Sarajevo Airport is expected to see strong passenger growth in the coming months with a number of carriers set to launch flights to Bosnia and Herzegovina's capital. Traffic from the Saudi Arabian market will see the greatest capacity increase with two airlines to operate sixteen weekly flights between the two countries. Budget airline Flynas announced on Friday that it would introduce services from Jeddah to Sarajevo as of July 1, in addition to the previously scheduled Riyadh route. The airline's Senior Commercial Vice President, Stefan Magiera, said, "Effective July 1, Flynas will launch twice weekly nonstop flights between Jeddah and the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Due to high demand, we will also increase the number of weekly nonstop flights between Riyadh and Sarajevo from three to five per week". As a result, the airline will operate daily flights to Sarajevo.
The Saudi-backed FlyBosnia will introduce daily flights to Riyadh and a one weekly service to Jeddah. In addition, the Sarajevo-based airline will operate a seasonal one weekly service to Gassim in central Saudi Arabia, linking the two cities for the first time. FlyBosnia will also link Sarajevo with Kuwait City starting this June. A total of three weekly flights are planned on the route. The start-up is expected to introduce additional new destinations in the coming period. "Our approach at FlyBosnia has always been the same - to link Bosnia and Herzegovina with nonstop flights on select routes in Europe and the Middle East where there is sufficient demand. We will continue expanding our network as our fleet grows", the airline's CEO, Chris Gabriel, said recently.
On the European front, Aegean Airlines will commence seasonal two weekly flights from Athens to Sarajevo in mid-June. The service will be maintained with a 78-seat Dash 8 turboprop aircraft operated by its regional subsidiary Olympic Air. Furthermore, low cost carrier Eurowings will introduce a new service between Berlin and Sarajevo. Flights will commence tomorrow and run twice per week, each Monday and Friday. They will complement the airline's existing year-round services from Cologne and Stuttgart to Sarajevo. Previously, Eurowings' predecessor Germanwings, operated flights between the German and Bosnian capital for less than a year from April 2014 until March 2015, after which the service was cancelled. Starting June 21, Norwegian Air Shuttle will introduce seasonal services between Gothenburg and Sarajevo, albeit on a low frequency basis. Flights will run once per week for a total of eight weeks.
| Airline | Route | Launch date |
|---|---|---|
| Flynas | Riyadh - Sarajevo | JUN 02 |
| Eurowings | Berlin - Sarajevo | JUN 03 |
| FlyBosnia | Sarajevo - Riyadh | JUN 03 |
| FlyBosnia | Sarajevo - Kuwait City | JUN 04 |
| FlyBosnia | Sarajevo - Gassim | JUN 10 |
| Aegean | Athens - Sarajevo | JUN 13 |
| FlyBosnia | Sarajevo - Jeddah | JUN 15 |
| Norwegian | Gothenburg - Sarajevo | JUN 21 |
| Flynas | Jeedah - Sarajevo | JUL 01 |
Click on link for further details
Sarajevo Airport will mark its fiftieth anniversary today.
Very good news - 9 new routes for Sarajevo!
ReplyDeleteBut 5 of them are seasonal. Only Eurowings and FlyBosnia routes are year round.
DeleteThere is a chance Aegeean may go year round. I think Gothenburg could also work on a year round basis.
Deleteno flights to Amsterdam and hunderd to arabia... weird
DeleteI hope the Athens-Sarajevo flights get extended to year round.
ReplyDeleteDoubt it, LJU didn't survive so I don't think SJJ will either. Also Bosnia is not a tourist destination like TGD to have this kind of traffic. Even with tourists A3 reduced TGD.
DeleteSJJ and it's surrounding region are a way bigger tourist destination compared to TGD, maybe you meant TIV?
Delete@9.14 LJU was operated with A320, Sarajevo is operated with Q400.
DeleteSo many flights to Saudi Arabia...
ReplyDeleteLike I wrote once before, it's not like Sarajevo Airport management went after those flights. These airlines simply saw that the demand was there and started them.
DeleteThese are tourists who have discovered Bosnia and Sarajevo. Why wouldn't they introduce the flights and why should we have a problem with it?
DeleteWhy would they discover Bosnia and Sarajevo but not Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, Montenegro, Serbia, Northern Macedonia? They are just as beautiful. Is it because or religion? If yes, then how come there are no flights from TIA and PRN to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the rest of ME? This has nothing to do with existing tourist demand, circumstances point to politically driven effort to bring people from SA to discover and then invest into real estate or business in Bosnia. Long term they will increase footprint, presence and influence in Bosnia.
DeleteAnonimus 20:15, there are some reasons why saudis prefer Bosnia.
Delete1. It's easier to get visa for Bosnia than for rest of Europe
2. We are hospitable toward them, having tour packages and tours guides in Arabic
3. We make them feel like at home
4. Muslim majority
I know you would write different comments if those tourists visit Mn or Srb
All those points also apply to TIA/PRN. Combined traffic TIA+PRN is five times more than SJJ. SJJ has dozens of flights a week to SA and UAE but TIA+PRN has zero.
DeleteAlso, Bosnia is probably most cost-efficient place for large families.It is also safe and SA tourists feel comfortable staying here. I would not say that TIA/PRN are in the same league when it comes to SA tourists. They are interested to see lakes, rivers and mountains. BiH is just the best place to enjoy this. In addition, Bosnia has a Muslim majority, and this brings an advantage over some other countries. It does not matter how large is the traffic. It is tradition, history, nature and people that attract tourists. Just think about Croatia.
DeleteWhat kind of passenger growth could we see as a result of these new routes?
ReplyDelete20%
DeleteFly Bosnia could bring an extra 100,000 passenger between June 2019 and June 2020 if all goes to plan.
DeleteThat's what FlyBosnia said bit for them to actually do that, they need to start some European routes.
Delete*but
DeleteI hope Sarajevo takes over Podgorica this year although it will be difficult.
ReplyDeleteI don't think Sarajevo can take over Podgorica until it gets few low cost flights like Podgorica has. But its encouraging that Sarajevo is keeping up very well with Podgorica, despite mainly having legacy carriers and few hybrids :)
DeleteDoubt it, TGD is on a roll too.
DeleteWe will see. With Fly Bosnia expanding, they will soon overtake Montenegro Airlines by capacity.
DeleteThat will take quite a while to happen
DeleteWe need flights to Dammam and Haj flights with wide body airliners!
ReplyDeleteOvo za Dammam bi bilo odlicno.
DeleteSamo da ne bude dry flight
Why Dammam?
DeleteNajveca koncentracija stranih radnika (zapadnjaka)
DeleteInteresting. Why are foreigners concentrated there? Would have thought it is Riyadh.
DeleteDammam serves the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, which is where the largest oil reserves in the world are and where Saudi Aramco is headquartered. Plus tri-city area of Dammam (seaport and heavy industry), Dhahran (Aramco and largest air base in the country), and Khobar (internal tourism and universities) attracts significant numbers of foreign workers. Several times that I've visited the airport I've heard Serbocroation spoken (Croatian accent from what I could tell). Bosnian I have only heard in Riyadh where medics from abroad are working, plus government agencies and defence contractors (recently public transportation too).
DeleteJeddah is the old commercial capital and has a mix of all the above, but dominated by pilgrims. I've heard air crew members speak Serbian from what I could tell (no expert in accents though).
Hope this helps.
Congratulations BiH. All four airports with decent traffic.
ReplyDeleteGreat news for Bosnia :)
DeleteNow is the time to get those airport in Bihac and Trebinje under construction :D
DeleteDoes the development of traffic at TZL and BNX affect SJJ much or did these passengers never used to go to Sarajevo?
DeleteTuzla makes some competition for Sarajevo, Banja Luka none.
DeleteWell I wouldn't be so sure, I know a fair number of people from Sarajevo who went to Brussels Charleroi via BNX.
DeleteInteresting that flynas is actively competing against FlyBosnia. And as an established carrier it can beat FlyBosnia without a problem.
ReplyDeleteThere is obviously a lot of demand for travel between the two countries so I think both airlines will survive without a problem.
DeleteSuper!!
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday SJJ :)
ReplyDeleteI''m still sceptical the whole FlyBosnia project will work out.
ReplyDeleteI would like to see more and more flights to Sarajevo but I would prefer more if they focused on getting European carriers. There are so many destinations in Europe which are currently unserved and require attention.
ReplyDeleteWell we got Berlin back which is good.
DeleteThat's why an LCC like Wizz would be perfect. It would cover destinations like Paris, London, Franfkurt...
DeleteI would love to see Air France, British Airways, KLM, Transavia, easyjet, Ryan.
DeleteOut of those I think the only one we have the chance to see in SJJ is Transavia.
DeleteI think we could see LOT at SJJ next year.
ReplyDeleteWith LOT now flying to practically all major ex-Yu cities, I really hope they launch Sarajevo soon.
DeleteAnd it's a fairly interesting route for the locals too.
DeleteAs found somewhere in the media just few weeks ago, it seems that the owner of Fly Bosnia and Flynass is the same person and the same Group (AlShiddi). So I do not see and normal competition, just abnormal.
ReplyDeleteInteresting development
DeleteI find it interesting that Eurowings has a 80 minute rotation in Sarajevo. Quite long for an LCC.
ReplyDeleteThey probably can't get slots in Berlin.
DeleteWhy so much demand to these types of destinations? I would expect Bosnia to have daily flights to countries like Sweden etc, where it has large diaspora.
ReplyDeleteI wonder whats next? Free excursion trips for bosnian kids to the deserts as cultural student exchanges? Cringing***
I cant help but wonder what kind of foreign policy BH is leading. I would think daily flight to countries like Sweden etc would be logical. But all these types of destinations? Whats next, free excursion trips to the deserts for bosnian kids as part of cultural student exchange? #cringes
ReplyDeleteOpet ista prica...Gospodo, u pitanju je turizam, koji u BIH, godisnje raste po stopi od skoro 20%.
DeleteWhat is the growth estimate for Sarajevo in 2019?
ReplyDeleteI’d be super happy if it is between 10-15% :)
DeleteAround 13% I believe, 1.15M is the target number.
DeleteI think that's realistic for this year.
DeleteBravo Sarajevo!
ReplyDelete2019 is looking promising. Go Sarajevo!
ReplyDeletePity SAS didn't return to Sarajevo this year.
ReplyDeleteSarajevo airport will skip Podgorica next year. With new 9 routes this year, Sarajevo will have around 1,150 mil passengers, which is super good.
ReplyDeleteIt is really possible to skip Ljubljana airport, because Adria airport is very bad at the moment. Sarajevo airport will reach 2 mil passengers in 2023/4, cause every year, there is around 17% more tourists per year in Sarajevo, also in BiH. U can see the growth of Tuzla, Banjaluka and Mostar too. It is just because of tourism. In my opinion, Sarajevo will skip Tivat and Podgorica in just 2 years. Ljubljana and Skopje are not possible to reach at this moment. I think it depends on how flybosnia will work, but i assume this is very serious project.
+1
DeleteIn your opinion Sarajevo will even skip CDG around 2025.
DeleteI am just saying that it is a great opportunity for Sarajevo to skip Ljubljana, Skopje, Podgorica, because Sarajevo didn’t have the company. Now they have, it is a very serious project. In my opinion, 2030 Sarajevo will take 4th or 5th position at ex-yu airports. Sarajevo has so many things to show. It is really possible.
DeleteThe only problem with Sa airport is the runway. Because it is too short. If they expand the runway on 3000m, they will skip Skopje, Pristina for sure. Sarajevo can probably skip Zagreb if they do something about the runway.
DeleteYou need a bit of a dose of reality, dude.
DeleteWill FlyBosnia serve alcohol on routes to Germany, UK etc?
ReplyDeleteHow could anybody here know that? Why don't you call the company directly and ask them about your worries?
DeleteI am pretty sure they will have some for you if you really need it.
Deletegood luck to flybosna in winter with their SA routes
ReplyDelete6W has seasonal flights to Saudi Arabia. Most of them run until the end of September, with 2 weekly flights to Riyadh continuing into winter most likely...
DeleteSame strategy as FZ has with its flights SJJ-DXB.
If only they open new routes that can fill the void during winter..