Low cost carrier Wizz Air will launch operations out of Mostar next summer season after the two inked an agreement following years of talks. The exact number of routes are yet to be revealed and scheduled, however, the two sides have previously discussed services from Scandinavia and Germany, with Malmo and Dortmund initially suggested. “Mostar Airport has signed an important agreement with Wizz Air, Europe’s fastest growing airline, that will enable the introduction of scheduled flights next summer. This will help in connecting Mostar and the entire Herzegovina region with popular European destination and will stimulate economic development and tourism”, Mostar Airport said.
The government of the Herzegovina - Neretva Canton in Bosnia and Herzegovina had previously expressed its willingness to provide financial assistance to airlines serving Mostar. On the other hand, the airport has struggled to attract customers over the past years and has been severely affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Its main source of traffic - European charters serving religious pilgrims - were all but wiped out. In 2020 the airport handled just 1.374 passengers, while in 2021 figures barely improved with a total of 1.942 travellers passing through its doors. During the January - August period in 2022 it welcomed 7.809 customers. Its best year remains 2014 when it processed 78.055 passengers.
Mostar will now become Bosnia and Herzegovina's fourth airport with scheduled commercial flights. Furthermore, it will become Wizz Air's fourth destination in the country, complementing Banja Luka, Sarajevo and Tuzla, with the latter two serving as the airline’s bases. The carrier's CEO, Jozsef Varadi, said last year, "From our perspective, Bosnia and Herzegovina is a market in which to invest. This, combined with all the development I see going on, encourages us to think of what’s next in terms of increasing the number of aircraft, employees and services. That is something we are working on, and I am pretty sure that Bosnia and Herzegovina can be a winner in all of this”.
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Finally!
ReplyDeleteLet's hope it actually happens and isn't some preelection gimmick
ReplyDeleteWell they did sign an agreement in Budapest. But you are right. One never knows. I will believe it when I see it.
DeleteIt's good that politicians are finally not blocking Mostar Airport like they have done so many times in the past.
DeleteYes, the local HDZ politcians, in order to benefit Spllit and Dubrovnik.
DeleteIt must have been a great privilege to sign a document at the waiting area of the reception of the Wizz Air headquarters.
DeleteIt's fantastic that BiH will have four functioning airports.
ReplyDeleteI think it may become the third largest market in ex-Yu.
DeleteWonder how OMO getting traffic might impact Dubrovnik which profits quite a bit from the pilgrim traffic.
DeleteWith so many subsidies, you have to wonder at what loss these airports are operating at. I know Tuzla has been loss making every single year since Wizz Air came and I doubt the situation is much better in Banja Luka.
DeleteMacedonia, Serbia, Slovenia and Croatia also subsidize its flights, what's wrong with that?
Delete@9.15 you mean Split?
DeleteBosnia just skipped N Macedonia with the total number of pax this year. Let's not forget, a few years back, Bosnia was 7th out of 7 in Ex Yu with its numbers, it's currently 4th. Seems quite soon it will be 3rd, where it actually belongs.
Delete@10:35 - You mean SJJ overtook SKP?
DeleteIt has not overtaken SKP and won't overtake it this year at least.
Delete"You mean SJJ overtook SKP?"
DeleteNo no, total number of pax for the whole country. SJJ is still far from SKP, however getting closer. (SKP used to double numbers compared to SJJ: not anymore.)
Ah, true. Yes general number of visitors is now definitely higher in BiH compared to North Macedonia.
DeleteUntil July Macedonia had 65k passengers more than Bosnia so it's not overtaken yet but there is a high chance that it will this year or next year(we will see).
DeleteWhich routes could we see?
ReplyDeleteGermany and Sweden year round and Poland and Italy seasonal would make sense.
DeleteItaly, Germany and the Netherlands could be the first markets.
DeleteHerzegovina diaspora is huge. Mostly in Germany
DeleteDublin, London, Barcelona, Manchester, Eindhoven, Oslo, Copenhagen are all potential routes in my opinion.
DeleteTwo routes would be enough for a start
DeleteFlights to Poland could work too. Lots of Christian pilgrims are coming from Poland.
DeleteMaybe Vienna?
DeleteCould work
DeleteVienna would be amazing.
DeleteHappy to sse this. Mostar can only thrive with a proper LCC like Wizz Air.
ReplyDeleteWell Eurowings was a proper LCC too but it didn't last.
DeleteEurowings is a joke, not a proper LCC
DeleteWonder if Ryanair will respond.
ReplyDeleteWhy would they resound?
Delete*respond
DeleteBecause they are attacking each other in Bosnia. Wizz Air launched flights to Banja Luka in an attack on Ryan. Ryan has responded by launching Tuzla flights this winter.
DeleteHow will flights function in winter? I don't think Mostar has propper ILS.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it will be seasonal summer flights.
DeleteThere's a good chance it will be seasonal. OMO suffers from wind in the winter. Pilots need special training due to the terrain in winter.
DeleteTo be honest Mostar didn't had any wind problems for the years. Maybe in the past.
DeleteLike Kukes. Everyone tell them it will be a suicide operationally, they still go ahead because of the money they get, then cancel it altogether (quietly) when it turns out it was indeed a suicide.
DeleteIt was expected there would only be seasonal operations (from Kukës).
DeleteI could not find any news item mentioning these flights being seasonal when they announced them.
DeleteIt was just part of the publicity stunt. Wizz changes schedules whenever and however they want. The fact is Kukës is non operational during winter and it was already obvious from the previous year.
DeleteWizz will rule the BiH market now.
ReplyDeleteIf Eurowings didn't make it flying Q400s I don't see how Wizz will with the A320s.
ReplyDeleteWizz Air is much better than Eurowings in generating demand.
DeleteSo after wasting millions upon millions to keep this airport open with no traffic, now millions will be spent on Wizz Air.
ReplyDeleteAt least with Wizz it will actually benefit the local population.
DeleteI wonder how much will the Wizz Air subsidies amount to.
DeleteEurowings got 250,000 EUR for two seasonal routes.
DeleteVery good news for BiH indeed. 4 operational airports is simply superb. Lets hope they don't begin cancelling again. I don't know if they have enough planes. With Blue Air still struuggling in Romania the vultures are gradually launching the stopped routes and it seems Wizzair wants to further dominate in Romania but they will need the planes.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, lets see how SJJ will perform this year. Can't wait for the final results.
+1
DeleteToo many airports in short proximity. They will cannibalize each other.
ReplyDeleteNot really true, now there are three working airports without affecting each other. Maybe Tuzla and Sarajevo a bit, but still these two work fine. Geographic locations of 4 BH airports is excellent: each covers its macro regions.
DeleteThey all work on government or kantonal subsidy. I do not worry for them.
DeleteIt will be nice to see Mostar growing again after so many years.
ReplyDeleteGreat work Mostar. I am really optimistic that brighter days are ahead :)
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to see the destinations.
ReplyDeleteThis is brilliant news for Croatian coast as well
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteAlthough some people do fear it could take away some passengers from Croatian coastal airports.
This is the saviour Mostar has been waiting for.
ReplyDeleteLet's hope they actually start flights. I remember when Mostar Airport was saying they have a "done deal" with Ryanair and nothing happened.
DeleteNice. We will have four airports with traffic, four airports offering LCC options and four airports with renewed terminals.
ReplyDeleteBosnia becoming popular with LCCs
DeleteIt's an exciting time for aviation in BiH. Record number of pax at Sarajevo, Mostar finally getting serious and getting flights, Banja Luka with a record year, Tuzla getting Ryanair flights next month...
DeleteAn airport in such location really shouldn't be struggling to get airlines and passengers and shouldn't be subsidising every airline to fly there.
ReplyDeleteSeems like it does
DeleteMostar is located about two hours from both SPU and SJJ. I can see it serving quite a market out there.
ReplyDeleteThe right decision
ReplyDeleteWell done Mostar.
ReplyDeleteFinally the overstaffed Mostar Airport and its employees will have something to do other than drink coffee all day.
DeleteWell done for negotiating some flights after how many decades?
DeleteApart from pilgrims and diaspora, Mostar Airport should try and get some of the tour packaged tourists going to the Adriatic
ReplyDeleteWait for Trebinje airport.
DeleteGreat news. Btw did Austrian use to fly to Mostar? I have a bague recollection they used to fly there.
ReplyDeleteYes. Austrian used to fly to all airports in Bosnia, except Tuzla, which just opened for commercial use around that time. OS and Vienna Airport profited massively from the break up of YU.
DeleteIMHO they should be launching flights to the Roman Catholic world primarilly, and not to Scandinavia and Dortmund...
ReplyDeleteScandinavia and Germany is where the diaspora is located.
DeleteKnowing that more then a half of city's prewar population lives elsewhere today (many of which in West), and that Međugorje receives high 6-digit number of pilgrims each year, I am certain that flights to Mostar will be viable
ReplyDeleteTrue. Herzegovina Diaspora is huge. Mostly in Germany, but also in other western european countries and North America as well.
DeleteMajority of those pilgrims are coming from Italy – so Rome, Milan or some other major Italian city should be launched.
ReplyDeleteDuring the summer, yes.
DeleteDoes anyone know the hours and if this airport is open during night?
ReplyDeleteI really hope they have more success than Croatia Airlines and Eurowings did.
ReplyDeleteThey certainly will.
DeleteSo no one would consider the airport without subsidies...
ReplyDeleteYes, just like many other small ex-Yu airports.
DeleteIt would be nice to see a TZL-OMO or a BEG-OMO
ReplyDeleteTZL-OMO?? How long would that flight take? 10 minutes?
Delete11:14 Mostar - Tuzla woth the car is around 4 hours.
DeleteMalmo-Mostar would be a great start.
ReplyDeleteWhy Malmö?
DeleteBig concentration of the diaspora from the Mostar area living there.
DeleteThatbis true. A half of Mostar is in the Malmo.
DeleteWhat about Bihać? When will it open and become the 5th airport?
ReplyDeleteAfter Trebinje
DeleteTrebinje airport project has been reported as opposed by the Federation. This helps understand why.
DeleteAns what about basel-mostar ?
ReplyDeleteSome seasonal flights to Greece would be great !
ReplyDeleteSurprised Berlin hasn't been mentioned yet. It seems to get a mention that every airport in the region needs Berlin flights, yet it's only the Croatian coast that has success.
ReplyDeleteThese flights can be used by local population in Dubrovnik in winter when there is a limited offer from DBV.
ReplyDeleteMostar airport is under concession by some Israeli guy who already privatised half of the city
ReplyDeleteThey said that They will open Belgrad - Cologne flight but, we are still waiting........
ReplyDeleteGreat news for Mostar
ReplyDeleteFantastic news, they are an utterly horrible airline and I had an awful experience flying with them at DBV this summer & I won’t be flying them into SJJ when I visit soon even though they are the only airline flying direct from my city I would rather go via Vienna but I would fly them into Mostar just to support the route if they ran it from where I live.
ReplyDeleteI agree. Absolute waste of my time.Always late due to some unbelievable problem, caused by someone else. There is never anyone to communicate with. There website is non functional for compensation, but will be perfectly operational to extracting money from your account. Ground staff where ever I have been with them, just kick the can down the road. Just as bad as Ryan air, but soon to overtake them. My advise, pay the extra and have a decent flight with a national carrier.
ReplyDeleteIf there are to be flights from Mostar to Germany, then the south of Germany should be preferred, because there are unfortunately very few offers.
ReplyDeleteStuttgart, Munich, Nuremberg should be the destinations.
Finally! And hopefully it will be a operated to OMO in the long run as well!
ReplyDelete