On Tuesday, April 6th, the Minister of Transport and Communications of the Federation of BiH, Denis Lasic, visited Mostar Airport, where the Director of Mostar Airport Ivan Ljubic informed him about the situation in the light of changed working and business conditions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mostar is also facing future plans and the status of negotiations with airlines on the introduction of regular seasonal routes. With the continuous support of the Ministry and the Government of the Federation of BiH, Mostar Airport has made a significant number of capital investments in the past few years that have increased the quality and safety of its services, and subsidized activities to establish regular lines, the FBiH Ministry of Transport and Communications said. During the meeting,
Minister Lasic expressed his commitment to continue supporting the survival and development of Mostar Airport to its financial self-sustainability and announced the imminent signing of
”The total value of the Contract for our airport is 3.5 million BAM, of which one million refers to the program of spending current transfer funds “Subsidies to public companies” for the improvement of air transport, and 2.5 million BAM to the program of spending capital transfer funds “Capital transfer to public companies “,it is stated in the announcement.
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Through three programs of spending funds for subsidies to public companies in this area, Public Enterprise (PE) Airport Sarajevo was approved 500,000 BAM, PE Airport Mostar 1,000,000 BAM, and PE Airport Tuzla 1,200,000 BAM.
Four programs for spending part of the capital transfer funds intended for the improvement of FBiH air traffic were also adopted. Thus, Mostar Airport was allocated 2,500,000 BAM for the procurement and formation of a system for the supply of aviation fuel, and another 500,000 BAM for the preparation of project documentation, the second phase of renewal of horizontal signalization, video identification system and installation of software packages, fire alarm system and hydrant network service equipment and for the reconstruction of the roof of the terminal building.
PE Aerodrom Tuzla has been provided with 300,000 BAM for the construction of a parking lot with a new toll system. The program allocated 3 million BAM to PE Aerodrom Sarajevo for the implementation of the started capital project of modernization and upgrade of Terminal B.
Earlier, according to the explanation of the acting director of that company, Alan Bajic, in the year before the pandemic, the Sarajevo International Airport recorded all the positive business parameters.
MP Irfan Cengic, noting that the 2020 report will certainly not be favorable due to the problems caused by the pandemic to airlines, proposed a conclusion on this agenda item, which was also supported by a majority of MPs. With this conclusion, the House of Representatives instructed the company Sarajevo International Airport to submit to Parliament with a report on its own operations in 2020 detailed information on the reduction of salaries for workers due to the COVID 19 pandemic, as well as a plan to compensate for the loss of wages for that, Avaz writes.
Cheaper services
Bajic confirmed that due to the pandemic, the salaries of employees were reduced by 30 to 35 percent and that the multimillion losses were due to the Sarajevo International Airport.
MP Nihad Colpa said that the services of Sarajevo, Mostar and Tuzla airports must be cheaper.
”There is no need to talk about the importance of air traffic in BiH. We have a rich cultural and historical heritage, gastronomic offer, but we do not have travel infrastructure and cheap flights. Thus, the Federal Government passed a fee by which every departing passenger from Sarajevo International Airport is obliged to pay 20 BAM. Serious countries are investing in airports, and we are introducing new levies. This tax on the departing passenger should be abolished. This year, it is frozen, but it should be abolished,” said Colpa.
