This summer, citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) will be able to enjoy the comfort and convenience of direct flights to popular metropolises. Sarajevo, Banja Luka, Mostar and Tuzla are the key departure points for planes to permanent and new destinations such as: Frankfurt, Zurich, Cologne, Antalya, Hurghada, Monastir, Athens, London, Thessaloniki and others. Here is an overview of the destinations for which a direct regular airline route or charter flights have been established from four airports in BiH (Sarajevo International Airport, Mostar International Airport, Banja Luka Airport and Tuzla International Airport), as well as announcements for the introduction of lines for new destinations.
Sarajevo
There are currently 27 airlines operating at Sarajevo International Airport, which connect Sarajevo with around 32 European and world destinations with regular or charter lines:
Austrian Airlines – Vienna, Air Serbia – Belgrade, Croatia – Zagreb, Turkish Airlines – Istanbul, Swiss – Zurich, Lufthansa – Frankfurt, Eurowings – Stuttgart, Cologne, Kuwait Airways – Kuwait City, Jazeera Airways – Kuwait City, Air Arabia – Sharjah, Air Cairo -Hurghada, SAS – Copenhagen, Lot polish – Warsaw, Wizz Air Abu Dhabi – Abu Dhabi, SunExpress – Izmir, Antalya, Flynas – Jeddah, Riyadh, Flyadeal – Riyadh, Qatar – Doha, AJET – Antalya, Aegean-Skopje, Athens, Ryanair – Milan, Memmingen, Brussels, London, Thessaloniki, Norwegian – Stockholm, Oslo, Flydubai – Dubai, NouvelAir Monastir – Tunisia, Wizz Air UK – London, Gulf Air – Manama and Pegasus Istanbul.
In the period from January 1st to June 30th this year, 7,177 flights were made, of which 110 were charter flights. In the same period, 722,981 passengers were registered.
“In the month of June alone, 202,515 passengers were served, which is as much as 51 percent more compared to the same period in 2023, and 1,798 air operations were realized, i.e. 33 percent more compared to the same period of the previous year,” Sarajevo Airport said.
When it comes to new lines from the capital of BiH, citizens will be able to travel to Rome via the Wizz Air airline from October 29th this year. It is about the establishment of a long-awaited direct airline on the route Sarajevo – Rome. Wizz Air will establish year-round flights from Sarajevo International Airport, with three weekly frequencies on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
As they explained, the establishment of this airline is the result of the joint cooperation of Sarajevo International Airport, the Ministry of Economy of Canton Sarajevo (CS) and the Tourist Board of CS.
When it comes to the information on when the previously announced direct line from Sarajevo to Barcelona will be established, they still do not specify the date.
“Regarding the establishment of a direct airline from Sarajevo to Barcelona, as well as other routes on which we are intensively working, we are currently in the negotiation phase. Our focus remains on European destinations, in order to enable a better connection of BiH with key cities throughout Europe”, they note from Sarajevo International Airport.
Banja Luka
From Banja Luka Airport, there are direct scheduled flights to nine destinations: Brussels, Gothenburg, Memmingen, Vienna, Stockholm, Karlsruhe (Baden-Baden), Dortmund, Basel Mulhouse and Belgrade, while charter flights are directed to the following cities: Antalya, Hurghada, Monastir (Tunisia) and Athens.
“For the first six months of 2024, a total of 174,561 passengers were transported, of which 4,591 were transported by charter flights,” they explained from Banja Luka Airport and added that the plan is to introduce new lines.
“We are in intensive negotiations, and we plan to introduce lines that are of great importance to us and that represent strategic destinations for us, namely Hamburg, Malmo, Copenhagen and Istanbul, and also what we have planned is the introduction of regular or charter flights to destinations in Italy.”
Tuzla
There are direct flights from Tuzla Airport to: Dortmund, Memmingen and Basel-Mulhouse, all via Wizzair.
“From January 1st of this year to April 11th of this year, 97,554 passengers were served, of which 5,533 passengers were related to service on tourist charter flights to Antalya,” Edina Sisic, head of the Tuzla International Airport’s traffic sector, explained.
What is certain, she notes, is that the Pegasus company will establish direct flights to Istanbul from Tuzla Airport from August.
“We are in negotiations with several other airlines, but for discretionary reasons, at this moment we cannot say who it is and which destinations will be because that would jeopardize the further course of negotiations,” she says.
Mostar
Passengers traveling from Mostar have direct flights to Zagreb, Belgrade, Munich, Verona, Bari and Rome, of which Belgrade (Air Serbia) and Zagreb (Croatia Airlines) have flights three times a week, and the other four destinations of the Sky Alps airline maintain two weekly flights.
“Until the end of the year, no new lines will be introduced, except for the possible extension to the winter season of regular lines to Zagreb and Belgrade”, they stated at the Mostar International Airport.
In the first six months of this year, this airport achieved a total traffic of 14,918 passengers, of which 13,967 were transported on regular lines, while 951 passengers were transported by charter flights and general aviation flights. Since the summer months are the busiest, around 40,000 passengers are expected to be transported from Mostar airport by the end of the year, Forbes writes.
E.Dz.
