Sarajevo Airport is in talks with both Wizz Air and easyJet over the introduction of several new routes as it seeks to offset Ryanair’s upcoming winter suspension of operations. The airport’s Acting CEO, Dino Selimović, said, “We are negotiating with a number of airlines, including Wizz Air and easyJet, to expand operations, primarily to European destinations. I am hopeful that by the end of this month we will have some good news regarding new routes”. He added, “These will include services both for the upcoming winter and next summer. They [airlines] are awaiting answers to several inquiries. Once local authorities launch tender procedures to subsidise the introduction of new routes, we expect these airline to apply, and we will be able to announce those destinations. All of this is anticipated by the end of this month”.
Wizz Air previously operated a base at Sarajevo Airport for roughly seventeen months, between May 2021 and October 2022. Destinations served during that period included Basel, Beauvais, Charleroi, Copenhagen, Dortmund, Eindhoven, Gothenburg, London Luton, Memmingen, Billund, Cologne, Hahn, Hamburg, Malmo, Sandefjord and Treviso. The carrier currently maintains services to Rome Fiumicino and London Luton. The latter, which was converted into a seasonal summer route last year, will now be extended and operated twice per week throughout the entire winter season after Ryanair suspends its London Stansted operations.
On the other hand, easyJet has never operated scheduled services to Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the potential launch of flights to Sarajevo would mark its entry into the market. The latest discussions are not the first between Sarajevo Airport and the carrier. The two sides held talks in 2024 over potential new services, although these ultimately did not result in easyJet entering the Bosnia and Herzegovina market. Sarajevo has also repeatedly sought to restore connectivity with Geneva. Swiss previously operated the Geneva - Sarajevo route from April 2015 until April 2016, while authorities later attempted to revive the service by awarding the airline subsidies to launch flights this year. However, those plans were ultimately shelved. Geneva is a major easyJet base and remains one of the destinations considered to have potential for future service.
Would love to see easyjet in Sarajevo! Agree that Geneva would make the most sense.
ReplyDeleteeasyJet to Geneva would make a lot of sense. There is a large diaspora market in Switzerland and Geneva has been missing from Sarajevo’s network for far too long.
DeleteeasyJet entering Bosnia would probably be more significant than people realise. Once an airline enters a new market successfully additional routes can follow quite quickly.
DeleteEasy Jet would be a very welcome addition simply because Sarajevo needs more airline variety. Too much of the recent growth has depended on a handful of carriers.
DeleteEveryone immediately mentions Geneva, but I would love to know what other easyJet bases are being discussed. Milan, Berlin or Paris could all be interesting.
DeleteGuys there is zero chance easyJet will come to Sarajevo
Delete11:06 A small portion of growth depended on RYR, Sarajevo actually has a lot of diversity in airlines unlike many other airports
DeleteWell done to them for being peoactive to find an alternative.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteNothing ever happens
ReplyDeleteWhat are you talking about?
DeleteIt is good but these are all going to be subsidised again. Can't the airport sustain a single route without financial assistance? And we are not talking here about 2nd tier destinations but primary European capiatls.
ReplyDeleteIt seems these subsidy tenders are becoming absolutely crucial for Sarajevo. Hopefully they are structured in a way that encourages airlines to remain once the incentives expire.
DeleteThe airport should be careful not to become too dependent on subsidies. New routes are welcome but they ultimately need to be commercially sustainable.
DeleteWhy do they "need" to be commercially sustainable? Where does this need come from?
Delete^ are you serious?
Deleteanon@12:00 i agree. They need to be as sustainable as a 7x/daily bus to Sanski most.
DeleteCan Skopje sustain them? Can Priština? Can Podgorica? Can Ljubljana? Not without subsidies. Even Zagreb and Belgrade gave extremely favorable conditions to LCCs, Sarajevo is just more transparent as it's a law requirement in the Canton to display public funds utilization.
DeleteIn Belgrade and Zagreb the airports give incentives, like they do in Sarajevo, Pristina, Podgorica and Ljubljana and almost every airport in the world. The difference is that in Sarajevo (like in Ljubljana and Podgorica) they get airport incentives and state subsidies.
DeleteWould be great to see Wizz return with a proper base rather than just adding another couple of routes.
ReplyDeleteIt would be ironic if Wizz ended up rebuilding a significant Sarajevo operation on the back of Ryanair leaving.
DeleteWizz expanding London to year-round as soon as Ryanair drops Stansted shows that the market is there. Airlines are simply positioning themselves differently.
ReplyDeleteThis is very good news and should help soften the blow after Ryanair leaves for the winter.
ReplyDeleteGeneva, Berlin, Prague and Madrid would all be interesting additions. Sarajevo still has quite a few obvious gaps in its European network.
ReplyDeleteSame thing happened when Ryanair left INI, another airline replaced them.
ReplyDeleteGreat news
ReplyDeleteSarajevo desperately needs stronger winter connectivity. Summer has become very good, but the difference between July and January is still enormous.
ReplyDeleteHopefully “good news by the end of the month” actually means routes will be announced and tickets placed on sale, not another announcement about continuing negotiations.
ReplyDeleteWizz already knows the Sarajevo market extremely well so presumably they have enough historical data to know exactly which former routes could work again.
ReplyDeleteYes they know it. They already picked up and left once.
DeleteIn vastly different conditions in the middle of COVID silencing, Ukraine war commencing and P&W engine issues decimating their fleet.
DeleteWizz Air smanjuje letove stalno u Tuzli i mogao bi i smanjiti bazu na 1 avion,a drugi prebaciti u Sarajevo...
ReplyDeleteVrlo moguce
DeleteCompetition between Wizz, Ryanair and potentially easyJet could finally put downward pressure on fares from Sarajevo. That would probably be the best outcome for passengers.
ReplyDeleteWhat Sarajevo really needs is an airline willing to build a proper year round network. Seasonal expansion every summer followed by cuts every winter isn't sustainable development.
ReplyDeleteEasier said than done.
DeleteWhere do Bosnians travel in winter to make it sustainable? Why come to Bosnia in winter?
DeleteHajdemo u planine,...
DeleteeasyJet would be a great addition!
ReplyDelete