Mostar Airport has rolled out an incentives program in a bid to attract carriers to launch flights to the city, after its passenger numbers declined 35% so far in 2018. "Mostar Airport is offering a number of incentives in the form of discounts to encourage airlines and tour operators to develop their services to Mostar, as well as to stimulate greater choice and greater benefits for all airline companies", the airport said. It added, "The proposed incentives do not distort competition among airlines at the airport and are offered for a limited period of time on a non-discriminatory basis". Mostar Airport's sole customer, Croatia Airlines, was previously granted half a million euros in subsidies on an annual basis by local authorities in order for it to maintain year-round services from Zagreb.
Mostar Airport's incentives program includes discounts for handling and landing services, as well as the passenger tax, for a three-year period. Furthermore, the subsidies also target airlines wishing to operate charter flights to Mostar. Eurowings, which maintains seasonal summer services from Dusseldorf and Stuttgart to the Bosnian city, has also benefited from incentives. In April. the government of the Herzegovina - Neretva Canton in Bosnia and Herzegovina approved a five-year subsidy agreement with Eurowings. The low cost airline has been granted just over a quarter of a million euros on a yearly basis until 2023 (inclusive) in order to maintain flights from Dusseldorf and Stuttgart to Mostar.
The General Manager of Mostar Airport, Marin Raspudić, previously said that Turkish Airlines could launch flights from Istanbul, however, the route would also require financial incentives. The new scheme offered by the airport could be taken up by the Turkish carrier. Mostar Airport has struggled to contain its passenger decline in recent months after Italy's Mistral Air, which accounted for the bulk of its traffic, discontinued passenger flights and decided to focus on cargo and freight transport instead. "Mostar Airport requires significant funds and investment. The Federal Ministry for Transport and Communication has allocated some resources which will be of use. However, we have to work harder on marketing and offer services at dumping prices", Mr Raspudić said recently.
I hope they manage to attract one of those two airlines from the photos. It's their only chance.
ReplyDeleteWith Wizz in Tuzla and Ryan in Banja Luka, I tink it's too late.
DeleteAnd not to mention the hundreds of airlines flying to Dubrovnik and Split.
DeleteKeep in mind that OMO is in Bosnia's smallest region with approx. 500k pax gravitating to that airport. Compare that to TZL (1.3m), BNX (1.2m) and SJJ (1.1m).
DeleteWell done Mostar.
ReplyDeleteOn what?
Delete"Well done Mostar"
DeleteGood luck OMO.
ReplyDeleteI think a Ryan flight from Bergamo to Mostar could work year round.
ReplyDeleteWarsaw too.
DeleteAgree. Bergamo-Mostar with Ryanair would do the job!
DeleteSo no one would consider the airport without subsidies...
ReplyDeleteYes, just like many other small ex-Yu airports.
DeleteFlights to Poland could work too. Lots of Christian pilgrims are coming from Poland.
ReplyDeleteLOT twice weekly seasonal with Embraer would be good :)
DeleteWhen politicians stop blocking Mostar Airport like they have done so many times in the past, we might see some new flights.
ReplyDeleteHow have politicians been blocking it?
DeleteMany local politicians have been blocking Mostar Airport's development because they don't want it to take away passengers from the Croatian coast.
DeleteOh I see. Still, I don't think OMO would pose such a threat to say SPU.
DeleteTo su čiste gluposti da neko blokira razvoj Mostara zbog Hrvstskih aerodroma. Pa političari valjda trebaju i neki uspjeh da se hvale biračima. Ovdje se radi samo o jednom: nesposobni management!
Delete"nesposobni menadzment" koji je politika postavila, ergo politika onemogucava razvoj aerodroma.
DeletePored ovoga na razne nacine poput prepiranja oko uticaja SDA/HDZ, dodjela sredstava, raspodjela sredstava, privatni I malogradjanski interest, nedostatak vizije, interesovanja, sposobnosti, vec pomenuti uticaj na druge aerodrome u regiji....
Mostar is located about two hours from both SPU and SJJ. I can see it serving quite a market out there.
ReplyDeleteItaly, Germany and the NL could be the first markets.
Despite the low level of traffic at Mostar, it amazes me that this country has 4 functioning airports and that all have international flights.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteI think that Sarajevo could and should do much more then what it does at the moment.
DeleteFingers crossed that someone launches flights.
ReplyDeleteHercegovina ima malo stanovnika i dva velika aerodroma na obali nema tu velike pameti.
ReplyDeleteHow is OU performing in OMO? Any thoughts about the LF, financial perfomance?
ReplyDeleteI am still extremely surprised that JU did not station an Aviolet flight and perform charters from/to OMO.
Mostar is one of BiH's hidden gems and the government must act and revive the airport.
OU is not performing too well according to the airport CEO.
Delete"Croatia Airlines' flights to Zagreb are not as popular and we expected better loads. People are complaining about the flight schedule so we will try to find a way for that to be altered".
Also it's unlikely JU would get fifth freedom rights to fly charters from Mostar.
DeleteCurrent OU timetable is not bad at all:
DeleteOU328 ZAG-OMO 21:10 22:10 Wed & Sun
OU329 OMO-ZAG 06:10 07:29 Mon & Fri
OMO can be connected via ZAG to its entire network: CDG, CPH, MUC, FRA, etc.
Transfer time aprrox.: 1h30
Both ways?
DeleteOutbound OMO have much better transfer times.
DeleteOnly busier OU routes have short transfer times: e.g. FRA both ways but still, not too bad as a start
I'm surprised then that loads have been poor for the ZAG-OMO flights.
DeleteMostar should try to lure back charters to Medjugorje from DBV and SPU, get some of the tour packaged tourists going to the Adriatic (split) and approach some low cost airlines.
ReplyDeletewhy don't ex-yu countries just privatize these smaller airports? Wouldn't it be easier? Plus the new owner would actually want to have flights and invest money in them.
ReplyDeleteWhere would local politicians employ their friends and family then?
Delete+100
DeleteMost Balkan countries, including Greece, have very poor experience when it comes to airport managament.
This is why it was a good idea to give ZAG to the French and soon BEG will follow.
Also LJU improved a lot after Fraport took over. The Turkish built SKP and OHD too.
Other interesting developments in the region: GOZ (Bulgaria's 5th and smallest international airport will soon have a new runway and radar systems)
https://vt-today.com/new-radar-and-bigger-runways-at-the-gorna-oryahovitsa-airport/
Wishing OMO and Bosnia all the very best!
At the same time you have the example of Maribor Airport...
DeleteA couple of years ago several Italian airports, in cooperation with the Italian government, intended to take over Mostar Airport. Don't know what happened with that.
DeleteCan someone please tell me did Austrian use to fly to Mostar. I came across this: "Austrian Airlines canceled service not only to Belgrade but as of yesterday also to Timisoara, Romania; Tirana, Albania; and Sarajevo, Mostar and Banja Luka in Bosnia. But the airline restored service to Skopje, Macedonia, yesterday, and continued its scheduled service to Sofia, Bulgaria, as well as Zagreb and Ljubljana."
ReplyDeleteYes. Austrian used to fly to all airports in Bosnia, except Tuzla, which just opened for commercial use around that time.
DeleteKnowing that more then a half of city's prewar population lives elsewhere today (many of which in West), and that Međugorje receives high 6-digit number of pilgrims each year, I am certain that a line to Mostar would be viable – not to speak in summer season. If it can work in Tuzla, then it should be able to work even more in Mostar.
ReplyDeleteTrue. Herzegovina Diaspora is huge. Mostly in Germany, but also in other western european countries and North America as well.
DeleteMajority of those pilgrims are coming from Italy – so Rome, Milan or some other major Italian city should be launched.
ReplyDeleteYou want Ryan, Wizz, Easy, to come to town, you must pay them and give them everything they ask for..and you know what its worth it 100%
ReplyDeleteThe numbers are really poor this year. Hope they recover in 2019.
ReplyDeleteThis January they had a total of 0 passengers. So next January they will have the OU flights and probably have around 200 passengers. So it should be big growth :D
DeleteSad
DeleteWizz Air was very interested in starting flights from Dortmund and Malmo to Mostar a few years ago. Hope these incentives entice them to reconsider those plans.
ReplyDeleteso what happened?
DeleteMostar - Roma, or Mostar - Milano (summer pilgrims flights) will be a good choice for Wizz air, and also
DeleteMemmingen - Mostar (lot of Croatian immigrants in this german region between Stuttgart and Munchen)
B&H Airlines used to operate Mostar-Pescara. These were quite successful.
DeleteI wonder will Ryanair go to Mostar
ReplyDeleteI doubt it with them flying to Banja Luka now.
DeleteMedjugorije - most successful scam on earth
ReplyDeleteYes, we know, you keep repeating that.
DeleteMedjugorje is much less in focus compared to some 20-25 years ago, but still attracts LOT of people (tourists=passengers) from all over the world. With functional state, and traffic and tourism strategy, OMO could become much much more than it's today.
Delete@ 14.47 If the airlines and airport can make a few bux from Medjugorije, why not?
DeleteSo without the charters from Italy (or elsewhere), how are all the pilgrims coming to Medjugorje?
ReplyDeleteSplit
DeleteDoes anyone know the hours and if this airport is open during night? LCC are more open to flying here during non-peak hours.
ReplyDeleteVeoma zainteresirani za subvencije koji daje Aerodrom Mostar su glavni menadzer Mistral Air- Italy gospodin Spencer,Mistral Air vlasnik je aviona tipa Boeing737-400,piloti su veoma kvalitetni kopilot je stefanovski-makedonac dok je glavni pilot D.Ostojic iz Hrvatske,posada za ostale ATR72 avione je iz Srbije.
ReplyDelete