From Sarajevo International Airport, they commented on the proposal of the Sarajevo SDA to move this airport from the capital to Visoko.
On the eve of the campaign for the last General Election, the Sarajevo SDA presented a vision of the urban development of Canton Sarajevo (CS) until 2035, and the group of authors of this plan was headed by the architect Faruk Kapidzic, who from March 2020 to the beginning of 2021 was the Cantonal Minister of Spatial Planning, Construction and Environmental Protection. In the elections, he was elected as a cantonal deputy.
The plan involves closing the existing airport in Sarajevo and building a new one in the area of Visoko, which is an idea from before the last war. This was proposed, because the SDA assessed that the current location is unsuitable for an airport, due to its proximity to densely populated areas and frequent fog. The proposal is to turn the location of the current airport into a lake with accompanying recreational, sports and tourist content.
What do they think at Sarajevo Airport?
Sarajevo International Airport explained the conditions under which an airport can be relocated.
“We are of the opinion that without a detailed multidisciplinary and studious approach, any idea about building, i.e. relocating, the airport is completely unfounded. Such an approach could be realized through the engagement of renowned consulting companies in the field of aviation, of which there are only a few in the world,” it was pointed out.
“The prerequisite for any analysis of the project of considering the construction of an airport in a certain location would have to be long-term (at least 10 years) monitoring of meteorological conditions, and that monitoring of data related to the strength and frequency of wind, fog, precipitation, moisture, etc., and we are not it is known that such data exist at all. It would be necessary to make a complete marketing and economic study with all market and financial indicators of this project,“ it was pointed out.
As they emphasized, the Sarajevo International Airport is convinced that the Airport, based on its current performance, as well as the planned performance improvement (extension of the terminal and extension of the runway from 2,600 meters to 3,150 meters), meets all the market’s needs in the long term.
They referred to the statements, as they stated, of some of the most experienced pilots in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) who characterized the eventual relocation of the airport as science fiction, i.e. a project whose realization would not have any justification.
They also recalled the opinion of the former director of Sarajevo International Airport, Moris Moc Albahari, who died on October 25th at the age of 93. They stated that Albahari explained why Sarajevo International Airport has a strategically important location.
Mayor of Ilidza Nermin Muzur (Narod i Pravda – NiP, People and Justice) is among those who oppose this proposal. He asked why money was being invested in something that was proposed to no longer exist.
“They (FBiH Government) invested 60-70 million BAM last year, and this year they are investing even more. They are throwing 150 million BAM and saying that when they expand the airport, they will turn it into a lake. Can a normal person say that? What will happen with the ‘Tunnel of Rescue’ – ‘Tunel spasa’ (located under the airport runway) which is the most visited tourist attraction in BiH? If it becomes a lake, it will be the first one where guests on the beach are dead people. Harem, cemetery in Butmir covers the entire length of the airport. Are they going to exhume the dead to build that lake, or if it is difficult for someone from Ilidza to go to the lake, so now they should build a lake in front of his house,” said the mayor of Ilidza at one of the election rallies.
In a survey from September 29th, people were asked whether Sarajevo International Airport should be moved to Visoko. Of the 15,000 respondents, 8,600 or 53 percent were against, 6,200 or 40 percent supported the proposal, while just over 1,000 respondents or seven percent chose option ”I don’t know”, Klix.ba reports.
E.Dz.