Europe's largest airline, Ryanair, entered the Bosnian market this morning by inaugurating flights between Stockholm Skavsta and Banja Luka, making it its fourth country of operation in the former Yugoslavia and 37th overall. The inaugural service this morning was sold out and will be followed up with the introduction of flights from Memmingen this afternoon and Charleroi on Friday. Ryanair's arrival in Banja Luka marks a major turning point for the airport, which has struggled to attract carriers and passengers alike. The no frills airline said it was pleased with the early performance of its new services to Banja Luka. "Even though we do not analyse our performance purely on a route-by-route basis, we are very pleased with the overall interest and a record number of advanced bookings", Ryanair said in a statement. A number of Banja Luka-bound flights around the New Year holidays have also been sold out.

Banja Luka Airport anticipates for the airline to carry some 100.000 passengers on the three routes within its first year of operations and create 75 on-site jobs. Željka Cvijanović, the Prime Minister of the Entity of Republika Srpska in Bosnia and Herzegovina, of which Banja Luka is the largest city, said, "We are discussing with them [Ryanair] the introduction of two more routes next year. These are to markets in Austria and Switzerland". Banja Luka Airport's General Manager, Duško Kovačević, added, "We are very interested in adding other services as well, especially to Austria and Switzerland but also other destinations in Germany and Sweden. We will try and negotiate in the coming period, although it is ultimately up to the airline to make a final decision".

The General Manager previously said the airport was in talks with a further two well-established carriers but refused to reveal their names as the negotiating process was ongoing. Furthermore, the airport is in talks with Air Serbia over the introduction of charter flights to Thessaloniki next year following the success of this summer's one weekly charter service to Antalya. "Next year we will certainly have charters to Turkey again, while Greece is being seriously considered, although I would like Tivat to be added as well. In any case, we will even suggest to our partners at Ryanair to look into introducing flights to either Thessaloniki or Athens", Mr Kovačević said. He refused to comment whether Ryanair will receive subsidies for its operations to Bosnia and Herzegovina's second largest city. "Negotiations with low cost carriers are confidential. We cannot comment on the contract signed with Ryanair. The company obliges us to keep this information a business secret. If we were to reveal certain aspects of the agreement we risk Ryanair cancelling the contract altogether. What I can say is that, personally, I believe the agreement is very favourable for us".

Apart from Ryanair's new routes, the city will continue to be served by Air Serbia from Belgrade, which is maintaining two weekly flights to Banja Luka for most of the winter season, with an additional weekly service to run between mid-December and mid-January. Banja Luka Airport handled 17.767 passengers over the first three quarters, representing an increase of 5.8% compared to the same period in 2017. In June, the airport put an end to seven consecutive months of declining passenger numbers.