Banja Luka Airport secures new flights


Banja Luka Airport has announced it will be linked with Podgorica and Gothenburg by the end of the year, as it makes a major strategic shift by announcing plans to attract low cost airlines. Services to the Montenegrin capital and the Swedish city will be operated once per week from December 22 by the virtual Swedish-based airline Montefly. The operating carrier will be disclosed at a later date once contracted. According to the Ministry for Transport and Communications in the government of the entity of Republika Srpska in Bosnia and Herzegovina, ticket sales are expected to begin soon. Banja Luka Airport has also confirmed it is in talks with a further three airlines concerning future operations from the city, one of which is Air Serbia.

The Entity Minister for Transport, Nedjo Trninić, noted that Banja Luka Airport will target low cost carriers in the future in order to boost connectivity. It is in stark contrast to Mr Trninić’s previous remarks when he noted, “Low cost carriers are not our future. We are more focused on serious airlines to which we can offer fair conditions". At the time, Mr Trninić criticised Tuzla Airport, which acts as a base for Wizz Air, noting, "At Tuzla Airport they survive on donations made by the Cantnon and Federal governments. We are not interested in such things. Tuzla Airport would not be in operation if it were not for subsidies. Low cost airlines are very demanding in terms of subsidies and airports do not benefit from them". However, local media believe Banja Luka Airport has resumed talks with Wizz itself. “We have reached an agreement with airlines we are currently negotiating with that, until we sign a contract, we will not disclose their names or further details. All I can say at this point is that we are in discussions with two carriers, or three if we include Air Serbia, which currently maintains services to the city”, Banja Luka Airport’s General Manager, Miroslav Janjić, said.

Banja Luka Airport began talks with Wizz Air over potential flights in 2013, however, negotiations later collapsed. The Entity Minister for Transport at the time, Nedeljko Čubrilović, said, “Unfortunately we were unable to agree to the terms set by the airline. It’s not as it looks. They aren’t coming here to give us anything, they want to come here to take something. During negotiations they were very difficult over handling prices so we would not benefit from them in any single way”. Banja Luka Airport is in the midst of a 3.1 million euro expansion of its passenger terminal and the construction of a new cargo facility. During the January - August period it handled a total of 14.745 passengers, representing a decrease of 3.9% on last year. Currently, Air Serbia is Banja Luka Airport's only customer, maintaining five weekly flights from Belgrade.

Comments

  1. Anonymous09:13

    Serious airline they got there...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:27

      there should be no more comments allowed today. you said it all!

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:55

      Wizz Air was named by Banja Luka management as unserious company, and Montefy (is that the name) is serious one?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous08:48

      Hello Anon at 12:55 PM, the guys you mentioned are as thick as two short planks.

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:14

    Haha love how they changed their position 360C

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:36

      yap same as before.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:02

      They realized that what they were doing - waiting for legacy airlines to line up - was not going to work.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:07

      Took them long enough.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:22

      You mean 180c.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:33

      Hah yes I was meant to write 180.

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:18

    If they really are in talks with Wizz Air that would be fantastic and I hope for a positive outcome.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:21

      Which routes could they start?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:27

      I think Malmo, Basel and Bratislava could work.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:26

      oh yeah Bratislava worked too well for TZL so they cancelled it...

      and Banja is even closer to VIE. Spot On!

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:27

      There is a larger number of people from the Banja Luka area living near Vienna then there is from around Tuzla.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:28

      ma kako da ne

      Delete
    6. Anonymous11:55

      In the late 90ties, BNX had flights to Vienna, Zurich, St. Galen and Germany (forgot which city)

      Delete
  4. Anonymous09:41

    Montefly - another Air Croatia in the making.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:52

      I think it is the same people that were behind Air Croatia. They were also from Sweden.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:56

      So another scam.

      Delete
  5. Anonymous09:58

    If they are talking to Wizz Air and Air Serbia, who is the third company?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:01

      Montefly :D

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:03

      Pobeda? Just imagine BNX and INI on their route map. How about Air France?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:08

      Air France suspended Belgrade during their cost cutting measures in 2009/2010. I highly doubt they would now go for BNX.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:22

      Pobeda sounds plausible.

      Delete
  6. Anonymous10:12

    When I read the title I had a bit of hope but then I saw it was some phantom airline. These guys just NEVER learn. Come out and say you have secured flights when you do it with an ACTUAL airline.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous10:34

    What are the main unserved markets from BNX?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:54

      INI

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:02

      Haha yeah sure.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous12:01

      Three years ago Wizz offered Banja Luka flights from Luton, Malmo, Eindhoven and Dortmund to choose from.

      Delete
  8. Anonymous11:02

    How much money does Tuzla Airport give to Wizz Air?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:06

      I think it is 600,000 euros per year.

      Delete
  9. Anonymous11:03

    BNX should be closed as soon as possible or converted in sport airfield. This isn't an international airport.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:14

      The airport is in desperate need of a new supervisory and a new managing board. But the boards will not be replaced until the more than ten years old, corrupt and totalitarian regime is discarded, that's all.

      Delete
  10. Anonymous11:05

    It's unfortunate that initial talks with Wizz Air were taking place in 2013. The the management shooed them away because Air Serbia showed up. Had Wizz started talks a year earlier BNX would be like TZL today.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:01

      Not true, talks started in 2012.

      Delete
  11. Anonymous11:36

    Hopefully something comes of this. Good luck BNX.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous11:54

    Banja Luka seem to be no better than Mostar, bragging as soon as someone gives them a call.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous12:12

    how tall is banja luka airport atc tower?

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous12:13

    If W6 comes to BNX it could attract pax from big parts of Croatia.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous13:01

      Yeah right ahahahaha ... can you imagine Croats flying from Republika Srpska?!

      Delete
    2. Anonymous13:03

      That is not very likely ... it is rather difficult to get to Banja Luka and also to connect flights

      Delete
    3. Anonymous13:29

      @1.01 same was said that Croats wouldn't fly to some other cities via Belgrade when Air Serbia started flights to Zagreb, but they do.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous15:44

      Many Croats from eastern Croatia (Osijek included) fly out of Belgrade so why wouldn't people from continental Croatia fly out of BNX? Don't forget that Banja Luka is connected with the highway now so it's quite competitive.

      Delete
  15. Anonymous13:13

    BNX needs to be connected to IST, VIE, CDG, BCN.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous14:13

      Yes of course they do.

      Delete
  16. Anonymous14:56

    We want flights between Banja Luka and Frankfurt

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:41

      It will happen as soon as I am the new minister of the Ministry of Transport and Communication of the Republic of Srpska, and I have got rid off the chicanery and corruption in this field.
      It for sure means the airport we have been talking about is to undergo a radical shake-up.

      Delete
  17. Anonymous15:08

    BNX would be a perfect addition to Wizz Air's route map. I could see Banja Luka - Base;l working very well since most Serbs living there are actually from Bosnia.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Anonymous15:51

    http://www.nezavisne.com/ekonomija/privreda/Nezavisne-istrazile-ko-stoji-iza-firme-Montefly-Uzimali-rezervacije-za-letove-pa-ih-povukli/443265

    that's a nice article (in Bosnian) about how "Montefly" is registered to a garage in Sweden. Well done, BNX management.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Anonymous16:18

    I just checked the company name against the Swedish company register, the company doesn't exist.
    Another classic Balkan fraud attempt.

    Who are these idiots running BNX......???

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:17

      Nobody knows their names.

      Delete
  20. Anonymous17:28

    Not 5 times per week for BEG. Currently ASL flies 3 times per week, while in winter timetable that will be downgrade to twice per week

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous17:53

      No you are wrong. There are 5 flights per week: Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. So the article is very much correct.

      For the winter it was mentioned in an article a few days ago: "services to Banja Luka will be reduced from three to two per week from November 21 until mid-December and then again from February until March."
      http://www.exyuaviation.com/2017/09/air-serbia-to-consolidate-winter.html

      So your information is wrong.

      Delete
  21. Na beg.aero stoji u redu letenja VO363/364 MBX-BEG-MBX od 9.oktobra.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tyrolean airlines?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous18:28

      No it's VLM Slovenia.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous18:44

      Any schedule? I am sure this flight will be popular with Serbia in that part of Austria who currently have no decent air link with Serbia.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous19:11

      VO 363 arrives to BEG at 12.25.
      VO 364 departs from BEG at 13.00.

      Interesting.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous19:11

      Forgot to add, it's supposed to operate five times per week.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous19:12

      They said plenty of times that they will start flying to Belgrade and it was published here to.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous19:16

      Yeah but now it's finally happening and we even have arriving and departing times. It's quite big. I wonder what their fares will be like.


      Since we are talking about BEG, Israir will not be suspending BEG. It was loaded in the system the other day, two weekly with the A320.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous19:20

      And some people here should learn that it takes time for airlines to load their schedules. Like another guy a few days ago was saying how Wizz was suspending some route to Nis next year and a day later they load it in the system.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous19:30

      Is there even a market between Belgrade and Ljubljana!?

      Delete
    10. Anonymous19:40

      Ljubljana yes, Maribor I am not too certain.

      Delete
  22. Anonymous00:37

    Anyway, congrats BNX! Good to see the airport reviving.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Anonymous14:17

    It must be great doing business with those desperate little airports. Whenever they got called by a secretary of Wizz, found a new phantom operator or they had a good hamburger for lunch they go 'c'mon let's make a press release to show that we are working very hard'.

    ReplyDelete

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