Wizz Air unveils Tuzla expansion

Wizz Air will base a second aircraft in Tuzla and launch six new routes from the city in its biggest expansion from Bosnia and Herzegovina to date. Furthermore, the no frills carrier will add frequencies on existing services. The development was announced by CEO Joszef Varadi at a press conference yesterday. Wizz will inaugurate service from Tuzla to London Luton, Bratislava, Cologne, Friedrichshafen, Nuremberg and Vaxjo in southern Sweden. All will be launched at the start of the 2017 summer season in March, with exception to London, which will commence this October, joining the previously announced Billund service. The new routes represent a 96 million dollar investment on Wizz Air's behalf into Tuzla and the creation of a further 36 local jobs. Meanwhile, the new aircraft will allow Wizz Air to increase the number of weekly flights on existing routes from Tuzla to Eindhoven, Gothenburg, Malmo and Frankfurt Hahn. On the other hand, the airline will suspend flights to Stockholm Skavsta on October 27, however, they will resume next summer.

Commenting on the new route launches, Mr Varadi said, "Basing a second aircraft at our Tuzla base will create more local jobs, stimulate tourism and the aviation industry and bring even more low fares and opportunities to Bosnia and Herzegovina. We stay committed to the country and constantly aim at expanding our ever growing network to best meet the needs of the Bosnian traveling public”. The General Manager of Tuzla Airport, Rifat Karasalihović, noted, "We would like to highlight the excellent cooperation between our two companies. We expect that the services provided to Wizz Air by Tuzla Airport will be improved with new airport equipment and the expansion of the terminal building, including the arrivals and departures area, as well as our baggage sorting facility". He added, "The terminal currently has the capacity of some 70.000 passengers per year. With our planned expansion, we expect to boost capacity to 600.000 per year".

Destination	Luanch date
London Luton	OCT 30
Billund	OCT 31
Bratislava	MAR 27
Cologne	MAR 27
Friedrichshafen	MAR 27
Nuremberg	MAR 28
Vaxjo	MAR 28

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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 173.845 travellers handled during the first half of the year, an increase of 46.8% compared to the same period in 2015.