Tough times for B&H Airlines
The CEO of B&H Airlines, Amir Jažić, has told local media the situation at the company is “alarming” and every new day at the airline is “distressing”. Mr. Jažić added it is questionable as to how and until when the airline will be able to continue to operate. The comments come as B&H Airlines finds itself with outstanding loan payments it doesn’t have the means to repay to several banks. “We are just waiting to see who will block us first”, the CEO adds. B&H Airlines has outstanding loans to the Hypo Group for the purchase of two ATR72s.
Recently, the Hypo Group delivered a report to the Bosnian national carrier outlining debt owed to the bank. “According to the report the debt is enormous. They are demanding from us to pay it back. Everything has to be checked first since a lot of things do not add up”, Mr. Jažić explains. Earlier this year the airline was grounded for several weeks after the Hypo Group blocked its accounts. The issue was resolved when the Federation government approved a 1.3 million euro cash injection for B&H Airlines. More than half of the allocated funds were used for fuel, followed by handling, landing and maintenance fees. The government forks out 3.5 million euros for the carrier on an annual basis. It has blamed Turkish Airlines for leaving B&H last year in a worse state than prior to the acquisition in 2008.
Comments made by the CEO regarding the airline’s finances might not be the smartest of PR moves and won’t do much to comfort potential passengers. B&H Airlines will launch flights to Belgrade on December 16. The Federation government has been searching for a part owner for B&H ever since Turkish Airlines relinquished its 49% stake in the carrier.
Somebody in Bosnia is working to destroy airline for personal gain. Well known approach - reduce value to zero then buy for nothing and make money. Market is there, but in a dysfunctional country, how can you expect a functional government owned airline.
ReplyDeleteOT
ReplyDeleteI was just in Zurich and I saw that Adria sends its CRJ-200. Is the market that limited that they can't fill a CRJ-900? With these oil prices I can't imagine they are making money with these little birds.
I've been flying on the ZRH-LJU route for more than 30 times and I can tell you I've been flying on all types of JP's aircraft (even on A320). Their LF on this route is highly seasonal. When there
Deleteis much tranait pax like Christmas time or if there is some fair in Switzerland they send bigger machines. But however I do agree with you that it's impossible to make money with the CRJ200 eventhough there is rarely a ticket under 300€ on LJU-ZRH.
Btw. Now I understand why there were the jokes in SFRJ about the Bosniaks. Not really a smart move by the CEO:-)))) Sincerety is not a must for this position:-)))
Wow €300 to fly from Zurich to Ljubljana!? Are they crazy?! Isn't the flight like 00.50? What a rip off.
DeleteNot sure where you got 300€!? Checked several dates in December and in all months till June 2014 and found out the average oneway price ZRH-LJU on Adria to be 100-120€, average return 180-200€. Not sure why you are paying such a price unless you buy flex tickets.
DeleteBTW, does anyone know why Kayak still uses Jat Airways logo and name?
My friends (6 persons) will fly from ZRH to LJU in January and they had to pay €350 in average... They booked the tickets two weeks ago.
DeleteUntil very recently Amadeus used to show Malév flights. lol
DeleteLOL https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1437028476511251&set=a.1425660077648091.1073741828.1406571032890329&type=1&theater
DeleteDo you think that AirSerbia flights from Banja Luka would affect B&H flights from the same city? Do you think that B&H will get more trouble then? Or BNX pax had no big share in Copenhagen and Zurich flights?
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, new Air Serbia line BEGBNX will increase the number of passengers on BNXZRH line served by BH airlines.
DeleteAt any rate, BH Airlines has done a lot for BNX keeping it alive all these years.
I hope the FED gov will stick up for them and pay the loans mentioned.
This article is from Dnevni Avaz newspaper, and it cannot be considered as relevant sourse, including CEO's statement
ReplyDeleteOh please end that agony - shut that airline down. I am from Bosnia and had on couple of flights reasonably good experience with them...but come on. They missed their chance to develop lucrative flights / destinations. Without vision and additional investment they are just eating up tax payers money. BiH is a poor country for this kind of luxury - throwing money on ailing airline. Only chance is that they invest in jet plane, increase Zurich and Copenhagen frequencies try go get the code share and open SJJ - FCO via OMO, SJJ-FRA via BNX and re-open SJJ -VIE. Unfortunately this will not happen and they have to shut them down
ReplyDeleteSo sorry, it's a great company! But so-called import lobbies in BiH are almighty...
ReplyDeleteI'm really sorry for this off topic (I really do hope things get better for B&H). Today was my first flight with Air Serbia. BEG-PRG and the load factor was 100%. The flight was full which was nice to see. Amazing service for such a short flight as well.
ReplyDeleteNice to hear that
DeleteI think loads on any new route (by any airline) should be posted here. :) So thanks for the update.
DeleteWas it truly sold out? And how come for the summer 2014 on Amadeus it is showing the same only daily ATR72-500 flights... Wouldn't they upgrade it?
DeleteIt was truly full. Why would I make it up? I’m heading home back on Sunday so I will see how the loads are on the return.
DeleteI believe you I am just confused on how for the summer thy havnt announced an A319 to be used on the route? But let us know!
DeleteLet me also add how happy I am about this. I am sure that Prague will be a good route for them. Not only will they have quite a lot of O&D but I am sure they will have a lot of connecting passengers. Please let us know how the flight went on Sunday.
DeleteI tried booking a ticket from Belgrade to Ljubljana today on 15 December at the office and I couldn’t because it’s sold out o.O Thankfully 16th also worked for me and it was fine there were seats.
DeleteIt's really good to see all these routes perform well. Actually, if you check flights to Ljubljana for December you will see that a lot of them have the lowest booking fare sold out. Promising, especiailly since we are not in season now.
DeleteLook like the government is not slow as usual.
ReplyDeleteThere is already a response and they are making steps to save the company.
I just hope that the measure will be something more then covering losses and keeping the same fleet and strategy.
http://www.klix.ba/biznis/privreda/vlada-fbih-predlozila-mjere-za-sanaciju-bh-airlinesa/131204113
At the end of this statement:
ReplyDeleteMinistry is obliged to propose "prijedlog mjera za dalje hitno postupanje u vezi sa sanacijom JP B&H Airlines d.o.o. Sarajevo."
If the CEO is truly saying these things publicly , then we can see that it is truly amatuer hour in the management. As someone else mentioned, the "journalism" isn't always true news so we will see.
ReplyDeletepardon me for OT, this should be tomorrows headline
ReplyDeletehttp://www.jutarnji.hr/francuski-kocesionar-sutra-preuzima-pleso-uplaceno-prvih-dva-milijuna-eura/1144533/
Zagreb is finally starting it's airport project.
With this strong Belgrade, Zagreb and other "minor" airports, I think this region will see aviation renaissance in couple of years!
Pozdrav svim ljudima dobre volje!
Samo kad bi se u uvela linija BEG - ZAG :)
DeleteGood news but I would have rather have OU successfully privatized than the airport.
DeleteYou forgot to include Zagreb in 'other minor airports'.
DeleteYeah and they said at Croatian Radio news how this concessioner has just 100 € at their bank account :-?
DeleteThere is no doubt that the new Zagreb airport will eventually be built; but there's even less of a doubt that it'll be empty.
DeleteSo what's the truth here? Do they have only €100 or will they take over tomorrow? This is such a messy situation.
DeleteThe truth is that Belgrade and Zagreb can't no longer be compared in any way.
DeleteYeah but when the new Zagreb terminal is built they will handle as many passengers as Belgrade. The problem is that the current one is too small.
Delete@ first anonymous.
DeleteHe did. He included both Zagreb and Belgrade as "minor airports", which they both are.
sorry for OT but any reason Air Serbia flight to/ from Banja Luka today was canceled? If it was due to poor loads then I think they still should have flown to show their dedication to the route and to win passengers over
ReplyDeleteHeavy fog in BNX. Had the flown they wouldn't have been able to return
DeleteWell, some three years ago, the then operational and technical executive director asked the Category II Landing System to be provided at BNX in order to avoid such problems on pretty many days during the winter season but his demand was ruled out by the then general director and the rest of the Managing Board and of course by the Supervisory Board and the Ministry. They all have never had an ear for technical problems and never listened to him. His idea was to bring about BNX into position of being alternative airport to SJJ at least in winter.
DeleteOwing to a lot of problems at SJJ during winter and pretty enough crowded traffic there, the system at bnx would pay itself off in time of five to seven years, he was hoping. And having Cat II makes the airport more serious.
JU 405, YU-ANJ, from Copenhagen to Belgrade is currently diverting to Skopje.
ReplyDeleteJU 365, YU-ANV, from Amsterdam is over Stara Pazova and it will not be landing either.
Lufthansa E190 from Frankfurt just landed. I guess they are equipped with CAT III system.
Air Serbia to Abu Dhabi and Aeroflot to Moscow are departing without a problem as they seem to have the CAT III too.
It seems that only JU 405 went to Skopje. All the others landed safely, even Amsterdam.
DeleteI think that BH Airlines should be very grateful to Air Serbia for doing this type of cooperation and cooperation in general. BH Airlines are required to show their true face and justify the trust given by Air Serbia. If they fail this time and these operations, really it will be the end of this regional flag carrier. So, go on BH , go on Air Serbia !
ReplyDelete