FlyBosnia plans to commence services between its base in Sarajevo and London in September, making the British capital its first European destination. The carrier's CEO, Tarik Bilalbegović, confirmed the new route to London as the airline opened its representative office in the city, on Regent Street. It is believed FlyBosnia will serve either Gatwick or Luton airports in London. The airline will link Sarajevo with the UK for the first time since British Airways discontinued services to Bosnia and Herzegovina's capital in 2009. FlyBosnia also plans to introduce flights to Paris and Rome in the near future, as well as add a further two Airbus A319 aircraft, for a total of four, by mid-2020.
Since launching commercial operations last month to several destinations in the Middle East, FlyBosnia has handled over 16.000 passengers. The airline recently inked an agreement with Bosnia's leading tour operator Elite Travel to shuttle passengers between Sarajevo and Tunisia. As a result, it has begun operating charter flights from Sarajevo to Monastir on the Tunisian coast. "We are pleased to work together with Bosnian tour operators, because it is yet another step forward in the development of FlyBosnia", one of the company's founders, Nudžejma Skenderović, said. The airline also reached a deal with local tour operator Globtour Event Sarajevo for the sale of its tickets.
FlyBosnia currently maintains scheduled flights from Sarajevo to Jeddah, Riyadh and Gassim in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait City, as well as Manama in Bahrain, which was inaugurated last week. Commenting on its operations, the carrier previously said, "We are a niche airline designed to provide affordable, direct flights to key destinations where we know there is demand. We have conducted extensive market research into creating an innovative and sustainable concept". It plans to operate a fleet of eight A319 jets by 2023. "These aircraft will enable FlyBosnia to progressively expand its destination network", the company said.
Interesting first destination in Europe. Will it work?
ReplyDeleteI don't understand choicr of London. Limited diaspora, visas, limited tourist numbers, no possibility for connections since Flybosnia doesn't have any codeshares or interlines, few business links...
DeleteWell surprisingly, according to SJJ, London is one of their top unserved cities.
DeleteAnything but Luton...please.
DeleteSeems like only LJU can handle multiple daily year-round flights to London. All other markets seem to have rather limited demand. I am curious to see how this one goes.
Did W6 suspend TZL-LTN?
With Arab money everything works. There is another airline in the region funded by them too...
Delete@9.23
Deleteyes TZL-LTN was suspended.
They don't have any codeshares yet, but opening an office in London may be a sign they will ink some codeshare agreement soon.
DeleteAnon 09.38
DeleteIt was actually funded by Serbian funds, not Arab ones.
Very strange. I would always guess something in Germany/Austria/Switzerland/Scandinavia.
DeleteLondon office also seems bit of strech and waste of money. But let's see. :)
will they have the rights for it? its not that 51% of the capital is Bosnian
DeleteI wonder if the European destinations are also being targeted at Middle Eastern passengers who will transfer via Sarajevo?
ReplyDeleteHope not since SJJ is too small for transfer passengers, it's already bad as it is.
DeleteGulf countries already have better connection with european airports, so it doesn't make sense.
DeleteMaybe if they offer 300 eur flights from Kuwait/Manama/Arabia to London. Wonder they would make any money out of it. AirSerbia lost massively with that strategy few years back.
DeleteAir Serbia did not lose one euro. Under current brand they never fly to Kuwait/Manama/Saudi Arabia. If you have to troll against Air Serbia at least pick a route from the nonfiction section.
DeleteJU didn't lose massively, those were introductory fares needed to attract customers. Everyone does it. But then again you have a grudge against JU and you can't spend a day without mentioning them.
DeleteFinally! Wish them good luck!
ReplyDeleteWill be interesting to see which of the two London airlines they choose. I think London and Paris are good starting points for them.
ReplyDeleteGood that it will start during summer season.
ReplyDeleteAt least they are starting European flights, so that's more than I hoped for.
ReplyDeleteAgree. I'm just glad it won't be just Middle East flights. Finally connections to some world cities.
DeleteTuzla - London didn't work out for Wizz Air.
ReplyDeleteLF was 80% which is not enough for a low-cost airline.
DeleteLuton is nowhere near London and one of the worst airports in the UK that's why those flights failed!
DeleteWith reasonable prices and hopefully convenient Gatwick flights they could attract lots of tourists from UK.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, hope they go for Gatwick. Or at least Stansted.
DeleteLTN make most sense. I just hope they can fill an A319 to make it work.
ReplyDeleteWhy does it make most sense?
DeleteThey will most likely choose Gatwick since it was already been on fr24 that they took a slot there.
DeleteHave no clue who they plan to fly to London. And I don't think many people will be lining up at the embassy to pay 200 euros for a British tourist visa.
ReplyDeleteMaybe they want to connect Gulf Countries with London through SJJ. Just guessing
DeleteGulf countries already have direct flights to London, so it doesn't make any sense.
DeleteIf they offer good prices and a free layover in Sarajevo who knows.
DeleteThis is great news. Sarajevo is finally being connected to main European airports.
ReplyDeleteNo matter the choice of destinations, I think we can all agree that this is the most serious airline project in Bosnia ever.
ReplyDeleteI agree. They seem serious.
DeleteBiH is nicely developing. Maybe TZL is struggling a bit but nothing serious.
ReplyDeleteBy 2020 SHE will definitely grow even more when all 4 jets arrive. Go SJJ!
For all of you saying that this airline will be another fiasco. Greetings from Sarajevo ��
ReplyDeleteLet's wait to see the prices. They are quite expensive on their Gulf flights.
ReplyDeleteAlthough Bosnains need visa for UK, London is still top unserved destination from SJJ.
ReplyDeleteLondon is London, baby. There is no other European capital more connected to Europe.
DeleteA rich city with 6 airports, banks, tourism, study.. you name it.
I also suppose there is a Bosniak community over there.
Really exciting times ahead for Bosnian aviation. Finally!
ReplyDeleteWhen will the next A319 arrive?
ReplyDeleteI think by end of the year
DeleteCan't wait to see their fares. Hope they are competitive.
ReplyDeleteWhere are German routes?
ReplyDeleteI find it odd that no one has ever launched FRA since B&H Airlines died. Lufthansa could have but they only serve Sarajevo from Munich.
DeleteI'm sure they have done some analysis and there is a reason they want to fly to London first.
ReplyDeleteHope so
DeleteWill the Gulf flights continue in winter?
ReplyDeleteYes but probably with fewer frequencies.
DeleteI wonder have their flights had any impact on Fludubai's and Air Arabia's ops. to Sarajevo.
DeleteConsidering one is flying triple daily and the other double daily, I doubt their numbers have been affected.
DeleteHow would they be impact when they fly to completely different destinations?
DeleteWhy not LCY?
ReplyDeleteThey can't land the A319 there.
DeleteBA flies from City to New York with A319.
DeleteIt is A318
DeleteFinally a European destination.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how they will get slots. LGW and LTN are both full airports except at some unattractive times of the day.
ReplyDeleteGood luck FlyBosnia!
ReplyDeleteAll this negativity! Come on people give them some credit and support, time to move on......? Go
ReplyDeleteGo Fly Bosnia, sound terrific!!!!! Very best luck!