nije da se ne izdvajaju sredstva za subvencije stranim kompanijama koje saobraćaju u ovim zemljama.

„Svi aerodrome u BiH se moraju više otvarati novim destinacijama, jer da bi jedna avio linija bila održiva, potrebno je uložiti veliku promociju dok sama linija zaživi (otprilike 12-15 mjeseci). Niskobudžetne avio-kompanije su odgovor za sve aerodrome u BiH uključujući Sarajevo, s obzirom da je Sarajevo jedini aerodrom koji treba i mora imati miks niskobudžetnih i regularnih avio-prijevoznika zbog transfer putnika sa dalekih destinacija i biznis putnika (uključujući diplomate, OHR, NATO, SFOR, EU i sve vladine i nevladine organizacije). Domaća avio-kompanija je u današnje vrijeme nemoguća misija. Možda je bila moguća prije 10-15 godina, ali danas apsolutno ne. Avio-biznis je jako ozbiljan i skup, a raditi isti sa nekoliko aviona je nemoguće. Pitanje je samo vremena kad će Croatia Airlines i Air Serbia odustati, jer iste su više politički projekti nego funkcionalan biznis“, smatra Zahid Krkić sa Flying Bosnia specijalizovane stranice za civilnu avijaciju.

Aerodromi pod dugoročnim koncesijama

Tako dođosmo i do pitanja aerodroma koji su u finansiranju od strane država pomalo ostali u sjeni. Jasno i zbog čega, u Sloveniji, Hrvatskoj, Srbiji i Sjevernoj Makedoniji su najveći aerodromi dati strancima na upravljanje pod dugoročnu koncesiju.

„Ovo je trend gotovo svuda u svetu, a organizacije koje predstavljaju interese aerodroma ukazale su na ovaj problem. Međutim, treba uzeti u obzir da aerodromi imaju fiksne i ugovorene cenovnike i da ukoliko ima nekog prometa, aerodromi ostvaruju novac od toga. Procena je da ako se pomogne avio-kompaniji, ona će nastaviti da plaća aerodromima za pružene usluge, pa će tako i sami aerodromi dobiti svoj deo kolača. Ako nema saobraćaja, nema ni priliva za aerodrome. Primera radi, aerodromi Crne Gore smatraju da će imati značajne gubitke zbog bankrota svog najvećeg korisnika Montenegro Airlines. Naravno, i aerodromi su jako pogođeni ovom krizom. Mnogi su smanjili kapacitete, zatvorili terminale i ukinuli investicije. Ali ima primera gde su države pomogle, a to su uglavnom u onim zemljama gde nema nacionalnog prevoznika pa je samim tim i promet na aerodromima izuzetno nizak. To je slučaj u Bosni, ali i u Sloveniji gde je Vlada aerodromu u Ljubljani, koju vodi privatna nemačka firma, nedavno uplatila pet miliona evra bespovratne pomoći“, naglašava Luka Popović.

O pitanju aerodroma i njihovog prevazilaženja ogromne krize iz Sarajeva dolaze nešto optimističnije prognoze.

„Aerodrom Sarajevo ne bi trebalo dati pod koncesiju, jer je to jako važno preduzeće za cijelu državu. Samo treba dovesti profesionalnu upravu koja neće biti birana samo po stranačkoj pripadnosti. Ostale aerodrome treba dati u koncesiju, ali sve i u istom paketu. U 2019. Aerodrom Sarajevo je imao neto profit od 6 miliona eura, a većina tih sredstava je otišla na financiranje aerodroma u Tuzli i Mostaru. Za Tuzlu je donekle i opravdano, jer i sami građani imaju neke koristi od prometa na aerodromu, ali Mostar je stvarno jedna velika sramota“, rezonuje Krkić.

Svjetski sektor privrede u kojem je 57 posto pilota trenutno bez letova, članovi kabinskog osoblja na berzi rada, a plate i uslovi rada znatno nepovoljniji, čekaju period u kojem će bezbrižno udahnuti zrak – sa ili bez respiratora.

Izvor: Al Jazeera/ Alen Jazić

✈Students visit Sarajevo International Airport

Students of the Faculty of Transport and Communications of the University of Sarajevo and journalists of the aviation portal E7 Echo Seven visited Sarajevo International Airport, to get acquainted with the work processes in receiving and dispatching passengers, aircraft and goods.

The friendly staff of Sarajevo Airport was available to students and journalists for all questions related to the airport and airport traffic.

In cooperation with academic institutions, Sarajevo International Airport pays special attention, especially when it comes to the transfer of knowledge to younger generations.

At the end of the visit, the students expressed their gratitude to our staff because they will certainly use the knowledge and experience, they gained on this occasion in their further work.

Source: Sarajevo Airport

✈ Tuzla Airport to start atrium construction

Given that all administrative procedures have been completed, the construction of the atrium at Tuzla International Airport has been given green light. The conceptual design of the atrium was completed much earlier, but construction was postponed many times  due to the local government delaying  the issuance of building permit.

During this month, the airport will begin construction of the atrium that will be adjoined to the terminal building. New building will have a size of 900 square meters and will house offices for rent-a-car agencies and tour operators, as well as a gift shop. Total price tag for construction of the atrium is 1,5 million Bosnian Marks or 766.000 Euros.

In the next few days, the contractor will be introduced to the plateau of the future construction site, which is in the immediate vicinity of the passenger terminal building. This space is currently used as a parking space.

Construction will further increase terminal capacity, which was reconstructed and expanded last year. Construction of the new building should last four months. According to Tuzla Airport director Esed Mujacic,  realization of several other projects will begin this year.

"We are completing another public call for a fire protection project, the implementation of which should begin soon. We also planned reconstruction of the parking lot with fully automated car parking systems. Currently we are waiting for the consent of the Bosnia and Herzegovina Ministry of Defense, given that they own the land that is planned to be used for the parking lot." Said  Mujacic.

Source: Flying Bosnian and Tuzla Airport

✈ Flynas to resume Sarajevo flights

Flynas has scheduled Sarajevo flight resumption for May. Saudi low-cost airline will start Riyad-Sarajevo flights on May 17. 2021, with one weekly flight (increase is likely possible pending pandemic control and borders opening). The same day, airline is starting Jeddah-Sarajevo flights with four weekly flights. Flyanas operated Sarajevo flights successfully during the summer of 2019, with daily flights from Riyadh and five weekly flights from Jeddah. Before the pandemic, the airline had planned to introduce its third destination from Saudi Arabia, Gassim with three weekly flights. After the pandemic is put under control (most likely spring 2022) we can expect flynas to return to increased Sarajevo operation. With Sarajevo improving its accommodation by opening new hotels and vacation resorts, the demand for travel from Saudi Arabia will be increasing year after year. During summer 2020 we can expect daily flights from Riyadh and Jeddah and five weekly flights from Gassim and possible Dammam.

✈Sarajevo Airport statistics for January 2021

Source: Flying Bosnian and Sarajevo Airport

✈2020 Airports ranking chart by passanger numbers

Skopje International Airport, North Macedonia

Monthly passenger numbers for January-November of 2020 for airports in Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, Macedonia and Montenegro. Monthly  passenger numbers for airports in Bosnia and Herzegovina are reported earlier (link to Bosnia and Herzegovina airportsdata). 

Coronavirus pandemic has affected all airports in the region especially costal airports in Croatia and Montenegro, while Ljubljana is most affected airport of all capital cities  in the region.

Airport ranking chart by passanger numbers for airports in the former Yugoslavia in 2020

Source: Flying Bosnian and airports websites

✈Wizz Air to discontinue Budapest and Salzburg

Wizz Air discontinued sales of Budapest-Sarajevo and Tuzla-Salzburg flights. Budapest-Sarajevo flights were introduced back in April of 2017, with subsidies provided  by the Hungarian government. At the time services to five West Balkan capital cities were established under the National Ministry of Development’s new public service obligation operation to serve these important economic links in the region. The flights from Budapest to Skopje in Macedonia, Podgorica in Montenegro, Tirana in Albania, Pristina in Kosovo and Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina were introduced. Wizz Air is still selling tickets for Budapest-Sarajevo flights for the month of March. The airline plans to operate 10 round trip flights between Budapest and Sarajevo in March, while sales for Tuzla-Salzburg flights are discontinued.

Tuzla-Salzburg flights were opened for reservations on May 29. 2020, for two weekly flights beginning July 02. 2020. The flights were introduced on July 02 2020, but only one round-trip flight was operated due to a temporary flight ban imposed by Austrian government to control the spread of the corona virus. Wizz Air postponed Salzburg flights relaunch couple of times but due to the pandemic and border closures, the interest for the flights was low. Besides Tuzla, Wizz Air has launched five more destinations from Salzburg but out of six destinations launched last year, only one has survived, Salzburg – Kyiv.

Following routes were launched in July of 2020 (and all cancelled but one): Salzburg – Belgrade, Salzburg – Kyiv, Salzburg – Skopje,   Salzburg – Bucharest,  Salzburg – Tuzla, Salzburg – Larnaca        

Source: Flying Bosnian               

✈Qatar Airways has postponed Sarajevo relaunch

Qatar Airways has postponed  relaunch of Doha-Sarajevo flights for winter timetable 2021/22. This is second time for Qatar Airways to postpone Sarajevo relaunch after the flights were suspended in March of 2020 due to global pandemic. The restoration of diplomatic relations between Qatar and four Arab states is set to have big impact on Qatar Airways. Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates have agreed to restore ties with Qatar, ending a blockade that has been in place for more than three years. 

Largest number of passengers on Qatar Airways flights from Doha to Sarajevo are transfer passengers from Australia, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Kuwait. Due to pandemic causing many borders to be closed transfer passengers are almost non existent, forcing Qatar Airways to postpone Sarajevo relaunch once again. In general air travel from and to Sarajevo during winter months is minimal, making return of flights from Doha in November very unlikely. Relaunch of Doha-Sarajevo flights most likely will happened in March of 2022, with possibility of daily flights from June 2022.

Source: Flying Bosnian

✈Wizz Air – Sarajevo base analysis

Wizz Air has announced a new base at Sarajevo – its second in Bosnia and Herzegovina after Tuzla. It will start on 20 May and will initially have nine routes, all twice- or three-weekly, for a total of 21-weekly. The routes focus on Bosnian VFR, especially those to Germany, Switzerland, and Scandinavia.

None of Wizz Air’s new routes will have direct competition, and only two will have indirect competition from Sarajevo.  Most will come from itself at Tuzla, raising the question of whether any consolidation will happen.

In 2019, round-trip point-to-point demand – before stimulation in most cases – was approximately as follows, based on booking data from OAG Traffic Analyzer:

• London: 19,000
• Amsterdam: 16,000
• Munich: 15,000
• Copenhagen: 14,000
• Paris: 14,000
• Brussels: 12,000
• Gothenburg: 7,000
• Düsseldorf and Cologne: 9,000 (indirect only)
• Basel: 3,000 (rising to over 30,000 with Zurich, ~92km away, is included; Zurich ended in 2019)

The above figures exclude leakage to Tuzla (~110km away) and demand that goes by coach. Coach demand was always big business from the country

Wizz Air’s new Sarajevo base will initially have one aircraft which will operate six sectors each day from 06:10 until 23:00. Wizz Air also ensures maximum aircraft utilization, with very high aircraft usage. On the average Sarajevo based aircraft is flying 13,5 hours per day (13,5 hours is only the air time, when aircraft is in the flight, does not include taxing and other airport operations. 

Multiple markets have been served from Sarajevo in the past decade:

• Amsterdam by BH Airlines until 2012
• Charleroi by TUI Belgium in 2017
• Copenhagen by BH Airlines, Norwegian, and SAS. Two carriers were on it in most years and it ended in 2019
• Gothenburg by BH Airlines until 2011 and then Norwegian in 2019
• London-Luton by FlyBosnia in 2019 and 2020
• Zurich by BH Airlines until 2013 and then Swiss between 2015 and 2019

Belgium, France, and the UK will once again be connected with Bosnia and Herzegovina. Sarajevo and Bosnia and Herzegovina will benefit on many levels by having direct air link with London, Paris and Brussels.

Wizz Air previously served London-Luton from Tuzla.  It ended in 2017 and had an estimated SLF of 74%, based on 20,159 passengers and 27,360 seats. The traffic shows how well markets can be stimulated, with London demand from Sarajevo and Tuzla exceeding 38,000 in 2017 – almost double the year before. Of course, this does not mean that SLF, fares, and sector revenue will always be sufficient, so the need for corrective measures.

Sarajevo Airport incentive for airline base

Sarajevo International Airport incentive requirement for airlines to open base at the airport (the tender was opened on October 08. 2020, and closed 30 days latter).

• In the first stage, the base is set up for two aircraft, with the option of increasing number of aircraft, as available capacities increase at Sarajevo International Airport or when other conditions are fulfilled.
• The aircraft types must have the capacity of 150 passengers or more
• The base of the airline carrier is set up for the period from 2021 until 2023.

Wizz Air has opened its base at Sarajevo with one Airbus 320 with nine new routes from Sarajevo, even though requirement for winning the tender was two aircraft. Wizz Air was the only company applying for the incentive, giving it stronger negotiation position. In the first year of the airlines base operations at Sarajevo Airport the airline will strengthen its position paving the road for summer of 2022, when the aviation sector is expecting full rebound from the pandemic. In summer timetable of 2022, we can expect second aircraft to be based at Sarajevo Airport with additional destinations introduced. Underserved market from Sarajevo with indirect traffic in 2019 with at least 8000 one-way passengers are : Rome, Barcelona, Milan, Hamburg, Oslo, Stockholm, Helsinki, Berlin, Frankfurt, Dusseldorf, Geneva,  Athens, Skopje, Antalya, Izmir, Ankara, Bucharest, Warsaw, and Tel Aviv.

With second A320 being based in Sarajevo, Wizz Air has high probability to start following routes:

Wizz Air network from Sarajevo in summer of 2022 could look like this:

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✈Wizz Air to open Sarajevo base

 

Wizz Air new route map from Sarajevo

Wizz Air has announced today opening of its second base in Bosnia and Herzegovina, after Tuzla the airline will open Sarajevo base with one Airbus 320. The airline has announced nine new destinations from Sarajevo with 21 weekly departures.

Wizz Air new routes from Sarajevo

Source: Flying Bosnian and Wizz Air