Qatar Airways has confirmed it will inaugurate its long awaited three weekly service from Doha to Sarajevo on August 16. Tickets are expected to go on sale this week with the airline to maintain a morning departure from Doha, arriving in the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina prior to midday, before commencing its return journey an hour later. The airline becomes the first of the so-called "Middle East Big Three" carriers to serve Sarajevo. Qatar Airways has previously delayed the service launch on several occasions. Initially, flights were to begin on September 7, 2016 but were later pushed back to November 2. However, ticket sales were eventually suspended and the route was put on hold. The airline said the flights were moved around due to a delay in aircraft deliveries on order. However, with the economic sanctions imposed on Qatar by several Gulf states, the airline was able to redirect capacity and bring forward its plans for Sarajevo.

Commenting on its new Sarajevo service, Qatar Airways' CEO, Akbar Al-Baker, previously said, “Qatar Airways prides itself on being a global connector, and most importantly, providing seamless and convenient connections for our customers, so that we remain their airline of choice. This new destination is where our customers want to go, and where we see the most opportunity to provide a best-in-class experience at great value. We look forward to growing our network and welcoming new passengers to Qatar Airways". Services to Sarajevo will operate with a 132-seat Airbus A320 aircraft, featuring twelve seats in business class and the remaining 120 in economy, the airline said in a statement. Although both Air Arabia and Nesma Airlines maintain seasonal services from the Middle East to Sarajevo, it is Flydubai that will be competing for transfer passengers against Qatar Airways.

Qatar Airways is putting a greater focus on the former Yugoslavia this year. The airline recently increased operations to Zagreb from ten weekly to double daily as of July 1, while capacity on its four weekly Belgrade service has been increased from the Airbus A320 to the A321. It will be followed up with the introduction of an additional three weekly flights from October 1. On the other hand, the airline will commence a four weekly service to Skopje from next Monday and has said it is considering future operations to Ljubljana as well. Bosnia and Herzegovina and Qatar signed a new Air Service Agreement this May, regulating air traffic between the two countries. "As a global airline, we are committed to connecting cities such as Sarajevo and Skopje to our worldwide network. We are delighted to soon be celebrating these new and exciting destinations, connecting business and leisure passengers from the region to Doha and onwards", the airline told EX-YU Aviation News. In preparation for its new service to Sarajevo, the airline is hiring for a number of positions in the city.