✈ Strong demand for air travel from Gulf countries to Sarajevo!

All airlines flying from Gulf countries to Sarajevo are recording extraordinarily strong demand for air travel to Sarajevo. At the beginning of the year the airlines were selling limited number of flights, but with the vaccines roll out and Covid cases under control in Bosnia, tourists from Gulf countries are returning in big numbers. Strong demand for vacationing in Bosnia has created many new flights between Gulf countries and Sarajevo.

From June 1^st FlyBosnia will fly two daily flights between Sarajevo and Riyadh. Flynas will maintain daily flights between two cities as well. During summer season Riyadh will have three daily flights from Sarajevo, making it most frequent route out of Sarajevo. Gulf destinations will definitely lead Sarajevo Airport to recovery from Covid-19 pandemic.

Two more airlines from Kuwait have applied for permit to operate flights from Kuwait City to Sarajevo, Kuwait Airways plans to introduce two weekly Kuwait–Sarajevo flights on June 07^th. Also, Jazeera Airways plans to launch Kuwait–Sarajevo flights on June 07^th with two weekly flights. Both airlines are waiting for approval from Kuwait Civil Aviation Authority for flight introduction. All Kuwait-Sarajevo flights are sold by the travel agencies with advanced bookings, even with approval coming late, the flights are already pre-booked.

Qatar Airways has postponed Sarajevo flight resumption until October, but this is a major mistake by the airline, since every single airline flying from that region is having remarkably successful summer.

The Gulf region-Sarajevo market is huge with solid growth year after year. The market has matured enough for Emirates to start its own flights, with two daily flights from Dubai in summer and at least 3 weekly flights during winter months.

Saudia Airlines is another strong contender for introduction of daily Sarajevo flights from Riyadh from March to October and 3 weekly flights during winter. Flights from Jeddah and Dammam could work as well.

In the future we will definitely see following airlines launching flights to Sarajevo: Gulf Air from Bahrain, Oman Air from Muscat, and Wizz Air from Abu Dhabi.

Source: Flying Bosnian

✈ Wizz Air inaugural flight Copenhagen - Sarajevo

Sarajevo Airport - Terminal Building under construction

Sarajevo International Airport, Wizz Air inaugural flight Sarajevo-Copenhagen-Sarajevo, May 22, 2021.

	Wizz Air inaugural flight  Copenhagen ✈ Sarajevo  May 22, 2021.  Photos by Mirza

 

Source: Flying Bosnian

✈Bosnia and Herzegovina air traffic report for March

Bosnia and Herzegovina air traffic report for March 2021, Sarajevo and Tuzla Airports including the data for the month of April 2021.

BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA
SARAJEVO
TUZLA
BANJA LUKA
MOSTAR

Source: Flying Bosnian and BHDCA

✈ Wizz Air opens Sarajevo Airport base!

Wizz Air, Europe's fastest growing airline, opened its base in Sarajevo today. At the ceremony held at the Sarajevo International Airport, the news about the establishment of another route was announced. Wizz Air has added Stockholm to its list of cities with which it will connect Sarajevo. Seats on the route can already be booked on wizzair.com or on the airline's mobile app from as low as 58.99 BAM/29.99 EUR*.

Thanks to an allocation on modern Airbus A320 aircraft, Wizz Air now offers 9 routes to 7 countries from Sarajevo. From May 2021 the operations from Sarajevo will be established to: Brussels Charleroi, Copenhagen, Dortmund, Eindhoven, Gothenburg, Memmingen, Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg (Euroairport), Paris Beauvais and from July 16 to Stockholm (Skavsta Airport).

Passengers travelling from and to Sarajevo will benefit from Wizz Air’s low fares and latest generation aircraft for a comfortable and safe journey. The base establishment in Sarajevo creates new jobs with the airline and in associated industries.

Wizz Air is an investment grade credit rated airline, with a fleet of an average age of 5.4 years comprising of the currently available most efficient and sustainable Airbus A320 and Airbus A320neo family single aisle aircraft. Wizz Air’s carbon-dioxide emissions were the lowest among European airlines in FY2019 (57.2 gr/km/passenger). Wizz Air has the largest order book of 268 aircraft of the state-of-the-art Airbus A320neo family which will enable the airline to further reduce its environmental footprint by 30% for every passenger until 2030.

Wizz Air ensures that its customers can book with confidence. For ultimate peace of mind during this time, passengers can book tickets with the airline’s travel insurance package which includes Covid-19 cover* and WIZZ Flex. With WIZZ Flex, passengers can cancel their flight up to three hours before departure without any fee and receive 100% of the fare immediately reimbursed in airline credit. In addition to Wizz Air’s flexible booking and insurance policies, customers can also use the airline’s interactive travel planning map, to check operating routes and relevant travel rules in their destination country. The colour-coded map is updated daily and takes users to a country-specific travel information page which includes relevant links to local government websites, useful travel pages and any pre-departure mandatory forms that need to be filled out. Wizz Air has also introduced a new era of sanitized travel across its network, with enhanced hygiene measures to ensure the health and safety of passengers and crew.

Speaking at the press conference in Sarajevo, Andras Sebok, Chief Supply Chain Officer of Wizz Air said: “Today we are delighted to celebrate the establishment of a new base in Sarajevo and the opening of new WIZZ services from Sarajevo to 7 European countries: Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland. Remaining committed to Bosnia and Herzegovina we are also announcing today a new route from Sarajevo to Stockholm, starting from July. With this exciting news, we continue to bring new affordable travel opportunities to passengers while ensuring the best possible sanitary conditions with our enhanced protective measures. We believe that such base investment and a launch of these newest routes will further stimulate the local economy, aviation and tourism sectors”.

Alan Bajić, General Manager of Sarajevo International Airport, said: "We expect that the opening of the Wizz Air base will generate a larger volume of traffic (increase in the number of flights and a significant increase in the number of passengers, introduction of new and additional routes), which is extremely important not only for Sarajevo Airport, but also for those whose work and recovery in the coming period largely depends on the recovery of air traffic in our country".

Krisztián Pósa, ambassador of the Republic of Hungary to BiH, said: "The fact that one of the most successful European low-cost airlines with a Hungarian background launches flights from Sarajevo is of great importance because it strengthens ties with Europe and the European Union. It is also very important that it will be a great stimulus for tourism and economic development, not only in Sarajevo but in the whole of Bosnia and Herzegovina".

Source: Sarajevo International Airport

✈Wizz Air to start Sarajevo-Stockholm flights

Today, Wizz Air has announced one more route from its new base in Sarajevo. Stockholm-Skavsta Airport will be served with two weekly flights beginning July 16^th. The airline will compete indirectly with Norwegian Air, as the Norwegian Air is reintroducing its Stockholm Arlanda-Sarajevo flights from June 29^th.  

With opening of reservations for Stockholm Skavsta flights, Wizz Air has discontinued sales of tickets for Sarajevo-London Luton.

Source: Flying Bosnian and Wizz Air

✈Vikend širokotrupaca na sarajevskom aerodromu

Preuzeto sa portala Echo Seven

                                                Boeing 767-200ER / Foto: sjj.aviation

Na sarajevski aerodrom su proteklog vikenda sletjela čak tri širokotrupna zrakoplova, a sve u sklopu vojne vježbe “Brzi odgovor” koja će se održati na teritoriju Bosne i Hercegovine u narednom periodu. Riječ je o avionima Boeing 767 i Boeing 777 američke kompanije Omni Air International, te zrakoplovu Boeing 747-400 aviokompanije Atlas Air.

Omni Air International Boeing 767-200ER

U petak navečer oko 20 sati po lokalnom vremenu na sarajevski aerodrom iz Grčke je sletio Boeing 767-200 registarskih oznaka N207AX, sa jednim dijelom pripadnika američke vojske. Polijetanje aviona bilo je zakazano sljedećeg dana u 10:15 sati po lokalnom vremenu.

Ovaj 19,8 godina star avion svoju karijeru započeo je u aviokompaniji Continental Airlines. Nakon nešto više od 10 godina službe avion se našao u bojama United Airlinesa, da bi 2015. godine pripao aviokompaniji Omni Air.

Foto: sjj.aviation

Foto: approach.sarajevo

Atlas Air Boeing 747-400

U subotu oko 15:30 sati po lokalnom vremenu na Međunarodni Aerodrom Sarajevo sletjela je “kraljica neba”, odnosno Boeing 747-400 aviokompanije Atlas Air, koji je u Sarajevo dovezao 380 američkih vojnika. Avion je iz Tampe u Frankfurt sletio oko 10 sati po lokalnom vremenu, da bi nešto kasnije toga dana iz aerodorma Hahn u Frankfurtu poletio za Sarajevo. Avion je iz Sarajeva za Baltimore otputovao istog dana oko 18 sati po lokalnom vremenu. Ovaj Boeing 747 registarskih oznaka N480MC star je 22 godine. Kroz svoj životni vijek letio je za aviokompaniju United Airlines, a floti Atlas Air-a pridružio se u augustu 2019. godine.

Foto: sjj.aviation

Omni Air International Boeing 777-200ER

Boeing 777-200ER na sarajevski aerodrom trebao je sletjeti u subotu u 18:15 sati po lokalnom vremenu, međutim zrakoplov je iz zračne luke Pleso u Zagrebu sletio tek oko 22 sati. Odlazak je bio planiran u 10:15 sati sljedećeg jutra.

Avion registarskih oznaka N819AX star je 17 godina i prethodno je letio za aviokompaniju Kenya Airways, te nosio ime po afričkoj planini Kilimandžaro.

Boeing 777-200ER na stajanci / Foto: approach.sarajevo

Source: Echo Seven

✈ Mismanagement of Mostar International Airport

Bosnia and Herzegovina federal Minister of Transport and Communications Denis Lasić visited Mostar Airport on April 06, 2021. where acting Director Ivan Ljubić informed him about the situation caused by Covid-19 pandemic, but also about future plans and status of negotiations with numerous airlines on the future flight introductions to the airport.

The Minister expressed his commitment to continue supporting the survival and development of Mostar Airport until airport reaches financial self-sustainability and announced the imminent signing of a contract for capital transfer and current government subsidies for the year 2021.

The total value of government subsidies for the airport is 3,5 million Bosnian Convertible Marks (1,8 million Euros), of which one million KM refers to the program of spending the current transfer "Subsidies to public companies" for the improvement of air transport, and 2,5 million KM for airport’s stuff salaries and keeping airport operational since airport does not have any airline-passengers or cargo traffic due to Covid-19 pandemic. But, even before the pandemic the airport did not have any  serious air traffic for the last two years. Main reason, mismanagement!

This season Eurowings is the only airline that will operate extremely limited number of flights from Duesseldorf (only 9 round-trip flights).

The airport management should be more proactive on bringing airlines and using the subsidies to attract new airlines that would bring businesses to the airport and the whole tourist sector industry to the city of Mostar (hotels, restaurants, rent a car, railways, shopping) instead government subsidies are used for management and employee’s paychecks for the work they don’t do (airport does not have any flights, NONE).

The government of Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina should stop issuing blank checks to the airport management and paying them for doing absolutely nothing. If the airport’s management is not capable of doing what they are paid for, they should be replaced or Mostar Airport should be closed, since the airport is open so they can only serve themselves.

Mostar Airport potential is huge! City of Mostar is second most visited city in the country, right after Sarajevo. If the airport had a management who was working for the airports development instead of staling it due to political gains, by now Mostar Airport could have been second busiest in the country with 600.000 yearly passengers. City of Mostar and Herzegovina region has big advantages for a low-cost carrier base:

-Proximity of Adriatic coast (airport could offer 3 Euro passenger fee to attract new airlines and take some passengers from Split and Dubrovnik), but again politics, not economy play major role here.

-Mostar and Hercegovina with its climate could be advertised as winter destination for UK, Ireland, and Scandinavia.

-Medjugorje has huge potential, flights to Poland, Ireland, Italy with two weekly flights could work year-round.

-Railway link to Sarajevo and Capljina (Scenic train ride from Mostar to Sarajevo is one of the most beautiful in the world, and this could be used as another advantage for LCC). Bosnia has most modern trains in all of the Balkans, Talgo trains with scenic and wonderfully comfortable ride can reach Sarajevo in less than two hours.

-Tourist potential of the city and whole region of Herzegovina is unlimited and to the most part untapped. City of Mostar, Neretva rafting, Buna, Medjugorje, Herzegovina Wine route, Rotimlja settlement, Neum, Hutovo Blato, Wild horses’ habitat in Livno, and many more!

-Red Bull Stari Most cliff diving tournament (this event is attracting about 25.000-35.000 visitors every September).

The time has come for Federal Government to decide either to change management or close the airport, there in no third option here!

Source: Flying Bosnian

✈Ryanair to launch Tuzla flights!

 

Europe’s biggest airline Ryanair has announced its arrival at Tuzla International Airport from September of this year. The airline will launch two routes to Tuzla from Germany. Baden Baden and Weeze will be served with two weekly flights. Ryanair will compete with Wizzair on Baden Baden route. Arrival of second low-cost carrier at Tuzla International Airport is excellent news for the airport and its customers, since healthy competitions is always welcomed, benefiting customers. Now Ryanair will serve two airports in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Banja Luka with 8 routes and Tuzla with two routes. Ryanair arrival at Tuzla is a sign that airline will definitely expend its operation in Tuzla, most likely from spring of 2022.

Source: Flying Bosnian and Ryanair.com

✈Ryanair to start Stockholm (ARN) – Banja Luka flights

 

Europe’s largest airline Ryanair has announced new route from Banja Luka. Stockholm’s main airport Arlanda will be served twice weekly starting November 02, 2021. This brings Ryanair’s network from Banja Luka to eight destinations in five European countries.

Stockholm (ARN) – Banja Luka (BNX)

Route	Flight number	Flight times	Operating days	Valid from-to
ARN-BNX	FR 4618	09:45-12:25	-2---6-	02.11-
BNX-ARN	FR 4619	12:50-15:30	-2---6-	02.11-

Source: Flying Bosnian and Ryanair.com