Sarajevo Airport is expected to see the introduction of several additional new routes this coming summer season, complementing the six new destinations to be launched by Ryanair, two by SunExpress and one new service by Pegasus Airlines. Wizz Air, which was recently selected as one of the winners of a public call for the introduction of new routes to Sarajevo in return for subsidies, plans to commence flights from Italy. Although the carrier is yet to finalise which Italian city the service will originate from, the carrier is expected to inaugurate flights from Rome to Bosnia and Herzegovina’s capital. The route was last maintained by the now defunct FlyBosnia in March 2020.
The latest public call for the introduction of subsidised new routes was concluded just before the new year, with its outcome expected to be made public next week. “We didn’t have time to focus on the results of the latest tender due to the holidays, but I expect that next week we will be able to go public with the results. We were mainly targeting Scandinavian destinations and we expect the introduction of Oslo, Copenhagen and Stockholm”, Haris Fazlagić, the head of the Sarajevo Canton Tourism Board, which is providing funds for the new routes, said. The public call was launched after both Norwegian and SAS Scandinavian Airlines expressed interest in the introduction of new flights to Bosnia and Herzegovina’s capital.
Sarajevo Airport handled 1.362.007 passengers in 2023. The figure represents a decrease of 1.1% on the previous record held in 2022, during which Wizz Air operated a base out of Sarajevo prior to its closure. During the first quarter of 2024, Sarajevo Airport will boast 350.530 seats on the market. This represents an increase of 19.2% on last year or an additional 56.367 seats. During the same period, a total of 2.422 Sarajevo flights will be maintained (both inbound and outbound included) up 21% on last year, or an additional 420 operations. Pegasus Airlines will be the largest carrier in Sarajevo during Q1 in terms of capacity, just ahead of Turkish Airlines, Ex Yu Aviation News reports.
