Starting April 1st this year, Tuzla International Airport will switch to its summer flight schedule, and at the moment, only three destinations are available to passengers. Whether there will be an increase in the number of destinations remains uncertain, as no agreement has been reached with a new airline, nor has a call for subsidies been announced.
Since September of last year, Tuzla International Airport has faced problems after its strategic partner, the low-cost airline Wizz Air, decided to close its base, withdraw aircraft, and drastically reduce the number of operations.
At the moment, passengers from Tuzla, through the aforementioned airline, have the option to fly to three destinations, namely Dortmund and Memmingen in Germany and Basel in Switzerland.
Unsuccessful cooperation with the Greeks
Meanwhile, the Government of the Tuzla Canton (TC) allocated two and a half million BAM for subsidies, which were granted to the Greek airline Lumiwings, leading to the establishment of flights to Stockholm, Halmstad, Maastricht, Saarbrucken, Esbjerg, and back.
However, the cooperation lasted less than three months, and due to poor passenger response and aircraft occupancy below 30 percent, the subsidy was spent, and the airline withdrew, suspending all previously scheduled flights that were planned until March 31st this year.
Although previously announced, the Tourist Board of the TC has not yet issued a public call for airlines interested in opening routes from Tuzla. According to confirmed information, modalities for the subsidy to be offered to airlines are still being considered.
Furthermore, two options are currently on the table: one involves paying a certain amount per arriving passenger, while the other entails paying a certain amount to the airline for opening a destination.
On the other hand, the management of Tuzla International Airport is actively engaged in discussions with airlines in preparation for announcing a public call.
This is a complex activity, and the timing of the public call depends precisely on it, as the initial interest was expressed only by Lumiwings, with whom cooperation proved to be quite poor.
Survival with only three routes is difficult
At this moment, it is certain that Tuzla Airport can include only three destinations in its summer flight schedule, as it will come into effect in less than 20 days, making it difficult to bring in a new airline that would establish operations by April 1st.
The future of Tuzla International Airport is quite unpredictable, and if this airport remains reliant only on three Wizz Air routes, its normal financial functioning will undoubtedly be questionable, as will the achievement of the business plan in terms of the number of passengers transported in 2024.
It’s worth mentioning that Wizz Air, which also brought in the majority of revenue for Tuzla Airport, is currently facing a crisis due to the necessity of grounding a larger number of aircraft, which requires extraordinary inspection checks.
Moreover, the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH) has made decisions regarding the funding of airports in BiH for the year 2024. A total of 17.300.000 BAM will be allocated to the airport in Bihac, 3.000.000 BAM to the airport in Sarajevo, and 2.000.000 BAM each to the airports in Mostar and Tuzla.
These funds are intended for operational costs and subsidizing existing and opening new airline routes, Klix.ba reports.
E.Dz.
