Wizz Air to suspend Tuzla - Stockholm flights

Budget airline Wizz Air will suspend flights between Tuzla and Stockholm Skavsta Airport at the start of the 2016/17 winter season, which begins on October 30. Skavsta Airport has confirmed to EX-YU Aviation News that the service will be discontinued from October 27. No decision has been made whether the route could resume next summer and be maintained on a seasonal summer basis instead. It is the second destination to be suspended by Wizz from its Tuzla base over the last year, with services between Bosnia and Herzegovina's third largest city and Sandefjord in Norway terminated in December last year. However, these will be replaced by the introduction of two new routes over the winter, to Billund and Berlin, starting October 31 and December 17 respectively. Notably, both Gothenburg and Malmo in Sweden are the second and third busiest routes for Wizz out of Tuzla, preceded only by Dortmund, while its Stockholm service has struggled to attract passengers for some time.

Wizz Air is maintaining two weekly flights between Tuzla and Stockholm this summer. It faces no direct competition on the route, however, Norwegian Air Shuttle operates flights from Stockholm's Arlanda Airport to Sarajevo throughout the year. Wizz Air could potentially launch services from Sarajevo to the Swedish capital, as talks between the airline and airport continue. Wizz is reportedly considering introducing several European destinations from the city this winter. The budget carrier recently expressed its long-term commitment to the Bosnian market, stating, "We have brought low fares to Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2013 and in only a few years Tuzla has become a stable base. Our flights stimulate the Bosnian market by creating more jobs in the aviation and hospitality sectors, strengthening business relations between the countries and bringing people the opportunity to discover Europe’s fantastic cities at affordable prices".

In 2015 Wizz Air carried 268.748 travellers to and from Tuzla, up almost 75% on the year before. Tuzla Airport initially struggled to attract airlines and passengers when 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. It is currently the only commercial airline serving Bosnia and Herzegovina's second busiest airport on a year-long basis and has fuelled its spectacular passenger growth over the past two years. Tuzla Airport continued to see its passenger numbers grow with 141.600 travellers handled during the first half of the year, an increase of 46.8% compared to the same period in 2015.