Mostar Airport will commence talks with Eurowings next Wednesday over the introduction of scheduled flights to the city. "It is almost certain that we will have one route to Germany. It remains to be seen which city it will be. Representatives from Eurowings/Germanswings will come to Mostar on January 25 and we expect to reach a deal over the launch of new flights this year", an official from the airport said. Talks with Wizz Air, which has previously expressed its interest in serving Mostar, are also expected to begin soon. "Our objective is to link Mostar with several larger European cities and this will most certainly happen. Through these talks, we will see which destinations we can get. We would like at least one service to one of the Scandinavian countries since there is a significant number of our nationals residing there. Interest for such a route would be significant", the airport added.
The General Manager of Mostar Airport, Marin Raspudić, notes that the arrival of low cost carriers would reverse the trend of declining passenger numbers. "Without budget airlines we will find it difficult to survive since we are surrounded by a number of high quality airports. There is always interest and we are at everyone's disposal. Personally, I would like to cover the German market with Eurowings/Germanwings, and Scandinavia with Wizz Air. We recently conducted a study which shows from which parts of Germany the greatest number of people visit Herzegovina and parts of Croatia", Mr Raspudić said. The government of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton recently approved over 153.000 euros in funds for Mostar Airport, which will likely be used to subsidise low cost carriers.
Mostar has struggled to attract scheduled flights but sees a significant number of charter traffic throughout the year, carrying religious pilgrims visiting the nearby Medjugorje sight. Mostar Airport handled less than 60.000 passengers in 2016, down 20% on the year before due to fewer charters, making it Bosnia and Herzegovina’s third busiest airport behind Sarajevo and Tuzla but ahead of Banja Luka. It handled a record 86.000 travellers in a single year prior to the breakup of the former Yugoslavia but has been unable to surpass that figure ever since. In late 2016, the airport began overhauling its passenger terminal in a bid to boost capacity.
Fingers crossed.
ReplyDeleteIt has a chance to succeed, if they open routes from Munich, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf
DeleteEurowings has a plan for big expanding at Munich so that probably would be one of the routes
Deletenot in 2017
DeleteIf this happens Banja Luka airport will be the only one left behind.
ReplyDeleteWizz Air again? Wouldn't it be smarter to get Ryanair since they don't fly to Bosnia and were interested in Mostar.
ReplyDeleteDepends who is asking for less money to fly there.
DeleteSo no one would consider the airport without subsidies...
DeleteYes of course!
DeleteAnd same was the case with Tuzla and Nis when scheduled flights started there, and is the case with Maribor.
No subsidies are necessary if airport taxes are aligned with the revenue potential. Just look at INI. It's just that Balkan airports have delusions of grandeur..
DeleteI wonder if they might consider INI or LJU.
ReplyDeleteUgh... not Eurowings, they are always so expensive.
ReplyDeleteEurowings, Transavia, Vueling and similar LCC's are fair. The ultra low cost budget airlines like WizzAir and Ryanair are like vultures
DeleteI know but I am poor so I can only afford FR or W6.
DeleteWouldn't Bergamo to Mostar year round make more sense?
ReplyDeleteWeeze.
DeleteWeeze or Eindhoven with ryanair would be nice
DeleteI hope it happens. It would be very good news for Mostar. Also, Croatia Airlines will keep Mostar - Beirut charters :)
ReplyDeleteIf CA is smart they would start Zag-Mostar flights. But they did not smart.
DeleteThey used to fly this route but I think it performed quite badly for them.
DeleteOU will not create competition to their own ZAG-SPU and ZAG-DBV routes!
DeleteI assume the flights to Scandinavia would be Sweden (Malmo or Gothenburg)
ReplyDeleteIf it is 4U/EW it will either be Stuttgart or Cologne.
ReplyDeleteDoubt it will be smaller bases like HAM,HAJ,VIE.
Yes I think it will be one of those cities. They serve Sarajevo from both.
DeleteI think it would be Munich, Eurowing wants to expand at Munich
DeleteWe will be seeing a lot more of Eurowings in this region with the huge fleet expansion coming up.
DeleteYes they are opening a MUC base, but they will first serve established destinations from there, not risky ones at first. LH Group airlines is always very careful and conservative in this regard.
DeleteThe reason they are loosing passengers is that more and more people are flying to Croatia instead and then going to Medjugorje. People prefer a scheduled service they can book for cheap over the internet. So I fully support Mostar trying to get some airlines to fly there.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteI also think flights to Poland could work too. Lots of Christian pilgrims are coming from Poland.
ReplyDeleteBut Eurowings doesnt have a base in Poland
DeleteCome to think of it, it's quite amazing that Bosnia has 4 fully functioning airports with traffic considering its size.
ReplyDeleteYes this is really suprising
DeleteSamo Sarajevo i Tuzla imaju neke ozbiljne brojke. A Tuzla isključivo zbog love za LCC
DeleteJoš 2010. Sarajevo je držalo 96% prometa u BiH
Sarajevo is for the Arabs... city is not connected with London Paris and Amsterdam
DeleteThis would probably generate another 30,000 passangers per year. Not bad.
ReplyDeleteOT: JU will lease one more a319 for the summer 2017. More information soon.
ReplyDeleteGood. I know it was uncertain but I will be happy if it happens in the end.
DeleteWill the A319 come just for the summer season, or for a long-term period and replace a B733?
Deletewere there not rumors that 2 A319 would come? I guess they changed the plans now.
DeleteNo, initially they wanted to introduce 2 B738 for Aviolet. lol
DeleteThe rumor was one A319 in 2017, the second one in 2018.
DeleteFor Tehran
Deletewith 1 A319 they could do Astana and Tehran which is good
Deletehahaha Astana and Tehran... it will be used on regional routes and some European ones like DUS or TXL. Like that they will no longer need the B737.
DeleteGreat work Mostar. I am really optimistic that brighter days are ahead :)
ReplyDeleteLet's just hope they don't muck it up during the talks.
DeleteWhat happened to Ryanair? I know they were quite interested in flying to Mostar for a while.
ReplyDeleteMostar Airport CEO said a few weeks ago that they will have to choose between either Wizz Air or Ryanair because their finances for subsidies are limited. It seems they chose Wizz.
DeleteRynair is still in the race as second airline
DeleteAgain, like with the announcement of possible Brussels Airlines flights between Brussels and Sarajevo, I will believe it when I see it. Officials from the Balkans are known for boasting before striking the deal.
ReplyDeleteFlights from the Eurowings-Europe base in Vienna might work, especially since only ZAD will be served and I know from own experience that the SPU & DBV connections in summer are always fully booked or overbooked even though OS charges moon prices between July and September.
ReplyDeleteI know people flying to Mostar mainly use SPU & SSJ, but do some people use TZL, or is it too far?
ReplyDeleteDoubt it to be honest, wizz at Tuzla is mostly used by the diaspora
DeleteMostar has a diaspora.
DeleteIn Zagreb yes, and those flights were empty
DeleteThere is also huge Hercegovina diaspora in Germany and especially Frankfurt.
DeleteAnd they hang out at the Jazz Café in Frankfurt.
DeleteYes Frankfurt an Dortmund diaspora
DeleteOut of my primary school generation, more than a half doesn't live in Mostar any longer.
DeleteAnd as for TZL, it is on the borderline of being too far away, but more people have started using it recently, because even combination of rent a car and a ticket can be cheaper than regular tickets to SJJ and SPU outside season.
If anybody involved in scheduling this line(s) is reading this, I have a suggestion:
ReplyDeleteWould you please be so kind (read: don't be that stupid), to schedule the flights in 6 in the morning, or 10:30 in the evening - because none of the connecting passengers won't be able to catch the connecting flight.
I am writing this because it was, and still is, a major issue with those flights from Italy....and that drew me to insanity :-)
Thank you.