Qatar Airways returning to Sarajevo after more than two years

Qatar Airways has announced the resumption of flights between Doha and Sarajevo from June 3, marking its return to Bosnia and Herzegovina’s capital after more than two years. The airline suspended operations to the city in March 2020 at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. Despite restoring services to Belgrade and Zagreb since, operations to Sarajevo and Skopje have not been reinstated, with no date still set for the latter’s return. The Qatari carrier will be close to restoring pre-pandemic frequencies to Sarajevo, with three weekly rotations planned, each Tuesday, Friday and Sunday. Prior to Covid-19 the airline maintained four weekly flights on the route. It will utilise its Airbus A320 aircraft between the two cities.

Qatar Airways, which was primarily used by transfer passengers on the Sarajevo service, will now offer travellers a greater selection of destinations in the Gulf region, as the blockade of Qatar by several neighbouring countries has been lifted and flights have resumed. However, unlike two years ago, the carrier faces greater competition from other rival airlines in the region, which have since launched operations to Sarajevo, among which are Kuwait Airways and Salam Air. In the pre-pandemic 2019, Kuwait City was Qatar Airways’ busiest transfer destination to and from Sarajevo, accounting for 9% of all connecting passengers on the route. It was closely followed by Muscat, then Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Sydney.

Top origin and destination points for Qatar Airways in Sarajevo in 2019

The development comes as Sarajevo Airport continues to close in on its pre-pandemic passenger figures, primarily on the back of Wizz Air’s operations out of the city. In February, Sarajevo Airport handled 50.475 passengers, representing a decrease of 2.9% on the same month in 2020 and a decline of 5% on 2019, although Bosnia and Herzegovina hosted the European Youth Olympics Festival that month two years ago. The number of aircraft movements this February stood at 741, which is still below pre-pandemic levels. During the first two months of the year, Sarajevo Airport welcomed 106.996 travellers through its doors, down 3.1% on 2020 but up 3.5% on 2019. Although European countries are increasingly relaxing their entry requirements, citizens from Bosnia and Herzegovina still face restrictions, which were heightened during the Omicron wave in late 2021 and early this year. Digital Covid certificates from Bosnia and Herzegovina are still not recognised by many states in the block.