Regulator blocks FlyBosnia launch


The Bosnia and Herzegovina Directorate for Civil Aviation has refused to issue the Sarajevo-based start-up FlyBosnia an Air Operator's Certificate (AOC), further delaying its launch. The Directorate noted that the airline had not met all the necessary requirements in order to be granted a permit but added that that the company still has the opportunity to mend its shortcomings. The Saudi-backed start-up initially planned to commence services between Sarajevo and Riyadh with a leased Airbus A320 aircraft in June, but later pushed-back its launch until August. Although FlyBosnia plans to link Sarajevo with Riyadh and later with Jeddah, it also intends on expanding its network to in-demand destinations sometime in the future. It will officially unveil all of its plans once it is granted an AOC.

In May, the airline's future cabin crew completed their training ahead of the planned launch. Out of 300 applicants, a total of ten female and five male cabin crew were selected and trained. They were awarded certificates at a public ceremony in Sarajevo after completing their course. FlyBosnia has been set up by Saudi Arabia's Al Shiddi Group, which was founded in 1975 with interests in various fields, including construction, real estate, agriculture and tourism. It has been operating in Bosnia and Herzegovina since 2006, where the group consists of four companies - SRE Investment, Shad Invest, Sarajevo City Center (SCC) and Hotel Bristol.

The Saudi conglomerate has described FlyBosnia as a "new young and dynamic airline", which will "strive to ensure that passengers enjoy safe flights with high standards of customer service". Previous attempts to set up a commercial airline in Bosnia have failed. The country's flag carrier has gone into bankruptcy on two occasions, while Bosnian Wand Airlines (BWA), founded by the Iraqi Al Wand Group in 2015, with plans to fly from Sarajevo to Stockholm, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Malmo and Athens, lasted for only a month. There has also been a previous attempt, by a different investor, to set up an airline named FlyBosnia. In 2004, a UK-based company intended on establishing the carrier with flights between London Gatwick, Manchester and Sarajevo. However, those plans never materialised.

Comments

  1. Anonymous09:04

    Good. They were slow in reacting against that Wand Airline and even allowed it to start flights. I'm glad they are acting on time now before people get scammed.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Money Laudering by saudi

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:38

      These are the people who have destroyed the air force in BiH, just changing the names of the airline companies and cheating people because they do not have any knowledge.

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:05

    Why has BiH been so unsuccessful with local airlines when foreign airlines seem to have had success there?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:10

      Because the market is small and starting an airline is expensive.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous20:05

      Because,
      Bosnia and Herzegovina missing Commercial person from airline industry to be able to understand how to lead an Airline.
      Money, Market are not the problem.

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:19

    I feel sorry for the crew people that did the training for nothing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:29

      They should have applied for QR or Emirates!

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:52

      Not everyone wants to move countries to work.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous11:04

      Imagine the people that were trained with BWA.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous11:52

      Plot twist, it's the same people who later applied for Fly Bosna.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous15:17

      Well if you are from Bosnia and you want to work for an airline in Bosnia, you have limited options to begin with. If people are expecting things will be delivered to them on a silver platter, they need a reality check.

      Delete
  4. Anonymous09:29

    Lol not a signle ex-Yu start up has been sucsesfull. I can't remember a single one.
    - Dalmatian
    - Air Croatia
    - BWA
    - Centavia
    - Air Maxi
    - Sea Air
    - Libertas Air
    - AWEX

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:39

      Omg Sea Air from Osijek hahaha. Completely forgot about them.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:39

      You can add VLM Slovenia to the list.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:41

      They fly from Maribor to Munich actually.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:46

      They were supposed to be flying to China by now!

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:47

      You forgot Limitless Airlines.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous10:45

      Most of those actually flew. As far as I remember Air Croatia, Sea Air, BWA, Centavia, AWEX and Limitless all had flights and planes at one point.

      Delete
    7. Nemjee10:55

      Centavia at least launched flights and operated charters for a whole summer season. Unfortunately their demise was brought about by the governments of Montenegro and Croatia.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous10:57

      How so?

      Delete
    9. Nemjee17:36

      Sorry, I just saw your comment. Centavia successfully operated charters during the summer season. After summer their plan was to connect Belgrade with Tivat, Podgorica and Zagreb. Governments in Montenegro and Croatia dragged their feet continuously delaying their decision until they officially turned down their request. By that time the winter season was about to begin and they didn't have enough time or money to switch to a new business model.

      That was it for Centavia.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous23:52

      And Zagreb, Tivat and Podgorica are only airport where they could fly from Belgrade? Why they did not start Vienna, Munich, Bucharest, Athens, Frankfurt, Rome, Milan, Zurich, Sofia, Tirana, Sarajevo, Prague...

      Their fiasco was that they try to make LCC with aircraft that was not good for LCC. You can not fly LCC profitable with BAe 146

      Delete
  5. Anonymous09:38

    They applied for an AOC in December 2017. It usually takes 90 days to issue an AOC. It is August now. I think it is safe to say they won't be launching.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:54

      Agree. Highly doubt this will ever happen.

      Delete
  6. Anonymous09:38

    It's a very complicated process. Delays are normal.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:41

      Not by half a year.

      Delete
  7. Anonymous09:41

    Do they still have a website?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:51

      Oh they made a chance they added a background haha

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:52

      *change I wanted to say.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:39

      What progress.

      Delete
  8. Anonymous09:52

    Guys, is Icar Air flying at all? In Wiki, it says that it's BiH's only airline...

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icar_Air

    Their slogan is kinda interesting: Every day, all day, on time.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:39

      Don't they fly cargo?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:43

      I don't think they have any aircraft at the moment. They used to have a B737 once upon a time
      https://youtu.be/pk0blBvoH_M

      Delete
    3. Anonymous08:09

      Yes, ICAR AIR does fly. But that is cargo company which flies for DHL here in Sarajevo.

      Delete
  9. Anonymous10:40

    Sarajevo deserves a normal airline which can link it to main points in Europe.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:00

      Sarajevo has four reasonable options to be connected to the major airports in Europe:
      1. Eurowings
      2. easyJet
      3. Croatia airlines
      4. AirSerbia
      Government and airport should work with one of these to set a base there.

      Delete
    2. And JP which offers the best connecting time...

      Delete
    3. Anonymous23:54

      Austrian, Swiss, Wizz Air?

      Delete
    4. I agree.
      More european destinations, i know eurowings, wizz air etc. Is doing this already. But look at KLM, if someone sees that name everyone things “AMSTERDAM”
      Or with Swiss.
      So Bosnia can represent it’s own country to Europe. (Where most tourist will come from when they found out about Bosnia and it’s amazing culture and nature)!

      Delete
    5. I agree.

      We know WizzAir, austrian, lufthansa etc. Is already doing this but, think about it
      When someone sees KLM
      the first thing they mention is : Amsterdam

      Also swiss, austrian, croatia airlines, air serbia.
      Are representing their own country. Bosnia should do that to but in in the EU. Where most tourist will come from( if they found out about Bosnia and it’s beautiful culture and nature) and to be honest bosnia is very cheap for people living in the EU this.

      2+\-hours : AMSTERDAM, LONDON, STOCKHOLM, BERLIN, BRUSSELS, ETC.

      That would be a great kickstarter for Bosnia.

      But no... their first destination will be Riyadh(not a problem)
      But kind of strange!

      Delete
  10. Anonymous10:44

    Whether they launch or not, I would really like to see an airline from ex-Yu operating more beautiful Boeing jets. Getting sick of the buses.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:05

      LOL! Such a silly comment. It would be natural if a European would buy a European product to stimulate the economy. Nothing about pride or such.
      If you go to France, you will see many French cars, go to Romania you see Dacia, Russian airlines bought more Sukhoi, etc.
      Not sure why you are "surprised" or "sick" of Airbus if we are in Europe.

      Situation is quite similar in the US. Beoing:

      https://www.statista.com/statistics/680130/revenue-of-boeing-globally-by-region/

      And after the clever Airbus move to built a factor in China, they have a much bigger market share in Asia and Pacific:

      https://www.statista.com/statistics/279490/revenue-of-eads-by-global-region/

      Go to SE Asia, you will see the "buses" everywhere. Maybe because the bus is extremely safe, reliable and eco-friendly?

      Before you post a comment, do some checks.

      Delete
  11. Anonymous11:03

    Someone surprised?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:57

      I can't believe anyone thought this would happen.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:42

      Surprised BiH has a regulator.

      Delete
  12. Anonymous11:52

    SJJ will be just fine without them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:23

      Someone needs to shake things up at Sarajevo. End the star alliance dominance, bring affordable prices, and flights to key destinations in the west.

      Delete
  13. Anonymous12:22

    Shame

    ReplyDelete
  14. Nemjee12:45

    I just checked April and May numbers for ZAG-SJJ, anyone know why there was a drop in passenger numbers? Was it because of cancellations?

    ZAG-SJJ

    April 2017: 5.189
    April 2018: 4.930

    May 2017: 5.698
    May 2018: 4.892

    Then again many destinations saw their passengers drop in April.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:54

      Easter.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous13:30

      He know it's Easter. But he uses every single opportunity to write about bad things in OU/ZAG and good things in JU/BEG, pretending to be objective, and an expert. Those are the worst.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous13:44

      Agree with Anon 13:30!

      Delete
    4. Nemjee13:55

      Yeah, of course, you got me. If I wanted to trash ZAG I would have written QR's loads in April and May.

      These are facts, numbers, black on white. They are not speculation or anything else related to that. I didn't see you complain when I posted some numbers which were positive for Zagreb. ;)

      Delete
    5. Nemjee14:03

      Btw can you please explain to me how it's Easter when both months saw a passenger decline?

      Delete
    6. Anonymous14:20

      And you don't want to post numbers of any routes that had increases at ZAG? Or any other months where increases occurred? Nemjee, we all know on here that you are not objective. But that is okay, there are also folks pro Slovenia, pro ZAG or DBV, or pro Macedonia. No need to try to deny it.

      Delete
    7. Nemjee14:24

      The topic is on Bosnia so I posted ZAG-SJJ, what was I supposed to post? ZAG-DBV so that you can feel better about yourself?

      When people ask me about some destination I post it regardless of its performance.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous15:40

      Anon 14.20

      I am sure you are same who attacked JATBEGMEL when he shared EK numbers in ZAG. You always attacked him so he stopped. We don't have many numbers so anything helps. If you not like it then ignore those postings.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous16:22

      So then, dear Nemjee, why did you suddenly decide to post ZAG numbers when the topic is only on Bosnia and SJJ, as you say??? Nobody asked you to post specific OU / ZAG numbers. Why did you still go for it from all the routes and airlines that serve SJJ???

      One must be completely blind not to see that you are constantly trying to make ZAG and OU look bad.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous16:25

      Nemjee, can you post numbers for BEG-SJJ and BEG-BNX? Thank you.

      Delete
    11. Nemjee17:51

      Because April and May numbers were just published by several countries. Surpringly Croatia is one of the few EU states that regularly submits its numbers. Some, like Greece or Poland, have not even published Q4 2017 while Croatia has submitted their numbers for the first five months of 2018.

      Also, personally I couldn't care less about ZAG. It's not an airport I use and Croatia is not a country I have any interraction with. I post numbers when I have them and when people ask for them. In stead of attacking me why don't you ask questions as a way to clarify any misunderstandings. And by the way, seems like you missed my list of biggest markets from BSL where BEG was ranked last, even behind INI.

      I was going to post LJU-SJJ numbers as well but so far only the numbers for the following destinations in Q1 2018 are available:

      FRA, IST, STN, ZRH, AMS, CDG & MUC.

      As for Croatia, April and May numbers were posted for the following destinations out of ZAG:

      FRA, DBV, SPU, MUC, VIE, IST, CDG, AMS, DXB. LHR, BRU, DOH, ZRH, CPH, CGN, SKP, SVO, WAW, STR, SJJ and ZAD.

      Anon 16.22

      Serbia has not started publishing its numbers yet. Once they do I will share them with you. I do have some Serbia-EU markets if you are interested.

      Delete
    12. Anonymous17:58

      Thanks, Nemjee, but, like you said, Bosnia is today's topic, so no need for Serbia-EU pax numbers at the moment.

      Delete
    13. Nemjee18:00

      Exactly, which is why I didn't share any Serbia-EU numbers. :)

      Delete
    14. Anonymous18:06

      I asked about BEG-SJJ and BEG-BNX numbers. Thanks anyway!

      Delete
    15. Anonymous19:18

      Nemjee, please just keep posting the numbers. It is not our fault that some people cannot accept the reality :-)

      Delete
    16. Anonymous19:39

      Yes, agree with 19:18! Any other Ex-Yu countries besides Croatia?

      Delete
    17. Nemjee22:40

      No problem, here are the numbers that are availabe so far.

      Slovenia Q1 2017 vs Q1 2018 (newly added)

      LJU-FRA 29.125 / 32.676
      LJU-IST 23.554 / 30.967
      LJU-STN 21.933 / 22.453
      LJU-ZRH 19.810 / 22.302
      LJU-AMS 9.100 / 21.894
      LJU-CDG 14.191 / 16.599
      LJU-MUC 19.892 / 16.450

      These are the ones that are currently available. AMS and IST seem to be the winners here. If this trend continues IST might be the busiest route this year.

      Here are some of the other numbers for Q1 2017:
      TIA 9.704, VIE 13.552, SJJ 5.986, BRU 15.275, TGD 7.373, SKP 10.569, WAW 9.052, BEG 13.636.

      Montenegro

      TGD-BEG 63.703 / 59.652
      TGD-IST 12.434 / 19.223

      As for SKP, there is a problem so there are only numbers for the first four months for several destinations. Here they are:

      Q1 2018
      SKP-IST 36.233
      SKP-ZRH 35.837
      SKP-BSL 26.705
      SKP-MMX 20.522
      SKP-VIE 19.360
      SKP-BTS 16.191

      BSL-PRN 18.425 / 38.458
      BSL-SKP 20.779 / 25.607

      Numbers slights differ for SKP-BSL and BSL-SKP due to a different number of arriving and departing passengers.

      There's a lot of data to go through, so if there is any specific route that interests you feel free to write here.

      Delete
    18. Anonymous23:58

      Can you post ZAG-SJJ for all year please not just April and May. And BEG-SJJ for same period. Thanks.

      Delete
    19. Nemjee01:17

      Sure, hope this is ok for you.

      June 2017 - 4.886
      July 2017 - 6.674
      August 2017 - 6.722
      September 2017 - 5.663
      October 2017 - 6.158
      November 2017 - 5.612
      December 2017 - 4.038
      January 2018 - 4.758
      February 2018 - 4.874
      March 2018 - 5.265
      April 2018- 4.930
      May 2018 - 4.892

      I do not have the numbers for SJJ-BEG, sorry.

      Delete
    20. Anonymous08:21

      He is right, pax load has dropped on sjj-zag route. Even morning flights now have drop in load. Morning flight usually had 60-70 pax every day in summer months. Now that number goes from 30-50. Same goes for afternoon flight. It's usually about 50 pax per flight. I asked company representative about this and she said "passengers don't trust us anymore with all the cancellations and missing their connections because of being late almost every day." I think Croatia Airlines will soon takeover Adria's load factor at SJJ... :/

      Delete
  15. Anonymous14:14

    What Bosnia needs in my opinion is a local airline that serves internationally Zurich, Vienna, Frankfurt, Gothenburg (initially). Ideally 2x E195 jets with max seating 126 seats and 2x E145 50 seats (requiring only 3 crew). The E145 should be mainly used for newly introduced short routes interconnecting all the airports of the country domestically. In order to do this and support the growing together of the two parts of the country and the business ties between them, BiH shall introduce PSO for like SJJ- Banja Luka and OMO-Banja Luka and OMO-Tuzla but also for the new Bihac airport.

    Sad thing is I doubt any of this will ever happen or can happen in a country that is too corrupt and would put PSO money rather in their own pockets and where two sides work against each other at every possibility instead of working on creating one country as a whole with so much potential that it actually surely has.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous15:20

      It makes much more sense to invest in a properly built road and rail network than to have small jets to connect the country. Operating a 50-seat jet on domestic routes in BiH would be a financial disaster.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous16:28

      Not a financial deseaster to the airline, given PSOs. And compared to what is invested into LCCs serving Tuzla and soon Banja Luka plus Mostar for one Zagreb route and two to Germany the investment is rather minimal, so also not a desaster for the country. Additionally, it can bring ad hoc benfits, not just in 5 years and more. But generally, I agree with you, it should be invested in all means of transport, by the way including rail services/lines.

      Delete
  16. Anonymous17:36

    Ma kad tu Kapt Baralic umjesa prste...veoma dobar pilot, iskusan, nebo je njegovo, medjutim u sva 3 ili 4 startaupa, gdje je on vodio brigu nisu doživjela polijetanja

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous20:19

      To become the Pilot is a very serious job, but creating and leading an airline is not a pilot zone of knowledge or responsibility.
      They are not internationaly traind to lead and Ailine!
      Political people also are not internationaly trained in airline industry.
      Money is also not trained to lead and airlline.

      We saw that few times.

      So, missing knowledge in this county is the main problem, 100%

      Delete

Post a Comment

EX-YU Aviation News does not tolerate insults, excessive swearing, racist, homophobic or any other chauvinist remarks or provocative posts with the intention of creating further arguments. A full list of comment guidelines can be found here. Thank you for your cooperation.