Turkish considering B&H Airlines revival

Turkish Airlines interested in new airline partnership in Bosnia

The Prime Minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Denis Zvizdić, says Turkish Airlines has expressed interest in entering into a new partnership with the country's former flag carrier B&H Airlines, which suspended operations last year and is currently undergoing bankruptcy proceedings. A potential partnership would likely result in the establishment of a successor airline. The comments were made following talks between the Prime Minister and his Turkish counterpart in Ankara, as well as a major summit of business leaders from both countries. Last year, Turkish Airlines' CEO, Temel Kotil, said the carrier was looking into investing in other airlines in either 2016 or 2017. In the past, Turkish had been named as a potential investor in carriers such as LOT Polish Airlines, Croatia Airlines and Air Malta. Mr Zvizdić, who did not wish to go into further details on the potential revival of B&H Airlines, said that talks were held concerning a new collaboration between the two.

In 2008, Turkish Airlines purchased a 49% stake in B&H, which it handed back to the state four years later following disagreements with the government. Turkish developed B&H Airlines' route network and fleet during its four year management of the carrier, with the introduction of jet-engine aircraft, such as the Boeing 737-400 and the Airbus A319. However, the previous government maintained that Turkish Airlines’ short-lived adventure in Bosnia destroyed the small carrier, leaving it with significant debt. Since then, B&H went on a downward spiral with its route network diminished, its fleet grounded on several occasions and its accounts blocked. On June 11, 2015, B&H Airlines discontinued all scheduled and charter flights, while its Air Operator's Certificate was suspended by the country's regulator a month later. Bankruptcy proceedings were launched last month, with part of the airline's 90-strong workforce taken in by Sarajevo Airport.

The Prime Minister of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Fadil Novalić, suggested last year that a successor to B&H Airlines would be established, with the government to invest 2.7 million euros into the new airline, which would initially operate with one leased aircraft. B&H Airlines itself was set-up on the foundations of Air Bosna, which launched in 1994 but ceased operations in 2003 due to mounting debt. Two years later, the government revived the carrier and renamed it B&H Airlines. Following its demise, the Central German Tourism Development Company initiated talks over a potential takeover, however, these plans never materialised.

Comments

  1. And again.. the story goes on..

    ReplyDelete
  2. Why not take those €2.7 million and make SJJ into a LCC fortress? SKP has proven that it is possible.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:16

      You think that they think about passengers in this story? :D

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:20

      Why not just base a Turkish Airlines or Anadoloujet (or Borajet) in SJJ with two E-190 and get it over with.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous12:00

      Anadolujet does not have anything smaller than B737. Borajet operates E-190 but they do not belong to TK.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous12:20

      So what if Anadoloujet doesn't have anything smaller than a B737. That's what they used the last time around, plus an A319, so...

      Borajet feeds TK's aircraft so they could launch some flights out of SJJ, their Embearers would be perfect for CPH.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous12:28

      What's happening with the 2 B&H ATR72s that are owned by HETA? Are they still grounded in Sarajevo?

      Delete
    6. Last Anon
      ATR named Mostar is at MGL since 9.03.2015..Atr named Sarajevo is still at SJJ

      Delete
    7. Anonymous13:06

      Boratjet :)

      Delete
    8. Anonymous13:13

      @ Guess Whoo, thanks. I assume bankruptcy process has to be completed before those can be leased out to someone else.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous14:19

      Anon 12:20,

      My point was: if we talk Embraer as a solution, then we don't talk AnadoluJet simply because they don't have any. Of course they can put in a 737 but not an E-190.

      Borajet may be feeding TK but they are still an independent entity and as such need to be persuaded to take part in the new BH project. And since they are privately owned and have no money to waste on political projects, I somehow doubt they would join.

      Still, it is not impossible that TK offloads a couple of 737s to Bosnia.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous14:57

      I never said that Anadolujet had any Embraer, you misinterpreted what I wrote. I said that it should be TK, Anadolujet or Borajet.

      Borajet is alive today only thanks to TK and I am sure they would pay them to fly out of SJJ.

      Delete
    11. Anonymous16:00

      My friend, you misplaced the bracket but I think most people got your point. ))

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:20

    This airline has 9 lives.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:26

      :D

      Delete
    2. Trust me much more. I have seen lot of things.

      Delete
  4. Anonymous09:21

    April fool's day came a bit late this year :) I argree that SJJ needs more LC Airlines then national carrier!

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:06

      lol this is what i thought first when reading the headline

      Delete
  5. Anonymous09:22

    This could work if government gives complete control to Turkish without interfering.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous20:30

      This is one and only true.

      Delete
  6. Anonymous09:22

    Don't Forget on the Balkans everything is political. Bosnia needs an own airline as much as an own language.....But if the Turkish want so;)

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  7. Anonymous09:23

    I don't get this need for a national airline - both in BiH and Macedonia.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:26

      To employ people connected to the government. Same like in other ex-yu countries.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:27

      ... and Montenegro does? Slovenia too?

      Delete
  8. Anonymous09:24

    Interesting. Just a few days after Wizz Air says it will start flying from Sarajevo :)

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:47

      Didn't they say that they wanted to but that the fees were too high?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:03

      The Rent Is Too Damn High

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:04

      That's what they said last year but they obviously reached some agreement.

      http://www.exyuaviation.com/2016/04/wizz-air-plans-sarajevo-flights.html

      Delete
    4. Anonymous11:17

      There is a difference between plans and launches SJJ flights.

      Delete
  9. Anonymous09:33

    Whichever way people might react, I don't find this either odd nor unbelievable. In fact I'm sure it will happen. Remember, Turkish purchased B&H when it had 2 planes and flew to 3 cities in total. So there is no reason not to believe that they would set up some joint venture with the government. It would cost them peanuts in the wider scope of things.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous09:41

    OT:
    LJU figures for March:
    Pax: + 3,3%
    Car: + 5,9%
    Mov: + 1,2%

    Y2Y
    Pax: +3.9%
    Car: +5,2%
    Mov: -3,2%

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:57

      93,923 in March, LJU is behind SKP for some 90k already jan-mar

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:24

      What r the numbers for SKP for March?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:29

      roughly 120k +26%

      Delete
    4. Anonymous18:44

      Do we have Priština Q1 results?

      Delete
    5. We do:
      124,428 March 2016 (22% up)
      350,282 Q1 2016 (19% up)

      Delete
    6. Anonymous20:10

      Tnx Bro. It's gonna be a nice race SKP-PRN this year.

      Delete
  11. Anonymous10:06

    Didn't Croatia Airlines wanted to base a plane in Sarajevo?

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:13

      They did but I think that ship has sailed. They had the opportunity when Ivica Velican (their inside guy) was CEO of SJJ. Now it's too late.

      Delete
  12. Anonymous10:34

    Flydubai 2xdaily to SJJ
    Air Arabia 1 daily to SJJ
    Qatar Airways 3 x pw
    Turkish see big opportunity here. Establish company with Bosnian AOC and start flights to Gulf region. Same with flights from Sarajevo to Scandinavia and Germany. This deal is near to be signed. New airline will get 3 aircraft from THY

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:35

      wow nice. Any details on aircraft type?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:49

      so, basically, TK wants to get into a "fight" with the gulf airlines.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous11:58

      Yeah, TK have no better things to do then to fight for the Gulf flights in SJJ and its catchment area...

      I am not saying they will not invest, but if they do it will be a political investment just as the previous attempt. No market reasons whatsoever. TK's model is to funnel passengers through IST, not to remove their aircraft to locations abroad so that they can offer direct flights to local markets.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous17:06

      Don't even dream FlyDubai will be going double-daily to SJJ.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous17:15

      TK could be looking to do what Etihad did with Air Serbia, a small regional airline in Europe with feed to IST.

      Delete
    6. JATBEGMEL22:54

      TK cant do in SJJ what EY did in BEG regardless of the scale because SJJ is too small. No capacity and no proper infrastructure at the airport to do so. There is definately a need for more flights to SJJ and its a shame that SJJ is chasing airlines away due to their operating hours.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous00:39

      If they build a new airport further away they can grow.

      Delete
  13. Anonymous11:20

    OT

    Ellinair will double the number of flights it planned between BEG and HER this summer. These are great news for local tourists, the more the merrier.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:33

      Does Aviolet plan any flights to Heraklion?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous13:24

      Some 30 Aviolet flights to Heraklion plus 20 flights to Chania this Summer.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous13:39

      I guess Ellinair is stepping in because Aviolet doesn't have the necessary capacity.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous15:59

      Ellinar was preferred by agencies because they are more reliable and their B737 is more pleasant.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous19:12

      I am pretty sure agencies don't care whether B737 is more pleasant than B733.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous07:48

      Of course they do. If the aircraft is not nice or pleasant the passengers will blame the agency for booking them on such trash. If you ever flew on Aviolet then you would know what I am talking about.

      Delete
  14. Anonymous11:30

    It would function just if Turkish Airlines bought a majority stake. As long as the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina government is in the driving seat, it will fail. Again and again.
    Consequently, Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, or Bosnia and Herzegovina, or Serbia or Croatia or any other ex-Yu bananna republic can not have so called national airlines. It is proved by the 20 years passed. Corruption they grow, eats everything so the airlines as well.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:45

      I don't think they can have over 49% because of EU rules.

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    2. Anonymous11:51

      I don't think Bosnia plans on joining the EU anytime soon so why bother with their rule and regulation?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous12:02

      They signed and ratified ECAA so it's about the ECAA rules rather than Bosnia's EU progress.

      Delete
  15. Anonymous12:52

    Talking about ghosts from the past lol

    ReplyDelete
  16. They are running out of BH related names. Any guess what it might be called?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous14:55

      B&H Airways :D

      Delete
    2. Anonymous16:47

      Hahahah

      Delete
  17. Anonymous15:36

    Ovo je mnogo bolje za SJJ nego da W6 napravi bazu u SJJ zato sto ce opet dobiti Konekcije sa bitnim Aerodromima. Sa flotom od 2-4 A319 mogli bi da lete :
    OSL,ARN,CPH,AMS,FRA,DUS,CGD,IST, ZRH i VIE.
    INN-NS

    ReplyDelete
  18. Anonymous15:38

    - "Turkish BH"
    - "Turkish Bosnia and Herzegovina Airlines"
    - "Turkish Loss Making Airline"
    - "Anti-Corruption-Airline" :D

    or any combination of these

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous15:40

      This was meant as a reply to SM at 1:33pm

      Delete
  19. JATBEGMEL22:47

    OT:

    LOT ERJ-175 SP-LII is AOG in BEG. Arrived on time and parked at A7, its been towed and is now parked at B3.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous22:55

      What does it mean what you just wrote?

      Delete
    2. Translation: LOT Polish Airline's Embraer seems to have broken down at Belgrade airport.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous14:32

      I guess they thought it's cheaper to send the whole plane than re-route pax with JU the next morning.

      Delete

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