Wizz Air opens Tuzla base

Wizz Air aims to handle 250.000 passengers from Tuzla annually

Wizz Air formally opened its base in Tuzla on Friday afternoon by basing an Airbus A320 at the airport. The jet will be deployed on a total of nine routes. Over the past week, the no frills carrier launched services from Bosnia and Herzegovina’s third largest city to Frankfurt-Hahn, Sandefjord, Memmingen and Stockholm-Skavsta and increased its capacity from Tuzla by 70% compared to last year. Furthermore, the airline has carried 290.000 passengers to and from Tuzla since first launching operations there in May 2013. Wizz Air says its major expansion in Tuzla will further stimulate the job market in the aviation and tourism sectors with more visitors now able to travel to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The low cost airline plans to boost its passenger numbers at Tuzla Airport to 250.000 per year. Furthermore, the number of flights is set to increase from an average of thirteen per week to 23 weekly services. In an earlier statement, Wizz Air’s Chief Commercial Officer, Gyorgy Abran, said, “The new Tuzla base will create a number of local jobs with Wizz Air and our local business partners. We look forward to becoming the airline of choice of Bosnian consumers and visitors”. The low cost airline’s CEO, Jozsef Varadi, told EX-YU Aviation News that Wizz is “highly excited for Bosnia and Herzegovina” and hopes to replicate its success in Tuzla across the country. “Wizz Air is very well suited for that environment. The country is absolutely right for our business plan”, Mr Varadi said. However, he added, “We are in talks with Sarajevo Airport but they are simply too expensive. They need to lower their costs”.

Tuzla Airport has struggled to attract airlines and passengers since it opened its doors for commercial use in 1998. However, its fortunes turned in 2013 when Wizz Air launched its first service from Malmo. Flights quickly proved popular and the no frills airline expanded its network. In 2014, the airport handled 151.353 passengers, a notable 146% increase on the year before. The airport welcomed more passengers last year than it did for the three previous years combined. During the first five months of 2015, Tuzla Airport has continued to see its passenger numbers grow with 74.882 travellers handled, an increase of 83.3% compared to the same period last year. The airport estimates it will handle some 200.000 travellers in 2015. Furthermore, Tuzla is in talks with the small Austrian carrier People’s Viennaline to launch two weekly flights from the Austrian capital to Tuzla with its single Embraer 170 jet.

Comments

  1. Anonymous09:06

    I would love to know what fees Wizz is paying at Tuzla Airport.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:58

      What is the most expensive airport Wizz is using and how much are they paying?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous23:27

      Belgrade with 30+ ppax.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous23:37

      Dude, 1st of April is long way gone.

      I would say Luton.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous20:38

      Don't say LTN because it is BEG than PRG, LTN is far down the list and yes 30EUR is very close to the ballpark

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:08

    Did Wizz start out in Tuzla like it did in Niš? I really hope people will start using INI and that we can see based aircraft in Niš in 3-4 years.

    Cheers

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I found some news article that wrote that the first Wizz flights from Tuzla were launched on May 31 2013. This means here were 758 days from the first Wizz flights in Tuzla to when a base was established.

      Flights from Niš were started on June 25, 2015. If Niš follows a similar timeline, a base should be achieved by July 22, 2017.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:15

      They say that average load factor will be between 80 and 90% so I think those are some pretty good results

      Cheera

      Delete
    3. Anonymous11:23

      Nis, just like Tuzla, is a perfect market for Wizz Air. I think it's a huge shame Osijek was too busy with Ryanair that they forgot about W6. Had they approached them two years ago today they would have a two aircraft base there.

      Delete
    4. I think that Nis is a larger and better conetcted city than Tuzla. Regarding those facts, INI has better potential than Tuzla...

      Delete
    5. I think that Nis is a larger and better conetcted city than Tuzla. Regarding those facts, INI has better potential than Tuzla...

      Delete
    6. Anonymous12:50

      I think that Niš and Serbia in general have much better roads that Bosnia does. More people use buses and other forms on public transport - so they are used to staying on the ground. Niš is well conected with other cities around it so I hope they will be using the airport as well

      Delete
    7. Anonymous16:46

      Even people from Belgrade, Skopje, Pristina (and maybe Sofia) wouod use INI in case of low prices. It takes only 3h from this cities to INI. Nis goverment should make a deal with Nis Ekspress bus company to top at INI on their way to this cities.

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:44

    Is Tuzla convenient for passengers from eastern Croatia?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:48

      People from eastern Croatia cant afford to fly otherwise Osijek airport would have more demand. If there were to fly Tuzla is an option if the price is right. They could travel by train to Tuzla

      Delete
    2. Anonymous16:06

      Tuzla airport has passengers from Serbia and Croatia, besides BiH of course.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous19:05

      "Wizz Air says its major expansion in Tuzla will further stimulate ... tourism sectors with more visitors"

      Tripadvisor says there is one hotel in Tuzla (2.5 out of 5) and top restaurant is "Heartland pizzeria". Get ready for tourist invasion!

      Delete
  4. Anonymous09:51

    I certainly hope Wizz Air will be back in the 'charter' business. I remember when they flew from Belgrade to Rhodes and Corfu.
    Given Air Serbia's inability to organise a decent charter season I think Wizz Air has a lot of room for expansion.

    This could be done in Skopje and Tuzla too. I am sure one weekly flight out of SKP to RHO or HER could work.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous19:53

      It will not be. The reason why most charter companies eventually go bankrupt is - what to do with surplus of aircraft/crews during winter?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous15:34

      Wizz never does charter flights. From time to time does scheduled seasonal routes.

      LCC model crashes if routes fluctuate on pax numbers.

      Delete
  5. Anonymous13:31

    Sve pohvale Tuzli na uspijehu i nadamo se da ce biti još novih linija :) OT: flydubai ranije uvodi četvrti tjedni let za Zagreb i to od 24.10. iako je to bilo najavljivano tek od sredone 12.mjeseca.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous13:48

      Mislim da su jos ranije najavili raniji pocetak

      "From October 25, the hybrid airline will operate an additional weekly service from Dubai to the Serbian and Croatian capital cities for a total of four weekly flights. In addition, it will run an additional weekly service to Sarajevo, compared to last winter season, for a total of three weekly flights. On the other hand, it will maintain two weekly services to Skopje during the winter."

      http://www.exyuaviation.com/2015/06/emirates-has-no-plans-to-fly-to-ex-yu.html

      Delete
    2. Anonymous14:58

      Mislim da bi Fly Dubai trebao da uvede Zagreb - Dubai via BEG. Nešto tipa 8-9 frekvencija nedeljno, ali naravno bez fifth freedom. Na žalost na tom putu bi sigurno stala ASL

      Delete
  6. Anonymous14:01

    I don't think the Serbian authorities know how much damage they are inflicting upon BEG by limiting W6's operations. Instead of using to the fullest extent the catchment area of Belgrade airport, and attracting pax from eastern Bosnia and Croatia, they are letting all those pax fly from Tuzla. I say go Tuzla, and it's a good thing for you guys, but at the same time, long term, BEG is going to lose. And at the end of the day, the biggest losers are Serbian tax payers who are paying for this charade.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aэrologic14:21

      Nobody is limiting their operations, they're the ones who need to obtain a Serbian AOC and pay taxes in Serbia in order to open any meaningful destination in their network, that is Moscow, Tel Aviv, Kutaisi amongst other...

      Delete
    2. Anonymous15:22

      Are you kidding? The Serbian government is playing for Air Serbia and is limitting any foreign competition. Reffer to Qatar Airways which don't have the rights between Sofia and Belgrade. All this is done for Air Serbia...

      Delete
    3. Aэrologic16:05

      Well, try flying BEG-AUH via Qatar with 5th freedom and let's see what answer you're gonna get. That's no big deal anyway. Air Serbia had more to loose than Qatar could gain from it. Nobody is strictly limiting Wizz on the other hand. They pulled out themselves from the numerous destinations once they were routed by the competition or simply had to face commercial conditions and i wish to remind you all before you start crying about Air Serbia discounts: Wizz ISN'T registered in Serbia and operates a Belgrade-base with HU-flag aircraft, where else would that be possible? At last, it isn't the Serbian government to blame for their lack of creativity and strictly serving gasterbeiter markets in direct competition with Air Serbia, what, as far as i know, they're still allowed to do. Proof is they're still flying. Taking a symmetrical example, Wizz Air has no right to touch with their hands or even contemplate getting rights in Tbilisi. On the other hand, they've got an airport specially rebuilt for their purposes in Kutaisi (similar distance to Belgrade-Nis) so Wizz might as well do the same in Serbia or find another way to appeal to Serbian customers than to crying foul left and right, playing the eternal victim. One thing is for certain, in the market configuration that most of airports in Eastern Europe represent, there is no room for a strong legacy and a LCC carrier at the same time.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous16:25

      @Aerologic since you are obviously not aware. There is a fifth freedom across the Middle East. If JU wanted to fly Doha - Abu Dhab it could with full fifth freedom. On the same basis Jat was given fifth freedom to fly Beirut - Dubai and Kuwait City - Dubai/Abu Dhabi. I remember Air Serbia playing victim with Turkey, charter flights, Zagreb trying to restrict it to fly and so on. Now you are saying that nobody should cry foul when Serbia does it.

      Delete
    5. Pera Kojot16:25

      @Aэrologic +1

      Delete
    6. Aэrologic16:27

      "There is a fifth freedom across the Middle East. If JU wanted to fly Doha - Abu Dhabi it could with full fifth freedom." Great then.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous18:05

      A meni nisu jasni ovi ljudi sa komentarima tipa "Air Serbia oterala ovog onog" pa ko im brani da se na neki nacin suprotstave "protivniku"? Ispade da je Air Serbia kriva sto su neke aviokompanije povukle svoje letove jer su putnici izabrali Air Serbiju umesto njih...

      Delete
    8. Anonymous23:23

      Kriv je BEG zbog podizanja taksi svim prevoziocima a pri tom ASL dao mogućnost da radi bez placanja istih. Jedino sto ASL mora da plati je 50% cene goriva NISu, a cak i to nekad promase.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous23:26

      Како то да осим Wizz Air-у то ником ниjе сметало а неки су чак додали полазке?

      Delete
    10. Anonymous23:29

      A ostali koji su otišli???

      Wizz je bar ostao i dalje ima LF 85% min.

      Delete
    11. Anonymous23:34

      Velikog poznavaoca prava u vazduhoplovstvu bih zapitao da li Lufthansa ima AOC sa 2 aviona u BEG? Ili Montenegro?

      Samo podržavate zakucavanje ljudi u Srbiji. To nam i treba. Ovi otpadnici koji su skupili hrabrost da odu trbuhom za kruhom neka tamo i skončaju ili ako već tako dobro zaradjuju neka SVE sto zarade daju ASL.

      Ovo je model koji je u genetskom sklopu svakog Srbina i Hrvata. Zato su precrtani u svakoj LLC.

      Delete
    12. Aэrologic23:34

      Jeл ти схваташ колику W6 има привилегиjу - дакле попуст, самим тим што ниje приморан да региструjе компаниjу у Србиjи? Како они могу да дозволе себи базу у Србиjи а да лете под HU- заставом тj. ниjeдан авион ниjе у српском регистру. Замисли молим те базу JU у BUD или било где под српском заставом и српским уговорима за запослене. Нека се Wizz Air придржава закона ког je морао да поштуje у Украjни и у Бугарскоj (док нису постали члан) па онда можемо причати о осталим стварима. Влада Србиjе им чини повластицу тиме што им jош увек гледа кроз прсте поводом тога.

      Delete
    13. Anonymous23:39

      Pročitaj kojim pravilima se vodi vazdusna plovidba u SRB.

      Da li je neko rekao OPEN SKY?

      Ukrajina nije član EU a i tamo je baza bez AOC i sa HU zastavom.

      Ako si

      Delete
    14. Aэrologic00:11

      Немоj да лажеш.

      http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/middle/7/2/5/2272527.jpg

      http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/middle/2/4/5/2054542.jpg

      Прича jе завршена.

      Delete
    15. Anonymous02:57

      Niti jedna civilizirana zemlja ne dozvoljava jačanje monopolizma privatnim firmama samo radi vlastite ekspanzije. I tu agencije mogu doslovce zapovijediti firmama da konkurenciji prodaju ili ustupe određene privilegije koje su stvorili svojim radom. A još je manje moguće da taj monoplizam podržava sama država svojim ogromnim subvencijama (direktnim ili indirektnim preko BEG).

      Što se Wizza tiće on niti je niti radi nelegalno u Srbiji. Očito je da koristi model koji je legalan i legitiman. Tako je mogao godinama, tako može i danas. Tako radi i u drugim državama. I konačno nisu jedina firma u Srbiji koja ima sjedište izvan Srbije. A isti taj Wizz plača poreze u Srbiji, takse BEG, gorivo NIS-u, catering, niz usluga, direktnih i indirektnih troškova. U svemu tome je i porez Srbiji, zapošljava srpske pilote, mehaničare, stjuardese, osoblje.

      Ono što je problem da Air Serbija ima uvjete i privilegije koje ostale čine nekonkurnetnima, a uz te ogromne privilegije dobija i popuste koji nisu srazmjerni broju putnika spram ostalih prijevoznika, poglavito Wizza, Montenegra, Lufthansa grupe, Turkisha, Aeroflota... I zato je toliko velik broj kompanija otišao iz BEG ili smanjio broj letova i to u svega par mjeseci.

      Na kraju, da Aerologic, ja mogu vidjeti Air Serbiju kako sa zastavaom Srbije leti u BUD prema trećim destinacijama (koje nisu Srbija). Mogu ga vidjeti i u Hrvatskoj bez ikakvih problema. I na liniji ZAG-SPU. U tome i jest razlika onih koji žive u Europskoj uniji i onih koji još nisu na tom nivou.

      Delete
    16. Anonymous09:20

      @2:57 svako ko pocne post "ni jedna civilizovana zemlja" a zavrsava sa u tome jeste razlika izmedju "nas" i "vas" dovoljno govori o sebi i nameri. Šta da ti kazem prijatelju kada te ni jedan prististojan odgovor nece zadovoljiti...

      Delete
    17. Anonymous20:50

      Wizz Air since a while does not have an UA AOC nor UA registered aircraft and has aircraft based thereon HU reg. Sole reason of base there was Ukrainian law that was copy paste of soviet law from the seventies. Our legislation is 100 percent compatible with EU thus allows anybody to operate and base aircraft from EU in BEG. Your thinking Aerologic is thinking of 90ties and belongs to people who are long gone from Serbian aviation. BEG airport is charging Wizz Air 30EUR pp and this is the sole reason Wizz does not base more acft here. Not dodging any law. Wizz crews on local contracts are paying literally millions of dinars of taxes and thus contribute to budged of a host country. Please ask your Serbian mngnmt friends from ASL who are on EY contract do they do the same or get money off shore? So pls before spitting hatred and frustrations towards Wizz Air get your facts in order and wait for another round of recruitment maybe we'll take you...

      Delete
    18. Anonymous20:52

      "Veliki broj kompanija", o cemu ti pricas? Ti shvatas da ce ove godine BEG preci 5 miliona?

      Delete
    19. Anonymous21:02

      You might want to check your facts, there is no Ukrainian base of Wizz Air anymore:

      http://www.airfleets.net/flottecie/Wizzair%20Ukraine-history-a320.htm

      Delete
    20. Anonymous21:05

      I guess Bulgaria was also retarded and stuck in the 70's o<O

      Delete
    21. Anonymous21:08

      Surprised BEG does not charge Wizz 50EUR pp to pay for upgrades needed at Nis airport so Wizz can enjoy better airport there. Wizz does not want to pay reasonable fees at INI so there has to be a way to pay for expensive upgrades.

      Delete
    22. Anonymous15:31

      Why would any airline pay for airport upgrade???

      It's like customers are paying for milk before dairy is built.

      I have to agree with person in above comments.

      BEG lives on taxes it collects from foreign airlines. Actually it pays salaries when wizz makes the payment.

      5 M pax will go trough BEG but most of then are transit. No joy for airport there. Also no denari from ASL pax....

      Patriotic thinking can be good, but only with good foundation.

      Delete
    23. Anonymous15:53

      So where the 17 million in profit comes from, Wizz Air?

      Delete
    24. Anonymous19:53

      Around 20% does.

      Delete
  7. Anonymous14:03

    Btw, completely off-topic, but seems that JU will start indeed North-American flights. A feasibility study has been performed, and it shows a negative EVA of up to 10 million euros annually. However, the budget of the Republic of Serbia will subsidize these lines for the greater goal.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous14:17

      Any source or more detailed text?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous15:00

      Letovi će sigurno godinu dana - 16 meseci biti neprofitabilni, a lično mislim i malo duže od toga, ali šta je 16 meseci, ako će se to kasnije nadoknaditi u narednim godinama nakon toga.

      Delete
    3. AirCEO19:16

      Conflicting anonymous comments in the past couple of days: "won't start UFN, or at least not before 2017/2018" and now that it will. Something is cooking. What will it be, I don't know:
      ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

      Delete
    4. Anonymous19:18

      lol just don't get over excited like last time

      Delete
    5. AirCEO21:59

      lol true, I thought it was a done deal and went nuts

      Delete
  8. Anonymous15:51

    OT
    BEG-BNX 67/70
    BNX-BEG 54/70

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous16:04

      wow great LF to/from BNX 96% / 81%

      BNX would have much more passengers if connecting was better for certain destinations (e.g. LON ) but I suppose they can't match every destination until they have two flights a day to LON (for instance) or two daily to BNX for many other destinations.

      Delete
  9. Anonymous17:07

    Vrlo zanimljiv napredak i logican je bio uspeh u skandinaviji.
    INN-NS

    ReplyDelete
  10. OT : Does anybody know which "goverment" plane was sent to bring back tourists from Tunisia?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous18:55

      AirSerbia/Aviolet 737-300 YU-ANK from Monastir

      Delete
    2. Anonymous19:00

      I iz zemalja EU su upućeni vanredni avioni ali to ne rade Vlade nego agencije.

      Delete

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