The Sarajevo-based FlyBosnia has said it will decide by the end of the year on launching scheduled flights from Tuzla and Mostar to European destinations. The carrier previously noted it was considering moving its operations to the two cities, away from Bosnia and Herzegovina’s capital.
“We expect that within the next thirty days we could decide on which cities would be linked with Tuzla and Mostar. We are still waiting for the canton, federal and state ministries for tourism to get involved and actively promote Bosnia and Herzegovina’s tourist potential. This includes the City of Sarajevo, so we can bring in more tourists and strengthen Bosnia and Herzegovina’s economy”, the airline’s spokesperson, Aida Cvijetić, told the “Klix” portal.
It is unclear whether the new flights from Tuzla and Mostar would result in the carrier discontinuing its services from Sarajevo. Last month, Ms Cvijetić said, “Our company and staff are considering the possibility of shifting our operations to Tuzla and Mostar. In such a case, we would fly to Rome from Mostar, while London and other EU destinations would be maintained from Tuzla, from which we would provide bus transfers to Sarajevo”. Wizz Air, which boasts a base in Tuzla, previously flew from the city to London Luton but discontinued the flights due to insufficient demand. It is believed FlyBosnia has accumulated over half a million euros worth of debt towards Sarajevo Airport, Ex-Yu aviation news reported.
FlyBosnia, which currently boasts a one-member fleet, has said it will take delivery of two leased Airbus A319 jets in April 2020, which would enable it to introduce new services to Barcelona, Moscow and Milan. The airline also plans on launching flights to Paris during the first quarter of 2020. The company will run a series of charters in the coming period from Mostar to Italy and Ireland. Since launching scheduled flights in June, FlyBosnia has handled over 40.000 passengers.
“FlyBosnia is a young carrier from Bosnia and Herzegovina, which took up the risk to develop airline traffic both in the country and Sarajevo as our home base. We are well aware that we have no concessions, grants nor any other type of subsidies from either the canton, federal or state governments. This is in contrast to other regional airlines where the state invests into their carriers in order to cover their losses as they are of national importance”, the company previously said.
