Banja Luka Airport has a lawsuit from the Directorate for Civil Aviation (BHDCA) because it did not submit data on the number of passengers, which is why BHDCA could not collect a 1.50 euro fee from carriers.
Banja Luka believes that it is wrong for BHDCA to transfer this obligation to the airports, since it is their fee and they could have charged it directly from the airlines.
Furthermore, BHDCA has modalities to dispute the right of airlines to land in BiH if they do not pay this fee, and can also condition them in that way, which airports do not have.
Banja Luka is currently in a court case that BHDCA will very likely win and they are not sure who will pay this significant amount of money. Banja Luka does not have that money.
Therefore, the airport informed the carriers that it is very realistic that they will have to pay this amount. And that can only mean a reaction by the LCC, reduction of routes or even the departure of the carriers from Bosnia and Herzegovina(BiH). That can’t be good at all, writes Zamaaero.
Natalia Trivic, director of the Banja Luka airport, launched an initiative to keep this fee of 1.50 euros for legacy carriers, but to reduce it to 0.50 euros for LCCs (low-cost companies), which she believes LCCs would accept.
However, we can see that Ryanair left Tuzla precisely for those 1.50 euros, and that for the same amount, Ryanair and Wizz Air significantly reduced the number of flights from Podgorica.
Therefore, Banja Luka’s initiative is realistic and BHDCA should accept it. It is supposed it’s not in their interest for LCCs to withdraw, so they don’t charge a single cent of this tax, concludes Zamaaero.
