One airline interested in Sarajevo base

One airline has applied to Sarajevo’s public call to establish a base in the city in return for incentives, the airport has confirmed. Without giving details on which carrier has expressed interest, talks between the two sides are now set to begin. The airport launched a similar tender in 2020, which was won by Wizz Air. It was the only one to have applied at the time. Wizz Air closed its Sarajevo base after just a year and a half in November of last year. The new call was not limited to low cost carriers and neither does it require for the airline to base two aircraft in the city, as was previously the case.

Under the terms issued by Sarajevo Airport, the interested carrier must open its base in Bosnia and Herzegovina’s capital this year in order to qualify for the incentives. The subsidies are limited only to the number of passengers carried, however, the airline will qualify for the incentives regardless of how many travellers it handles. The more departing passengers it welcomes on board its aircraft from Sarajevo, the greater the financial support, however, the exact amount of funds have not been made public.

Sarajevo Airport had previously noted it was in discussions with Ryanair over launching flights from the city. Ryanair has expanded its operations in Bosnia and Herzegovina last year. It entered the market in 2018 with services to Banja Luka. Furthermore, the carrier launched operations to Tuzla in November of last year, with services from Vienna, Stockholm and Memmingen. Ryanair’s Director of Route Development, Ray Kelliher, recently said, “We look forward to growing in Bosnia and Herzegovina over the coming years and being able to announce more new and exciting routes for next summer”. Sarajevo Airport handled a record 1.377.348 passengers in 2022, representing an increase of 79.5% on the previous year and up 20.4% on the pre-pandemic 2019. The growth was primarily fuelled by Wizz Air.