FlyBosnia will take delivery of its second Airbus A319 aircraft towards the end of the month. Speaking to the "eKapija" portal, the carrier's CEO, Chris Gabriel, said, "The new aircraft will arrive at the end of April and will be operational very soon. In the coming months we will give details concerning the arrival of the third and fourth jet". FlyBosnia signed a deal for the acquisition of three Airbus A319 aircraft back in March, which will bring its fleet size to a total of four. "These aircraft will enable FlyBosnia to progressively expand its destination network as it builds up to a planned eight-member fleet by 2023", the company previously said. The airline currently operates a sixteen-year-old A319 jet from AerCap, which has so far been utilised on a number of special charters.
Commenting on the delay in launching scheduled flights, Mr Gabriel said, "Due to the high demand for airport slots, as well as airspace congestion, the drafting of our schedule is taking longer than expected. However, we aim to commence revenue flights very soon. We will progressively announce our new routes via social media and our website". He added, "Our approach at FlyBosnia has always been the same - to link Bosnia and Herzegovina with nonstop flights on select routes in Europe and the Middle East where there is sufficient demand. The destinations in our first phase of expansion will be Riyadh, Jeddah, Kuwait, Bahrain, Beirut and Amman in the Middle East, as well as London, Frankfurt, Rome and Dublin in Europe. We will continue expanding our network as our fleet grows".
The company will also operate charter flights which will cater for religious pilgrims visiting Mostar. The airline recently partnered with the Italian charter service provider SoleAir in order to run such flights. "A lot has been invested over the past few years to realise the dream of launching FlyBosnia and turning this idea into a reality. This includes direct and indirect investment, such as time and resources", Mr Gabriel noted. 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.
It is a tremendous success already.
ReplyDeleteSJJ passenger numbers are going to explode. Congratulations to everyone involved!
This could really be Sarajevo Airport's big break.
DeleteWell done. Developing nicely.
ReplyDeleteThis is the fifth version of their destinations they have announced. Every time they give a different list of destinations. This is the first time they mention Beirut and Amman and the first time they mention Dublin.
ReplyDeleteIs there a market from Sarajevo to Dublin?
DeleteThey seem to have substituted Warsaw with Dublin.
DeleteMaybe Dublin will operate from Mostar?
DeleteA lot of croats from bosnia live in dublin, thanks to their croatian passports, maybe its for them.
DeleteSomething tells me that they will also start long-haul destinations adding a A330 similar to JU.
ReplyDeleteI see it happening by 2023 like they say.
Long haul to where?
DeleteNorth America and China
DeleteAre there weight restrictions for widebody ac at SJJ?
DeleteTurkish flies to Sarajevo from time to time with A330 and I don't think they have any restrictions.
DeleteNot exactly the same fuel needed, which makes the most of the aircraft weight except for the aircraft itself, for one and a half flight to IST or 10 hours for long-haul. Big difference. Just saying...
DeleteThey will have almost the fleet the size of Montenegro Airlines by the end of the year.
ReplyDeleteBut route network is still 0.
DeleteIt's good to see them delivering on their promise about fleet expansion.
ReplyDeleteYea fleet that has no flights and routes at all.
DeleteAt $100-200K lease cost times number of months they had it in its possession with little to no revenue coming in the costs are mounting. I'm not even talking about other costs like wages, insurgence, SJJ charges etc. Something tells me that these people are amateurs and we all know what happens with such projects at the end unfortunately.
DeleteTime to start flights already.
ReplyDeleteYes! They have been talking about "securing slots" for months now. Time to actually start flying.
DeleteOther than London and Frankfurt are the other airports they plan to fly to really that slot restricted?
DeleteActually, you can even see on flightradar which slots they have secured.
Deleteuhm Dublin
ReplyDeleteGrand plans but the airline industry is very difficult to navigate and I'm not sold they will succeed.
ReplyDeleteThe one thing they don't have to worry about is too much competition at SJJ particularly to western European cities. Hope they make it.
ReplyDeleteNone of the cities they plan to fly to are served from SJJ.
DeleteExcept Riyadh.
DeleteWhy no Paris??? I don't get it. Same with Wizz avoiding Tuzla-Paris.
ReplyDeletePerhaps there isn't sufficient demand.
DeleteSlots. Paris is congested.
DeleteFleet of 4 is quite significant for a small start up. Congratulations.
ReplyDeleteWho will be affected most by the launch of FlyBosnia?
ReplyDeleteUmm, their customers? Go figure!
DeleteSarajevo will be the quiet achiever airport. Great success with no fuss and flaunting similar to other airports. Prestige is achieved with style and not much noise.
ReplyDeleteOne word: Well done BiH.
Before praising your own cow, could you not mention and belittle your neighbors'? Also, could you wait before they actually start the operations?
DeleteHaters gonna hate. Flights will begin. Did you even read the previous FlyBosnia reports? Don't think so.
DeleteIt's not a matter of belittling. Perhaps you can speak to your fellow countrymen and advise them not to cheer and hail everyday. The excessive flaunt is sometimes outrageous.
If anyone is a hater here, the word you like to throw around oh so easily - us you. Where is the hate in my post? Point it out. Calling out other airports out of theblue and then pack it like you're speaking the fact is belittling and trashing.
DeleteStop playing dumb and innocent.
Great news. Wish all the best for SJJ.
ReplyDeleteIt's nice to see a lot of aviation news coming from Bosnia lately.
DeleteI like the plans so far. They seem to be serious investors with some long term plans.
ReplyDeleteI think they need smaller capacity planes if they want took make this work.
ReplyDeleteAgree. Especially for Sarajevo-Europe flights.
DeleteI really hope this works. BiH needs a strong airline.
ReplyDeleteWill they purchase the planes or will they be on a dry-lease?
ReplyDeleteLease.
DeleteBut will it be a dry airline? :D
DeleteIt will be dry. No doubt about it.
DeleteI hope it's more successful then the other airlines in B&H.
ReplyDeleteI hope it doesn't end up like Air Albania, which got one plane from Turkish which was returned after a few weeks.
DeleteThe plane is currently in TIA with Albanian registration. Official operation will begin this summer with another plane to follow
DeleteAir Albania has already a IATA and ICAO code. The flights to Istanbul are due to start the last week of April/1st week of May.
DeleteI have never seen an airline that is constantly taking delivery of planes but has no flights.
ReplyDeleteSarajevo needs more flights to western capitals. There is a market and potential.
ReplyDeleteDespite the number of flights from the Middle East to Sarajevo, there is obviously pent up demand.
DeleteIn the past two days FlyBosnia has been flying test flights between BNX and OMO and SJJ....in total 5 of the were carried out, at least to OMO, i live next to the airport btw, good view
ReplyDeleteThis is correct. Yesterday was an extremely busy day apparently.
Deletehttps://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/e7-fba
Are these training flights?
DeleteThey should be on my opinion or simply promoting the airline domestically.
DeleteI wonder what the fares will be like? Will Fly Bosnia be a full fare, hybrid or low cost airline?
ReplyDeleteI doubt low cost since they have a business class.
DeleteWill end up like B&H and Airbosna a flop
ReplyDelete