Ryanair intends to expand its operations from Sarajevo next summer season after announcing plans to withdraw from Bosnia and Herzegovina’s capital this winter. The airline is expected to serve around fourteen routes during the 2027 summer, which runs from March 28 until October 30. The carrier currently boasts flights to eleven destinations, including Beauvais, Bergamo, Charleroi, Girona, Gothenburg, Baden Baden, London Stansted, Memmingen, Stockholm Araneda, Thessaloniki and Weeze. This would result in the addition of three to four extra routes, if none of the existing ones are dropped.
Ryanair plans to offer 425.000 seats on its Sarajevo services next summer, representing an increase of 28.3% compared to 2026, or around 94.000 additional seats. Meanwhile, local authorities and the tourist board are expected to launch a new subsidy scheme shortly to support the introduction of new routes next year, after which Ryanair’s new destinations are expected to be unveiled. Sarajevo Airport has said there will be “positive surprises” when the airline announces its summer schedule. The airport has recently been attempting to secure flights to Dublin, Prague, Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and Malaga among others. Some of the airport’s busiest unserved routes in Europe include capital city airports, which have been covered by secondary alternatives such as Beauvais and Charleroi. Others include Prague, Helsinki and Hamburg.
The 1.50-euro fee levied by the Bosnia and Herzegovina Directorate of Civil Aviation (BHDCA) on each departing passenger and payable by airlines continues to deter low cost carriers from launching or expanding operations in the country. The charge serves as a source of funding for the aviation regulator. All four of the country’s airports have written to the BHDCA calling for a moratorium on the fee, while Ryanair has urged the government to abolish the passenger departure tax. The carrier’s Chief Commercial Officer, Jason McGuinness, previously said, “If Sarajevo Airport wants to continue to see further investment on behalf of Ryanair, including the potential establishment of a base, it must remain competitive compared to Albania, Hungary, Italy, Sweden, and others, which are all abolishing aviation taxes and reducing fees to ensure valuable traffic growth".
mhmm that's what we thought about this winter and here we are. I will believe it when I see it. Summer 2027 is far away and the economic climate isn't promising.
ReplyDeleteAnd some people here in the comments were writing how they will open a base in winter. So much for that
DeleteThey will never open a base in SJJ , they will just serve the airport seasonally
DeleteTo be fair, I think the reopening of the Wizz base in Tuzla has derailed Ryanair's performance in Sarajevo.
DeleteRyanair establishing a base in Sarajevo would completely change the airport. Early morning departures and late evening arrivals would make many routes much more viable.
DeleteNothing is impossible if the airport can guarantee long term subsidies like other airports in the region and settle the BHDCA tax. But it doesn't seem likely for the tax part.
DeleteWell the economic climate hasn’t been promising since 2008, and yet life goes on.
DeleteIn BiH that can be extended back many decades before that number..
DeleteBiH has been on the same upwards trajectory as any other non-EU Balkan country, slow and steady.
DeleteBravo Sarajevo!
DeleteThe summer expansion is welcome but suspending the entire operation for winter still makes Ryanair look unreliable from Sarajevo.
ReplyDeletePoklonjenom konju se ne gleda u zube.
DeleteBy that time in 2027 it is matter of question would they even go back there as a summer seasonal operator. Suspending whole operations and promising come back for only the summer seasom is from bad to worse
DeleteUnreliable? More like adaptable. I think it’s the market there that’s perhaps unreliable, as seems to be the case across Ex-Yu. The people here love to say 2 things: economic doom and gloom is always around the corner, and Ryanair is unreliable. And yet destinations across Europe fight to have it fly there.
DeleteThere is no more economc doom than in BiH tbh. Its a basket case. Keeping FR is very important.
DeleteThat's not true. All former Yugoslav countries are in a similar economic situation.
Delete^ umm not exactly
DeleteLjubljana can not get Ryanair.
DeletePrague would be an excellent addition. It is surprising that Sarajevo still has no direct service
ReplyDeleteRelatively thin route.
DeleteYou mean SJJ is relatively thin route
DeletePrague is one of the top 3 unserved routes, Tour agencies themselves would eat it up like they did Girona, let alone solo travelers and reverse demand from Czechs.
Deleteand thatswhy they dropped it?
DeleteWho dropped it?
DeleteThe last time Prague was served from Sarajevo was in 2008/09 by B&H Airlines. No one has flown it since then so no one has dropped it.
DeleteGirona
Delete^ what about it?
Deleteagencies have eaten it so up that they stopped flying in winter season
DeleteThis 1,5 Euro fee is some BS power struggle between Ryanair and SJJ.
ReplyDeleteI hope SJJ prevails.
Prevails with less connectivity? I guess you are not from the city?
DeleteIt's just 1.5 EUR, if that impacts routes it's time to close the airport
DeleteRyanair will use any additional charge as leverage.
DeleteFirst they'll come after the 1.5€ fee. Then they'll ask for airport fee discounts. Then they'll ask for additional subsidies. If other airlines can fly under these conditions, then FR has no excuse
DeleteSo basically they will serve SJJ only as a summer seasonal airport and will still recieve subsidies for that service ? Wow what a masterpiece job from FR well done for them👏👏
ReplyDeleteAnd odd taxes stay, I would not be surprised if they completely withdraw
ReplyDelete*if not odd
DeleteWell basically they already did that as they suspend complete operations from the winter , and it is question if they go back 2027 summer seasonal only
DeleteCan't the airlines just add 1.5 euros to the ticket? So much drama about it
ReplyDeletethat's what I'm wondering as well. I'm sure there's an angle we are not considering...
DeleteRegular reminder that airlines don't pay fuel taxes or VAT, unlike everyone else.
ReplyDeleteNe mogu bez poticaja dobiti nove letove i kompanije...
ReplyDeleteDobice subvencije i tako ce sluziti sezonske letove to im je u planu. Ali ima dosta toga do letne sezone 2027 tako da pitanje je dali bi se ipak i vratili
DeleteNe može niko u regiji osim par najvećih.
DeletePrague, Madrid and Dublin would be my picks.
ReplyDeleteWould probably fail spectacularly maybe with the exception of PRG.
DeleteCould Malta work from Sarajevo?
ReplyDeleteI think it would be a good seasonal route
DeleteThe 28% capacity increase is more important than the headline number of routes. An additional 94,000 seats is substantial for Sarajevo.
ReplyDeleteHamburg would probably perform very well. There is a sizeable Balkan population in northern Germany and very limited connectivity from Sarajevo.
ReplyDeleteMalaga or Valencia would be much more interesting additions than simply adding another German destination.
Deletemore interesting but not viable
DeleteI hope they don't drop any of the existing routes
ReplyDeleteBeauvais and Charleroi are useful, but eventually Sarajevo needs proper connectivity to CDG and BRU as well. Secondary airports cannot replace everything.
ReplyDeleteBRU has sruggled from several ExYu capitals.
Deleteis it coming from the same source that was telling us that they will launch a base in winter?
ReplyDeleteI don't remember this site ever publishing that they will open a base in winter.
DeleteIt wasn't this site but people in the comments section.
DeleteThe source for this is SJJ obviously
Deleteairport: https://www.exyuaviation.com/2025/09/sarajevo-airport-aims-to-become-ryanair.html
DeleteReintroduce Eindhoven, there is no line between Bosnia and Holland.......
ReplyDeleteTZL-MST?
DeleteDa ima TZL-MST.
DeleteI would much rather see year-round flights on ten routes than fourteen routes for seven months followed by nothing all winter.
ReplyDelete+100
DeleteDublin seems like the most obvious route to me. Large diaspora potential
ReplyDelete:):)
DeleteCork is more needed
DeleteWhy Cork?
Deletebecause its nonsence large diaspora
DeleteDublin is primarily a leisure route though
DeleteIf Ryanair really sees this much potential in Sarajevo, why abandon the market completely for five months?
ReplyDeleteBecause the smog that closes the airport for hours at a time causes chaos.
DeletePrague feels like the biggest missing route at the moment. I think it would work comfortably even without huge subsidies.
ReplyDeletelol
DeleteIt would be interesting to know how much public money will actually be offered through the new subsidy scheme.
ReplyDeletekept a secret
DeleteSarajevo gets much more in return. These people spend money here, so this investment pays off. It means thousands of new arrivals (if everything works).
Deleteso its good for all exyu airports too?
DeleteFantastic!
ReplyDeleteBravo Sarajevo.
ReplyDeleteI'm frightened to see what the winter will look like at Sarajevo without Ryanair.
ReplyDeleteThere will be a drop in passengers. No need for drama.
DeleteThe airport worked before Ryan arrived so... Winter will not be good, but it will not be disaster either.
DeleteIt seems SJJ could not sustain a Wizz base and now can't sustain year-round Ryanair flights.
ReplyDeleteWill they also increase frequencies on existing routes next summer as well?
ReplyDeleteLet's see first if they come back.
DeleteThe fact that all four airports are united against the passenger fee tells you something. BHDCA should at least review whether the current funding model still makes sense.
ReplyDeleteSolidarity for once in BiH.
DeleteYou know it's bad when everyone is on the same page in Bosnia haha
DeleteThe most encouraging part is that the airport is apparently targeting destinations outside the traditional diaspora markets.
ReplyDeleteBut will it work?
DeleteLooks like a great chance for YU to increase frequences and get more transfers on BEG
ReplyDeleteThey seem to be increasing capacity rather than frequencies by sending E195s
DeleteWake me up when they introduce a Sarajevo-Skopje line.
ReplyDeleteI’ll be holding my breath till then. 😴
They couldn't even if they wanted to. Which they wouldn't to begin with.
Deleteyes they could (see Aegean)
DeleteWizz Air could theoretically launch it from their Skopje base. Are any of the airlines from Türkiye allowed to fly e.g. IST-SKP-SJJ or SAW-SKP-SJJ?
DeleteMK and BiH would give any airline the rights but if one can make it work its one of the two ULCCs
DeleteSarajevo-Ljubljana as well, no-brainer. Skopje is even further so it'd work for sure. Tirana as well in summer.
DeleteSJJ-LJU would have to be Wizz Air or Ryanair. Since neither has a base in either airport, W-flights would be necessary. I could also imagine that an airline like SkyAlps or similar which operates turboprops could make it work.
DeleteNo one is launching any of these routes
DeleteReally hope this materializes
ReplyDeleteIt will
Delete