State snubs Bihać Airport project


The ambitious redevelopment of Bihać Airport in north-western Bosnia and Herzegovina, scheduled to begin this February, has been effectively cancelled after the government failed to include the project in its fifteen year transportation development program and provide necessary funding. The former military base was to be transformed into a commercial airport to cater for both passenger and cargo traffic. Despite initial assurances that the Federal government would provide 13.1 million euros for the construction of a new control tower and the lengthening of the runway, it has instead opted to invest forty million euros into Sarajevo Airport between 2017 and 2019, as well as 25 million euros into Tuzla Airport and fifteen million into Mostar Airport.

The ground breaking ceremony, which was to mark the start of Bihać Airport's redevelopment, was scheduled to take place on February 26 but was cancelled after the government failed to provide the necessary funding to the newly created public operator JP Aerodrom Bihać. The only hope left for the project's realisation is for local authorities to partner up with a foreign investor. Turkey's Çelebi Aviation Holding, a ground handling services company, had previously expressed interest to partake in the project's funding through a public private partnership. "There is also interest from a Saudi investment fund based in Dubai", Smail Toromanović, the advisor to the Mayor of Bihać, previously said.

Bihać Airport's redevelopment was to include the lengthening of the runway from the current 1.200 metres to 2.000 metres, as well as the construction of a new control tower and passenger terminal. "This project is of great importance to the region for the development of both the local tourism industry and economy, even if the airport caters only for charter flights. The land around the airfield is owned by the city, so there should be no issues concerning possession rights", Mr Toromanović previously said. The Bihać-based Euroing company had completed the design of the future terminal building. Once built, it would have become Bosnia and Herzegovina's fifth commercial airport, following Sarajevo, Tuzla, Mostar and Banja Luka, which handled a record 1.129.749 passengers in 2015. Bihać is located near the Croatian border and is the country's eighth largest city.

Comments

  1. Anonymous09:04

    Finally some sense!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous09:05

    Smart decision for them to invest in SJJ, TZL and OMO indtead. BiH has enough airports for its size.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous09:07

    I wonder how much money was given to develop the airport design, to pay people working at the airport opetator...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:30

      I love how a javno preduzeće was already set up.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:17

      I know, I love those javno preduzeće.

      Delete
  4. Anonymous09:28

    So it was just another Trebinje airport.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous09:50

    Reasonable decision. Does anyone know what the 40 mil EUR will be used for at Sarajevo Airport?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:00

      They will upgrade the taxiways and build a new office building for airport managment.

      Delete
  6. Anonymous10:01

    So none of the airports in the country are self sustainable and are funded from the budget?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous10:05

    The project looked good actually :D but was probably a waste of money.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:32

      I like the actual design of the terminal too but I do think it should have been built in Tuzla and replace the current shoe box.

      Delete
  8. Anonymous10:33

    It joins the ranks of Ponikve, Morava and Trebinje.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:48

      They could arrange for a joint venture with Trebianje Airport :D

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:02

      Ponikve and Morava have VIP and air taxi charters and medical flights. So while they are not very active they have some traffic.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous12:45

      Niksic and Portoroz too.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous15:29

      I was quite surprised to see Portorož on screen in BEG today.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous15:32

      There is more info about that :)

      http://www.exyuaviation.com/2016/07/awex-launches-portoroz-belgrade-flights.html?m=1

      Delete
  9. Anonymous10:54

    Agree with other people that Tuzla should have a priority with a terminal like this.

    Same thing with Kraljevo. Terminal looks great but should have been built in Nis or even as an extension to BEG.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous18:18

      A terminal like this for Tuzla would be fantastic. Also the terminal in Kraljevo and even the one in Uzice looks great.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous18:25

      Tuzla need a new terminal. The current terminal is too small

      Delete
  10. Anonymous11:16

    This project was problematic from the beginning primarily because of the close proximity of the Croatian boarder which would give a lot of problems to incoming aircraft who would have to land from Croatian airspace.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous11:18

    Why no investment in Banja Luka Airport? Just money for Sarajevo, Tuzla and Mostar?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:20

      Politika

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:34

      Probably because this is a Federation development plan while Republika Srpska probably has its own.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous11:45

      The only reason this document was adopted is because the govt. was forced by the EU. It was supposed to be done last year. Had they not adopted it last month they would miss out on the possibility of applying for EU finances to fund infrastructure projects.

      Delete
  12. Anonymous11:30

    trla baba lan

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous11:36

    OT: http://www.index.hr/vijesti/clanak/foto-index-otkriva-opasne-propuste-zaustavite-hidroavione-prije-nego-netko-pogine/912419.aspx

    Svi Letovi ECA otkazani!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:01

      All ECa planes are grounded from this morning

      Delete
    2. Anonymous13:01

      Bolje da su prizemljeni nego da nisu sigurni i da takvi lete

      Delete
    3. Anonymous14:30

      novi razvoj događaja: http://www.index.hr/vijesti/clanak/nakon-istrage-indexa-hidroavionima-zabranjeni-letovi/912580.aspx

      Delete
  14. Anonymous11:49

    OT: A Complete Tour of Air Serbia’s A330: Business and Economy

    https://thepointsguy.com/2016/08/air-serbia-a330-tour/

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous11:49

    Good. Reason prevails.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Anonymous14:19

    Typical. This was just a project for elections.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Anonymous14:22

    People will probably throw sticks and stones at me but I do believe that the western part of Bosnia does need a functioning airport. Now Bihac might not be the best place for it. While Bosnia does have a lot of airports for its size people don't understand that the road infrastructure to these airports is quite poor and it takes hours by bus from western Bosnia to get there. Same goes for going to Zagreb or airports on the Croatian coast.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous18:18

      +1 agree

      Delete
    2. You have the solve the causes not the effects... so it would be better to fix and invest in the infrastructure

      Delete
  18. Anonymous17:50

    OT fact: today afternoon BEG-ZAG flight had 38 pax of those 34 transfer!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Anonymous18:19

    I have heard so many stories of Turkish investors wanting to build airports in ex-Yu and nothing ever happens of it. The only exception is Zagreb through ADP.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Anonymous18:21

    At least they managed to make better renders of the project than Tivat and Split :D

    ReplyDelete
  21. Anonymous23:38

    OT: Eurowings will commence on 8. April 2017 Vienna - Zadar flights once per week:

    VIE-ZAD EW5990 06:20 - 07:25 (Saturday)
    ZAD-VIE EW5991 08:05 - 09:15 (Saturday)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Very interesting, where did you get the information from?

      Delete
  22. Anonymous23:47

    Crazy to think that every village in BiH should have an airport.

    ReplyDelete
  23. what a joke is this and the politics, they are a bunch of itiots and the voters are like sheeps...

    This is another Trebinje, it's just a waste of money, BiH has more then enough aurports for its need

    ReplyDelete
  24. Anonymous14:44

    Taj Terminal se treba sagraditi u TZL posto je potrebniji tamo.
    INN-NS

    ReplyDelete
  25. TheBosnian23:08

    Thats Bihac Golubic airfield and NOT Zeljava air base they want to develop.
    And what people from Croatia and Serbia should know, we in BIH want every region to develop besides capitol cities as it happens in the neighbourhood.

    ReplyDelete

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