Sarajevo Airport eyes new flights

Sarajevo Airport anticipates 800.000 passengers in 2015

Sarajevo Airport is heading for its busiest year on record and is negotiating the launch of several new routes. The CEO of Sarajevo Airport, Ivan Veličan, says, “We are currently holding talks with a number of airlines which plan to connect Sarajevo with several attractive destinations. We have the necessary capacity and are open for cooperation, both with full fare and low cost airlines. Sarajevo Airport has never before had so many links to the world”. Mr. Veličan adds, “Sarajevo offers twelve daily flights to European cities through which passengers can connect onwards to other destinations. The introduction of new routes depends on the airline’s assessment of the market and is a purely commercial decision”. While the airport’s CEO refused to name the airlines interested in launching flights to Sarajevo, so as not to jeopardise the negotiating process, Wizz Air is said to be eyeing up to three new routes to the Bosnian capital next summer season. Furthermore, Alitalia has also expressed interest to launch flights to Sarajevo by 2016 at the latest, while SAS Scandinavian Airlines is considering turning its seasonal summer flights into year-long services.

Bosnia and Herzegovina’s busiest airport has already secured the arrival of two new customers with low cost Flydubai to launch services in December. On the other hand, Swiss International Air Lines will inaugurate flights from Zurich next May. Mr. Veličan is confident the airport will attract more new airlines, particularly budget carriers, with the opening of a dedicated low cost terminal. The building that has been designated for low cost use, located next to the passenger terminal, has been previously occupied by the airport’s management. “Our priority in the coming period is the launch of new routes which will result in an increase in passenger numbers. We also plan to invest in infrastructure, particularly in the reconstruction of Terminal B and its conversion”.

During September, Sarajevo Airport handled 71.168 passengers, an increase of 6.7% compared to the same month last year. The number of flights operating to and from the airport also increased, from 520 last year to 577 this September. Over the past nine months, Sarajevo Airport has welcomed 555.145 travellers through its doors, up 6.7% on 2013. The number of flight operations over the same period grew by 10%. The airport’s CEO estimates Sarajevo will handle some 700.000 passengers this year and an additional 100.000 in 2015. “The results so far have served as an incentive for us to handle a record breaking 700.000 passengers by the end of the year. Next year we plan to further increase passenger numbers to 800.000. We can and we will”, Mr. Veličan concludes.

MonthPAXChange (%)
JAN36.114 8.0
FEB35.43516.6
MAR45.7892.6
APR56.6110.5
MAY71.5139.2
JUN74.9782.8
JUL74.9487.5
AUG88.59111.0
SEP71.1686.7

Comments

  1. Anonymous09:04

    Jel SJJ povezano sa sa ARN i jel SAS leti samo leti =D =D
    INN-NS

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:07

      Samo leti

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:08

      Hvala na odgovoru =D =D
      INN-NS

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:12

      Norwegian leti za Sarajevo svake subote!

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:07

    Congratulations Sarajevo. If B&H Airlines was a serious airline numbers would be much better.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:26

      Well I think Skopje is the model to follow. Clearly B&H isnt going to be a driver of growth anytime soon (if ever), and considering the relative population size SKP should not have 30 plus % more passengers than Sarajevo!!

      But growth is growth so well done anyway

      Delete
    2. JATBEGMEL10:36

      B&H have probably spent more money on JA than what the Macedonian government is giving in subsidies to foreign airlines. Would be interesting if someone here can provide the numbers for both.

      A quick google search got me that in 2013 JA owed to Hypo Group 4.3 million euros plus the B&H government injected 3.5 million euros into the airline. This year the Macedonian government gave 4.9 million euros in subsidies to foreign airlines. Both information provided by this blog.

      http://exyuaviation.blogspot.com/2014/09/macedonia-to-extend-low-cost-subsidies.html

      http://exyuaviation.blogspot.com/2013/12/government-to-help-b-airlines.html

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:23

    Go Sarajevo, hope for a record 2015!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous09:31

    If they allowed departures before six in the morning i am sure both B&H and Austrian Airlines would be interested, the former for its Belgrade flights and the latter for its Vienna route.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:34

      The problem is Sarajevo Airport is surrounded by a large number of residential buildings. I don't think they would be too happy with planes flying at 5AM

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:43

      I understand that but tgey can at least allow it for B&H. Also don't residents mind tgem taking off at six in the morning on the weekends? I read in an interview with the CEO where he said that there is still no commercial viability to make it a 24 hour airport.

      Delete
    3. As someone who lived in the airport's vicinity I never understood big difference between 5AM and 6AM. Especially for B&H's ATR, they are not that noisy. Now that I think of it, I think that the actual reason is bureaucratic in nature than anything else.

      Delete
  5. JATBEGMEL10:50

    Mr Velican talking of 12 daily flights from SJJ is ridiculous. 4 is to IST and 2 for both ZAG and BEG. Their home carrier barely is flying, and there is room for a couple of more destinations. Taxes are high and a few months back some workers were fired for smuggling and various other illegal activities. Nothing to be proud of there.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Purger12:06

      Mr. Veličan is right. Today SJJ:
      TK to IST 3 daily flights
      PC to IST 1 daily
      JU go BEG 1 daily
      JA to BEG 1 daily
      JA to ZRH and CPH 6 weekly
      LH to MUC 1 daily
      OS to VIE 2 daily
      OU to ZAG 2 daily
      4u to TXL, STR and CGN 4 times weekly
      JP to LJU 5 weekly
      DY to ARN once per week

      So that is more than 13 flights per day without charters, to 12 destinations

      Delete
    2. JATBEGMEL01:09

      I dont deny that there is 12 flights a day from SJJ, I believe there should be more.

      Delete
  6. Anonymous11:05

    What time is Putin supposed to arrive today? I heard he will be arriving with three aircraft... I can just imagine the chaos at BEG.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:27

      One IL96 is already at BEG

      Delete
    2. Coma19:25

      The other two were :

      1 st : Tu-214
      Picture : http://img.planespotters.net/photo/441000/original/RA-64524-Rossiya-Russian-Airlines-Tupolev-Tu-214_PlanespottersNet_441837.jpg

      2 nd : An - 148
      Picture :http://img.planespotters.net/photo/463000/original/RA-61717-Russia-Ministry-of-Emergency-Situations-EMERCOM-_PlanespottersNet_463875.jpg

      Delete
    3. Anonymous19:50

      Yeah, both of them took off from Belgrade about an hour ago.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous22:17

      From today:

      https://scontent-b-vie.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/10155053_594451763989761_9079651471248396059_n.jpg?oh=1c2d234e627035482f12bc8baa3dee34&oe=54EF6414

      Delete
  7. Anonymous12:30

    just announced:
    Etihad Regional to start ZRH- PRN (PRG,VCE...)

    also LH is giving up on FRA-AUH

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous18:10

    When i read the headline i first thought "Oh please, not six additional daily flights to Istanbul" !

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous18:50

    Air Serbia sending A319 to Tirana today and A320 to Tel Aviv... surprises:))

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous19:11

      Expected LF 0%

      Delete
    2. Anonymous19:49

      Something like 90 passengers flew to Tirana today. Don't know about the flight back.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous21:06

      beg-tia 95, tia-beg 62, beg-tlv 154, tlv-beg 42.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous21:09

      Wow... No wonder there are no pax on the return flight since there are really no flights to feed. Any other numbers?

      Delete
    5. Anonymous21:36

      I really don't understand the TLV route. I travelled back in August and on the flight there there was a total of 43 pax, and on the way back two days later 118. So we can conclude that TLV has either fantastic or terrible results.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous08:00

      There is a simply answer to that. The morning departure is usually weak because there are not enough morning arrivals to feed that departure. Return flight usually does well because you have the afternoon European bank of departures. The same applies for the 13.55 departure and 21.25 arrival.

      Delete
  10. Anonymous19:59

    Off-topic, but interesting. Budapest is getting a link to Canada next year, with Air Transat flying this route.

    MONTREAL, Oct. 15, 2014 /CNW Telbec/ – Air Transat announced today that it is adding a new destination, Budapest, Hungary, to its transatlantic program for 2015, as well as increasing seats and frequencies on many of its European routes, including Paris, London, Barcelona, Athens, Lisbon, Marseille, Nantes, Rome and Venice. With more than 50 different city-pairs between Canada and Europe, Air Transat maintains its position as the holiday travel leader, and is the only air carrier flying direct from Canada to Eastern Europe.
    “This expansion comes in response to the success of our Prague connection, inaugurated this past June, and reflects our intent to be at the forefront of innovation,” said Jean-François Lemay, General Manager, Air Transat. “Yet again, Air Transat is differentiating its travel experience, with the addition of weekly direct flights to Budapest departing from Montreal and Toronto. We are extremely proud to be expanding, year after year, the range of destinations we offer Canadian travellers.”

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Great news, thank you for sharing. They are clearly responding to AC Rouge expansion.

      Delete

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