The national carrier of Bahrain, Gulf Air, is considering introducing flights between its hub in Manama and Sarajevo. According to the "Klix" portal, the development comes following the formation of the Bahrain - Bosnia and Herzegovina Friendship Society earlier this year, headed by influential local businessman Jawad Yousuf Al Hawaj, who has been lobbying the airline to commence services to Sarajevo. Manama in Bahrain and Muscat in Oman have been identified as some of the busiest unserved routes out of the Bosnian capital, as demand from the Gulf for travel to Sarajevo continues to surge. The airport now boasts nonstop services to the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
The former CEO of Croatia Airlines, Krešimir Kučko, who now heads Gulf Air has been given a mandate to grow the airline following years of restructuring. In an interview earlier this year, Mr Kučko said Europe will be the main point of expansion in 2019. “We are definitely going to explore this next year. The routes we are thinking of are more towards South Europe. That should be complementary to the present routes, so we are talking Spain, Italy... This is the focus at the moment”, the CEO noted. Gulf Air has unveiled eight new destinations for this year under a major strategic reboot that has coincided with the long-awaited delivery of its next-generation Dreamliners and Airbus A320-family neos.
Arab investors are building homes and hotels around Sarajevo and are heavily promoting the destination to middle class families looking for cheaper alternatives to Western Europe, fuelling point to point travel from the Middle East to Sarajevo, particularly during the summer months. This summer has seen Flydubai operate three daily flights to the Bosnian capital. As a result, Sarajevo has registered strong passengers growth, with the airport handling a record 159.380 passengers in July alone, making it its busiest month in history. The figure represents growth of 13.8%. Aircraft movements improved 11.3% to 1.573. During the January - July period, Sarajevo Airport welcomed 589.522 passengers through its doors, up 12.5%.
| Month | PAX | Change (%) |
|---|---|---|
| JAN | 54.113 | ▲ 24.8 |
| FEB | 48.986 | ▲ 19.1 |
| MAR | 65.991 | ▲ 15.0 |
| APR | 86.995 | ▲ 9.0 |
| MAY | 81.026 | ▼ 3.7 |
| JUN | 92.997 | ▲ 19.0 |
| JUL | 159.380 | ▲ 13.8 |
Comments
SJJ makes sense. I am sure next summer we will see EK for at least three months.
He said they will try to attract transfers in a couple of years when they develop their network.
Riyadh - Nesma Airlines
Sharjah - Air Arabia
Dubai - Fly Dubai
Kuwait - Wataniya
Doha - Qatar Airways
Manama - Bahrain
2019 will be the year of BiH! Браво!
This happens when the the supply exceeds demand. The MEB3 will be slowly fading away, especially when TK opens its terminal.
TK are now quietly expanding to Denpasar and I am sure they will expand much more as they lacked slots in the current IST airport.
Also, it´s questionable for how long will the EK model last and the EY problems and so on and so on.
32 vs 12....
Rekao bih da jeste
FZ is a lower grade compared to EK. Therefore when you go from up to down, its a downgrade. This is what will happen in December 2018.
Most of the travelers don't care who they are flying with, but will buy the cheapest/quickest ticket.
Also, what's with this FZ/EK obsession?
EK ZAG downgrade
BEG Guadaloupe flights
INI massive expansion and SKP surpass (my favourite)
DBV becoming number 2
SKP vs PRN sequel
Bravo Hrvatska!
That's the beauty of this ex-Yu blog!
I think he is paying a tribute to his Balkan heritage.
What a noble and loyal man he is.
British Airways considering Sarajevo service
SAS considering Sarajevo service
Air France considering Sarajevo service
Alitalia considering Sarajevo service
Until then these flight are of no benefit to the local population.
Oh yeah, GF is a true 5 star airline, not those lousy Skytrax ones. The product is fine, the airplanes are elegant.
Was the cutlery metal or plastic?
Btw, I just remembered JU when I mentioned metal cutlery...ah, the good, old days are over...
Thanks for being honest and confirming my comment of double criteria BEG vs. ZAG. And just btw. If less seats are offered, with higher frequency and better LF, it may result in even more pax carried. And Flydubai is hardly low cost, as their economy price match EK 's and their premium product is not bad at all. But of course, "less seats and hybrid" go in a "package" with the "downgrade", which in hypothetical BEG case would be an upgrade, as you said yourself. And thanks again for honesty.
Some trolls jealous of EK flying to Zagreb and doing so well, and now with the arrival of Korean Air, and next year even more far eastern carriers...
Manama is small airport, catering for needs of US armed forces and Bahrain, really not much else going there. Gulf air in Zagreb is as welcomed as hyperinflation.
We have Qatar and Turkish, both twice daily, and Emirates with their B777ERs, I think ME is covered, Gulf air can go to Belgrade if they want to expand beyond Sarajevo.
Zagreb needs carriers from South East Asia, China, Japan and India. If we normalize relationship with Iran, EU-Iran; yes would be nice to have direct flights to Tehran perhaps twice per week seasonally.
Would like to see Egypt Air, or Tunis Air introduce regular service seasonally, instead of charters only.