NEWS FLASH
Banja Luka Airport is in talks over the launch of new routes for the 2026 summer season, which begins in late March next year. The airport’s General Manager, Valentina Kecman, said announcements on the planned additions are expected by late January. “We want new routes, but it’s not always up to us. Airlines make their decisions based on risk assessments for particular destinations, primarily how well they expect flights to perform in terms of passenger demand. Decisions are influenced not only by demand, but also by airport charges and other costs they face at each destination. When Vienna increased its airport fees, Wizz Air closed its base and Ryanair reduced capacity, which had a knock-on effect on us as well. What had originally been planned for the winter season was significantly reduced because of higher charges in Germany and Austria. Airlines assessed that certain routes would no longer be sufficiently profitable, so they cut back on capacity”, Ms Kecman noted.
Banja Luka Airport handled a record 443.441 passengers this year up to November 24, representing year-on-year growth of almost 25%. The increase has been driven primarily by Wizz Air and Ryanair boosting frequencies and capacity on their existing routes, as no new destinations have been introduced in 2025. This year, Ryanair is Banja Luka’s largest carrier based on available capacity, with 325.524 available seats (up 30.3% year-on-year), followed by Wizz Air with 156.726 seats (up 57%) and Air Serbia with 14.960 seats and no change in capacity on last year.
Air Serbia is flying to Banja Luka only to have one more destination on the list. It is completely useless, being it for P2P or transfer passengers. If no daily connections (morning and evening flights in the same day) are planned in the near future, better to terminate even the current ones ...
ReplyDeleteBanja Luka Belgrade will not be terminated. Why don't you ask for termination of Osijek Zagreb service?
DeleteNot the same
DeleteWhilst it is very probable that the Banja Luka - Belgrade flight is generally unprofitable, it remains a useful link between the two cities that avoids a relatively lengthy drive. It is unlikely to be terminated given the wider geopolitical issues, and as @14:28 notes, there are other routes of dubious probability in the region that have the status of PSO routes.
DeleteWhy unprofitable? It is 2 weekly on an ATR72 with a very short distance and the airline is exempt from airport charges in BNX. You don't need many passengers to have a profit. It was likely highly unprofitable when it ran daily.
DeleteAgreed yes. I totally forgot that its only twice weekly/ The comment at 14:03 who claims its "just a destination on the list" forgets the importance of the route for 2p2 connections for family members as well as business and political communication.
Delete@14:03 Another day, another mission to unsuccessfully put a dent in Air Serbia armour...
DeleteLol
Delete@14.28
DeleteOsijek and Zagreb are in the same country, Banja Luka and Belgrade are not. Osijek and Zagreb are connected on working days morning and evening, Banja Luka and Belgrade are not. It's incomparable
I think the comment at 14:28 meant because Osijek-Zagreb famously carried next to no actual passengers.
Delete