Turkish Airlines considering Bosnian expansion


Turkish Airlines is interested in launching flights to Mostar, investing in Sarajevo Airport and establishing the country's new national carrier in collaboration with the Bosnian government. The Turkish Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cihad Erginay, announced the plans, noting that the Turkish airline is also considering services to both Tuzla and Banja Luka. Mostar Airport entered talks with Turkish last year over potential services. "This airport [Mostar] has the capacity to handle Turkish Airlines aircraft. Therefore, there are no obstacles to broaden our cooperation and finally link Mostar with Istanbul", the Turkish Consul General in Mostar, Ayse Selcan Sinli, said. The carrier recently introduced scheduled cargo flights from Istanbul to Tuzla with its Airbus A330-200 freighter jet, which will run until the end of November.

Turkish's position in Bosnia and Herzegovina has been unrivalled, with multiple daily departures to Sarajevo, carrying a significant number of both point to point and transfer passengers. However, the arrival of Persian Gulf carriers onto the Bosnian market is eating into Turkish's transfer traffic share. Flydubai has boosted its operations to Sarajevo, Air Arabia launched flights to the city recently and Qatar Airways will follow suit this November. The added competition comes at a time when Turkey is suffering its deepest tourism decline on record and its national airline is building a business less dependent on point to point passengers. Furthermore, carriers are increasingly looking to tap into the Bosnian market. Wizz Air has announced plans to launch services from Sarajevo and is looking to further strengthen its presence on the market, which could result in potential flights to Mostar as well. On the other hand, Croatia Airlines has announced plans to open a base at Sarajevo Airport next year, with direct services to several European destinations.

The Prime Minister of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Fadil Novalić, has said his government is in talks with both Turkish Airlines and Etihad Airways over the future of country's flag carrier - B&H Airlines. "We held talks with both Turkish Airlines and Etihad because we are being responsible towards our company. We are in discussions". The Prime Minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Denis Zvizdić, said last month that Turkish Airlines is ready to resume talks with the government concerning the future of the country's flag carrier. Mr Zvizdić said the airline is willing to explore new models for commercial cooperation. "They [Turkish Airlines] are prepared for such negotiations to resume and for us to determine new models of cooperation. I am certain that talks between Turkish Airlines and the Federation government will resume soon and that they will head in the right direction", Mr Zvizdić noted. In late 2008, Turkish Airlines took over a 49% share in B&H. However, the relationship between the carrier and the Bosnian government deteriorated by the start of 2012, with Turkish relinquishing its share in B&H later that year. Due to mounting debt, B&H Airlines discontinued all scheduled and charter flights on June 11, 2015, while its Air Operator's Certificate was suspended by the country's regulator a month later.

Comments

  1. Anonymous09:08

    Regarding OMO - there you go Austrian. You snooze: you lose!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:18

      Austrian can only make money on profitable routes. Turkish airlines is state subsidised and constantly re-inflated, they go where they please.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:07

      good luck if you need to transfer at IST for flights to West Europe ...

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:19

      You would be surprised how many people from the Balkans are transferring through IST just to go to western Europe. I find it totally absurd that people would go more east in order to travel further west from their point of origin. But obviously saving some cash in the Balkans has no limits.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:24

      Yep. Worst experience possible. Airport staff won't speak anything other than Turkish, terminal woefully undersized given the scale of operation and very few establishments to distract you. (Unless you want to go around the 4 separate stores selling indentical luggage bags, which, incidentally are situated after security/check-in!). Also a huge amount of people just sitting on the floor anywhere and everywhere. It's no DXB or MUC I tell you...

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:25

      When does the new airport in IST open?

      Delete
    6. Anonymous11:57

      Anon 10:24,

      Your description of IST has zero touch with reality.

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:18

    They have to do something to respond to the MEB3 at home. This could be a good launch pad for them to get into Europe even more and secure more slots.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. JATBEGMEL22:58

      QR is the one to look at, which has decent frequencies in the Balkans with more to come.

      EY is only present in BEG, relying mostly on JU and to a lesser extent on AZ. Still, JU has some work to do to improve connectivity from the Balkans to AUH.

      EK is not present in the Balkans, and FZ is not the solution. EK lost out to EY and QR when JU left DXB in 2011. QR does well in ZAG compared to FZ, and I wouldn't be surprised to see double daily and a widebody next year from QR. FZ don't seem to have much success in SKP, and with QR soon to come I think FZ will loose out further. SJJ does well for FZ due to a Bosnia being popular with Khaleeji pax visiting Bosnia, creating large O&D numbers.

      TK naturally has pax as Turkey is popular with our people, especially in the summer. Business and Commerce naturally is there, while IST is a large hub expanding in frequencies offering fantastic service and connectivity. The new IST will make things interesting, giving TK more room to expand and greater improve connectivity.

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:18

    Something is cooking here.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous09:22

    Would be way too much if they also flew Mostar, Tuzla and Banja Luka. But going to Mostar would be a good choice. Don't understand why there are no scheduled flights there.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. JATBEGMEL22:46

      TK has a wish list of destinations that opens in time. OMO would be great, and I see in summer months getting decent transfer from BEY, where Lebanese Christians visit Medjugorje. Bosnia has become quite popular as a destination in the Middle East, especially in the Gulf region. Khaleeji travelers like to spend, which is good for the local population. I wouldn't be surprised to see TK in OMO within the short term.

      Delete
  5. Anonymous11:02

    The only way BH could work is if they could sell 100% of the airline. They can't do that with Turkish...

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous11:03

    I hope that this time things will go better.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous11:12

    OT: JU 501 kasni iz JFK, kako sa transfer vezama danas?
    Kasni odlasni val?
    Sutra ista stvar?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:17

      Kasni jer je kasnio dolazak iz Beograda

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:31

      It will be interesting to see how they handle the missed connections. It is not as if there are 2 flights per day to the final destinations.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous16:32

      Anybody knows whay todays flight JU500 is flying strange path? At the moment it's going more north-east instead north-west... Now above Poland..

      Delete
    4. Anonymous18:20

      Kasne i drugi:

      https://www.flightradar24.com/BER7472/a234970

      https://www.flightradar24.com/BAW04A/a232a1a

      Delete
  8. Anonymous11:34

    Makes sense. Sarajevo Airport is really underserved and has lots of potential. Base a plane there and you could reap the benefits. All you need is a smart route planner, nothing more.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous11:35

    Since a politician announced this I would be very cautious believing it but it is an interesting development if true.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous12:10

    Turkish usually has competitive prices (read offers): e.g. ex Venice etc.
    Why prised out of Sarajevo are not so good?
    Lack of competition?
    I'm interested to destinations like Central Asian Countries (e.g. Kazahstan, Kyrgystan) and Far East namely Japan, S.Korea.
    Are tourist agencies in Sarajevo selling "low" priced air tickets for Turkish?
    Just curious of their pricing strategy: I guess it's more oriented to pax flying to Sarajevo than the opposite way. Am I right?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous14:18

      "Turkish usually has competitive prices (read offers)"

      Better known in thew industry as DUMPING.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous20:22

      TK has great loads both in and out of SJJ year round, so there's no need to reduce fares :)

      Delete
  11. Anonymous17:35

    OT Admin, zna li se zašto JU500 i jučer i danas kasni po dva i pol sata iz Beogr++++++ad++?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous18:10

      JFK određuje kada mogu da polete iz BEG.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous18:26

      haha

      Delete
    3. Anonymous20:07

      Tehnički problem jučer. Danas nije bilo problema ali je kašnjenje isto zbog toga što nije bilo vremena da ga se "ispegla". Sutra je "slobodan dan" pa će se satnica dovesti u red za ponedeljak.

      Delete
  12. Anonymous17:58

    2017 will be a perfect year for Sarajevo! If all happens as planned or announced Sarajevo will get: Iran Air, Wizz Air with several destinations, Croatia Airlines base, new bosnian airline ( etihad or turkish support) qatar airways, flights to eqypt. We will see...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous18:31

      He he

      Delete
    2. Anonymous19:10

      2017 for sure is promising for Sarajevo Airport, but new Bosnian airline for some reason I don't see it happening. If Wizz air starts with flights, we can see 1 million pax mark next year.

      Delete
    3. JATBEGMEL23:03

      I estimate SJJ this year having just under 900.000 pax.

      Delete
  13. Anonymous20:08

    IST-TUZLA-IST Cargo flights for June 2016!
    02.06.2016 Thu. TK 6739/TK 6740 Airbus 330-200F TC-JDR
    04.06.2016 Sat. TK 6739/TK 6740 Airbus 330-200F TC-JDP
    07.06.2016 Tue. TK 6739/TK 6740 Airbus 330-200F TC-JDR
    09.06.2016 Thu. TK 6739/TK 6740 Airbus 330-200F TC-JDR
    10.06.2016 Fri. TK 6745/TK 6746 Airbus 330-200F TC-JCI
    11.06.2016 Sat. TK 6739/TK 6740 Airbus 330-200F TC-JOU
    13.06.2016 Mon. TK 6739/TK 6740 Airbus 330-200F TC-JOV
    14.06.2016 Tue. TK 6745/TK 6746 Airbus 330-200F TC-JDR
    16.06.2016 Thu. TK 6739/TK 6740 Airbus 330-200F TC-JDP
    17.06.2016 Fri. TK 6745/TK 6746 Airbus 330-200F TC-JDR
    18.06.2016 Sat TK 6739/TK 6740 Airbus 330-200F TC-JDP
    21.06.2016 Tue TK 6745/TK 6746 Airbus 330-200F TC-JDP
    23.06.2016 Thu. TK 6739/TK 6740 Airbus 330-200F TC-JDP
    24.06.2016 Fri TK 6745/TK 6746 Airbus 330-200F TC-JDP
    25.06.2016 Sat TK 6739/TK 6740 Airbus 330-200F TC-JOV

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous20:22

      Wow thats amazing! Great way to make much money. I hope so much that Tuzla gets a new passenger terminal.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous23:29

      There was one in BEG yesterday.

      Delete
  14. Anonymous21:13

    Sorry for the OT but the vintage photos are amazing! Love it. Can't wait every Saturday to see the next one :D

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous00:26

    OT Another Manhattan flyover:

    https://www.flightradar24.com/ASL500/a23140f

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous00:40

      Harlem to be exact ... and the Southern Bronx.

      Delete
  16. Anonymous01:05

    The flight to NY departed two and half hours late, pilot saved again a whole hour.
    Landing in JFK one and half hour late.
    Could be worse but Air Serbia will have to improve their whole procedure if they dont want that mess to happen again!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous08:46

      Better depart only if everything is in perfect working condition.
      But I agree that if delays persist it will throw connections into disarray and will upset a lot of passengers.
      Hopefully it is because of small experience with longhawl operations

      Delete

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