Swiss International Air Lines and Eurowings are set to launch a total of five new routes from Sarajevo next year as part of a subsidised air service agreement with the local tourism board concluded last year. Swiss will introduce flights between Geneva and Bosnia and Herzegovina’s capital, complementing its existing Zurich service. The new route is expected to operate twice per week, although exact frequencies and schedules will be confirmed closer to the planned launch in early 2026. Swiss previously maintained the Geneva - Sarajevo route for one year, from April 2015 to April 2016, using a 97-seat Avro RJ100 aircraft.
Low cost carrier Eurowings is planning a significant expansion in Sarajevo next year. In addition to its existing services from Cologne and Stuttgart, the airline will introduce new routes from Berlin, Hamburg, Dusseldorf and Hanover. The Berlin service, initially scheduled to launch this year, has been postponed until 2026 due to operational reasons. Eurowings previously maintained flights between the two capitals from June 2019 until January 2020. The route was set to resume in March 2020, but the relaunch was cancelled due to the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.
Sarajevo was last connected to Hamburg by Wizz Air, which launched the route in 2021 but discontinued it a year later following the closure of its base in Bosnia and Herzegovina’s capital. Meanwhile, former flag carrier B&H Airlines last operated flights between Dusseldorf and Sarajevo in 2009 and 2010, using a mix of ATR72 and Boeing 737-400 aircraft. The route was discontinued in September 2010 and has not been served since. Once all of Eurowings’ planned routes are launched, Sarajevo will be connected to ten cities in Germany. In addition to Eurowings-operated services, these will include Baden Baden, Memmingen and Weeze served by Ryanair, as well as Frankfurt, operated by Lufthansa.
What's interesting is that many of these were served in the past.
ReplyDeleteThey are all gastarbeiter heavy routes.
DeleteI think all will be successful.
Happy for Sarajevo
ReplyDeleteI'm sure Ryanair will also introduce something new.
ReplyDeleteReally hope so. They were mentioning a possible base in 2026.
DeleteThat would be fantastic!
DeleteFR other than Morocco has no bases outside the UK/EU!
They are likely going to open another base outside the EU from March 26 and that would be Tirana (as per Sicialia in volo and italiavola). If this materialises then Sarajevo and Skopje bases are a potential as well.
DeleteBase will require taxes to be covered by the government. But new lines are pretty certain and there have already been some talks
Delete09:40 Sarajevo is their absolute No1 priority as a base, it's unserved for many routes and they could control 50+ percent of the airport within 2-3 years while Tirana has a mature market already.
DeleteGreat to see Sarajevo finally getting the air connectivity it deserves. Ten German cities is a solid achievement for a relatively small airport.
ReplyDeleteI’m curious if there’s enough demand to sustain the Geneva route this time around.
ReplyDeleteSurely as Swiss was increasing frequencies for some time now and Geneva passengers used either that or the Euroairport service to Tuzla
DeleteA lot of these cities were previously connected but didn’t last long
ReplyDeleteThis time around they have subsidies.
DeleteYour comment doesn't make sense! Yes, BH Airlines, a joke of a company, had a service and went bankrupt. Another service was introduced and shelved it in March 2020. I guess you know why... And Berlin can work, same way like it worked 3-4 weekly from Tuzla.
DeleteB&H Airlines were not a joke of a company. They were an excellent Airline, but were destroyed by Turkish Airlines.
DeleteIt’s disappointing that these connections require government support to materialize.
ReplyDeleteThis has been observed at Ex-Yu airports for a long time! Bravo Sarajevo!
DeleteWell if they perform well they will lose the subsidies and become a regular demand-driven line.
DeleteNo Munich direct connection??!?
ReplyDeleteMemmingen!
DeleteI thought that LH is flying to all European capitals from both Munich and Frankfurt
DeleteThey swpped Munich for Frankfurt during covid from Sarajevo. I really hope they evenutally bring back Munich too.
DeleteThey don't to SKP, KIV or PRN.
DeleteThey don't fly to PRN at all. Neither from Frankfurt or Munich.
DeleteEurowings flies from both to PRN.
Delete
DeleteAnon 10:31 was talking about LH.
Well done Sarajevo!!! Lets hole for some new Ryan routes as well, and 2026 will be yet another amazing year for you!!!
ReplyDeleteGreat to see Sarajevo becoming more connected again
ReplyDeleteTerminal reconstruction was a complete miss. Barely added any capacity and it took over 6 years to complete. Airport is in need of singificant terminal expansion or a new terminal all togeather.
ReplyDeleteCouldn't agree more. But a new terminal, for which there is already a blueprint would probably take 20 years to complete judging by how long the current expansion is taking (it's still not fully completed).
DeleteHow was it a miss when it doubled the capacity and significantly boosted rental and sales revenue from shops which didn't even exist before. More air bridges will be built soon. Their main miss was putting restaurants in an unintuitive place on the second floor, poorly marked before security and passport control.
DeleteVery happy to see Swiss returning to Geneva-Sarajevo. Hope this time it lasts longer!
ReplyDeleteSJJ-BER has so much potential, especially with the large Bosnian community in Berlin.
ReplyDeleteHow long do the subsidies go for? How many years?
ReplyDeleteBetween 2 and 3
DeleteThis is becoming Sarajevo’s golden age of connectivity :D Let’s hope it continues in the right direction.
ReplyDeleteAll this will last as how much subsidies lasting 1 to 2 years...
ReplyDeleteHighly doubt as airports like Skopje and Pristina succeeded by only having diaspora whilst Sarajevo remains one of the most visited ex yu capitals right behind Belgrade.
DeleteNot all people visiting Sarajevo as u say are coming with planes ;) And yes if Bosnia dont have gastos all around world I dont know which country on Balkan have more.
DeleteAll this routes are just gasto routes that were operated before , they cancel them and now again with subsidies , and when support finish the same will dissapear! If all visitors visit Sarajevi with air transport no doubt will have high numbers but they cant reach 200k in May , wbile Pristina and Skopje reach that numbers in March and April!!
Great news, maybe in the future add some new routes for Italy Malta and France at least seasonal
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