Sarajevo Airport has confirmed that the Turkish low cost airline Pegasus will launch scheduled flights from Istanbul to the Bosnian capital next February. “Via Sabiha Airport, Pegasus will connect Sarajevo to the world”, the airport wrote on its official Facebook page before publishing the airline’s schedule on its website. Pegasus will operate five weekly flights from Sabiha Gokcen Airport starting February 4. Sarajevo is yet another destination in the airline’s expansion into Eastern Europe. Flights to the Bosnian capital will operate every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. Tickets are yet to be put up for sale. The low cost airline will also launch services to Belgrade from February 1.

Pegasus’ arrival will add even further competition on the hotly contested Istanbul - Sarajevo service, which is dominated by Turkish Airlines. Pegasus is planning a major network expansion in 2013 and recently ordered 100 Airbus A320neo family aircraft, 75 of which are firm orders. The low cost airline has operated seasonal charter flights to the Bosnian capital in the past.

Meanwhile, Norwegian Air Shuttle, which operates seasonal summer services from Oslo and Stockholm to Sarajevo, will also launch flights to the city from Copenhagen during peak season. The service is to be inaugurated on June 25 and will run once per week until August 13. Further flight details can be found here. Recently, the CEO of the Emirates Group announced Flydubai’s intention to launch flights to the Bosnian capital in 2013. The new arrivals will give a solid boost to Sarajevo Airport which handled 544.780 passengers in the elapsed eleven months of the year, a decrease of 3.9% compared to the same period in 2011.