Austrian to Banja Luka in 2013?

Austrian could make Banja Luka comeback
Austrian Airlines could begin flights from Vienna to Banja Luka, after the head of the airport, Davorin Mišić, said he put in a request for negotiations with the carrier to begin this summer. Talks are likely to be held in either May or June. During the late 1990s Austrian operated scheduled flights to Banja Luka. “It is very important that we have at least a daily flight to one big city, operated by an established airline, to either Vienna or Belgrade”, Mihić says, adding that Austrian could begin flights to the city either during the 2012/2013 winter season or the 2013 summer season. Jat Airways was offered to operate subsidised flights to Vienna via Banja Luka, however, due to its fleet being fully utilised over the summer, the Serbian carrier rejected the offer.

Nevertheless, Banja Luka Airport’s management has made a last ditch attempt to lure Jat. It has proposed for the airline to make a stop in Banja Luka on its services to Pula and Split, which are set to launch this summer. The Serbian carrier discontinued services to Banja Luka several years ago due to extremely poor loads. Similarly, Adria Airways operated flights to Banja Luka in 2010 and 2011. After the airport could no longer afford to subsidise the flights, which saw only a handful of passengers, Adria suspended its service from Ljubljana.

Meanwhile, a private Montenegrin airline has expressed interest to begin charter flights to Banja Luka from Podgorica and Tivat this summer. While the airline in question hasn’t been officially named, sources suggest it is the Podgorica based Di Air. Flights would be operated with the 19 seat L-410 Turbolet aircraft. Banja Luka Airport has been struggling to attract passengers lately. B&H Airlines’ woes with Turkish Airlines, which has led to constant flight cancellations over the past two months, have had an impact on Banja Luka Airport whose only customer is the Bosnian national carrier with flights to Zurich.

Comments

  1. Anonymous09:32

    I think that Mihic knows what has to be done. He has a strong aviation background. For the first time head of BNX is not a member of any political party. Let us hope that the owner of BNX will support his ideas. Daily VIE by OS and daily BEG by JU is very good for the begining. Good luck BNX!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous17:59

      I wish BNX the best as well, but his main concern should now be to keep its international operating license. Otherwise you can make lots of agreements, but if you don't have a license, noone will/can fly to your airport.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous19:58

      I absolutely agree, but as I said, it's up to the owner (Government of Srpska) to decide whether they want an international airport or field of planted corn instead.

      Delete
  2. Anonymous11:42

    VIE and OS definitely makes sense, at least anyone will be able to book a ticket from anywhere connecting in Vienna + there is a huge population living in Vienna. If they do start and with reasonably priced tickets I will be the first to book one return LON-BNX via VIE.

    AlexLondon

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous12:36

    Good news. I hope it will materialise. I doubt though that JU will interrupt its PUY and SPU flights just for BNX. They already have a tight schedule as it is. I’ve never heard of this Di Air but a 19 seat plane is the best option for these small regional routes like BNX-TIV or BNX-BEG.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous13:11

      http://www.diair.net/mne/

      AlexLondon

      Delete
  4. Anonymous14:49

    If Jat should fly anywhere else in ex-yu (for now) it should be Zagreb to finally have a direct connection between the two capitals after 20 years or Nis to test out the market again and hopefully make a nice presence somewhere else in Serbia other than Belgrade.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous14:52

    אַז ס גרויס נייַעס פֿאַר באַניאַ לוקאַ

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous16:11

    This is far more realistic story:

    http://www.b92.net/biz/vesti/region.php?yyyy=2012&mm=04&dd=04&nav_id=597271

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous21:14

    hey guys what heppened to kraljevo airport? has it completed the runway expansion? any charter flights this summer?

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous07:01

    Freebird Airlines will launch twice weekly flights from Antalya to Belgrade on board their A320 aircraft.
    Total flights to Antalya this summer will be 5, since Pegasus will be returning to Belgrade with three weekly flights.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous07:05

      Yes and Belgrade will have four scheduled flights to Enfidha in Tunis: three will be operated by Tunis Air and one by Nouvelair.

      In addition to that Tunis Air will operate additional two flights to Tunis.

      Basically Tunis Air will have almost daily flights to Belgrade.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:23

      KK should also fly 3W to BEG from AYT for 1A Travel, but they still did not fix the schedule.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous21:31

      where did u get the info for kk, can you give us more details, thanks

      Delete
  9. Anonymous08:26

    Talk is cheap, Banja Luka region already has an airport serving it very well, which is ZAG

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:29

      People from Banja Luka fly from ZAG and BEG because there is no traffic in BNX. There is no traffic in BNX because there were no quality services for airlines at this airport. It's not that passengers want to avoid BNX. I must say that it is not convenient to fly from an airport 200km or 300km away which takes 2 or 3 hours by car to reach ZAG or BEG, paying expencive tolls, car parking, fuel etc. That's why most of the passengers would pay 100EUR more for return ticket from BNX then from ZAG or BEG. Once BNX fix all inspection findings and set acceptable quality standard, the first airline that come will prosper the most.

      Delete
  10. BNX could be successful with the right flights. I think that VIE might be a little too close to be successful. It is only a 5.5 hour drive and for anyone north or west of Banja Luka it may be less. Germany or Sweden might be a better bet and it should also coincide with flights from the US.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous13:42

      I agree, there are about 100 000 people originally from the region around Banja Luka living in southern parts of Sweden and Denmark. It takes about 20-25 hours to drive with the car and it´s expensive with tolls and fuel. There are several bus connections to BL from Scandinavia, almost every day, and they are full booked all the time. The price of the bus ticket is around 200 EUR so i believe that people are ready to pay a little bit more for an airplane ticket just to avoid the long journey and all costs that it brings. I don´t understand why companies like Wizz Air and Norwegian don’t see the potentials with BNX. I believe that 2-3 times per week during the season it will not be a problem to fill the airplane with passengers from Scandinavia (Copenhagen or Malmö) to BNX.

      Delete

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