Nordwind to launch Ljubljana and Sarajevo service

Russian carrier Nordwind Airlines will enter the markets of Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina this winter season by introducing flights from Moscow to Ljubljana and from St Petersburg to Sarajevo. As previously reported, flights to Ljubljana will operate once per week, each Saturday, with the airline maintaining the same schedule as initially filed back in October of last year, although the carrier will deploy its 220-seat Airbus A321 aircraft on the route instead of the originally planned Boeing 737-800. Services will commence on February 5. Slovenia recently resumed issuing tourist visas to Russian nationals for the first time in almost two years, resulting in increased demand as Slovenia is one of just a handful of European Union member states to recognise the Sputnik vaccine, which is the only type available in Russia. Later this month, Rossiya Airlines will inaugurate flights from St Petersburg to Ljubljana.

Nordwind will also introduce a two weekly service from Russia’s second largest city to Sarajevo starting March 3, with flights operating each Wednesday and Sunday with the 189-seat Boeing 737-800 jet. As previously reported, Nordwind Airlines and its sister carrier Pegas Fly received permits from the Russian Federal Air Transport Agency to launch services to Sarajevo back in October of last year. Nordwind was granted approval to introduce flights from St Petersburg, Kazan, Yekaterinburg and Rostov-on-Don, while Pegas Fly gained the all-clear to commence operations from Ufa, Perm and Yekaterinburg. Russian regulations state local airlines must first ask for approval from the Federal Air Transport Agency before seeking a permit from the destination country. Airlines are not obliged to introduce all or any of the routes they requested approval for from the local regulator.

Nordwind will complement Aeroflot’s service between Moscow and Ljubljana, which has been increased over the holiday period but will be maintained four times per week for the remainder of the winter season. On the other hand, Sarajevo will see its first flights to Russia in almost nine years. Services were last maintained from Moscow to Bosnia and Herzegovina’s capital by Moskovia Airlines, however, the carrier grounded its flights and declared bankruptcy just three months after inaugurating operations to Sarajevo. Further flight details for the new Moscow - Ljubljana service can be viewed here, while additional information for the St Petersburg - Sarajevo flights can be found here.