New CEO for better times?
Bosnia’s Federation government has named B&H Airlines’ new CEO following the withdrawal of key people appointed by part owner Turkish Airlines. Amir Jažić will lead the company over the next six months, after which the CEO post will be up for discussion once again. Jažić has already served as the acting CEO of B&H Airlines back in 2010 prior to the appointment of the Turkish management. He has also been the airline’s Executive Director for Financial Affairs.The new acting CEO has a tough task ahead. The airline has seen its passenger numbers plunge almost 44% in the first quarter. The carrier is currently operating flights to three cities with an ATR72, since the other is grounded in Germany. B&H’s underperformance this year has played into the hands of its competition. Airlines operating out of Sarajevo Airport are increasing capacity and have been able to boost ticket prices. The Bosnian management will now also take charge of finances and marketing, which have been handed over by the Turks.
Former B&H CEO Altan Buyukyilmaz as well as the Managing Director for Marketing and Sales Ali Rıza Mortas and the Executive Director for Financial Affairs Mehmet Fatih Guclu handed in their resignations last month. A further three airline board members appointed by Turkish Airlines have also been stood down. It should be noted that all of those mentioned held very high positions within Turkish Airlines before transferring to B&H. The move is seen as a possible exit strategy for Turkish Airlines whose relationship with the Bosnian government has turned sour in the past few months. Turkish Airlines CEO, Temil Kotil, said late last week that no decision has been made on whether Turkish will withdraw from its 49% stake in B&H Airlines.
Do you think the change in management will make a difference at B&H and which direction will the airline take if Turkish Airlines were to withdraw from its ownership stake? Send a comment.
With the Bosnian taking over key positions from the Turks everything will be worse!
ReplyDeleteif TK pulls out, shut it down.
ReplyDeleteit s a repeating frustrating fact that free economy is being hindered by local political incapacities
I wouldn’t agree that the airline should shut down just because Turkey exists. I’m all for free economy and non government intervention but here I’m blaming Turkish Airlines. They have done a lousy job from the get go and turned an airline with a lot of perspective into a sick elephant. Losses at BH skyrocketed after Turkish took over. They were actually doing much better while run by the government. Now, if Turkish did leave they probably would go bankrupt, not because their losses would spiral out of control but because the government is strapped for cash as it is and they couldn’t afford to finance BH.
ReplyDeleteI think the best thing for B&H Airlines would be to join either JAT or the Adria/Croatia merger. I am kind of disappointed by Turkish as well. Being such successful airline, I was hoping they would help B&H to come out as a strong regional player but it looks like they had different agenda in their pocket. Whatever it is, I think that Bosnia as an impoverished country cannot sustain having a national carrier. Again, as mentioned before, the smartest idea would be to combine resources with one of the neighboring countries and start few routes that have been proven successful until they get the loyal customer base.
DeleteGood luck to B&H! It's going to be a tough year for sure.
The picture is that Turkish has not done a perfect job in B&H Airlines but you can't expect much success given the tacit political arguments between SDA and SDP over the company.
DeleteIf you want to blame someone, blame the government. Why? Oh, I hear you guys shouting out loud that the management was in Turkish' hands. Think bigger for once.
How much foreign direct investment was BH able to attract in recent years. How many companies who started to invest in BH pulled out because of the self-benefit seeking politicians in BH.
It is not just that simple.
Official! FlyDubai to fly from Skopje starting from October! Good news for SKP!
ReplyDeleteYAY!
DeleteTravel summary
ReplyDeleteOrigin Destination Number Departure time Arrival time
Skopje Dubai Terminal 2 FZ - 792 18Oct2012 13:40 18Oct2012 20:50
Dubai Terminal 2 Skopje FZ - 791 25Oct2012 09:15 25Oct2012 12:40
Passengers Fare Per Passenger Services Insurance fee Taxes Subtotal
1 Adult EUR 455.04 EUR 0.00 EUR 0.00 EUR 34.96 EUR 490.00
Total price EUR 490.00
490EUR!? OMG!
DeleteHmm if I recall correctly when they launched BEG flights a return flight was €370.
DeleteYesterday night JAT sent B733 to Sarajevo and Croatia sent A319.
ReplyDeleteTo Split yesterday night OU sent Q400 instead to Sarajevo, apparently OU and JAT have more pax due to Air Bosna bad performance.
Yeaaaahhhhh!!!!!
ReplyDeleteNow we get the competition we were always dreaming of.
Flydubai not only will fly twice a week to Skopje but also four times a week to Bucharest from end of october!
In Bucharest they will compete with Qatar Airways
direct flights to Doha...
i wonder why they are not going to Sofia first?
Sofia still has no direct flight.
They are not direct, they are operated as DOH-OTP-SOF
DeleteWow 490€ that's huge! QR can't be more expensive than that. JU was charging the same.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations to SKP!! Huge Bravo for TAV and Macedonia! Macedonian airports will reach the mark of 1Mio. pax this year and have the strongest growth so far in the ex-yu! TAV made an amazing thing within 1 year in macedonian aviation! Reallistically SKP will overrun LJU and PRN in 2-3 years!
ReplyDelete