The new Sarajevo-based airline, FlyBosnia, plans to commence operations in 2018 with the start-up recently advertising job openings for cabin crew members. The carrier has been set up by the Al Shiddi Group, a Saudi Arabian investment and development company which also runs the Sarajevo City Center - a business complex, hotel and shopping mall in the Bosnian capital. "FlyBosnia is a new, young and dynamic airline based in Sarajevo, now looking for exceptional people who are friendly, confident and have a passion for excellent customer service delivery, to join the team of enthusiasts already passionate for flying. We will strive to ensure that our customers enjoy safe flights with high standards of customer service", the company said.
FlyBosnia plans to focus on shuttling holiday-makers between the Gulf and Sarajevo, which is becoming an increasingly popular destination for tourists from the Middle East. During the 2017 summer season, the Al Shiddi Group partnered with Egypt's Nesma Airlines to launch five weekly flights between Riyadh and Sarajevo, which were maintained for a three-month period between June and September. However, the investment company expressed anger at authorities after a number of Saudi nationals were turned back in Sarajevo for not possessing an entry visa. At the time, the Al Shiddi Group threatened to scale-back its investments in Bosnia and several of the planned flights were cancelled.
Previous attempts to set up a commercial airline in Bosnia have failed. The country's flag carrier has gone into bankruptcy on two occasions, while Bosnian Wand Airlines (BWA), founded by the Iraqi Al Wand Group in 2015, with plans to fly from Sarajevo to Stockholm, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Malmo and Athens, lasted for only a month. There has also been a previous attempt by a different investor to set up an airline named FlyBosnia. In 2004, a UK-based company intended to establish the carrier with flights between London Gatwick, Manchester and Sarajevo. However, those plans never materialised. The Al Shiddi-funded FlyBosnia will reveal more details on its fleet and network early next year.
Here we go again. They just don't give up. The market is just too small and not wealthy enough to support a national carrier.
ReplyDeleteI don't think these guys are creating a national carrier.
DeleteThis will fail again
DeleteThese are the people who have destroyed the air force in BiH, just changing the names of the airline companies and cheating people because they do not have any knowledge.
DeleteAnother airline which will be of no use to locals since they will only fly to Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf.
ReplyDeleteLet's wait and see. We don't know if they will only fly to the Gulf.
Delete99% they will fly only to the Gulf to serve the leisure arm of the Al Shiddi group.
DeleteSarajevo needs more flights to European destinations. We are already well covered to the Gulf with FlyDubai, Qatar, Wataniya Airways and others.
DeleteBut that's the point. This new airline is not being created to serve the needs of locals in Sarajevo, it is being created for Middle East tourists.
DeleteIf they want to fly only from gulf region to BiH they dont need an airline established in BiH. So they planned to connect BiH with various other destinations
DeleteGood luck!
ReplyDeleteThat logo reminds me of my local fish and chips take-away joint...
ReplyDeleteWith all due respect to the Saudi Al Shiddi Group for their real estate investments and successes, they're getting themselves into a very tricky industry and in a country (and region in general) where bureaucracy and corruption always wins over commercial interests. Rather stick to buildings... much safer bet.
Haha yes, they could have worked a bit more on the logo.
DeleteI don't mind the logo actually. Simple and clean.
DeleteVery simple and clean, as if my cat had the last bite off its tail :-)
DeleteThis has disaster written all over it, I just don't see this one lasting too long, even on the Middle East services, established competitors will eat them for dinner - excuse the pun. What are they thinking launching an airline for a highly seasonal network? Get some ACMI to do the dirty work instead...
I wonder which aircraft they plan to use.
ReplyDeleteMore interestingly we will see if they will use a Bosnian AOC.
DeleteThey will have to if they want to fly from Bosnia.
DeleteOh really and Wizz Air has a Bosnian AOC?
DeleteWell they closed down BWA with the explanation that they do not hold a Bosnian AOC.
DeleteThey will use Bosnian AOC
Deletehaha i think most likely a Airbus A318 :D
Deletehaha I fairly think A318 or B737-500 will come to use :D
DeleteI hope this does not end up like Wand Airlines
ReplyDeleteAt least it's a private airline. No public money spent, unlike with B&H Airlines.
DeleteTrue that
DeleteAl Shiddi Group has deep pockets.
Deletesame CEO as Wand
Deletemajke mi
DeletePranje para
ReplyDeleteI bet you this won't work, just like Dalmatian, Wand Air and Air Croatia...
ReplyDeleteWill be interesting to see how this plays out
ReplyDeleteIn this country, it seems everything must be owned by strangers in order to exist. Local politicians steal and dismantle everything which is owned by the country.
ReplyDeleteHuh, nothing new on Balkan. Same in Makedonija, Bulgarija or even Serbia, Croatia, Slovenija.
Delete+1
DeleteSo Sarajevo - Riyadh?
ReplyDeleteMost likely.
DeleteOr Sarajevo - Jeddah
DeleteThe first flyBosnia sounded better. At least we would have had flights to the UK.
ReplyDeleteEven Wizz could not make it work between Bosnia and the UK. I doubt a local start up would have.
DeleteGood news for Sarajevo.
ReplyDeleteDespite the number of flights from the Middle East to Sarajevo, there is obviously pent up demand. I mean FZ will fly three daily to SJJ next summer.
ReplyDeleteThat is true but the demand is seasonal. Look at the operations during winter.
DeleteWhat times will FZ fly?
DeleteMorning, afternoon and evening.
DeleteDubai-Sarajevo flight schedule STT2018
DeleteFZ 8605 DXB-SJJ 03:10-07:10 Daily
FZ 761 DXB-SJJ 09:15-13:15 Daily
FZ 8697 DXB-SJJ 13:55-17:55 Daily
FZ 8606 SJJ-DXB 08:10-15:45 Daily
FZ 762 SJJ-DXB 14:15-21:50 Daily
FZ 8698 SJJ-DXB 18:55-02:30 Daily
This summer they cancelled 24 of the 92 flights. They say its because of Saudis thinking they don't need visas to Bosnia, but I'm not so sure. I think they just could not fill the planes.
ReplyDeleteThis refers to the Riyadh-Sarajevo flights.
DeleteSo
ReplyDeleteRiyadh - Nesma Airlines
Sharjah - Air Arabia
Dubai - Fly Dubai
Kuwait - Wataniya
Doha - Qatar Airways
and now FlyBosna?
Impressive.
DeleteSpend a day in Sarajevo and surrounding area and you'll see why so many flights. It's like you are somewhere in Middle East
DeleteAre there any stats or estimates how many tourists from the Middle East visit Bosnia each year?
DeleteJanuary-October tourist arrivals in Bosnia and Herzegovina:
Delete1 Turkey 85.835 +8,5%
2 Croatia 78.948 +11,7%
3 Serbia 64.966 +10,6%
4 South Korea 49.183 +25,5%
5 Slovenia 48.020 +9,5%
6 Italy 40.492 +6,0%
7 Poland 39.180 +26,6%
8 United Arab Emirates 31.625 -1,1%
9 Germany 31.443 +18,9%
10 China 28.581 +129,9%
11 Saudi Arabia 23.946 +34,9%
12 United States of America 23.923 +25,3%
13 Austria 21.159 +13,5%
14 France 15.267 +13,1%
15 Oman 13.144 +
16 Nederland 12.133 +32,2%
17 Montenegro 11.948 +16,5%
18 United Kingdom 11.809 +26,0%
19 Sweden 11.166 +27,5%
20 Hungary 11.152 +22,7%
21 Malesia 10.792 +
22 Spain 10.002 +27,5%
Again with Middle East...
ReplyDeleteSo? The demand is there.
DeleteAnd no demand for Europe?
DeleteIf Middle East flights work for Sarajevo then why not?
DeleteThe Balkan mania of having a flag carrier. Swallow your prides.
ReplyDeleteThe only European countries that don't have a flag carrier are Macedonia, Bosnia, Lithuania, Hungary and Slovakia.
DeleteThis airline will not be a flag carrier. It is a private airline being established in Bosnia by a Saudi Arabian investor. No public money will be spent on it.
DeleteYou forgot Estonia, Cyprus, micro states in Europe. This makes around 10 countries and as you can see, there is no drama.
DeleteEstonia's national airline is called Nordica and as far as I'm aware European micro states don't have commercial airports.
DeleteThere’s nothing wrong with having a flag carrier. But there is no reason why such company has to be state owned and live on taxpayers life support for decades.
DeleteTake a look at British Airways, private-owned flag carrier. And UK seems to be doing just fine and don’t need to “invest” millions of pounds every year to keep it running.
And the rest have a dying flag carrier like Czechia, Montenegro, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Ukraine etc etc
DeleteExactly, meaning we no longer need a national carrier
DeleteGood opportunity for young people to get employed. And if they are successful, Sarajevo will be handling a million passengers per year in no time. Wish them all the best.
ReplyDeleteAnd here is the job advertisement :)
Deletehttps://m.posao.ba/#!job;id=181907
Similar to Serbia with Germany, the Middle East flights to Sarajevo will soon be saturated. Supply will destroy demand sooner or later.
ReplyDelete95% of the passengers will be Arabs, no use for locals and probably no or poor chances of connecting flights. Any extra airline for SJJ is a plus tho.
ReplyDeleteTheir website is currently under construction
ReplyDeletehttp://flybosnia.ba/
These are the people who have destroyed the air force in BiH, just changing the names of the airline companies and cheating people because they do not have any knowledge.
ReplyDeleteTo su ljudi koji su unistili avijaciju u BiH, samo mjenjaju nazive avio kompanija i varaju ljude jer nemaju nikakvo znanje.
ReplyDeleteThese are the people who have destroyed the air force in BiH, just changing the names of the airline companies and cheating people because they do not have any knowledge.