Tuzla Airport will begin work on a multi million euro terminal expansion project next month in order to cater for growing passenger traffic, which has been fuelled by Wizz Air. The new-look terminal will stretch over an area of 4.915 square metres, up from the current 2.971 square metres. Furthermore, the added capacity will enable the airport to handle 800 passengers per hour, which is double the existing amount. Tuzla anticipates welcoming some 480.000 travellers this year, which would represent growth of almost 55% on 2016. The expansion project is valued at 3.3 million euros. Currently, 70% of the funds have been secured while the remaining 30% should be obtained by the end of July. Recently, the Federation government of Bosnia and Herzegovina allocated 25 million euros for the development of Tuzla Airport between 2017 and 2019.
The General Manager of Tuzla Airport, Rifet Karasalihović, said, "With the number of aircraft operations increasing as a result of Wizz Air's new routes, which has also resulted in higher passenger flow, there is a necessity to expand and overhaul the passenger terminal building. This way, we will meet the needs of our customers". Wizz Air recently stationed a second aircraft in the city and launched four new routes, for a total of sixteen. It has also added frequencies on a number of services. The expanded terminal will feature 1.575 square metres of commercial space, a baggage sorting facility, which will be six times larger than the existing one, as well as a bigger arrivals and departures area.
Tuzla Airport has seen significant growth after initially struggling 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 carrier serving Bosnia and Herzegovina's second busiest airport on a year-round basis and has fuelled its spectacular passenger growth over the past four years. Tuzla Airport continued to see its passenger numbers grow with 176.800 travellers handled during the first five months of the year, an increase of 53.3% compared to the same period in 2016.
Well done Tuzla! This airport does not get enough credit for the results it has achieved over the past few years.
ReplyDeleteLooks good. I like it.
ReplyDeleteTuzla has been an amazing success story. I hope Wizz will base a third plane there next year.
ReplyDeleteAnything is better then the current building.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Tuzla's growth has been impressive but the management should not take any credit for it. In fact the management is extremely unprofessional and has done little of what it has promised. First of all plans to put into use approach light at the airport has not been completed, the expansion of the terminal was scheduled to be finished by April but it hasn't even started and there were numerous promises that a second airline would start flying to Tuzla and nothing has happened.
ReplyDeleteCompletely agree but it is a much better situation then a few years ago when there were no flights.
DeleteThey should have built a new terminal.
ReplyDeleteToo expensive. This is fine for now.
DeleteI love the optimism with the A380 on the visuals :D
ReplyDeleteThose two A380s are bigger than the airport...
ReplyDeleteShould also be noted that Turkish Airlines Cargo flies to Tuzla on a scheduled basis.
ReplyDeleteDoes any other airline plan to start flights to TZL?
DeleteFreebird flies charters from Antalya from time to time.
DeleteFantastic results for Tuzla. Looking forward to see how the expanded airport will look like.
ReplyDeleteLike the renders? :D
DeleteThey need a second airline, something like Nis has done. Relying on one airline is never a good idea.
ReplyDeleteThat is always an issue with small regional airports. Nis was very smart to bring both Ryan and Wizz straight away. The situation is a bit more difficult with Tuzla with so many routes already served.
DeleteIs Tuzla canton still subsidizing flights?
ReplyDeleteI don't thinknl so.
DeleteOh yes it is. Wizz Air doesn't pay anything to the airport - all costs are covered by Tuzla Canton. That is just crazy.
DeleteWho cares who pay? Without Wizz the airport would be as good as dead.
DeleteWizz Air should pay some minimum fee since they use service of airport.
DeleteDo Tuzla based autobus companies pay for road tax, or tolls when they use motorway? Yes.
True dat.
DeleteHow long will construction take?
ReplyDeleteNot too long. A few months.
DeleteOT: Croatia Airlines flight from Zagreb to Dubrovnik last night could not land at Dubrovnik because of strong wind so they wanted to turn back to Zagreb but the airport told them they can't handle the aircraft because they don't have enough staff and the plane had to go to Rome! Talk about a regional hub.
ReplyDeleteCrazy. I can imagine how 'happy' OU's management was when they found out about this. They are very unhappy with ZAG's management and the new terminal as is.
DeleteWell, it serves them right with FCO as the alternate airport - there are other airports with all the necessary infrastructure around it which are open 24/7 and much closer to ZAG and DBV than FCO.
DeleteAre LJU or BEG open 24/7?
DeleteZAG is open 24/7 too which makes this completely bizarre for an airport that has already declared itself a regional hub. Yes, LJU and BEG are open 24 hours. BEG often has charters departing in the middle of the morning.
DeleteI would say middle of the night.
DeleteBoth BEG handling agent and ASGS have night shifts so in case there is an emergency they can respond.
DeleteFurthermore, SU leaves at 00.50 and JU's last regional flight is at 00.30. I doubt this DBV diversion was after that.
By the way, couldn't they land at SPU or was it also closed?
I am surprised, better say disappointed. Main hub(ZAG) in "region"? Yes for sure
DeleteDoes it mean no airline has ZAG as its alternative airport in case of an emergency at night? What if a plane is above it, where does it land? LJU? BEG? GRZ? VIE?
DeleteToday I am in RTL "Dnevnik" at 18:30 to comment about this.
DeleteSplit is closed during night. Zagreb is opened but with category 4 what is not enough for A320 to land.
Concessionaire want profit. So, they don't want more costs during night. That is why they have category 4 from 23 till 5. For years you don't have emergency lending during night (BEG had one in 20 years), and they recognize there is just 2 A320 of Croatia Airlines out of what just one is out of base after 23. So low risk and small chance for this scenario.
But for sure it is disastrous for country which is tourist country and even which have those two A320. Concession contract is not good. Government should put this obligation in contract, but did not, and French don't care about air traffic but just about profit.
Just one more example (and there are many more) why not to give strategic infrastructure in concession.
koncesionar je iz svoje perspektive u pravu, ali to je bruka za drzavu i propust ugovora sa koncesionarom. Beograd ima cesto operacije u sred noci i veliki broj emergency/medical sletanja aviona u preletu. videcemo kako ce BEG proci sa svojom koncesijom.
DeleteATCO
@purger
DeleteMaybe BEG have had on emergency landing once in 20 years, but many diversion take place in recent years - since I follow the aviation. Friend of mine was on LH584FRACAI recently which got diverted after midnight to BEG (medical emergency). Although I respect your expertise big time, this situation is a f... up beyond recognition. We all can agree on that.
As I said on TV and wrote hire that is a huge shame for ZAG airport and totally unexceptionable.
DeleteWill look better than INI to be honest.
ReplyDeleteINI needs a new terminal. The new improvements they made are fine but still. You can't put lipstick on a pig.
DeleteTZL will have a better terminal but INI will have better future prospects. To each his own I guess.
DeleteWe'll see about future prospects.
DeleteTZL only has prospects because SJJ and BNX are joke airports.
DeleteI think Kraljevo Airport's terminal would be just right for Tuzla or Nis for that matter. Pitty a building like that is rotting.
ReplyDeleteWizz Air should start Tuzla-Beauvais flights. There are no flights between BiH and France
ReplyDeletego tuzla!
ReplyDeleteAll ex yu airports are having their traffic expand except Slovenia. MBX has a brand new airport but no flights :( couldn't they have done something similar like Tuzla?
ReplyDeleteOT: LX ex INI this weekend
ReplyDeleteLX2512/16 ZRHINI 03/153
LX2513/16 INIZRH 00/082
version 12/162
LX2512/18 ZRHINI 03/069
LX2513/18 INIZRH 04/171
version 08/168
Interesting how loads on 2512 and 1513 are similar. I wonder if people went for a weekend there.
DeleteNice to see that Sarajevo and Tuzla are expanding. Now all we need is for Mostar and Banja Luka to get some serious flights.
ReplyDeleteWow Tuzla Airport could in a few years have 1 million passengers!
ReplyDeletegetting fierce competition: https://www.radiosarajevo.ba/biznis/ekonomija/investicija-vrijedna-400-miliona-eura-bih-bi-mogli-dobiti-novi-aerodrom/265883
ReplyDeleteNo chance. Just a scam to get more money from government. Just like aerodrom trebinje.
DeleteExcellent news for Tuzla and aviation in Bosnia
ReplyDeleteWill they expand the apron too? They will have to if Wizz wants to base a third plane.
ReplyDeleteAnother ex-Yu airport with tonnes of potential. Just proves how airlines are so obsessed with the same destination and compete on it e.g. ZAG, MLA, a couple of years ago it was BEg too, suddenly all new comers left.
ReplyDeleteWhat are you rambling about?
DeleteRemember BEG? 10 airlines began services and almost all left after that.
DeleteWhen, in what context?
DeleteOT
ReplyDeleteW6 4105 Belgrade-Memmingen with A321 today!
MLA is next
DeleteA320 is out of traffic, A321 instead of A320.
DeleteAll tomorrow flights are with A320.
DeleteSo, there is a real chance of TZL becoming the traffic capital of BiH?
ReplyDeleteFrom next week
ReplyDeleteAtlas Global starts 4 weekly IST-SJJ
Nesma Airlines starts 1 daily RUH-SJJ
Flydubai 2 daily DXB-SJJ
Turkish Airlines additional flights IST-SJJ, on some days 4 daily flights
Air Arabia 1 daily SHJ-SJJ
Tailwind Airlines 2 weekly AYT-SJJ
Anadolujet 3 weekly AYT-SJJ
Nice OT.
Delete