FlyBosnia will commence three weekly services, each Tuesday, Saturday and Sunday, between Sarajevo and London’s Luton Airport starting September 19. The service will mark the resumption of operations between the two cities following an eleven-year hiatus. The carrier has said tickets for the new route will be on sale “within the next few days”. London will mark FlyBosnia’s first scheduled European service from Sarajevo.
It is expected to be followed up with the introduction of flights to Paris and Rome. “I held a productive meeting with FlyBosnia’s CEO Tarik Bilalbegović. We discussed the resumption of flights between Sarajevo and the United Kingdom. It will be good for tourism, business and the strengthening of ties between our two people”, the Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Matt Field, said.
FlyBosnia is scheduled to end its seasonal flights to Gassim and Manama on August 28 and September 13 respectively, enabling it to launch the London service. However, it will continue to serve Kuwait City, Jeddah and Riyadh in the Gulf. The airline has noted that in addition to point to point travellers between Sarajevo and London, it is also targeting transfer passengers from the Middle East for its new UK service. “The connection with London is primarily our effort to help business people realise their business plans. Our three time per week line will give businessmen and believers the opportunity to quickly connect via Sarajevo to the Middle East and tour Umrah”, the company noted.
Flights between Sarajevo and London were last maintained by British Airways. The service was operated three times per week with a Booing 737-400 aircraft. The route was discontinued during the 2008/2009 winter season as the global financial crisis hit the aviation industry. At the time, the British carrier noted that although its decision was difficult, it had suspended Sarajevo in order to focus on more profitable markets in Europe. Wizz Air introduced two weekly flights between Bosnia and Herzegovina’s second busiest airport in Tuzla and London Luton in 2016. However, the route was discontinued a year later, Ex-Yu Aviation news reports.
