Wizz Air opens Tuzla base

Wizz Air aims to handle 250.000 passengers from Tuzla annually

Wizz Air formally opened its base in Tuzla on Friday afternoon by basing an Airbus A320 at the airport. The jet will be deployed on a total of nine routes. Over the past week, the no frills carrier launched services from Bosnia and Herzegovina’s third largest city to Frankfurt-Hahn, Sandefjord, Memmingen and Stockholm-Skavsta and increased its capacity from Tuzla by 70% compared to last year. Furthermore, the airline has carried 290.000 passengers to and from Tuzla since first launching operations there in May 2013. Wizz Air says its major expansion in Tuzla will further stimulate the job market in the aviation and tourism sectors with more visitors now able to travel to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The low cost airline plans to boost its passenger numbers at Tuzla Airport to 250.000 per year. Furthermore, the number of flights is set to increase from an average of thirteen per week to 23 weekly services. In an earlier statement, Wizz Air’s Chief Commercial Officer, Gyorgy Abran, said, “The new Tuzla base will create a number of local jobs with Wizz Air and our local business partners. We look forward to becoming the airline of choice of Bosnian consumers and visitors”. The low cost airline’s CEO, Jozsef Varadi, told EX-YU Aviation News that Wizz is “highly excited for Bosnia and Herzegovina” and hopes to replicate its success in Tuzla across the country. “Wizz Air is very well suited for that environment. The country is absolutely right for our business plan”, Mr Varadi said. However, he added, “We are in talks with Sarajevo Airport but they are simply too expensive. They need to lower their costs”.

Tuzla Airport has struggled to attract airlines and passengers since it opened its doors for commercial use in 1998. However, its fortunes turned in 2013 when Wizz Air launched its first service from Malmo. Flights quickly proved popular and the no frills airline expanded its network. In 2014, the airport handled 151.353 passengers, a notable 146% increase on the year before. The airport welcomed more passengers last year than it did for the three previous years combined. During the first five months of 2015, Tuzla Airport has continued to see its passenger numbers grow with 74.882 travellers handled, an increase of 83.3% compared to the same period last year. The airport estimates it will handle some 200.000 travellers in 2015. Furthermore, Tuzla is in talks with the small Austrian carrier People’s Viennaline to launch two weekly flights from the Austrian capital to Tuzla with its single Embraer 170 jet.