The Tuzla cantonal government has refused to sign a contract with Ryanair this week which would have seen the low cost airline commence operations to Bosnia and Herzegovina’s second busiest airport as of next month. The budget carrier, which has been selling tickets for flights from Weeze and Baden Baden to Tuzla, which were scheduled to launch on September 2 and 4 respectively, was to unveil a number of new destinations upon singing the contract with the government this week, among which were initially London Stansted and Memmingen and later Stockholm and Malta. The cantonal government took two months to inform Ryanair it would not sign the deal. The low cost airline has inked a similar agreement with local authorities in Banja Luka, from which it maintains flights.

Ryanair has suspended ticket sales to Tuzla following the cantonal government’s decision. Just two weeks ago, Tuzla Airport said, “Ryanair is planning to fly to Tuzla on a long-term basis and we are in discissions over new destinations. We are undertaking studies to identify the demand for certain destinations. Ryanair is more than welcome at Tuzla Airport in order to cover Wizz Air’s service reductions since it introduced flights from Sarajevo and Banja Luka”. Since then, the Tuzla Canton government has sacked the airport’s General Manager Esed Mujačić.

Tuzla Airport is slowly recovering from the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and its 75-day closure last year. Wizz Air, which boasts a base at the airport, currently serves fourteen destinations. Its CEO, Jozsef Varadi, visited Bosnia and Herzegovina this week and met with Tuzla Airport officials. During the first half of the year, Tuzla Airport welcomed 89.326 travellers, down 25.9% on the same period last year, and down 67% on 2019. “Our goal is to handle a million passengers per year. The airport has both the capacity and opportunities do so. This can only be accomplished once all epidemiological measures are lifted”, Tuzla Airport noted.