Low cost carrier Ryanair and Mostar Airport have advanced their talks concerning possible flights. According to the "Klix" portal, the two sides have already discussed potential services at the carrier's headquarters in Dublin, with further negotiations expected in the coming months. Ryanair previously said, “We are the leading airline in Europe. We have developed many small and regional European airports and there is no obstacle for us to do the same in Mostar”. The company added that its only condition is for flights to the city to be profitable. The two sides first entered into talks in 2012 but never managed to reach an agreement.
During talks between Ryanair and Mostar Airport over the years, it was proposed for the low cost airline to introduce flights from Charleroi, Frankfurt and Oslo. However, there is also strong potential for the carrier to cater for religious tourism on routes from Italy and Poland. Ryanair entered the Bosnian market last October by introducing flights from Charleroi, Memmigen and Stockholm Skavsta to Banja Luka. Following the success of the new routes, the carrier will launch operations between Berlin and Bosnia and Herzegovina's second largest city this April. It is also expected the airline will announce new destinations from Banja Luka for the 2019/2020 winter season, with airport authorities hinting at an "autumn surprise".
Mostar Airport recently rolled out an incentives program in a bid to attract carriers to launch flights to the city, after its passenger numbers tumbled 34% in 2018. "Mostar Airport is offering a number of incentives in the form of discounts to encourage airlines and tour operators to develop their services to Mostar, as well as to stimulate greater choice and greater benefits for all airline companies", the airport said. It added, "The incentives do not distort competition among airlines at the airport and are offered for a limited period of time on a non-discriminatory basis". Mostar Airport's incentives program includes discounts for handling and landing services, as well as the passenger tax, for a three-year period. Last year, Croatia Airlines was granted half a million euros in subsidies on an annual basis by local authorities in order for it to maintain year-round services from Zagreb. Eurowings, which runs seasonal summer flights from Dusseldorf and Stuttgart to the Bosnian city, has also benefited from incentives, with the carrier granted just over a quarter of a million euros on a annual basis until 2023 in order to maintain its operations.
Comments
It's a rule in Bosna, not an exception. And airlines get propa pissed about it with a good reason.
https://www.reuters.com/article/lufthansa-frankfurt-idUSL5N1E84OH
In fact they based some of their fleet in MUC and away from FRA in response.
These are politicians we are talking about, not businessmen.
Although some people do fear it could take away some passengers from Croatian coastal airports.
Po-ta-to, Po-tah-to
It's about the end goal, which is single digit charges, if at all. How you decide to call it is inconsequential, unless you're a politician.
LOL
New Bosnian airline born in SJJ.
TZL W6 mega expansion.
BNX FR expansion.
Now OMO also wants a piece of the sweet cake.
Anyway, good to see that such a small country is developing rapidly.
Well done, BiH.
Correct. Just you did not mention it in original post at 11:34
there will never ever be a hub in SJJ
1) there is already limited space, and not much options to expand
2) the mini hubs ins ZAG and LJU are not profitable for a long time already and are a huge liability for both airlines, and in fact slow down all the efforts to grow the p2p business (for croatia)
3) whatever technical magic they may install, it will always be a small airport surrounded by mountains with a significant risk of fog and wind