Wizz Air to suspend Tuzla - Stockholm flights


Budget airline Wizz Air will suspend flights between Tuzla and Stockholm Skavsta Airport at the start of the 2016/17 winter season, which begins on October 30. Skavsta Airport has confirmed to EX-YU Aviation News that the service will be discontinued from October 27. No decision has been made whether the route could resume next summer and be maintained on a seasonal summer basis instead. It is the second destination to be suspended by Wizz from its Tuzla base over the last year, with services between Bosnia and Herzegovina's third largest city and Sandefjord in Norway terminated in December last year. However, these will be replaced by the introduction of two new routes over the winter, to Billund and Berlin, starting October 31 and December 17 respectively. Notably, both Gothenburg and Malmo in Sweden are the second and third busiest routes for Wizz out of Tuzla, preceded only by Dortmund, while its Stockholm service has struggled to attract passengers for some time.

Wizz Air is maintaining two weekly flights between Tuzla and Stockholm this summer. It faces no direct competition on the route, however, Norwegian Air Shuttle operates flights from Stockholm's Arlanda Airport to Sarajevo throughout the year. Wizz Air could potentially launch services from Sarajevo to the Swedish capital, as talks between the airline and airport continue. Wizz is reportedly considering introducing several European destinations from the city this winter. The budget carrier recently expressed its long-term commitment to the Bosnian market, stating, "We have brought low fares to Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2013 and in only a few years Tuzla has become a stable base. Our flights stimulate the Bosnian market by creating more jobs in the aviation and hospitality sectors, strengthening business relations between the countries and bringing people the opportunity to discover Europe’s fantastic cities at affordable prices".

In 2015 Wizz Air carried 268.748 travellers to and from Tuzla, up almost 75% on the year before. Tuzla Airport initially struggled to attract airlines and passengers when 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. It is currently the only commercial airline serving Bosnia and Herzegovina's second busiest airport on a year-long basis and has fuelled its spectacular passenger growth over the past two years. Tuzla Airport continued to see its passenger numbers grow with 141.600 travellers handled during the first half of the year, an increase of 46.8% compared to the same period in 2015.

Comments

  1. Anonymous09:03

    A bit of a surprise considering the large Bosnian diaspora in Sweden.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:08

      Maybe the market was just well served. It says they fly from Gothenburg and Malmo so that might take care of the diaspora although I don't know where the majority of Bosnians in Sweden live.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:00

      Bosnians + Serbs live in Malmoe.
      Bosnians + Croats live in Gothenburg
      Serbs + Montenegrins live in Stockholm.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:02

      Thanks anon. 10.00 :)

      Delete
    4. Nemjee10:03

      I think there is a fair share of Serbs in Gothenburg given the fact that BEG was always connected with it. I remember even crippled Jat used to fly there, I think it was linked with CPH and/or ARN.

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:06

    Good they will substitute both with new routes. I think SKP is the only ex-yu city the flu from where they haven't suspended some flights.

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  3. Anonymous09:10

    Pitty but it is normal for them to trt routes and see what works and what not.

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  4. Anonymous09:12

    I'm surprised they haven't tried flying to Bratislava to carry Bosnians in Austria.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:16

      Didn't Montenegro Airlines try Vienna - Tuzla last year and fail?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:25

      They failed because they had non existant promotion, tickets were sold only through one travel agent and they announced the flights only a month before in the middle of winter.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:47

      Vienna to any secondary ex Yu city CANNOT be a fail if flown by an LCC for like under 100 eur return in an A319/20. More than half the inhabitants of Bec have some Yugo roots. Either directly or in second generation or some relatives or through close friends that they might want to visit, but also business related there are close ties which I see each time taking taking the OU Dash to ZAG! And paxis connecting there. There are several city quarters that just consist of mainly Bosnians ano Serbs for example. They almost all take the car when they go to Ex Yu - and this is not mainly due to price but to most areas there is either no comfortable air link or no link at all. There are in many years years routes needed to BNX, ZAD, INI, SPU in winter, OMO, KVO. Maybe also TIV and OHD. An extreme potential, unfortunately the high costs of VIE is a drawback for many airlines - just U2 from major LCCs does not seem to care any longer.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:54

      Areas of Munich, Milan, Vienna and in my opinion also Glasgow. I visited SCO this summer and in the area of Glasgow/Edinburgh we were served mainly by waitresses/waiters with ex Yu name tags. Came bit as a surprise to me. Route to EDI could also support tourism of course.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:56

      Oh sorry last post was meant as a reply to Anon below at 9h40am regarding "Which other unserved route could be popular from Tuzla?"

      Delete
    6. Anonymous11:34

      Could Tuzla-Dublin work? Lots of Croats from Slavonija have moved to Ireland.

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    7. Anonymous11:40

      Yes many many young people from slavonija moved to ireland. This route would be good

      Delete
    8. Purger11:44

      Ryan have plan to open Osijek-Dublin route, so Tuzla have no chance to compete that route.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous14:17

      Wizz Air's brand awareness is much higher in this region and I am sure that many from Slavonija already use Tuzla, at least more than they use OSI. So a W6 flight to DUB would have more chances, in theory at least.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous14:33

      Linija za VIE nije bila uspesna zbog loseg reda letenja.
      INN-NS

      Delete
    11. Purger16:04

      In Croatia Wizzair for sure is not better brand than Ryanair. Wizz has just 2 routes in Croatia (all from Split9, Ryanair 21 routes from Rijeka, Pula, Zadar (base) and Osijek. Also Ryanair is in Osijek for years now. How on earth can Wizz be better brand in Slavonia then?

      Also why would someone travel 3-4 hours to Tuzla, pass the border if he can do it from Airport just 15 minutes away without border?

      Delete
    12. Anonymous17:45

      Can you please read what I wrote before writing your nonsense? Who spoke of the whole of Croatia? I said in that region as in Slavonija. Probably more people use TZL than OSI because there are more flights so if W6 announces DUB flight from TZL they will sell easier than FR in OSI.

      Also, are you saying that all those who emigrated to Ireland used to live 15 min from OSI?!

      Delete
    13. Anonymous17:46

      And btw, they will do it for the same reason why you travel 400 km from ZAG to catch a flight. ;)

      Delete
    14. Anonymous20:08

      Do people on here live in the real world. Filling a 189 pax plane with €100 pax is economic suicide. Flights will operate to airports which are economically viable and produce a decent yield. Look at FR in ZAD, €400 one way at many times of the year.

      Delete
    15. Purger21:25

      1. All Slavonia is MUCH closer to Osijek than to Tuzla.

      2. I am not saying that people from Slavonia are not using Tuzla, for sure they are, but in case Ryanair will open that route Wizz has no chance.

      3. For sure Ryanair is much stronger brand in Slavonia as they fly from Osijek and are well present in Croatia.

      Delete
    16. Anonymous23:25

      Southern and eastern Slavonija can gravitate towards either one of these two airport.

      Ryanair flies only to London in summer, Wizz has a yearround base in TZL. Slavonija is more used to flying on W6 because they use both TZL and BEG.

      Or are you saying that people from Slavonija will go to Zadar to fly on FR? ;)

      Delete
    17. Purger01:03

      Ja sam rekao da bi ljudi prije odabrali Ryanair za Dublin iz Osijeka nego Wizzairovu istu takvu liniju iz Tuzle, te da Wizz ne bi imao šanse odvuč putnike iz Slavonije ako Ryan pokrene tu liniju koju najavljuje.

      Niti više, niti manje od toga.

      A da je Ryanair daleko jači brend u globalnim okvirima to nije sporno, kao što nije sporno niti da je daleko jači u Hrvatskoj od Wizzaira (Ryanair je u hrvatskim medijima svaki tjedan, Wizz nitko ni ne spomnje već godinama).

      Niti sam rekao da bi ljudi iz Osijek odlazili do Zadra kao alternativu Wizzu, niti sam rekao da ljudi iz Slavonije ne koriste Tuzlu i Beograd. Pa vas molim da ne banalizirate ovu raspravu i ne svodite je na osnovnoškolsko prepucavanje.

      P.S.
      Osijek je Istočna Slavonija (do granice sa Srbijom je samo 18 km, i ne može biti istočnije),a aerodrom je od svih destinacija Istočne Slavnije na 30-tak km: Osijek (18 km), Vukovar (19 km), Vinkovci (28 km), Đakovo (44 km)...

      Najjužniji slavonski grad Tuzli je Županja (50 km od Osječkog aerodroma i 100 km od Tuzle).

      Delete
  5. Anonymous09:16

    Berlin flights are far more important than Stockholm.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:19

      Agree. Much bigger market and more potential. Plus like someone said above Sweden is pretty much covered with GOT and MMX.

      Delete
  6. Anonymous09:36

    OT.:Any new rumors about the arrival of two A320 to JU?

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:38

      Falserumour.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:39

      * false rumour

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:53

      +100

      People will believe just about anything that Anonymous post on here. lol

      Delete
  7. Anonymous09:40

    Which other unserved route could be popular from Tuzla?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:15

      Bergamo or something in spain

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:41

      Spain? Seriously?
      No other ex-yu city seems to have been able to maintain links to Spain and you say Tuzla-Spain would be a succesful route?
      What exactly would be the traffic between Tuzla and Spain?
      Spaniards visiting Tuzla for what purpose?
      Bosniaks visiting Spain for tourism? LOL!
      Is there a significant gastarbeiter community of Tuzlans somewhere is Spain?
      Are there business links between Tuzla and Spain that I am not aware off that can support this route?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous11:15

      SKP-BCN is year round

      Delete
    4. Anonymous11:27

      Barcelona could be a niche route. It is a big city with many tourists from ex yu but low connection. Why not Tuzla

      Delete
    5. Purger11:51

      Croatia and Vueling flies Zagreb-Barcelona as seasonal flights.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous11:57

      Tuzla can not support flights to BCN. Not enough Boznians can afford tourism in Spain to have even two flights a week.
      Croatia has over ten million tourists a year and much higher GDP per capita but can only have seasonal flights to Spain.

      Delete
    7. Vueling is flying BCN-BEG in summer season

      Delete
  8. Anonymous14:32

    Management BNX je upravu sto se tice da treba da se dovode legacy carriers.
    INN-NS

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Purger16:08

      They are right for years. It is not a problem that they are right, problem is that they do nothing about it.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous21:06

      Radi se bilo je i pregovra ali nije lako dovesti novu kompanije kad je okruzena tolikom konkurencijim.
      Mada bi svako imao ogroman pogodak na liniji za ZRH.
      INN-NS

      Delete
    3. Purger21:32

      Nije lakom dovesti legacy carriera? Ma daj... šališ se???

      Da to jest težak posao, ali ne i nemoguć. Brdo luka to dokazuje, koji ih uspjevaju dovući. Stvar sposobnosti.

      No, neke nikako to ne uspiju jer su premale i neprivlačne legacy carrierima, i zato se orjentiraju na LCC. Niš, Tuzla, Zadar, Rijeka, Pula, Skopje... su dobar primjer. Zar "stručni" management u Banja Luci nije naučio na ovim primjerima? Znaju li oni uopće za ove primjere?

      Delete
    4. Anonymous01:38

      Naravno da znaju ali najbolja bi bila opcija U2 za BNX .
      Ali opet kazem bolje imati ASL i povezanost nego samo LCC i nemati toliko dobru povezanost.
      INN-NS

      Delete
  9. Anonymous15:01

    +1. Super, zato neka glavni i najveci grad u tkz suverenoj drzavi ima samo 4 leta sedmicno!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous15:02

      *Za INN-NS

      Delete
    2. Anonymous20:52

      Pa bolje i 4 puta sedmicno biti povezan sa celim svetom nego sa drugim Aerodromima.
      INN-NS

      Delete
    3. Anonymous20:56

      Kako je BNX povezan sa celim svetom kada je samo jedna destinacija u pitanju?

      A ako mislis na presedanja, uvek je bolje imati vise direktnih letova nego jedan aerodrom sa nekoliko mogucnosti za presedanje.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous21:10

      Da jeste bolje imati direktne letove pa se posle voziti 1 vremena vozom i 1 vremena Busom da se dodje do odredista.
      I naravno da je povezana sa celim svetom.
      INN-NS

      Delete
    5. Anonymous21:46

      Šta znači '1 vremena vozom i 1 vremena Busom'?

      Delete
    6. Mali Marko L.22:31

      I Banja Luka je povezana sa celim svetom preko Beograda? Šališ se jel da? Iz Beograda ima tek 100-tak destinacija (kada makneš LCC na koje se ne može konektirati onda i bitno manje), samo jedna interkontinentalna linija. Pa nije Beograd Frankfurt, Minhen, Beč ili Cirih. Bolje je bila povezana dok je BiH Airlines letela za Cirih iz Banja Luke, nego danas.

      I na kraju, pa leti se samo 3 puta sedmično zimi, koja ti je to povezanost, majke ti?

      Delete
  10. Anonymous19:29

    People choose Norwegian from Arlanda to Sarajevo /twice per week/, instead of Wizz from Stockholm Skavsta which is over 100 km from Stockholm. Norwegian wins the first half ...... I think that Wizz will return next summer.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous19:45

    OT: Zagreb in July around +11% growth, just announced on RTL HR news, hope this is true!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous21:37

      That would make 308.000 passengers in July! Respect!

      Delete

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