Sarajevo Airport likely to terminate FlyBosnia contract


Sarajevo Airport is close to ending its contract to serve as a base for FlyBosnia after the airline failed to pay off part of its debt. According to the daily “Dnevni Avaz”, the airport is also planning to file a lawsuit against the company. The carrier currently owes Sarajevo Airport almost half a million euros in handling, landing and other charges. On Tuesday, FlyBosnia submitted a plan to pay off its mounting debt, however, the proposed solutions were unsatisfactory for the airport. The airline was unable to secure a bank guarantee nor a bill of exchange. The carrier also owes over 100.000 euros to fuel provider HIFA Petrol.

Last week, FlyBosnia said it was considering shifting its operations away from Bosnia and Herzegovina’s capital to Mostar and Tuzla. "Our company and staff are considering the possibility of shifting our operations to Tuzla and Mostar. In such a case, we would fly to Rome from Mostar, while London and other EU destinations would be maintained from Tuzla, from which we would provide bus transfers to Sarajevo", the airline said. Talks with Mostar Airport are set to take place soon. The carrier has requested for Sarajevo Airport to waive all taxes, as well as service fees for a period of ten years in order to continue flying there.

According to the daily, a number of employees have left the airline in recent weeks due to late wages, while some have been laid off. For the upcoming 2019/2020 winter season, which begins next Sunday, FlyBosnia has scheduled and put on sale two weekly flights from Sarajevo to London and Rome respectively, with two Airbus A319 aircraft at its disposal. "FlyBosnia is a young carrier from Bosnia and Herzegovina, which took up the risk to develop airline traffic both in the country and Sarajevo as our home base. We are well aware that we have no concessions, grants nor any other type of subsidies from either the canton, federal or state governments. This is in contrast to other regional airlines where the state invests into their carriers in order to cover their losses as they are of national importance", the company noted last week.




Comments

  1. Anonymous09:03

    RIP

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous09:03

    I thought Fly Bosnia's owners were Saudis with quite a lot of cash to burn. What happened?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:04

      They burned way too much money. There is a limit to everything.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:50

      Oil well dry out suddenly...

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:05

    The issue is that this airline can only make money during summer with Middle East flights.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:45

      In that case they don't need a dedicated airline. They can charter out an airline to operate several weekly flights from Saudi Arabia to Sarajevo during the summer.

      Delete
    2. They could make money on other routes and other times, but not when you announce new routes and only start selling tickets a few days before it starts. I'd be willing to bet that most international travelers do not buy tickets just a few days before travel. So of course their planes are nearly empty and they are losing money. Plus they have two planes with one not doing much. There are plenty of destinations that are needed from SJJ yet this airline chose to ignore them. It is a shame as they had potential, but it seemed that they put the cart before the horse. They didn't seem to have a plan but they had two underutilized planes. Successful businesses plan ahead and get resources as they need them rather than burning money while resources sit idle (resources rather than planes as this applies to more than just airlines and resources include staff as well). Sure they can move to Tuzla and Mostar, but with no clear plan they will fail there as well. There are many costs other than airport fees.

      Delete
  4. Anonymous09:06

    Well I'm not surprised. They put tickets on sale for SJJ-FCO 3 weeks before the flights start. Do they really expect to operate the flights with a high enough LF to produce a profit??

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:07

      They did the same with London. No wonder its performing poorly.

      Delete
  5. Anonymous09:06

    Fleet is not suitable for these types of European destinations from Sarajevo.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:09

      Well the flights didn't work with B&H Air's ATR72s either.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous17:05

      Ah the B&H Airlines flights from Sarajevo to Amsterdam on a turboprop.

      Delete
  6. Anonymous09:08

    Surprise surprise.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous09:12

    Come to Slovenia. We are used already of that practice

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous09:14

    So it's not only the airport they owe money too... This won't last long.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous09:15

    One of their A319s hit the stairs at SJJ this week. Don't know if the plane is back in service.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:22

      Thankfully they have one spare A319 as a replacement. LOL.

      Delete
    2. Usually it's stairs that hit the plane. If they managed to have the aircraft hitting the stairs than it's really wow if an airline!

      Delete
    3. wow of an airline, not if

      Delete
    4. Anonymous15:24

      Seems like it really was the aircraft that hit the stairs and not the other way around

      "Inspektori Direkcije za civilno zrakoplovstvo BiH završili su uviđaj nakon incidenta na Međunarodnom aerodromu Sarajevo, kada je avion kompanije ”FlyBosnia” prilikom okretanja na pisti udario u aviostepenice i tom prilikom pričinio određenu materijalnu štetu.

      Do nesreće je došlo kada se avion vraćao u Sarajevo s promotivnog leta iz Rima i, kako navode očevici, prebrzo ušao na platformu i udario u aviostepenice te tom prilikom oštetio i krilo aviona."

      Delete
    5. OMG, better they cease ops, that's really sad

      Delete
  10. Anonymous09:16

    Sarajevo Airport should finally open up to more LCCs instead of these wannabe national carriers.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:28

      +1

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:47

      You sound like Wizzair CEO?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous17:04

      I'm not a Wizz Air CEO, just someone living in Sarajevo that would like a better managed airport with more affordable prices to destinations other than Budapest.

      Delete
    4. And I join you with the same wishes for ZAG

      Delete
    5. Anonymous20:52

      Wizz CEO used the term wannabe monopolist to describe another carrier, when in fact Wizz wants monopoly on routes and if possible on the whole airport. Case in point: Tuzla.

      Delete
  11. Anonymous09:23

    Two routes and two planes. You don't have to be a genius to work out why they are loosing money.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:44

      That is really a disaster, particularly for a small airline like Fly Bosnia with 4 weekly flights in total.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:42

      And +4 A319 comming next year?#

      Delete
  12. Anonymous09:23

    Hahahahaha serves SJJ right for making a deal with a shady airline from the Middle East.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:27

      The airline is registered in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:30

      That's pretty much the only thing that makes them Bosnian and you know it.

      Delete
  13. Anonymous09:30

    Small markets such as TGD, SJJ, SKP, LJU ... can't sustain bases there. Someone will always lose out in the end.

    TGD is home to a well-known mess.
    LJU just had Adria which went down in flames.
    SKP has Wizz Air but subsidies are regularly offered for new routes. Plus TAV complained on TV that the airport is not very profitable for them.
    SJJ has had a long list of failed airlines.

    At least DBV and SPU are realistic so they are not forcing too many flights in winter when they would have to hire more employees.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:35

      I agree. But what can these airports do?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:52

      I think they should be extremely cautious when it comes to their costs. They need to realize that they will always have modest passenger numbers and to organize themselves accordingly. The worst thing you can do is plan your infrastructure growth around Ryanair or Wizz Air. They are extremely unpredictable.

      Delete
    3. You are making it sound like it’s SJJ fault they had a plane sitting for several months on the tarmac not doing anything at the beginning, leased another one with only handful destinations, starter Rome at the worst possible moment etc etc etc.

      IMHO SJJ can work out for someone. What it’s going to take is well thought out plan, right plane(s), professional mgmt and enough funding at the beginning.

      Delete
  14. Anonymous09:30

    I doubt they will survive the year.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous09:44

    Couldn't they have offered one plane as an ACMI lease during the winter?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:57

      Not many airlines require ACMI agreement in winter.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:58

      And besides that Fly Bosnia isn't very well known. When airlines decide on an ACMI contract they usually go with someone that has experience in that area.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:42

      Perhaps can change name into FlySrpska and operate from BNX

      :-)

      Delete
    4. Anonymous17:03

      BNX is firmly on the Ryanair bandwagon.

      Delete
  16. Without an ounce of shame, they are asking for the airport to waive all the fees for ten years.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:57

      This stands out for me too. As if they brought millions of passengers to Sarajevo and now expect something in return.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous13:33

      vagabonds i said earlier

      Delete
  17. Anonymous10:07

    Next time use black and white photo of the airline.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous17:02

      Probably the next time the airline is mentioned it will be a black and white photo.

      Delete
  18. Anonymous10:25

    Adria employees said all exyu countries have their own flag carriers. Bosnia is obviously a prime example of how things should be run - debts, debts and more debts.

    I wonder if they got someone from Adria as an advisor to get into this state.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ajde nemoj z*. Nemoj uspoređivati JP koja je bila na tržištu 60g i mogla je biti i drugih 60 da je bilo volje i mudrosti, z nekim zaljevskim peračima novca.

      Delete
  19. Anonymous10:56

    Don't get me wrong, but I think Europeans in general would less likely use the airline knowing that Saudi Arabia is behind it. We all know why because of women, gays, stoning, etc.
    Plus, the use of a 319 on a 5 hour flight is bizarre. The destination list is bizarre.
    SJJ needs W6...full stop.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:58

      Yep I'm sure every European checks the ownership structure of the airline before they fly it.

      Delete
  20. Anonymous10:57

    If they had this much success in Sarajevo, I can only imagine in Mostar and Tuzla.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Anonymous11:38

    Don't see why some people are so happy about this. If they go bankrupt many will loose jobs.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous14:07

      Obviously it won't matter as employees don't see to be getting their salaries.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous17:02

      It says some employees.

      Delete
  22. Anonymous13:57

    Considering how much money the investor has burned, I don't get why they just don't pay the debt off. I mean if they had money to lease planes, fly to London with average of 10 passengers surely they have enough to pay off these debts.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous15:12

      At some point you gotta draw the line.

      Delete
  23. Anonymous16:06

    How can one airline be so poorly run? Seriously, anyone who reads this blog can do a better job

    ReplyDelete
  24. Nemojte biti naivni pa misliti, da je kompanija propala jer su nesposobni. Pitaj boga kakve sheme pranja love, financiranja terorizma itd. stoje iza toga. A naivni balkanci su idealna meta. Slovenci i Hrvati vjeruju Nijemcima, Srbi Rusima a Bosanci Arapima. Jer oni su kao naši, vole nas. Da. Vole nas krasti kako se vidi na primjeru Adrije i još čega.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Svaka cast Athos, potpisujem 100%, nazalost je to nasa tuzna realnost

      Delete
  25. Anonymous16:43

    They could have done flying from other airports in Ex Yu too.
    For example LJU always wanted flights to the Gulf - Flybosnia could have provided them.
    Belgrade wanted flights to KSA - Flybosnia could have provided them.

    Why charters only to Sarajevo and not to Dalmatia or Montenegro coasts - Flydubai could have provided them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous17:01

      As a non EU airline they can't fly from EU countries to third non-EU countries.

      Delete
  26. Gotta hand it to them, they had more flights than WAND :)

    ReplyDelete
  27. Anonymous19:32

    So money laundering is over? Time to turn off the lights and pack for Saudi Arabia.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Anonymous21:34

    It was nice while it lasted. We had a good run.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Anonymous22:32

    Nije da branim ove muljatore, ali, da li vi ljudi znate da je SJJ najskuplji aerodrom na Balkanu? Ovde se priča o louksterima u Sarajevu. Koji loukoster će da plati putničku taksu 30+ evra??? Malo više od toga (37€) košta kompletna karta, sa svim taksama, od Banjaluke do Memingena.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Anonymous07:10

    With this level of services, they will not last long...

    https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g294449-i6233-k12943385-FlyBosnia-Bosnia_and_Herzegovina.html

    "I've had one of the most outrageous experiences with Fly Bosnia airline.

    I was booked on a flight back to London tomorrow 27th October 2019.They sent me an email yesterday saying they have rescheduled my flight to today 26th October 2019.

    No explanations, a rude worker at the airport who refused to help in any way saying I only work on the ground.

    Lost out on one whole day of my 5 day holiday, one day of hotel cost and guide cost.

    Disgusting service."

    ReplyDelete
  31. Anonymous20:19

    they should lease a a321 XLR to fly to ST louis as there air plenty of Bosnians their and the would male a lot of money

    ReplyDelete

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