Tuzla eyes additional Wizz Air flights under new deal


Tuzla Airport is in the process of negotiating a new agreement with low cost carrier Wizz Air, which it hopes will result in the introduction of new routes and the possible stationing of a third aircraft in the city. The two sides recently met in Osijek, where Wizz Air has begun training some of its pilots, and will continue discussions in Tuzla early next month. “Both sides have shown their willingness to reach an agreement. In any case, we must define certain things. If all goes to plan, we expect Wizz Air to introduce some new routes from Tuzla Airport”, its newly appointed General Manager, Esed Mujačić, said.

Tuzla Airport’s contract with Wizz Air expires this June and a new four-year agreement is likely to be inked. However, the slow development of Tuzla Airport’s infrastructure, including the extension of its runway approach lights, continue to be a sticking point between the two sides. Wizz Air's CEO, Jozsef Varadi, previously told EX-YU Aviation News he was confident a new agreement would be reached. "I would guess so. I think it is in the interest of Tuzla and the region to see our continuous operations and them improving their infrastructure. I'm pretty sure Tuzla Airport will be business-minded in that regard", Mr Varadi said.

Wizz Air, as the only airline operating scheduled flights out of Tuzla, helped kick-start the airport's passenger development seven years ago. The airline currently maintains twelve routes to five countries from Bosnia and Herzegovina’s third largest city, increasing to fifteen destinations over the summer. Potential new routes include Hamburg or Hannover, Paris Beauvais and Milan, as well as the possible resumption of services to London Luton and Sandefjord, which were previously suspended from Tuzla by the budget carrier. The airline recently noted, "We look forward to continuing our fruitful partnership with Tuzla International Airport and remain committed to bringing even more exciting opportunities that can best meet our customers’ needs, while further stimulating economic and business relations in the country”.




Comments

  1. Anonymous09:24

    "I'm pretty sure Tuzla Airport will be business-minded"

    And I'm pretty sure W6 will expect subsidies

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:29

      Well, its not like airlines are lining up for slots at tuzla airport, so theres no way around subsidies.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:33

      Does Wizz Air get exemption from handling and landing or they get actual money from airport/canton?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:35

      Wizz Air doesn't pay anything to the airport - all costs are covered by Tuzla Canton.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:58

      you have to wonder how great it is for the airport and whether they make any money out of it. They need to attract another airline and hopefully not under the same terms as Wizz

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:11

      Before Wizz came Tuzla had no traffic. So they ate great for the airport.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous10:11

      *are

      Delete
    7. Anonymous10:49

      Exactly. They have done wonders for Tuzla. Just a couple of years ago there was no traffic there and no prospects for the future.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous14:56

      Give subsidies to FlyBosnia.

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:26

    They need a second airline. Relying on one airline is never a good idea.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:29

      That is always an issue with small regional airports

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:48

      For SKP it worked pretty well though.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:57

      With all due respect, there is a difference between Skopje and Tuzla, Skopje being a capital city.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:00

      Exactly because SKP is a capital city it should not have one airline control 80% of the market.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:41

      It would be ideal if they attracted a legacy airline.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous11:04

      Good luck with that. Which legacy airline do you expect to launch flights to Tuzla??

      Delete
    7. Anonymous11:33

      Austrian or Swiss.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous11:38

      Doubt it. Most ex-Yu cities haven't worked out for Swiss. They even recently suspended Zagreb. So I doubt they will be starting Tuzla. Austrian, which is in cost cutting mode is also highly unlikely.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous11:40

      FlyBosnia may introduce Tuzla-London. We will see.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous11:52

      FlyBosnia is a joke.

      Delete
    11. Anonymous10:56

      Did you mean third airplane, because two of them are already based in Tuzla.

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:32

    Well let's see how things pan out. The new CEO is actually the old CEO who the courts say was unlawfully dismissed so his back. In 2014 he was the one leading negotiations with Wizz (until he was replaced) and they almost pulled out of Thuzlanbecause he wanted to increase prices.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:03

      Joy

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:39

      I really hope he doesn't much things up.

      Delete
  4. Anonymous09:34

    I think Paris Beauvais could work for them, especially since there are no nonstop flights from Bosnia to France.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:36

      +1

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:37

      I just don't understand that there is no demand from SJJ to Paris.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:50

      Very few Bosnians have emigrated to France.
      Plus demand from French citizens or any other Europeans for visiting Bosnia is very limited.

      Just my2cents

      Delete
    4. Anonymous11:49

      few Bosnians in France?? we are not as many as in Germany or Sweden but we are more than 30 000 here and we expect fligths from France to BiH we have Mulhouse-Tuzla but if they introduce some saisonial flight between Lyon and BiH it will work because we are around Lyon more than 5 000 ! so we want a flight to go in BiH from france too :)

      Delete
  5. Anonymous10:01

    I'll believe it when I see it. Wizz Air has struggled in Tuzla which can only mean the market has reached its current capacity

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous10:17

    Anyone know what their busiest route out of TZL is?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:18

      I believe it is Malmo.

      Delete
  7. Anonymous10:17

    Good work Tuzla.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous10:18

    I wonder what their development would have looked like if they had chosen Ryanair like BNX.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:23

      Wizz Air is definitely a more reliable partner.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:24

      FR would not have opened a base.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:24

      Is it though? Look at the massive cuts they have around.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:25

      A few years ago just before Wizz opened its base in Tuzla that the airport said they will increase their fees. Wizz responded that they would suspend all flights if they do. So I wouldn't exactly say Wizz is much different from Ryan.

      Delete
  9. Anonymous10:25

    More gasterbaiter routes coming.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:26

      What else do you expect? Wizz just replaces bus routes - almost everywhere in ex-Yu.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:31

      Whats the difference between more gastarbeiter coming and more tourists coming? They're not local the population in either case, so there is no difference.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:36

      From ex-Yu Wizz caters almost exclusively for gasterbaiters. So any future expansion will be in that direction.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous11:31

      There are people that say "more gastarbeiter routes" or "I suppose another route to some German village". Is that something bad? If you want Spain, Russia, Poland or other exotic destinations, you should expect them from your capital city. Also, countries that are smaller, not so economically developed and not too attractive for foreign tourists, really cannot expect to have anything more than mere gastarbeiter routes.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous11:57

      Beggars can't be choosers!

      Delete
    6. Anonymous14:55

      Well, all of their SPU routes are touristic.

      Difference diaspora and tourists: tourists spend more money, already regarding accommodation, and are therefore better meaning worthier for local economy.

      Delete
  10. Anonymous10:32

    Good luck Tuzla.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous10:42

    With so many aircraft on order Wizz will have to keep expanding, ex-Yu market included.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:52

      They are replacing older aircraft at the same time and are looking east for further expansion. They are not growing at all in ex-Yu this year.

      Delete
  12. Anonymous10:46

    Official statement of WizzAir when it comes from downgrading routes from TZL is that, due to poor airport equipment, they can't realize 3 rotations with one aircraft in one day as they count on delays due to poor weather conditions. They based two aircrafts, but with 6 departures per day and airport closing at midnight, they would have to take spare aircraft to TZL almost every day. What they did? They took the best routes to be year round and others, that are not performing the best, sieze only during summer time. All this makes lots of sense.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous10:50

    I hope Tuzla renegotiates its agreement with Wizz which will result in more new routes. But TZL is by far the worst airport I have ever been to. They really need to improve big time on all fronts.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:03

      I don't know when you traveled from Tuzla but things improved a lot when they finished the reconstruction of the terminal.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:39

      Yep things are much better now with the overhauled terminal but there is still lot of area for improvement.

      Delete
  14. Anonymous11:13

    Germany & Sweden are well covered from TZL. My guess that they may launch LTN, BVA & BGY and increase existing destinations with higher demand.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:36

      I agree. Those routes seem plausible.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous21:42

      But Wizz failed on Luton route from Tuzla. LF was low for Wizz standards. Don't see what has changed since.

      Delete
  15. Anonymous11:35

    Interesting. Let's see what happens. Wizz Air are very tough negotiators. Remember when there subsidies were in doubt in Skopje and they suspended two routes and turned one seasonal straight away? The second the subsidies were reinstated all of the routes were resumed and new ones laucnhed. So we will see.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous21:40

      I don't see why Tuzla Airport would suddenly hike fees for them.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous21:41

      Because after 7 years it is time they turn a profit. They are not self sustainable.

      Delete
  16. Turns out W6 has a total of 25 bases, 3 of which are in ex-Yu: BEG, SKP & TZL.

    https://wizzair.com/static/docs/default-source/downloadable-documents/corporate-website-transfer-documents/results-and-presentations/q3-rns_636e7232.pdf

    Result is still not all that bad given that most bases are in Poland and Hungary - a market where competition with FR is fierce.
    The biggest advantage for W6 is that it has no Max orders and can allow themselves to expand in the near future. I still think FR is quietly taking a bigger slice of the CEE/Balkans cake. They beat W6 in ODS and with the creation of Buzz is now the largest in Poland. We also saw how FR is getting bigger and bigger in ME, especially TGD.
    As for TZL, it would be better to also negotiate with FR and have a healthier competition instead of just focusing on W6.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Anonymous16:56

    Wizz seems to stick always at the same markets while ignoring many others .
    Much of theit gasto routes for example would make much more sense from Banja Luka .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous21:40

      At the time Wizz Air was looking to launch flights from/to Bosnia they talked with Banja Luka Airport too. But BNX management at the time was tone death and said LCCs should not fly to BNX. They rather wanted an empty airport.

      Delete
  18. Anonymous21:41

    TZL has been talking about these approach lights for years now. How come they are not installed already.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous22:29

      They have them but only 750m long

      Delete

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