Air traffic in the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) is experiencing new records. In August of this year, Sarajevo International Airport transported 259,017 passengers and thus achieved the highest traffic in its history. This figure is a continuation of the Airport’s business growth in recent months, which is also the result of the introduction of new airlines and lines to new foreign destinations. As previously explained by Sarajevo Airport BiH, 27 airlines currently operate at Sarajevo International Airport, connecting Sarajevo with around 32 European and world destinations via 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, and at the end of October, Sarajevo-Rome flight operated by Wizz Air should be introduced.
By August, 1,251,159 passengers were transported
This impressive August figure represents a 24.2 percent increase compared to the same month last year. As the Ex-Yu Aviation portal reports, during the first seven months of this year, 19.9 million passengers passed through the airports in our region, of which the Sarajevo airport achieved the highest annual growth in the number of passengers. Tivat airport is in second place, and Zagreb airport is in third place.
From January to August this year, Sarajevo Airport received a total of 1,251,159 passengers, which is an increase of 33.3 percent compared to last year.
Regionally, the “Nikola Tesla” airport in Belgrade, according to Ex-Yu Aviation, maintained its leading position among airports in the region, with 4.6 million passengers recorded by the end of July, which ranks it 70th among the busiest airports in Europe. The airport in Zagreb took second place with 2.4 million passengers, while the third place went to the airport in Pristina, through which 2.2 million passengers passed.
How did the European markets perform?
With more than one million additional passengers by the end of July compared to last year, Croatia is the fastest growing market in the former Yugoslavia in 2024 according to the number of added passengers.
However, several airports in the region recorded a decline in traffic. Nis airport recorded a decrease of 27.1 percent in July compared to the same month last year, while Tuzla, Banja Luka, Skopje, Ohrid, Osijek and Rijeka also recorded a decrease in the number of passengers.
All European markets recorded year-on-year growth during the first seven months of the year. The exceptions were Belarus, Russia and Armenia. London Heathrow remains the busiest airport in the first half of the year with 47.83 million passengers, while Istanbul is in second place with 45.72 million passengers. They are followed by Paris Charles de Gaulle with 39,852,446 passengers, Amsterdam with 38,102,445, Madrid with 37,825,412 passengers, Frankfurt with 34,795,519, Barcelona with 31,454,477, Rome Fiumicino with 27,550,990, London Gatwick with 24,479,101, and Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen with 23,660,247 passengers. Despite traffic growth, four of the ten busiest airports in Europe (Paris, Amsterdam, Frankfurt and London) have still not reached the level of 2019.
