Croatian ACMI specialist Trade Air is in discussions with Tuzla Airport over stationing one of its Airbus A320-family aircraft in Tuzla, following the planned closure of Wizz Air’s base in the city next month. According to “ch-aviation”, Trade Air is willing to wet-lease its aircraft to Tuzla Airport, while the latter would have to plan out routes and sales. A wet-lease involves an airline providing its aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance to another entity. Discussions with the airline, airport and the local authorities from Tuzla took place in Zagreb last week. Trade Air has confirmed the talks have taken place.
Last week, Tuzla Airport’s management noted, “We have an agreement not to go public until we get official confirmation on everything that was discussed. We held the meeting, we expect a proposal for an agreement to be made, which will be followed by further steps. We are in talks with a serious company that has not previously flown from Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is interested in launching several destinations that we have not had in the past. Additionally, we are in talks with several carriers over flights from Istanbul, which is a major international hub”. Furthermore, the airport noted it received a Latter of Intent from Air Montenegro, which has expressed its interest in commencing services from the city.
Tuzla Airport faces a difficult road ahead if it does not find a substitute for Wizz Air, which plans to continue operating just four routes this winter. During the upcoming winter season, which begins on October 29 and runs until March 30 of next year, the airport will have just twelve weekly departing flights, compared to the initially planned 43 weekly departures. Instead of the initially planned 7.740 weekly departing seats out of Tuzla, the airport will boast just 2.160 weekly outbound capacity. Tuzla Airport handled 429.473 passengers during the January - July period. The figure represents an increase of 101% on last year and is up 26.8% on the previous record set during the same period in 2019.
Didn’t some people write how Wizz Air would have had more or less the same number of flights this winter even if they didn’t close the base? So much for that.
ReplyDeleteIt should be a lesson for fanboys. Belgrade, Zagreb, Pristina and Split seasonally are the only airports in Ex-Yu that can sustain large traffic flows. Everything else needs subsidies, incentives, discounts and prayers for good luck. Ljubljana, Tuzla and Sarajevo all show how easy it is to lose everything.
DeleteTrue
DeleteLol. Ljubljana was hit twice. Covid and adria. Cant compare that. Ljubljana will grow every year so u cant compare it with tuzla. It has more than 20 airlines serving compared to tuzla with that… one?
DeleteLjubljana is a capital city of a country whose GDP per capita is one of the highest in Europe. Tuzla is a town in one of Europe's poorest countries.
DeletePristina was also hit twice: covid and Adria.
DeleteU cant be serious. Slovenia had one of the hardest lock downs in europe. Adria flew to what… 3 cities out of pristina, and 10 times more from Ljubljana. Plus more ppl from kosovo live outside of kosovo rather than in kosovo …
Delete@anon 9:11
DeleteSlovenia is ranked #14 in the EU by GDP per capita, why the delusions of grandeur?
@9.05 lol ZAG gives so much incentives some exyu airports can only dream about
Deleteand the elephant in the room is?
DeleteSpeaking of LJU, it is interesting how things can turn around. TZL had more passengers a month than LJU not so long ago, now LJU will have more passengers a month than TZL in whole year.
DeleteVlad, he was talkin sbout europe, not EU. Slovenia is upper part gdp per capita in rurope. Thats fact
DeleteUpper half*
DeleteIronically, Trade Air seems to gain the most from the disaster at both LJU and TZL.
Delete@9:46 the cross-passenger coverage of incentives at Zagreb is very low, and the fees are very high. Ryanair is the only airline which benefits substantially from incentives and even it pays more per passenger to the airport than some other airports in the region charge as their *full* price
Delete@9.4 very much doubt i. ZAGs number are good only because of these huge incentives Ryanair is receiving. 2-5€ is embarrassingly low
DeleteIt will not last for long. No airport that size/operation can survive like this when main airlines are not paying anything
DeleteLjubljana and Sarajevo can not be at all compared with Tuzla.
DeleteBut the entire Tuzla is milking one goat
DeleteThe goat has gone. Wizz air
DeleteBravo Hrvatska!
ReplyDeleteFacepalm.
DeletePlease no. I can only imagine what a mess it would be for the airport to organise flights, routes and finances.
ReplyDeleteThey can't do it. They would need years to plan this out and launch it.
DeleteThat would be a total disaster. I really don't understand tzl menagement. They couldn't install lights at the runaway for years, they build terminal so long, third gate is not ready, and they want to be an air carrier. Very strange
DeleteSada that is absolutely true. I guess this is a show for a mass. Nothing else.
DeleteSaša*
DeleteThis seems crazy but they have no other options. They will go from hundreds of thousands of passengers to thousands if they don't do something quickly.
ReplyDeleteI agree. And there are a lot of providers who actually depend on the airport. The loss of Wizz will affect the whole city.
DeleteBut also the airport itself. If they don't get someone to base an aircraft there, the airport can say by bye to its future.
DeleteOf course, the airport is most impacted.
DeleteSurrounding of TZL have a huge diaspora so they protested because of this before couple of days in Germany 🇩🇪. Government of Tuzla need to do something, at least to call people down.
DeleteCalm people down*
DeleteAlso, Tuzla's portals are writing how this js just a political thing where Dodik want with Orban move wizz from TZL to BNX. They are saying that wizz had the best half of year ever at the TZL and that can only be the reason. No one is mentioning their impotence with not providing lights and all other what wizz requested.
Delete^ That is tabloid trash. And you have to know nothing about aviation to think that passenger numbers are the most important metric for an airline.
DeleteWhatever happened in colony called BiH, Mr. Dodik is guilty, according to majority of people in FBiH. In this case, the goat Wizz has gone and Tuzla has to drink something else. Wizz owners are investment Fonds mostly from USA. Hungarian government has no influence on Wizz at all.
DeleteGoing with Trade Air is pure disaster.
ReplyDeleteWhy?
DeleteI doubt anything will come from this because Trade Air is likely going to ask for a whole lot of money.
ReplyDeleteTuzla is better off making a loss on this and paying Trade Air lots of money than making a HUGE loss by not having any flights at all
DeleteThe only way Tuzla can finance these flights is if the government provides the money. TZL certainly does not have it.
DeleteCheaper to pay Wizz or Ryan Air to do it.
ReplyDeleteWizz was already subsidised. And now it's gone.
DeleteWizz wasn't actually subsidized, they were incentivized. Basically Wizz didn't pay for anything (handling, landing), which is why the airport hasn't turned a profit since they came. But they didn't actually hand out money to Wizz.
DeleteUhmm yes it was. With €2 million dollars!! By the government, not by the airport.
DeleteWould this be a first? Where the airport is practically running the show?
ReplyDeleteI have never heard of it.
DeleteAltenrhein and Luebeck come to my mind.
DeleteSvi znamo koliko je Cvijin škrt, ništa od toga 😂
ReplyDeleteThis will be, according to my opinion, only certain period of time. It is very expensive and Tuzla can not afford that. Ticket sales, slots, agreements with airports, that all should do experts from Tuzla. Funny
DeleteI wouldn't let the airport's management to take care of a chicken let alone run flights.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteOh I can only imagine how much money Trade Air is asking for. Especially since they know Tuzla has now options.
ReplyDeleteCertainly all the risk will be put on the airport and not the airline.
DeleteI am more surprised by Air Montenegro being interested in Tuzla. Are they mad? Sounds like another Adria.
ReplyDeleteThey need any cash they can get, and they lost their domestic market because of a poorly planned transition between Montenegro Airlines and them
DeleteFor some reason they don't want Slovenian cash.
DeleteI also assume winter is very poor for Air Montenegro in terms of revenue so they need cash flow.
DeleteLove that livery.
ReplyDeleteAgree. Very nice
DeleteBeggars can't be choosers.
ReplyDeleteNot gonna happen.
ReplyDeleteGood luck
ReplyDeleteAnd here I was hoping the airline they were talking to was easyjet lol
ReplyDeleteeasyjet was highly unrealistic
DeleteAny major European airline was highly unrealistic.
DeleteWith the sort of management TZL has I expect absolutely nothing to come out of it.
ReplyDeleteTuzla's only solution is to bring back Ryanair.
ReplyDeleteThey are trying to overturn the 3 euro state tax over which Ryanair left so hopefully there is a positive outcome.
DeleteIf I were TZL, I would pay the 3 euro tax for them.
DeleteThen don't have that sort of money.
DeleteAnd for Trade Air they do?
DeleteThey don't. Which is why this whole thing with Trade Air won't happen either.
DeleteIt's not 3euro tax but 3Bosnian Mark (or around 1.5 euro)
DeleteCurrency name is convertible mark, not Bosnian Mark. Or Bosnia and Herzegovina's currency
DeleteDoes Trade Air have free planes for leasing? Asking for Air Serbia...
ReplyDeleteIn winter they do.
DeleteSuch a shame. Wizz Air put Tuzla on the map.
ReplyDeleteIt really did
Deletethe only solution is to resume cooperation with Ryanair
ReplyDeleteThis is real market. Sorry but if Ryanair left dur to 3eur tax than they were not msking much money in general
DeleteYou clearly don't understand Ryanair's business model
DeleteI clearly do. To rephrase it for u… might be easier to understand this time. If airline is not paying anything and they leave due to 3euro tax and fog (wizz) it means their yields are really thin. So there is no space for extra costs. Let me ask you this. Would Ryanair leave stansted for 3 euro tax (which is one cup of coffee in slovenia)
DeleteIt's not 3euro tax but 3Bosnian Mark (or around 1.5 euro)
DeleteEven worse
Delete@10:06 OK, so you really don't get it. Thanks for clarifying. Ryanair had a major standoff with Stansted over a tiny increase in fees some 10 years ago.
DeleteGood to see Trade Air taking every opportunity it can and being agile on the market.
ReplyDeleteYes, they profited the most in Ljubljana too.
DeleteUnbelievable that Air Serbia or Air Croatia don't know to use this as well.
DeleteWill Sarajevo Airport benefit from the Wizz base closure in Tuzla? I assume it pulled away a lot of passengers from SJJ.
ReplyDeleteHow can it benefit when none of the destinations are served
DeleteBecause more people will travel from Sarajevo with airlines they can transfer with to reach their final destination.
DeleteI think Tuzla will have max 200k pax in 2024.
ReplyDeleteHopefully they will find some replacement for Wizz. But I don't think it will be Trade Air.
DeleteIn reality i think they wont. Best chance is to drop 3euro tax and bring back Ryanair
DeleteIt's not 3euro tax but 3Bosnian Mark (or around 1.5 euro)
DeleteEven if they do reach a deal, I would be very skeptical using flights organized by the airport. Some disagreement between the airport and Trade Air results in Trade Air pulling out over night and cancelling all flights.
ReplyDeleteIt will be interesting to see where all these Wizz passengers will go. I think Wizz Air created a new market and generated a lot of new passengers who previously used the bus. So it I am interested to see whether they will now start using busses again or go to other airports.
ReplyDeleteFrom Sarajevo or Banja Luka. Passengers will use traditional airlines as OS, TK, PC, LH, JU, OU.
DeleteOr belgrade
DeleteThose traditional airlines charge slightly more. The people will take the bus again
DeleteDo not underestimate Trade Air. They are doing very well in PRN for instance. With 5 aircraft still not bad at all.
ReplyDeleteNo one is underestimating Trade Air. I just think that Tuzla Airport has neither the money or know-how for this. Even if they reach a deal, I have a feeling it will end very soon.
Delete10:23
DeleteThat's right, but I always wondered why they didn't think about expanding the fleet. They have two planes in Pristina, one in Ljubljana and the others fly ACMI. And one Saab 340 from Sprint Air to Zagreb.
This will actually be Trade Air's fourth base after Ljubljana, Pristina and Zagreb.
ReplyDeleteI think they fly the least out of Zagreb.
DeleteYes, only PSO to 4 destinations I believe
DeleteThey don't have a base in Zagreb. Their PSO aircraft is based in Osijek.
DeleteIn fact, what remains is for Tuzla to develop a website and several routes. It's not that much work but is it expensive?
ReplyDeleteNevjerovatno koliko ,pametnjakovica, i ,analiticara, se ovdje pojavljuje!
ReplyDeleteЈел и себе ту убрајате
DeleteYou will most likely see a new virtual airline like Air Pristina, under the AOC of Trade Air.
ReplyDeleteHow many destinations can work?
ReplyDeleteNice!
ReplyDeleteTrade Air is comparable to Wizz Air. The product is the same. Hope it works.
ReplyDeleteIf this happens with Trade air, that will costs a lot. I don't think they have that money and if it happens how long it will last.
ReplyDeleteLast button and least which routes they will take I was for sure when they say was in talks in Zagreb it could be Trade Air but I don’t think it will be good better bring FR back and yesterday I read about the second Airline should be a National Airline I guess it could be Air Montenegro
ReplyDeleteYes, it is Air Montenegro. If you read the text above, you will know it. 🤣
DeleteIf there actually WAS some demand, you would not have to negotiate anything....
ReplyDeleteThere was demand. Tuzla Airport had a best stats ever.
Delete