Banja Luka Airport anticipates welcoming over 200.000 passengers this year and launching three new routes. Ryanair inaugurated services from Hahn to Bosnia and Herzegovina’s second largest city this week, while its subsidiary Lauda will commence flights from Vienna in April, although they will be operated by Ryanair aircraft. “We are optimistic over the launch of several interesting destinations in western and eastern Europe this year. Services to Vienna will operate twice per week, however, there is a possibility for frequencies to be increased”, the General Manager of Banja Luka Airport, Milan Račić, said.
According to Mr Račić, the airport’s agreement with Ryanair foresees the budget carrier introducing two new routes to Banja Luka each year. It currently maintains services from five European destinations, although flights from Stockholm Skavsta will be discontinued in late March due to the closure of Ryanair’s base in the Swedish capital. “On average we have two flights per day from Banja Luka. Our target is for this to be doubled and for us to have even more charter flights”, Mr Račić said. Air Serbia maintains summer charters from Banja Luka to Athens and Antalya, in addition to its scheduled service to Belgrade.
In 2019, Banja Luka Airport handled 149.966 passengers and registered year-on-year growth of 314%. Due to the significant increase in traffic, operator Airports of Republika Srpska has begun tendering procedures to select a contractor for the expansion of Banja Luka Airport’s terminal building. The project is valued at 360.000 euros, however, the scope of the work has not been specified. The airport is also expected to resume construction of its cargo terminal after almost three years. Work on the facility was halted in 2017 after inspectors determined the construction site did not comply with requirements set out in the contract documents. The cargo terminal should be some 900 square metres in size and is valued at 670.000 euros, according to Ex Yu Aviation news.
