Qatar Airways to launch Sarajevo flights

Qatar Airways to add third destination in the former Yugoslavia

The Ambassador of Bosnia and Herzegovina to Qatar, Tarik Sadović, has announced that Qatar Airways will launch flights from Doha to Sarajevo this year, following talks with the carrier’s CEO Akbar Al Baker. Mr. Sadović says the new service is a result of continued efforts from both sides to improve economic ties between the two countries. The announcement comes only weeks after Flydubai launched services between its hub and Sarajevo, offering a scheduled nonstop air link between the Middle East and the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina for the first time. According to the Ambassador, Qatar Airways’ flights will cater for both the sizable Bosnian diaspora working across the Middle East, but also those living in far off countries such as Australia.

In May last year, a delegation of political and business leaders from Qatar, among which was Qatar Airways Chairman, his Excellency Ali Shareef Al Emadi, attended the Sarajevo Business Forum, raising speculation that the Gulf carrier was considering Sarajevo as its newest destination in the former Yugoslavia. While Qatar Airways is yet to officially confirm the service launch, the airline is likely to operate the flights via another point in the region, similar to its service to Belgrade, which runs via Ankara, with the stop to be moved to Sofia from March 1. On the other hand, the route to nearby Zagreb was operated via Budapest before it was recently converted into a nonstop flight.

The arrival of Qatar Airways to Sarajevo would be a major coup for the airport following Flydubai’s service launch. The Qatari carrier would not only become the first from the Middle East Big Three (which includes Emirates, Qatar Airways and Etihad Airways) to operate flights to Bosnia and Herzegovina but also the only airline from the Onewrold alliance to fly to Sarajevo. Qatar would provide competition to its rival Flydubai on the route but also Turkish Airlines. Turkish relies on a significant number of transit passengers on its flights to and from Sarajevo, a portion of which could be taken over by Qatar Airways. Sarajevo Airport’s CEO, Ivica Veličan, recently said, “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. The introduction of new routes depends on the airline’s assessment of the market and is purely a commercial decision”. On Wednesday, Qatar Airways confirmed Amsterdam as its first new destination in 2015.

Comments

  1. Anonymous10:26

    They could easily launch. Ljubljana - Sarajevo - Qatar service.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous13:58

      Is it Qatar Airways allowed to serve pax on the Ljubljana -Sarajevo route too?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous03:23

      Slovenia in general is a small market for a conglomerate.

      Delete
  2. Anonymous10:34

    Let's hope QR will also confirm this; and if it happens, more logical development is to give BEG non stop to have competitive product vs EY, TK ex BEG and tag SJJ to BEG which has significantly smaller market size. That would probably be the easiest way to launch SJJ and create benefit for more mature BEG route that needs non stop to compete with other carriers. And with a single A/C.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous03:43

      Logical yes, commonsensical no.

      With Croatia in the EU; ZAG offers a less complex and more competitive variety of services to correctly sustain the smaller satellite markets, e.g. SJJ

      Delete
  3. Anonymous12:15

    SmartLynx Airlines starting from Pristina to/from Munich, Dusseldorf, Stuttgart and Basel.

    Expects to operate even other destinations, as in Italy, and France.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous15:12

      I ST planira da pokrene nekoliko novih linija iz PRN.
      INN-NS

      Delete
  4. hrucs14:19

    Yes! This is great news for anybody that flies to Sarajevo to visit their family and friends from here in Melbourne, Australia.

    Even though Zagreb is the airport that I most often fly to because of its proximity to the Bosanska Krajina region, I also wouldn't mind having that connection to Sarajevo as well.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous15:07

    Pametnije je bilo za njih da lete DOH-SJJ-BNX. Posto ne znam dali ima mesta za FZ i QR u SJJ zajedno.
    INN-NS

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous15:48

      Bez uvrede, SJJ je mozda malo za QA ali BNX ne postoji...

      To je isto kao da kazes da bi trebali povezivati Zagreb i Osijek ili Beograd i Nis... neozbiljno

      Delete
    2. Anonymous17:25

      Ne postoji QA a BNX postoji.
      Ja sam mislio da napravi stop over u BNX.
      INN-NS

      Delete
    3. @AnonymousJanuary 2, 2015 at 3:48 PM

      Po cemu je Sarajevo malo za QA?

      Na Bliskom istoku zive hiljade drzavljana BiH koji tamo rade.
      Osim toga: u Australiji i na Novom Zelandu zivi vise od 100.000 drzavljana Bosne i Hercegovine, koji preko Dohe i Dubaija samo sa jednim presjedanjem stizu u Sarajevo i BiH.

      Problem Sarajeva je manjak konkurencije. Da su karte jeftinije, vjerujem da bi Sarajevo bilo treci najprometniji aerodrom u Ex-Yu jer je de facto i treci najveci grad, a BiH procentualno ima najvecu dijasporu od svih drzava Balkana.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous20:33

      Ako ce da rade tag za SJJ, Banja Luka tu nema nikakvog smisla. Toliko mali i siromašni grad, ZAG u neposrednoj blizini, to bi bio bačen novac. Treba razmišljati van državnih granica malo, tu su SPU i DBV, oba aerodroma veoma atraktivna, posebno ovaj drugi - i tražena među platežnim putnicima. Ja bih zapravo išao na DOH-DBV-SJJ kako premium putnici ne bi imali dodatno sletanje, a i kraće je tako...

      Delete
    5. Anonymous21:36

      Ko ste vi da pricate o jednom gradu da je siromasan.
      Jeste za DBV samo salju business jet-ove
      INN-NS

      Delete
    6. Anonymous09:22

      INN, Dubrovnik je jedan od najbogatijih gradova na Ex-Yu prostorima, grad od 40 000 stanovnika s 1,7 milijuna putnika kroz aerodrom godišnje i izvrsnim standardom svojih stanovnika. A tko si ti da uopće uspoređuješ Banja Luku i Dubrovnik za koji zna veći dio svijeta, očito nisi nikad bio u Dubrovniku, molim te drugi put provjeri činjenice prije nego lupneš ovakvu glupost! Uostalom, dobar dio velikih prijevoznika leti za DBV, a British Airways leti cijelu godinu! Tko leti za Banja Luku?

      Delete
    7. Anonymous11:36

      @Sarajevo, nismo se razumili, nisam imao namjeru minimizirati SJJ. Vec je bilo u kontekstu da je za standarde kompanije koja se polahko okrece widebody floti, Sarajevo vjerovatno jedan od manjih aerodorma na koje ce da leti.

      I trebamo biti sretni zbog toga, ali dajem desnu ruku da nikada nijedna major kompanija nece letiti za Banja Luku. To je opet stvar ekonomije a ne stvar nacionalizma sto bi neki ovdje jedva docekali.

      Banja Luka nije turisticki grad (volio bih da jeste), kao sto si rekao Zg je blizu, Osijek je blizu. Mozda za par godina ali sada, nema sanse. I da, to bi onda bio najkraci leg QA-a.

      Ako neko treba feedati QA ili Flydubai, onda je to BH Airlines. Da su pametni imali bi dnevni let BNX-SJJ

      Delete
    8. Anonymous21:14

      @INN

      Ko sam ja da pričam o jednom gradu da je siromašan? Ja sam neko ko je u poslednjih 12 meseci u tom gradu bio 8 puta, ko vrlo dobro zna šta i koliko od privrede tamo funkcioniše, kakav prevoz ljudi koriste i koliko su spremni za njega da plate. I stojim iza toga da je Banja Luka veoma siromašan grad. Nije region ništa bolji, da se razumemo.

      Daleko od toga da mi je drago zbog toga - inače volim Banja Luku, ali to ne menja činjenice.

      Dubrovnik je svetski poznata turistička destinacija koju često obilaze veoma bogati putnici. Broj stanovnika samog grada je od malog značaja tu, govorimo o premium turističkoj i kongresnoj destinaciji! Nije bitno da li su Dubrovčani bogataši ili prosjaci, bitno je da imate armiju ljudi iz inostranstva koji žele otići tamo i posetiti grad. Prvi ko od ME3 uvede DBV će se jako dobro provesti, baš me čudi da do sada nema letova...

      Ideja da se radi tag za BNX je kao da neko predloži tag između Niša i Beograda, potpuno bez ikakve poslovne logike... To, druže, nije pitanje emocija.

      Delete
  6. Anonymous15:51

    Before JAT takeover people were saying Air Serbia will serve only as Etihad feeder. Now that more regional places from where Air Serbia was supposed to feed Etihad now have direct links to ME, that "Etihad feeder" storyline does not sound true.

    Competition from both East and West has been responding to Air Serbia regional model, now it's Air Serbia turn to respond back.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous16:02

    Yes and no, QA was serving both Belgrade and Zagreb before JAT takeover.

    The only places where such ME feeding market could potentially exist is Sarajevo and Skopje. Now, my opinion is that they are insignificant reason for a takeover.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous16:29

    Sertic je izjavio da se u 2015. ocekuje "prihod od koncesije vezane za aerodrome srbije"

    nadajmo se da ce dobiti dobrog (su)vlasnika

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous17:30

      Bice uskoro novosti samo se strpite.
      INN-NS

      Delete
    2. Anonymous19:19

      INN, znam da te ljudi hejtuju i smaraju ali za nas koji to ne radimo moze li neki nagovestaj?
      Pozz

      Delete
    3. Anonymous21:17

      @ 7:19
      Bice koncesionara ali ja nisam ispitivao dali ce biti Vinci , neko iz EU ili Bliski Istok.
      Strpite se malo :P
      INN-NS

      Delete
  9. Anonymous17:55

    http://www.businesstraveller.com/news/etihad-and-aeroleneas-argentinas-agree-codeshare

    Wouldn't it make more sense to launch EZE and then codeshare?!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous19:17

    Source: b92.net, Interview with BEG CEO:

    "Beogradski aerodrom je napravio značajne uštede u odnosu na 2013, na primer na putničkim vozilima je ušteđeno 56,7 odsto sredstava. Takođe, oko 80 odsto menadžmenta je promenjeno "

    Say what?!? To reduce cost, 80% of management has been CHANGED?!?! Is it 1:1 replacement? I know of 80% being fired as an extreme application of Pareto principle ("only 20% are doing any work anyway") or a complete reboot of corporate culture as with Air Serbia, but replacing 80% managers at a 30% YoY growth airport as a COST SAVING measure alone is an HRM innovation. And where are experienced managers being hired from, are there any other Serbian airports of this size?

    What happened to attrition, layoffs, reduced bonuses/pay, reorg and all the other tools we have? Or is it easier to just replace them with lower cost, no experience necessary party faithful? Oy vey...

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous20:10

    Split Airport in December:

    32 107 passengers

    + 13,3 %

    ReplyDelete
  12. JU520 BEGLAX20:52

    Today JP 310 LJUZRH 44 PAX and JP 311 8 PAX. Config CR2 48 pax S5 AAG. This morning AAD lied down and they had to combine WAW and PRG in one flight
    Regarding JP Sky Shop, their monthly profit is around 1000 EUR. However all costs counted together to implement all incl tablets for Flt Attds was 100'000 EUR

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous21:21

    P.S.: Wizz Air to start flights from Sarajevo in June 2015!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous21:21

      Može li biti Wizz Air nešto od Sarajevo-Niš, Sarajevo-Tuzla, Sarajevo-Banja Luka?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous21:22

      Once Wizz announces ZAG and PRN (perhaps by the end of the year?) Wizz Air could really say "Wizz Air - Unofficial airline of the Ex Yu".

      Delete
    3. Anonymous21:22

      Sarajevo: Could you state where this news about WizzAir and Sarajevo comes from?

      Delete
  14. Anonymous23:08

    OT: Can I use mobile phone set in Airplane Mode on Air Serbia flights during takeoff and landing for things like reading text or taking a photo? Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous23:55

      Yes, you can. :)

      Delete
    2. Anonymous00:03

      Great thanks! Can I also use it for text or for calling?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous00:47

      No, during take off and landing you can not. It must be completely off.

      Delete
  15. Anonymous23:36

    OT:

    Ex Yu admin, someone mentioned this earlier, but, I think, it should be officially stated on here as news or at least launch of seasonal flights to such small airport (Brac) :

    https://www.leipzig-halle-airport.de/en/company/newsroom/press-releases/leipzig-halle-and-dresden-airports-present-new-features-in-the-2015-summer-timetable-2813.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It will be reported in the coming weeks, though do take caution as Express Airways has been attempting to restart operations for the past eight years (and was never successful in doing so)

      Delete
  16. Anonymous00:51

    Otkud CTN u LPPR ( Porto ) ?
    Hvala unapred.
    INN-NS

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous02:11

      According to flightradar24, it goes from Lisbon to Split, however, it goes towards Zagreb, how can I see right now, with Airbus A320 (OU9701 / CTN9701)

      Delete
    2. Anonymous02:21

      Also, about Zagreb, there was one AirMalta Airbus, flying to Luqa (KM7519 / AMC7519), but also and one MNG cargo plane.

      Delete

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