Bosnia mulls successor to B&H Airlines

Government considering new carrier as Sarajevo Airport looks elsewhere

The Federation government of Bosnia and Herzegovina is considering setting up a new carrier to replace B&H Airlines, which has been grounded for three weeks but is yet to officially declare bankruptcy. The Prime Minister of the Federation, Fadil Novalić, has suggested for the government to invest 2.7 million euros into the new airline, which would initially operate with one leased aircraft. The carrier would take on part of B&H Airlines’ 90-strong workforce. The proposal came following talks between the government and B&H’s employees where the Prime Minister reiterated he will first offer HETA, the asset management company, 2.7 million euros to pay off part of the airline’s accumulated debt for the financial lease of its two ATR 72 aircraft. Furthermore, the government will request for the other eight million euros worth of debt to be written off. However, the asset management company is unlikely to agree to such terms, which will ultimately lead to B&H Airlines’ bankruptcy.

For its part, HETA says it is yet to receive the government’s proposal, although inside sources claim it will be rejected. “Once we receive an official offer from the government, we will be able to formulate our response”, HETA CEO, Manfred Gram, said. He added, “I want to underline that we are open for dialogue and are ready to contribute in finding the best solution for all parties involved”. Meanwhile, the company behind the Air Croatia project, which failed earlier this summer season, is now looking into setting up regional offshoots throughout the former Yugoslavia with Air Bosna being one of them. It is preparing to launch its own website, with similar projects planned for Macedonia and Albania as well.

Following thirteen months of consecutive passenger growth, B&H Airlines’ home base - Sarajevo Airport - has seen its passenger numbers decline. The airport handled 74.855 travellers in June, a small decrease of 0.2% compared to the same month last year. During the first half of 2015, Sarajevo welcomed 351.943 passengers, up 9.8%. According to its Managing Director, Ivica Veličan, the airport is in talks with several carriers to launch new flights to the city. “In the coming period we will finalise talks with new airlines. This autumn we expect the launch of new routes from Sarajevo to European destinations”, Mr Veličan said.

MonthPAXChange (%)
JAN43.700 21.0
FEB39.908 12.6
MAR50.273 9.8
APR63.064 11.4
MAY80.143 12.1
JUN74.855 0.2

Comments

  1. Anonymous09:09

    Replacing one loss making airline with another. Good strategy.

    ReplyDelete
  2. kraspeed09:30

    For a company that couldn't afford to keep an airline running for a week, they sure are ambitious

    ReplyDelete
  3. Instead of "investing" €2.700.000 into another airline that will quickly fail, why not follow Skopje's example and offer a fraction of that money to Wizz.

    But first of all start by lowering airport fees at Sarajevo to a reasonable level.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous10:33

    Posto je JA vec propao samo se ceka dan kad ce se to objaviti.
    1 I najbolje resenje JA ostaviti ta dva ATR 72 i nabaviti jos 3 E190 na leasing i pretvoriti je u LCC posto bi i onda SJJ profitirao od toga..

    2 Resenje je poceti skroz od pocetka sa 3 Q400 i 3 CS300 i poceti kao LCC sa bazom u SJJ i BNX i imati saradnju sa ASL.

    3 1 ujedno najgore resenje dovesti W6 kao zamenu sto ce se 80 % desiti kako sam nacuo bice nagli rast na Aerodromu ali ce na kraju imati slabu vajdu.

    4 i jos jedno resenje ponuditi DY ugovor za letove ma da nije ni to dobar predlog zbog zaposlenih.
    INN-NS

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:35

      Wow I agree with you for the first time. That would be a good plan. Only problem is that I doubt the government has money for it.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:39

      i want to fly cheap and I want to have a choice. What's so bad about it? Wizz Air flies to London too and i don't see that the airport has issues.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous11:40

      The above was meant for INN's other comment

      Delete
    4. Anonymous11:56

      @11;35 AM
      Oko leasinga 3 E190 mogu da se dogovre sa BNX verujem da ce pristati , posto koliko je dosada baceno para na JA imaju para i za ovo ali samo da se ne zaposli osoblja kao za 10 Aviona.

      @ 11:39 AM
      Zar nije lepse da date pare do LGW ili LTN vasim Bosancima nego W6 koji ce da iskoristi Aerodrom SJJ a ovako bi imali i zaposleni kosrist a i cela drzava.
      INN-NS

      Delete
    5. Anonymous13:06

      I highly doubt a Banja Luka will finance a Federation company. It never has. BNX survived thanks to B&H flights to Zurich for years and it never got a cent from them while Air Serbia is still subsidised by Banja Luka Airport and Srpska government.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous13:12

      Kad bi jedan E190 stacionirali onda bi vec drugacije bilo svakako u BNX:
      Pa sto bi vlada RS finansirala propalu kompanije iz Federacije molim vas , bolje pomoci ASL nego davati W6.
      INN-NS

      Delete
    7. LCC sa dva tipa (dva ATR 72 i 3 E190)- tesko izvodljivo

      Delete
    8. Anonymous13:39

      Ili mozda bolje sa 5 E175 kao BE i uspeh je zagarantovam samo ako ima zelja .
      Sa konfiguracijom 88 sedista .
      Evo ako ima neko iz SJJ neka preporuci par dobrih linija.
      INN-NS

      Delete
  5. Anonymous11:22

    Why did passenger numbers decline? That's really bad if you consider SJJ now has Swiss and Flydubai as new airlines. Really dissapointing

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous13:33

      +1 Does anyone have an explanation for this?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous13:37

      Ramadan

      Delete
  6. Anonymous11:26

    Hopefully Wizz Air starts flights but won't that affect their Tuzla base or its completely different passengers?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:34

      Sto svi zelite W6 u SJJ nije mi nikako jasno zelite samo lose vasem Aerodromu.
      INN-NS

      Delete
    2. Anonymous13:59

      INN, брате, ај мало искулирај, а? Сморио си са хејтом. Поздрав из Wizz-a.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous14:04

      Razumem vas da branite Aviokompaniju za koju radite , bas me zanima na kojoj poziciji.
      INN-NS

      Delete
    4. Anonymous14:30

      Високој и веома релевантној. ;-)

      Види, радим за Виз већ осам година управо јер верујем предностима који овај бизнис модел доноси локалном становништву, а конкретније и примена истог са локалним базама и посадом. Постоје и документоване анализе Европске Комисије које потврћују користи регионалним аеродромима, какви су сви у ексЈу.

      Капирам да се укуси разликују, ал понекад ваља имати мере ;-) Поздрав.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous14:35

      Drago mi je za vas sto ste na visokoj poziciji ali takodje znamo sto nije postignut dogovor u BNX i znamo sta trazite od malih Aerodroma .
      Jeste vi ste upravu sto se tice stanovnistva EX YU oni vas najvise vole.
      INN-NS

      Delete
    6. Anonymous15:54

      Aerodromu je bolje 3€ od W6 nego 0€ od ASL.

      Cim to shvatis bice ti lakse.

      Aerodrom dobija brojem putnika. H/L svi isto placaju.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous16:22

      Jeste kako da ne INI da ali u BNX su uradili pravu stvar .
      Kad ce INI zameniti kamione i opsluzna vozila za nova od W6 nikad zato sto ce jedva imati za plate svih zaposlenih i sve ce morati da pokriva BEG tako da se vidi.
      INN-NS

      Delete
    8. Anonymous16:24

      ja vidim da je beg donirao vozila bnx jer nije imao da ih plati i da je aerodrom pre koju godinu bio pred zatvaranjem jer nisu imali para za licencu

      Delete
    9. Anonymous23:45

      BEG nije donirao nikakva vozila BNXu. Dosta više propagande.

      Delete
  7. Anonymous11:31

    Another government another airline. Well done. I suggest 1000 employees and 1 Dornier.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous12:46

    Air Croatia's Air Bosna (if it ever takes off) will probably fly from Mostar.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous13:02

    If Air Bosna, Air Croatia, Air Montenegro are established, there could also be Air Slovenia flying from MBX instead from LJU.
    What do you think?

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous13:04

    Jel ce ponovo poceti sa Atr 42 ?
    Hvala unapred.
    INN-NS

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous20:46

      Ne, sada pocinju sa A330, onim sto je trebao da dodje u ASL pa nema nista od toga Buuuhhuuuuhhuuu !!!

      Delete
    2. Anonymous22:04

      Pa pocinju sa A330 uskoro posto se vec rade ETOPS letovi pa ako vam treba karata recite da sredim.
      INN-NS

      Delete
  11. "...the company behind the Air Croatia project, which failed earlier this summer season, is now looking into setting up regional offshoots throughout the former Yugoslavia with Air Bosna being one of them"

    If they couldn't get their ducks in order to make Croatia work how on earth they think they'll be able to do it profitably in otehr ex-Yu countries.

    Another question is why are they so stuck on on ex-Yu. It's not like it's some high yielding, constantly growing market.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous13:36

      Probably easiest to set up without any regulatory approval. Look at how they set up Air Croatia, sold tickets, cancelled flights and faced no scrutiny.

      Delete
    2. I'm not so sure. In Croatia yes because it is in EU. The rest of the countries they have some hoops ot go through to fly on a foreign AOC. there are some examples for sure (Wizz) but I don't think it's walk in the park. In Serbia for example, there is no way they'd be given approval.

      Delete
    3. Would Air Croatia need a seperate AOC and special approval if they have an EU AOC?

      I imagine it would be the same as when Wizz, Norwegian, or Easyjet operates to Serbia. They wouldn't need anything extra as long as all the flights from Serbia are to the EU.

      Someone please correct me if I am wrong.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:48

      You are correct Aleksandar,

      It will be a German AOC who will have a smaller aircraft based in SJJ for year around routes and government tenders. Air Croatia is a virtual airline chartering aircrafts from EU carriers

      During summer they will use larger aircrafts for diaspora living in Scandinavia,Germany, Holland and Switzerland visiting their home countries over summer

      In the same way they will do Skopje/Ohrid with Air Macedonia and Pristina/Tirana with Air Albania.

      Means all this countries will get a national virtual carrier under their own name and under a EU flag which is rather funny as Bosnia,Albania,Kosovo and Macedonia are not in EU but will have a national EU carrier.

      Delete
    5. Virtual carriers don't last long. They just can't be competitive when there is another party to take their cut. If they plan on having any scale, it is best to take the plunge and cut out the middle man.

      Delete
  12. Anonymous13:40

    What is the JU flight to Almaty today, any info?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous14:00

      FCRS charter

      Delete
    2. Anonymous14:20

      They're gonna have a nice flight.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous14:58

      What's FCRS?

      Delete
    4. Anonymous15:50

      It's a once globally famous and successful and now how-the-hell-did-they-pay-for-the-flight local football team.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous15:53

      Interesting. Last year JU didn't even want to hear about sports charters and now they are more than happy do to them it seems.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous11:27

      Ocigledno da imaju slobodne avione u spicu tur.sezone cim mogu da izdvoje jedan 737 na put od 40 sati (uz zadrzavanje od 24h u Alma Ati)...

      Delete
  13. Anonymous14:23

    Why is that BEG.aero website publishes no more than 3 codeshare flights? Here's the Abu Dhabi flight by the way (from yesterdays topic), helping us understand fly Etihad has much better loads than Air Serbia on the route.

    20:20
    BELGRADE
    EY072
    Etihad Airways
    20:20
    9W6490
    Jet Airways
    20:20
    JU8080
    Air Serbia
    20:20
    UL2472
    Srilankan Airlines
    20:20
    HM5049
    Air Seychelles
    20:20
    VA7072
    Virgin Australia
    20:20

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's exactly what I pointed out, too, couple of weeks ago, but no one hasn't responded yet.
      I think it's their system and the database. I guess they'd need to change it completely in order to add extra space for more flight numbers. EY's flight in and out of BEG isn't the only one that has more than 3 codeshare flights.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous15:43

      So what was the point of their website overhaul if such a simple thing couldn't be done?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous15:51

      Don't start us on the point of "overhaul", please.

      Delete
  14. Anonymous16:20

    http://corporate.ryanair.com/news/news/150707-ryanair-announces-first-israel-flights/?market=en

    ReplyDelete
  15. OT
    http://www.airliners.net/aviation-forums/general_aviation/read.main/6445955/
    This is getting to a point that I really think somebody is trying to sabotage TK. Last week there were 2 TK emergency landings in BEG on the same LHR route and now its BKK. I think maybe 2-3 weeks ago there was another diversion somewhere in Europe as well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous18:28

      Ali ti incidenti se desavaju samo na dva tipa 321 i 333 sto je bas cudno.
      INN-NS

      Delete
    2. True, plus they had a A333 damaged in Nepal (I think its written off) and A320 in Istanbul.

      Delete
  16. Anonymous21:39

    It's time to let this bird fly away ... for good.

    --Charlie

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous00:36

      amen brotha.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous00:43

      From anotha motha. ��

      Delete
    3. Anonymous02:33

      True dat.

      Delete
  17. Sarajevo airport is by far the least competitive in all of Ex-Yu.

    Here is what Wizz would pay if they had to pay the published fees for SJJ and BEG:

    Landing Fees
    SJJ = 1092 euros
    BEG = 600 euros

    Ground Handling
    SJJ = 1388 euros
    BEG = 944 euros

    Passenger and security charges (180 pax departing)
    SJJ= 3240 euros
    BEG= 2878 euros

    Lighting fees
    SJJ = 437 euros
    BEG = 192 euros

    Parking fees (24 hours)
    SJJ = 199 euros
    BEG = 156 euros


    Total for Landing, handling, and pax fees only
    SJJ = 5720 euros
    BEG = 4422 euros

    All calculations done for a 78 t aircraft and 180 passengers.

    On top of that, SJJ has fees for absolutely everything including a 26 euro fee for arriving and departing blind or deaf passengers.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous23:57

      ...and then people say how BEG is bad and how Wizz is maltreated in Serbia.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous00:41

      Thanks Aleks for showing these fees. How do these fees compare to the rest of the yugosphere?

      Admin, how 'bout a full report on landing fees, airport taxes, other charges at Ex-YU aerodromi? Thanks.

      -- Charlie

      Delete
    3. In my opinion, BEG is pretty competitive with fees. Plus their published discounts for new services are very good.

      SJJ on the other hand might be the least competitive airport in all of Ex-Yu. SJJ could be a LCC powerhouse if they lowered their fees. They could probably increase their revenues and attract a lot of new airlines and traffic if they made their fees more reasonable.

      I haven't checked for a while, but I seem to remember that Pristina is also not very competitive with fees.

      Delete

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