Bosnia and Herzegovina is drafting plans for the development of two new airports, which will be located in Bihać and Trebinje. The Bihać Airport project, which was initially stalled in 2016, has now received state backing and finances, while the project in Trebinje is making a comeback after initial plans for its development were scrapped in 2011.
The ambitious redevelopment of Bihać Airport in north-western Bosnia and Herzegovina is set for completion within the following three years and has been given support from the Federal government which is providing the necessary funding in order for construction to begin. The airport's management has announced that work at the site in Golubić should commence within the coming days, while the construction of a paved runway is expected by year's end. A winning design for the airport's terminal building has also been selected. "We are planning to focus on the construction of the runway this year. We have already started the procedure for land expropriation, since the airport currently sits on 26 hectares. Of course, we will need much more space for this project. We are also currently raising additional funds for the runway”, the General Manager of Bihać Airport, Elvedin Sedić, said last week.
The Federal government allocated some two million euros for Bihać Airport last year, with an additional 1.3 million to follow in 2018. “I think that it is realistic to expect support for this project because it is extremely important for our canton", Mr Sedić noted, adding that the airport is also seeking interested private investors. Kuwaiti Princess, Nawal Al-Sabah, who headed a large business delegation to Bosnia and Herzegovina this week, said that the Kuwaiti Investment Fund is interested in participating in the Bihać Airport project. Turkey's Çelebi Aviation Holding, a ground handling services company, has also expressed interest to partake in the construction of the airport. The project is valued between twenty and 25 million euros. "We must continue to provide financial support because this region won't see a boom in tourism it deserves without an airport", the Bosniak member of the tripartite Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bakir Izetbegović, said. Bihać is located near the Croatian border and is the country's eighth largest city.
The local government in Trebinje, in southern Bosnia and Herzegovina, has announced its intention to resume plans for its infamous airport project. Previously, authorities forked out 820.000 euros between 2009 and 2011 into project documentation for a 2.6 kilometre runway and a terminal capable of handling 260.000 passengers per year, only to give up on the idea two years later after naming the airport's General Manager and contracting an Austrian consultant to identify potential routes. However, this time around, the government has said that the study conducted by the Austrian consultant was incomplete and that it will invest a further 40.700 euros for a new development strategy. Tender procedures are expected to begin later this year. The strategy should define the first phase of the airport's development, which would include the construction of a 1.700 metre-long runway, which would be thirty metres wide. This size would cater for aircraft with the capacity to seat up to fifty passengers. In addition, the document will include plans for the construction of a terminal building, control tower, hangar, access roads and a car park.
Bosnia and Herzegovina currently boasts four international commercial airports - Sarajevo, Tuzla, Banja Luka and Mostar.
Sounds good to me, but why the hell would a small country like BiH need six airports where the majority of neighbouring countries have up to 4?! Even Serbia and Hungary, who are much bigger in size, have 2 major international airports...
ReplyDeleteThe terrain of the country in Bosnia makes it difficult and long to get from one place to the other just to use the airport. Plus of course the political make up of the country which means everyone wants to have their own airport.
DeleteElection year, dont forget that, so this is just for the 'sheeps'
DeleteDok Mostar i Banja Luka imaju mizeran saobracaj, oni oce da grade jos aerodroma da stoje prazni.Bolje taj novac dati Ryanair-u ili Wizz-u kao u Makedonij pa da sva cetiri aerodroma budu povezani sa svetom.Ali ne...
ReplyDeleteRyanair dolazi u Banjaluku ove godine.
DeleteNe nece dolaziti i nije sigurno da li ce doci !
DeleteLol what's your problem?
DeleteOh, come on, 2 new airports? Trebinje? With what money? For whom?
ReplyDeleteWhy did you single out Trebinje? Bihac is as silly, if not more.
DeleteActually- and I am not Anon 9h20 - I would agree to single out Trebinje as foolish. I must say that Trebinje has DBV right next to it which already serves the region well. Why on Earth you would have to build an airport 10km air distance from a much larger and internationally established airport? To me, this really screams for intended money laundering, I can already tell you that suddenly costs will unexpectedly rise significantly and in the end no-one will know where some additional money went. Sad but we all it is bound to happen.
DeleteWell the Federacija BiH government has more money and is richer than Republika Srpska, thats why Trebinje is more silly than Bihac, and more likely that Bihac will get an airport, and not Trebinje.
DeleteThe only airport they need is a new one in SJJ that is open non-stop.
ReplyDeleteAgree completely or to invest all this money into building a new major airport in Sarajevo outside of the city which would allow you to install equipment to avoid bad weather, allow it to be open 24 hours etc.
DeleteAnonimus in reply.Actually they have used some gas-based stuff to fight the fog,it makes fog become ice and fall on soil.As you see,this year was far better regarding fog and cancelled flights thereby.Only a few days last winter have a whole-day cancelled flights.They tested that technology and plan to use it in future.
DeleteWow. Does not seem very environmentaly friendly. But yes, Sarajevo should definitely be open 24/7 or at least stay open 05-01 to allow resonable transfers
DeleteNebuloze. Žali bože bačenih sredstava
ReplyDeleteHehehehehe. Balkanska posla
ReplyDeleteLiterally thinking the same thing. Said the same when I saw this and the other day about GoS limiting growth outside BEG.
DeleteTrebinje itekako ima smisla! Kad se napravi DUB može pozdraviti se s putnicima.
ReplyDeleteDublin?
DeleteDubrovnik.
DeleteMa čovjek se zajebao ... očito je mislio na DBV. I u pravu je što se Trebinja tiče.
DeleteBosnia must be a rich country. EUR 3.3 million already for Bihać, thousands for Trebinje. Nice.
ReplyDeleteLOVE that Bihac expects Jet Blue to finally start serving ex-Yu! :D
ReplyDeleteHaha my favorite was when there were renders of Tuzla Airport's updated terminal with an A380 parked.
Deleteu can se a United machine as well if you look carefully ;)
DeleteThat will be a great mix. So it's probably gonna be Houston with United. And Long Beach City with JetBlue. Man, I am looking forward to it!! :D
DeleteThe airport in Bihać could work out.
ReplyDeleteIt has a chance for both some gasto routes and tourism traffic particularly for Plitvice and the surrounding region of beautiful nature. Also, this part of BiH really lacks an airport - albeit it is sparsely populated.
DeleteI'd give Bihac a good chance if two large international funds/companies are already prepared to invest into the airport project! Note also, that 25 mill EUR is quite cheap to build a whole new airport in my opinion.
DeleteFour airports are more than enough and this year finally all will have decent traffic.
ReplyDeleteI like the proposed design for Bihac Airport.
ReplyDeleteTuzla should have a priority to get a terminal like this.
DeleteIt looks like BiH should have a national carriers with two or three ATR72s to serve all the smaller airports of the country from the Sarajevo hub ;)
ReplyDeleteNo man,atr72s are terrible for some longer flights (e.g denmark/benelux/germany).It is tooo slow for that,and uncomfartable btw.I hope FlyBosnia will use something like embraer 170 or 175,perfect aircraft for Bosnia.
Delete@12h54 I was rather being sarcastic.
DeleteTwo ATRs as th only aircrafts in a Bosnian airline - rings a bell? We all know how that ended...
Trebinje is actually a beautiful place. Don't know if it could sustain traffic but it could definitely pull in tourists.
ReplyDeleteWell, elections are this year so all of this is only a political game...
ReplyDeleteThat's beside the point. They have already spent millions on this.
DeleteIsn't it puzzling (in nicer words) that Trebinje is planned to have a 1700m×30m runway built for turboprops whilst 2000m×45m is (more than) enough to handle an A320?
ReplyDeleteI understand the initial 2600m are not necessary but to cut it to turboprop size nowadays in a world where most airlines hardly operate anything smaller than jets/ 100 seaters is either crazy or they are mentally challenged.
OU, OS would never operate to Trebinje and only other turboprop operator I can think of is JU, but unless they double their ATR fleet and stop a probably lucrative DBV service I don't see the chance of an airline with the rightly sized small metal to operate to Trebinje.
JU in Trebinje makes more sense than OU. Also from what I remember Trebinje wants to attract Serbs flying between Belgrade and Montenegro.
DeleteWith which planes?? And in competition to DBV 6nm away? You do know their AT7 fleet is operating at it's limits and it is ageing..
DeleteDon't tell me they will stop DBV - it's a pure money maker whole summer season.
They would be nuts to stop DBV in favour of Trebinje.
It is not rocket science to lease additional ATRs. If there is a market i.e. if subsidies are provided to serve Teebinje route
Delete@Admin:
ReplyDeletewhat is the projected runway size for Bihac, is this information available? I don't find it in the article. Thanks.
2200m
DeleteGood. Makes sense for 737 and 320s
DeleteIf they find a private investor to build these then I don't mind but I'm not for wasting public money on such a project.
ReplyDeleteSerbia needs to do the same...
ReplyDeleteMake an airport outside that area of 230km radius.
Like somewhere in Pirot, Vranje...
And viola! We could possibly have airport over 1M passengers!
Cheers xD
Novi Pazar?!
DeleteCrazy to think that every village in BiH should have an airport.
ReplyDeleteIf they're planning to build new airports near Bihać I wonder if they could use use old runways from Željava airport? I know they're probably in a very bad shape but it's easier to repair something than build completely new.
ReplyDeleteBecause there are so many mines at the airport and around it that it is impossible to even come close.
DeleteIsn't part of Željava Airport in Croatia?
DeleteYes, half half.
DeleteThat is some abandoned military airport?
DeleteYes. It was also the site where the Yugoslav space program was tested before it was sold to the Americans
DeleteThe Bosnian mania reminds of the Spanish one of constructing airports and then leaving them almost empty. Famous examples are:
ReplyDelete1) Lleida Aiport where you have BCN, GRO and REU so close
2) Huesca where you have both BCN and MAD close.
3) Badajoz
4) Léon
There are almost 13 airports that are just nearly empty and it's very expensive to maintain them.
The last one was Castellon which is connected only to UK, Poland, Romania and Bulgaria and why when you have Valencia so close????
So, BiH please relax Max. There is NO need to have so many airports as the taxpayers will become more ripped off.
The only, new potential that can be considered is Novi Sad, even though BEG is close, it will still be used as there is a large population in Novi Sad, Szeged and Pécs. Also Novi Sad is a rich city compared to the poor south.
+1
DeleteBut in Serbia you have the same. Two nice new terminsls in Užice and Kraljevo and both are empty.
There is a new terminal in Uzice? These two airports should be connected with Belgrade
DeleteI suppose they could also have 2-3 LCC routes and some charters. Especially Uzice.
In Spain they used a lot of EU funds for these gost airports as I know
DeleteAnonymousApril 21, 2018 at 9:18 PM
Deleteyep
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Zl-laVuhvEI/VynAJHMeSiI/AAAAAAAAXGU/EtTTUOoVgsw2DOxPVrzqIawCeUkcFu1ewCLcB/s1600/3.jpg
https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7tZsT3KMZ54/V8CRwwVBmBI/AAAAAAAAZTE/DNgxiJ74tNEGYh3UVulvdoObz0C-dgbOACLcB/s1600/1.jpg
What a shame!!!!!!!!! It looks so nice and modern, yet forgotten :( :( what a sad sight. The GoS again, obsessed with INI but nothing to UZC ;(
DeleteUnbelievable that in a non-functional, corrupt, unstable, poor country that they are even considering this idea. But hey, that's why they are corrupt.
ReplyDeleteBetter to build improve road and motorway and rail network. In about a year or two they will announce that these projects are on hold, again.
Sorry state of affairs in BiH.
Under your first paragraph, you may list at least ten countries from continental europe who fits to your statement before Bosnia.
DeleteAgreed. So this applies to at least ten countries from only continental Europe.
DeleteWell consider this; Bosnia has two functioning airports, and two barely functioning. So what's two more. ��
DeleteI think Bosnia needs another airport near Glamoč.
DeleteSo eventually BiH will have 6 operational airports :O
ReplyDelete... and 6 national airlines who chased operations.
DeleteMegalomania is an issue in the Balkans.
ReplyDeleteNeka ima svako selo od Triglava do Gevgelije svoj aerodrom, sa najmanje pet miljuna putnika i dve staze, da bi mogli ljudi da vice bravo i da imaju utjisak kako ide sve na bolje.
ReplyDeleteNek bude šta bog da.
DeleteBoth crazy projects. A country of 4 million on a compact geography of about 50,000km2 has no need nor money for such idiocy.
ReplyDeleteRunways alone cost more than can ever be covered by aviation activities. Spend the money on road and rail connections to existing airports AND cities to build a local economy and not waste it on wet dreams of some kind of ridiculous glamorous air hub that only countries with oil reserves can indulge in!
True dat for your post and similar post from Anon @2:23.
Delete+1 better to build proper secure road network. Sarajevo, Vanja Luka and connectivity with Croatian airports is sufficient
DeleteBiH has roughly 3.3 million people with negative birth rates and high levels of emigration. It's simple megalomania.
DeleteI personally think that the BiH government actually flipped out with TZL performance and they want to apply this to other Bosnian towns. Yet again, unfortunately BiH is not Belgium to afford its self 6 airports with lots of traffic: BRU, CRL, OST, ANR, LGG.
ReplyDeleteBelgium is roughly the size of Bosnia but has almost 4 times larger population and rich one, so there you go.
Plus houses the capital of Europe with all the institutions and connected businesses.
DeleteIf Trebinje gets an airport, this airport is likely to get the much bigger slice of the cake. If they impose a 3€ airport tax like INI, all the airlines will prefer to land there being just 30km away from DBV.
ReplyDeleteDBV will have a serious competition and it's time to act fast before it's too late!
When would it be too late?
DeleteThe moment TBJ is constructed and starts operating flights!
Deleteit would not surprise me if the owners of Maribor airport are consulting them LOL
ReplyDeletePerfectly reasonable. Buid the airport in Grude and Zenica too. And at least 3 national carriers must be wished into existence as well.
ReplyDeleteGood grief, the balkans really is a bizarro world! Build the damn roads already and start functioning like a normal, united country.
How about doing that for a start?
Good. Bihac is progressing and Trebinje is having some right-sizing.
ReplyDeleteHopefully it continues beyond Election day.
To all "Expert critics" here: Bosnia-Herzegovina is a multinational and polycentric country. It will never work in ways Serbia or Croatia do. Period.
Improve the airports that are already there. For example, sarajevo is the capital with expanding tourism and could be more connected
ReplyDeleteBosnia is committing same mistakes we committed in Spain 20 years ago. Lot of unnecesary airports that will never have any single flight just for the enrichment of corrupt politicians. It reminds me a lot what happened with the airports of Huesca, Logroño, Albacete, Lérida, Burgos, León... etc etc All that airports are expensive to maintain and gives little or zero profit
ReplyDelete