Wizz Air has added another destination to its line up of new routes from Banja Luka Airport, which were announced earlier this week. In addition to the previously announced Dortmund, Basel, Eindhoven and Malmo, the budget airline will also introduce operations from Stockholm Skavsta starting June 6. Flights will operate twice per week, each Thursday and Sunday. The airline already maintains flights from Skavsta to Tuzla in Bosnia and Herzegovina. So far this summer season, Wizz Air has announced 25 new routes from the former Yugoslavia, fourteen of which are from Sarajevo and Banja Luka.
Commenting on its new route launches from Banja Luka, the low cost airline said, “The new Wizz Air routes include five amazing destinations for passengers from Bosnia and Herzegovina. The flights will be launched in June 2021 and will operate twice a week. The new routes are expected to stimulate the aviation sector, as well as the catering sector in the region, at the same time enabling passengers from Bosnia and Herzegovina to travel with Wizz to the Netherlands, France, Sweden and Germany at the lowest prices”. Tickets for all destinations can now be booked online, through the airline’s website.
Wizz Air will join Air Serbia and Ryanair as the third carrier operating out of Banja Luka. Ryanair has currently suspended all its flights to Bosnia and Herzegovina’s second largest city until mid-May due to the coronavirus pandemic, while Air Serbia restored its operations from Belgrade last June. In 2019, Banja Luka passengers connecting via Belgrade with Air Serbia primarily originated from, or were headed to, Zurich. It was followed by Moscow, London Heathrow and Athens as the busiest feeders for the Banja Luka service.
| Destination | Launch date |
|---|---|
| Dortmund | 03.06.2021 |
| Basel | 06.06.2021 |
| Stockholm Skavsta | 06.06.2021 |
| Eindhoven | 07.06.2021 |
| Malmo | 07.06.2021 |
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Nice!
ReplyDeleteCould we say now that Wizz Air will be a motor of post COVID flights restoration and development in Europe and especially in the Balkans?
ReplyDeleteDon't know about other airports but they are not that in Belgrade. JU and other airlines are doing much more to help restore connectivity. Wizz Air has restored just a fraction of their pre-covid network.
DeleteFor now they didnt do anything in LJU and ZAG
DeleteOSI as well.
DeleteTZL and BNX killed OSI. I guess that's something OSI management should be thinking about.
DeleteDoubt they will
DeleteWizz should bring back their third plane in BEG
DeleteIf Serbian market keeps on developing like this and if covid rates keep on going down then I am sure a third plane, at least A320, will come back. For example, number of hospitalized went down by 1.000 the past week. It's really great.
Delete"In 2019, Banja Luka passengers connecting via Belgrade with Air Serbia primarily originated from, or were headed to, Zurich. It was followed by Moscow, London Heathrow and Athens"
ReplyDeleteInteresting that none of the routes being launched are in JU's top connecting traffic.
I wonder if the majority of their Banja Luka traffic is connecting or point to point.
DeleteI would say P2P
DeleteProbably not enough passengers to have dedicated non stop flights. That's why JU is vital for BNX. It offers things others can't.
Delete@9.06 Wizz Air launches Basel in lieu of Zurich where they can't operate.
DeleteI'm a bit surprised Scandinavian routes are not in the top.
DeleteThe matter of marketing
DeleteWhat do you mean?
DeleteI was surprised thry didn't include Stockholm initially. Good to see its being added after all. :)
ReplyDeleteNice work BNX and I'm happy they diversified their offer and no longer rely just on Ryanair.
ReplyDeleteKeep up the good work BNX
ReplyDeleteInteresting. Same route being launched by Ryan from ZAG.
ReplyDeleteYou mixed something up. Ryan is not launching Stockholm from Zagreb. They are flying to Oslo (well near Oslo).
DeleteI have a feeling that Wizz Air will not focus on ZAG now that Ryanair moved in. I can see them expanding in SPU, LJU and BNX. Long-term this is a better fit for them since these subsidies ZAG is giving out are not there forever. Low cost charges in places like BNX are the norm.
ReplyDeleteI have a feeling ZAG will be losing a lot of money this and next year.
Bravo BNX! We are also expecting some new routes such as BVA or FKB, maybe HAM or SZG.
ReplyDeleteI don't know what Ryanair is waiting for with Thessaloniki?
ATH-BNX could work on a summer seasonal basis. Though I think it would kill OU and A3 in ZAG, they are extremely expensive. Aegean is rarely under €200 without luggage and OU has that dreadful stop in DBV.
DeleteBNX-FKB ist a important route.
DeleteThis route will do well because OU isn't bringing back the summer seasonal flight to ARN! There are no flights in the system, good job Wizz! Always ahead of the game.
ReplyDeleteKeep them coming :)
ReplyDeleteAre these flights somehow subsidized by Banja Luka city or airport, or is it just Wizz seeing a commercial opportunity? Anyone know?
ReplyDeleteRayanair flights were subsidized by the Government of Republika Srpska, more precisely, the contract was signed for five years. For these Wizz flights, there is no information.
DeleteSorry for my "translate" english :D
Do you know the amount that went to FR?
DeleteI'm sorry, but we don't have that information. Given that FR has done a great job with BNX, I would say that a good amount of money is involved.
DeleteWhy AirSerbia doesnt base a plane in Banjaluka is still a mystery to me....
ReplyDeleteThe priority is BEG and INI!
DeleteJU does not have a Bosnian or EU AOC - these are the only 2 possibilities that would allow it to base an aircraft in any city of Bosnia, not just BNX
DeleteYou mean like Wizz in TZL & SJJ?
DeleteAre all flights year round?
ReplyDeleteYes!
DeleteThis will help people from that area not to fly from ZAG but to fly from their own airport.
ReplyDeleteThere won't be any flights from ZAG to Stockholm this summer so even people from Zagrab will be forced to fly from BNX unless they are willing to spend €350 for a transfer flight without luggage.
DeleteWith Ryanair flights, which are usually even cheaper than Wizz, flying from Zadar to Skavsta, I doubt lot of people from Zagreb would choose to cross border to fly from BNX. And definitely they won't be forced to go to BNX. Slavonia, probably yes, but Zagreb, no, or very very few
DeleteDepends on who fills its planes faster. FR might have tourists so average fare might be higher due to higher loads. Also don't forget that until now many from Srpska used to fly from ZAG, this won't be the case anymore for many destinations.
DeleteIt might be that Croatia will be the battleground between Ryanair and Wizz.
ReplyDeleteTourist will come, do to almost free tickets. Some will cream finally cheap tickets.
But at the end of the summer, only thing that will be left of Croatia air sector will be ash.
And it means farewell to Croatia Airlines.
DeleteWell good thing is that when OU suspended ARN Wizz Air moved in with their own flights. I think the biggest loser will be ZAG because I don't see them making money this or next year.
DeleteWhen will it start to Malta? Plenty of Bosnian Serbs here...
ReplyDeleteBanja Luka's time to shine.
ReplyDeleteGood to see more fights are coming.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteRemember the times when JP had 4 weekly flight with a CRJ200 LJU-BNX? :D
ReplyDeleteThere were barely any passengers on those flights. And they were subsidized.
DeleteWould be nice if Swiss or Edelweiss launched flights from Zurich.
ReplyDeleteEdelweiss planned to start flights Zurich-Banja Luka a few years ago. I believe they even started ticket sales but then gave up a few weeks later.
DeleteGood news. Wish them success post corona.
ReplyDeleteGreat news. Hopefully London, Paris, Zürich and Moscow are next.
ReplyDeleteThey can't fly from BNX to Moscow and Zürich, but instead of Zürich they opened BSL/MLH
DeleteI know. I didn't mean Wizz but any airline in general.
DeleteI really hope they establish a base in BNX.
ReplyDeleteIf they did they would have 3 bases in BiH :D
DeleteThey only have to move their base from Tuzla to Sarajevo .
DeleteWith this schedule it seems there will be two Wizz A320s at the same time at Banja Luka Airport on Thursdays and Sunday.
ReplyDeleteThat's not Stockholm, that's Nyköping.
ReplyDeleteDa, ali aerodrom zvanično nosi naziv Stockholm-Skavsta.
DeleteClearly, BiH is the leading ex-Yu country when it comes to new routes and expansion. It would be great to see OMO get a chunk of the traffic. Well done, Bosnia!!
ReplyDeleteSorry to spoil your party, but maybe you should check right side of the page with new flights openings, and you will see there are about 50 of them to or from Croatia and about 40 to and from all other ex-yu republics, including BIH.
Deletewe will have to see which of those 50 happen in the end. Many have either completely shelved their plans to fly to Croatia or have moved their flights for next year. Aegean and Volotea are good examples of that. We still don't know what will happen with Brits and if they will go on holidays.
DeleteCorrect anon 07:15
DeleteWell done BNX!
ReplyDelete