Sarajevo unveils terminal expansion plans


Sarajevo Airport has announced a twenty million euro expansion of its terminal building, which will boost capacity and increase passenger comfort. The facility will stretch over 9.000 square metres, boast two levels and will also feature an underground floor. "Keeping in mind the continued passenger growth, it has become evident that the existing infrastructure will be unable to support this amount of traffic. The expanded area will be combined with the existing terminal to form a single architectural and technological unit", Sarajevo Airport's spokeswoman, Sanja Bagarić Arnaut, said. She added, "This is a very complex and challenging project, especially since construction work must be carried out so as not to affect other traffic or cause delays and disruptions".


Work on the terminal expansion is expected to begin later this year and should be completed by the end of 2018. It comes five years after the airport's former management cancelled expansion plans drafted in 2010, despite securing a 25 million euro loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to do so. According to then-General Manager, Ivica Veličan, the expansion was unjustified as the existing terminal was yet to reach its maximum operating capacity of one million passengers per year. At the time, the project involved the construction of an additional 7.000 square metres of space, a new apron and the overhaul of existing jetways. The final price tag of the project was estimated at 32 million euros.


Sarajevo Airport is currently in the process of overhauling part of its apron ahead of planned work on its runway. The reconstruction of 3.500 square metres of the apron will ensure its durability over the next twenty years. The first phase of the overhaul was completed in 2014, when work was undertaken on an area of 1.600 square metres. The investment is valued at almost 409.200 euros and is scheduled for completion later this month. The upcoming runway reconstruction, expected in October, has been described as an "extremely challenging project", valued at 10.2 million euros, which is likely to result in the airport's temporary closure.


Sarajevo Airport handled a record 838.966 passengers in 2016. Numbers have continued to grow this year with a total of 221.476 travellers welcomed over the past four months, representing an increase of 8% compared to the same period in 2016. In April alone, the airport handled 79.796 passengers, up an impressive 17.6%, while aircraft movement stood at 1.084, an increase of 12.6%. Initially, the airport forecast it would handle a million passengers by year's end but has now adjusted its estimate to 900.000. So far this year, new arrivals into Sarajevo have included Wizz Air from Budapest and TUIfly Belgium from Charleroi, while Atlasglobal will launch services from Istanbul Ataturk on June 19. It will be followed by Nesma Airlines' new Saudi Arabian unit, which will commence seasonal flights from Riyadh on June 24. Qatar Airways, which has announced plans to introduce operations to Sarajevo this year, is yet to schedule its service.

Comments

  1. Anonymous09:03

    wow nice. Congrats Sarajevo!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Predizborno spinovanje, nema ništa od ovoga

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:04

    Great to see so much airport development going on in ex-Yu.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:18

      +1

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:40

      It was about time...

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:04

    How come the expansion is smaller than the one in Ljubljana but is more expensive?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:10

      Maybe they are using more expensive material.

      Delete
    2. Mozda se Bookir i co. ugradjuju :)

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:25

      Don't be surprised f the Ljubljana project runs over budget.

      Delete
  4. Anonymous09:06

    Looks better than the original plan from 2010.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous09:10

    So in total when the runway and apron work is included the investment is around EUR 30.6 million. Not bad.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous09:12

    "According to then-General Manager, Ivica Veličan, the expansion was unjustified as the existing terminal was yet to reach its maximum operating capacity of one million passengers per year."

    I hate it how people in this region are so short sighted. You deal with things ahead of time so you are ready, you don't start dealing with it when it's already too late.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous09:13

    How big is the current terminal?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous18:02

      7000sqm I think, they plan to expand it by 2500-3000sqm to total of 10 000sqm and 2 million pax capacity.

      Delete
  8. Anonymous09:14

    I always thought the current terminal had a capacity of 800,000. At least it used to be.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous09:15

    Hope they actually build it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:17

      For now they are sticking to all the plans they announced last year so I think it will happen.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:45

      I hope so because first they announced they would build a new terminal, then terminal expansion, then they announced they would renovate the old terminal for LCCs, now this. So you understand my skepticism.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:48

      Somehow, this looks too much a "what we could do" list, I just can't see it will all be done this year. However, I wish them the best of luck and hopefully they complete everything on time!

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:01

      So much negativity. Plans sound good. All the best to Sarajevo.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:06

      I think it's caused by the fact that we have heard so many plans from them and they have changed them so many times.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous10:08

      Present management is doing a much better job and is keeping its promises for now.

      Delete
  10. Anonymous09:15

    Looks nice :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous09:21

    Good news for Sarajevo.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous09:23

    Also good to see they had a strong April.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous09:25

    Great but how do they expect to reach even 900k passengers if they plan to close the airport for runway reconstruction?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:27

      I assume Mostar would then get part of the traffic?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:36

      Well since they can't be bothered to open the airport over night, loosing potential customers in the process, perhaps they can do construction work during that time. Closing the airport completely would be absolutely ludicrous.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:38

      If they are doing extensive reconstruction as they seem to, closing the runway is completely normal and a safety prerequisite. It happened a few years ago in Ljubljana too.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous11:12

      How long is the runway work supposed to last for?

      Delete
    5. Anonymous11:20

      2-4 weeks.

      Delete
  14. Anonymous09:26

    Finally things moving in the right direction at SJJ.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous09:30

    What's happening with Qatar Airways?! Will they ever start their SJJ flights?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:34

      They are waiting on late plane deliveries. SJJ should start this year.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:58

      I am really hoping Qatar Airways doesn't opt out in the end. They have been delaying Sarajevo three times already and at one point were actually selling tickets for these flights.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:09

      They won't. They have confirmed it over and over again. Fleet shortage is the only problem.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous11:50

      PAX shortage is the biggest problem. Sarajevo is too small for 3X daily IST, daily DXB and DOH.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous14:46

      ^ do you have any more info? They plan to start 4x per week. I hope they don't cancel the flights.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous15:13

      It is not a good sign that they started selling tickets to Sarajevo and then suspended sales.

      Delete
  16. Anonymous09:34

    A bit pricey for its size but I'm very glad that Sarajevo will be developing.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Anonymous09:39

    Nice project.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Anonymous09:43

    So what will be the final capacity with this new wing of the terminal?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:45

      ...And will the new part of the terminal have air bridges?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:59

      I think they are still working out the technical details of the project.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous15:40

      Capacity on new terminal will be 2 million passengers per year, and yes terminal will have total of 4 air bridges. New building will stretch over 3 levels, top level will be for airport offices.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous16:51

      Do you know when construction will start exactly?

      Delete
  19. Anonymous09:59

    Very nice. Go Sarajevo!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Anonymous10:07

    2017 will be a very good year for Sarajevo.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Anonymous10:10

    I agree that 900,000 seems to be a bit more of a realistic figure for this year if they do close the airport for runway work.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:15

      If they were to by any chance to reach 1 million we would actually have all top 10 airports in the former Yugoslavia with 1 million+ passengers. Podgorica and Tivat should also handle 1 mill+ this year.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:24

      What's interesting is that SJJ has managed quite strong passenger numbers without any airline having a base here or even using Sarajevo as a focus city.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:30

      Numbers would boom overnight if Wizz Air or another low cost airline launched a couple of routes.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:31

      Or even better a well managed, small national airline based in Sarajevo.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:41

      Yeah because B&H Airlines worked out so well... and Air Bosna before it ;)

      Delete
    6. Anonymous10:51

      Both airlines had a lot of potential but were mismanaged and used by politicians. I said it would be nice to set up an airline like that if it was free of political influence and well managed by people who know what they are doing.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous11:02

      Speaking of national airlines, what's up with this?
      www.airbosna.eu

      New airline?

      Delete
    8. Anonymous11:10

      It looks like the same guys that created that virtual airline Air Croatia. It has the same logo an everything.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous21:15

      Anonymous@10:24 AM

      What's interesting is that they, with such huge diaspora, doesn't have far bigger passenger numbers.

      Delete
  22. Anonymous10:26

    Good for Sarajevo airport. I hope some new European carriers will coma with this expansion. Wizz Air should open some new routes.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Looks more like a gas-station...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:53

      That's bit harsh. I wouldn't say it's that bad. The only solution of building something state of the art would be to construct a completely new building which would not be linked to the current box terminal.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous23:48

      And where exactly do gas stations look like this (airports)? The only gas alike airport in this region is Banjaluka...

      Delete
  24. Anonymous10:55

    I'm glad for the expansion but there were two options in play. Either expand the terminal based on plans from 2007 or build a completely new terminal. They chose the first unfortunately. If they built a new terminal they could have used the current terminal for LCCs, while the third building which is currently not used for anything could have been turned into office space, a VIP terminal or something useful. Anyway I assume this was the cheaper option and finances are generally limited.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:12

      But is there space to build a third building?

      Delete
  25. Anonymous11:27

    Good work SJJ. Any other new routes planned except for the ones listed in the article?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:41

      Apparently there might be some new flights from Scandinavia.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:50

      Didn't Brussels Airlines also say it was interested in flying Brussels-Sarajevo-Banja Luka?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous12:06

      If those launch (and it's a big if) I doubt it will be this year.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous12:14

      What about Croatia Airlines' plans to open a base in Sarajevo? :P

      Delete
    5. Anonymous12:35

      Any plans for Athens flights? I think those would do well. I can't believe there is no air connection to Greece.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous15:23

      Da li mislis da oni idu u Grcku na more kao Srbi ili u Antaliju, Marmaris i Stambol?

      Delete
  26. Anonymous11:51

    Mercedes obavezno pred terminalom :)

    ReplyDelete
  27. Anonymous11:57

    OT: Monarch will leave flights from MAN (3pw) and LGW (3pw) to ZAG throughout the year, they will announce one more route to ZAG in 2018!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous14:21

      Tomorrow

      Delete
    2. Anonymous14:48

      Any numbers for ZAG and other Croatian airports in April?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous14:51

      Not at the moment, hopefully tomorrow, only Dubrovnik revealed pax numbers for April.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous18:38

      Isn't MAN 2pw? And too early to announce a new route in 2018?

      Delete
    5. They are increasing their capacity from A320 to A321.

      Delete
    6. And Dubrovnik published their numbers:
      April 2016: 94.632
      April 2017: 143.912
      Increase: 52%

      Delete
    7. Anonymous19:15

      ^ that was published yesterday

      http://www.exyuaviation.com/2017/05/dubrovnik-airport-numbers-soar-in-april.html

      Delete
    8. Anonymous19:22

      Yeah, MAN is 2pw, my bad, sorry.

      Delete
  28. Anonymous12:06

    Great news for Sarajevo. Hopefully traffic growth follows capacity expansion.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Anonymous12:33

    BNX look, listen and learn.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous13:01

      BNX should listen and learn from pretty much every single airport in ex-Yu.

      Delete
  30. Anonymous13:00

    Great news, I'm really happy for Sarajevo!

    ReplyDelete
  31. Anonymous13:55

    The airport management should be doing much more to attract European airlines to start flights. Riyhad flights which were not even negotiated by the airport serve no purpose for ordinary citizens.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous16:05

      Sarajevo is booming with tourist from Gulf countries. Unfortunately Balkan mentality is so shortsighted and would prefer backpackers from anywhere in Europe, who are on 10 Euros daily budget, over people from UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, who are coming to Bosnia with money and are drive for tourism in the whole country. With airport expansion we could see Emirates starting flights to Sarajevo very soon. Lat year over 100.000 passengers used Flydubai and Air Arabia on flights from UAE to Sarajevo.
      Number of seats offered in 2017:
      Air Arabia 42.000
      Flydubai 102.000
      Nesma Airlines 18.000
      Total 162.000 seats offered

      Delete
    2. Anonymous20:04

      Rich tourists usually love to spend their money. What exactly BiH offers them? Where can they spend their money on luxury? Same thing as in Croatia, everybody spit over "normal" tourists wishing to get the rich guys. Again, where are the top brand shops for instance?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous20:35

      Why would someone from Dubai (luxury capital of the world) come to Bosnia to look for top brands??? Arabs come to Bosnia for its nature! Have you ever visited Bosnia and Herzegovina? There is way much more to Bosnia and Herzegovina then top brands. People from Gulf countries stay in BiH on average 7-10 days.In today's world when Islamophobia is on the rise almost everywhere Bosnia and Herzegovina is voted No. 1. Muslim-friendly country for visitors (https://www.tripzilla.com/muslim-friendly-travel-destinations-2017/50952)

      Delete
  32. Anonymous14:50

    Would be nice if they released more details like how they are going to finance it, when exactly work will start and when will it finish.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous15:15

      They will take out a loan.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous15:46

      If you look at SJJ financial performance, they are making profit every year. They have 20 million Euros in the bank on savings account. They will finance this project without taking any loans.
      http://www.saifbih.ba/javni-izvj/j-pred/pdf/default.aspx?id=1944&langTag=bs-BA

      Delete
    3. Anonymous15:53

      Ok, thanks :) did not knoe that.

      Delete
  33. Anonymous15:16

    They should give SJJ up for concession. Only then will it be able to thrive.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous15:30

      +1

      Delete
    2. Anonymous16:09

      Sarajevo Airport is very profitable company, and is very unlikely for the government to give it up for concession.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous16:50

      Ljubljana, Zagreb and Belgrade all had profit but were given up for concession so future development could be funded.

      Delete
  34. Anonymous16:52

    Looks good

    ReplyDelete
  35. Anonymous17:14

    Vrlo zanimljivo izgledace novi Terminal samo da privuce jos nekoliko novih Aviokompanija .
    INN-NS

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous21:53

      Zabrinuo sam se bio za tebe

      Delete

Post a Comment

EX-YU Aviation News does not tolerate insults, excessive swearing, racist, homophobic or any other chauvinist remarks or provocative posts with the intention of creating further arguments. A full list of comment guidelines can be found here. Thank you for your cooperation.