German low cost carrier Eurowings will expand its presence in Bosnia and Herzegovina with the introduction of a new service between Dusseldorf and Sarajevo. Flights will run twice per week, each Thursday and Sunday, starting November 2 with a mix of Airbus A319 and A320 aircraft. Tickets are already on sale through the airline's website. It will mark the Lufthansa subsidiary's third route to the Bosnian capital following Cologne and Stuttgart. Previously, the budget airline also maintained flights from Berlin to Sarajevo, however, the service was terminated in 2015 as a result of poor loads following a year of operations. Eurowings is also looking into the possibility of launching flights between Stuttgart and Mostar at the start of the 2017/18 winter season.
Sarajevo has had difficulty in capturing a larger number of low cost flights due to a double tax surcharge. Apart from a standard eighteen euro fee per passenger, travellers are also subjected to an additional ten euro Federal tax, introduced in 2005. However, earlier this year Wizz Air launched flights to Budapest, while Eurowings has been operating to the Bosnian capital for almost a decade (formerly as Germanwings). Apart from the new service by the German carrier, next week, both Atalsglobal and Nesma Airlines will launch flights from Istanbul Ataturk Airport and Riyadh respectively. Furthermore, both Wataniya Airways and Qatar Airways plan to introduce services from their respective hubs. Brussels Airlines and SAS Scandinavian Airlines have also expressed their interest in serving Sarajevo in the near future.
Complementing its new service to Sarajevo, Eurowings will also introduce flights between Dusseldorf and Zagreb, as well as Munich and Skopje on October 31. In addition, its new seasonal service between Munich and Split, as well as from Dusseldorf to Split and Pula, have been extended to run on a year-round basis. Lufthansa has made Eurowings its main focus in the battle with market leaders Ryanair and easyJet for passengers in Europe and a vehicle for consolidation. It is set to become Europe's third largest low cost carrier after deals to lease 33 crewed planes from Air Berlin and to take over Brussels Airlines, which will lift its fleet to 180 planes from 93 by 2018. The carrier has tripled in size over the past three years.
Flight details for Eurowings' new Dusseldorf - Sarajevo service can be found here.
Finally a new destination for Sarajevo which is not from the Middle East. Good to see.
ReplyDeleteIt's certainly a contrast to Istanbul, Riyadh and Kuwait :D
Deleteand Doha
Deleteand Sharjah
DeleteStill don't get why you people are fascinated that there are so many flights from the ME to SJJ. It's simple - the demand is there.
DeleteSarajevo got Charleroi, Budapest and now Dusseldorf this year so the number of Europe vs Mid East flights to Sarajevo is even if it matters that much to you.
Delete@9.24 The demand is there but only during the summer unfortunately. Maybe the Bosnian tourist board could try promoting the country for winter travel. I mean there are certainly things to see and do during the winter too. Develop it as a skiing destination for Arabs maybe.
DeleteIt is kind of interesting the veriety of destination Sarajevo will offer to the Middle East when all of these destinations are introduced - Dubai, Sharjah, Kuwait City, Riyadh, Doha...
DeleteI would switch them all for Frankfurt, London, Berlin, Rome, Paris...
DeleteI agree that we need more flights to Europe but Eurowings new route is a good addition.
DeleteYes. But any airline is more than welcome whether they are from Europe, the Middle East or wherever.
DeleteEurowings is becoming really aggressive in ex-Yugo lately. Still nothing for Wizz to be concerned about but since they plan to expand even more next year, they could have some competition on their hands.
ReplyDeleteI mentioned before that they started putting a bigger focus on ex-Yu after a Croatian dude became their route manager. I think he is from Mostar so I'm certain we will see them starting flights to this city too.
DeleteEW has to be aggressive. With their taking over Air Berlin they will get a lot of new planes. They can use them to many leasure destinations in summer, but what in winter? Thy can easily fill 60 daily flights in summer to PMI, but what in winter? They will run into difficulties unless they do not diversify their route network. Of course they will then increase the focus on markets where they are underrepresented right now.
DeleteWell except for Croatia where Wizz is almost nonexistent and Eurowings dominates.
DeleteAlways good to see a new route.
ReplyDeleteI hope Sarajevo's growth picks up this year. It's been a bit disappointing even though aircraft movement increased quite a bit.
ReplyDeleteI think it will unless there is really bad weather in winter. June should be strong. 2 new airlines launching flights this month.
DeleteSurprised their Berlin route didn't work. Was it because of the loads or something else?
ReplyDeleteIt was because of the demand, that was insufficient for the 319. They Yield was really bad.
DeleteBut Tuzla-Berlin loads are amazing now!
DeleteGreat for Sarajevo. I find it odd that they only fly to Belgrade from Stuttgart and only for a couple of weeks per year. Do they have any plans to add some new route to BEG like in Skopje, Sarajevo and Zagreb?
ReplyDeleteGermany is really well covered by wizz air in Belgrade, and Lufthansa flies Frankfurt and Munich so I see little room for Eurowings.
DeleteThe EW flight STR-BEG is really negative. It can only be flow profitably for the few high season weeks in summer. Wonder how JU makes money there?
DeleteI wonder that too. Especially since Air Berlin doesn't have a major network out of Stuttgart for passenger to connect onto.
Deleteand I think Jat used to fly Stuttgart with an ATR! While Air Serbia is flying with an A319.
DeleteI don't think STR-BEG is a loss making route. I think EW is still consolidating their operations and BEG is rather low on their list of priorities, not because there is no market but because there is too much competition, both from JU and W6.
DeleteI am sure that eventually they will commit to Serbia but not yet. I wouldn't be surprised if they announce year-round flights to INI before BEG.
I agree, they could give Nis a try before Wizz and Ryan cover all of Germany.
DeleteJat was forced to send the Atr as it couldn't afford to pay for the maintenance of its B733 fleet. The market is there. If it wasn't then Wizz Air wouldn't be flying full to Baden Baden.
DeleteThe market is there, YES- but at what yield? Selling cheap tickets is one thing, making money with it another. Wizz takes PAX away from BUS companies.
DeleteThey publicly said they are looking at Nis so it's possible.
DeleteEveryone keeps on mentioning these passengers who used to take the bus. I am sure a part of them switched to flying but I think a large part hasn't.
DeleteWhat I think happened here is that people who used to fly once a year on JU now travel three to four times with Wizz Air.
Furthermore, Wizz Air is cheaper than Air Serbia but on many routes it is not that cheap. Most of their fares are ok.
Now, this applies to BEG. INI is a whole different story as the local market had to take the bus of fly to one of the neighboring airports like BEG or SOF.
+1 Nemjee
DeleteThe equation is the same- most are bus passenger. They used to travel more often with busses in a year. Now they do it more often with planes. It is not as though they travelled less with busses.
DeleteI think the bus is convenient for most because of generous luggage, something Wizz Air isn't renowned for. I am not saying that buses didn't lose customers, I just think the number is not as great out of Belgrade.
DeleteIt's good to see Eurowings flying more and more all year round routes to the region and not just seasonal flights.
ReplyDeleteYes a positive development, especially in Croatia to coastal cities that really struggle with seasonality.
DeleteOpen a base in SJJ please!
ReplyDeleteTheir only non German bases are Vienna and Palma and you really think they will open a base in Sarajevo?
DeleteNo, but once can dream :D
DeleteStill waiting for nonstop to Paris, London and Rome.
ReplyDeleteUnless Wizz Air starts flying from Sarajevo, I doubt we will see those routes soon.
DeleteStar Alliance straightening its cartel at SJJ.
ReplyDeleteNice work Sarajevo.
ReplyDeleteIf flights from Brussels and say Oslo by SAS materialize that would be fantastic.
ReplyDeleteWhat would be the point of Brussels if there is Charleroi now year round?
DeleteSo? Brussels is completely different. Apart from P2P traffic which probably isn't too great, people could connect onto Brussels Airlines flights to the US, UK, western Europe. Can they do that from Charleroi with TUI?
Delete@9.50 TUIfly is only seasonal not year-round.
DeleteAnd only 2x/week...
DeleteWasn't Brussels Airlines interested in Brussels-Sarajevo-Banja Luka?
DeleteWith all these new arrivals I think Sarajevo should reach 1 million passengers this year
ReplyDeleteWould be nice.
DeleteWhat are the fares like?
ReplyDeleteIn November €110 return ticket.
DeleteThat's a bit pricey for a LCC considering Wizz Air is selling tickets on many routes from Tuzla below 100 euros.
DeleteRemember that Wizz does not fly to main airports on virtually any route from Tuzla.
DeleteEx-Yu is low cost clientele. Most people cannot afford anything than 29€ one way- thats why Wizz is popular.
Delete@last anon spot on. 100% agree.
DeleteIf they reach 1 million passengers we could actually have all top 10 airports in the former Yugoslavia with 1 million. Podgorica and Tivat should also handle 1 mill+ this year.
ReplyDeleteI doubt 1 million will be achieved this year. The start of the year was not strong enough.
DeleteNot necessarily impossible. Let's see the next few months. I expect very strong growth.
DeleteGreat news for Sarajevo! Now just waiting for Wizz to add few more destinations! :)
ReplyDeleteIt's just a matter of time.
DeleteWe have been hearing about this "matter of time" for 2 years now :(
DeleteWizz - Sarajevo is a never ending saga
DeleteSo far no agreement has been made with Wizz Air besides Budapest. Wizz said how it was interested in starting 5/6 routes from Sarajevo but no deal yet.
DeleteThis could be a result of the new incentive scheme that was launched by Sarajevo Airport recently. Hopefully more new airlines and routes will be launched.
ReplyDeleteSJJ has new flights incentive scheme for years now... What is new in that department ?
DeleteIt's a new one
Delete1st year
new destinations
- 30% on landing and take off and 15% handling fees
frequnecy increase
- 20% on landing and take off
2nd year
new destinations
- 20% on landing and take off and 10% handling fees
frequency increase
- 15% on landing and take off
3rd year
new destinations
- 10% on landing and take off and 10% handling fees
frequnecy increase
- 11% on landing and take off
Discount based on passenger numbers
≤ 10.000 = 0%
10.001 – 25.000 = 10%
25.001 – 50.000 = 15%
50.001 – 65.000 = 17%
65.001 – 80.000 = 19%
80.001 – 100.000 = 20%
100.001 – 150.000 = 22%
150.001 – 200.000 = 24%
> 200.001 = 25%
For those with plane based
Discount on landing and take off price 50%
Discount on aircraft parking price 50%
Good work SJJ. What happened to Croatia Airlines' plans to open a base in Sarajevo?
ReplyDeletePipedream by their CEO. It was never serious.
DeleteCroatia Airlines is exactly what happened... :-( Too much talk, no work done... At least visible work...
DeleteIt's always great to hear about new route launches and Sarajevo seems to have quite a few this year. Wish them all the best.
ReplyDeleteNew route in TZL is better SJJ Have more Airlines TZL Hve Wizz Air
ReplyDeleteThere is a lot of potential from SJJ.
ReplyDelete... and a lot of unserved routes.
DeleteAnd they still haven't even scratched the surface of their potential. With a smart management they could become the fastest growing capital airport in ex-yu in the next few years.
Delete28 euro tax per passenger. That is nuts!
ReplyDeleteSo 6 new airlines at Sarajevo Airport this year. Nice
ReplyDeleteTUIfly Belgium, Wizz Air, Atlasglobal, Nesma Airlines, Qatar Airways.
DeleteSeven if you include the airline that will fly to Kuwait. Flights begin in July but I don't know who is the operating carrier.
DeleteImpressive
DeleteNemci jedino mogu da naprave od Mahovljana LCC aerodrom kontra Plesu i Francuzima.
ReplyDeleteTa 2 aerodroma su ne 2 razlicite kategorije, nego 2 sasvim razlicita svijeta.
DeleteI Hahn je drugi svet za Frankfurt pa se naveliko leti tamo.
DeleteAli je bar ista drzava.....ista savezna drzava....
DeleteZanimljivo je to da je Germanwings prije dvije godine ukinuo liniju Berlin-Sarajevo zbog jako lose popunjenosti. A linija Berlin-Tuzla-Berlin jako dobro ide, popunjenost >95% na svalkom letu.
ReplyDeleteGermanwings nije imao cene kao što ima Wizz...
DeleteBrzo ce Wizz to otkazat.
DeleteA zasto bi Wizz "to brzo otakzo´" kad je linija Tuzla-Berlin jedna od boljih iz Tuzle?
Deletepa pogledaj cene za prekosutra.
DeleteAnother lost chance for Banja Luka Airport
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone know the loads for the Wizz Budapest-Sarajevo flights?
ReplyDeleteVery well!
DeleteMore than 85% on every flight. :)
DeleteWhat's the sudden interest in ex-Yu region from Eurowings
ReplyDeleteProbably diaspora market.
DeleteThey are getting a lot of new planes and need to focus on new markets.
DeleteRoute-manager is from Croatia
DeleteWe want INI!!!!!!!
Deleteit has nothing to do with the route managere from Croatia. He is in no executive function and one of 15 route managers. The thing is that they get a lot of new planes (AB merger) and need to deploy them somewhere (especially winter).
DeleteNothing is not true! Since november 2016 Orec is manager for network development. And now sudden interests in 2017 ( OSI-STR, year round flights from DUS and MUC to SPU and now DUS--PUY, SJJ and ZAG. rumors about OMO flights and base in RJK.....Ambitions to Croatia are not liked to be hidden.
DeleteGreat news! Bosnia becoming popular with LCCs
ReplyDeleteWould have thought Sarajevo was already linked to Dusseldorf. Good news nonetheless.
ReplyDeleteI hope the route has more succsess then Verlin. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteExcellent news for Sarajevo. Will they be able to surpass Podgorica in pax numbers this year?
ReplyDeleteNo chance. Podgorica is recording fantastic results and growth for the first four months is 25%.
DeleteOT: Aegean A320 sletio u ZAG iz LCA.. SX-DNC
ReplyDeletemedical?
Aegean sent an A321 to ZAG (to pick up the passengers), SX-DVP.
Delete