Turkish Airlines’ low cost subsidiary AJet will commence flights to its second destination in Bosnia and Herzegovina and its fifth in the former Yugoslavia this October by introducing services between Istanbul’s Sabiha Gocken Airport and Tuzla. It is the second carrier to recently announce flights between Istanbul and Tuzla, with Pegasus Airlines scheduling operations on the same route from August 24. Similar to Pegasus, AJet will maintain a one weekly rotation between the two cities, on Mondays, starting October 7. The airline will deploy its 211-seat Airbus A321neo aircraft on the route. Further flight details can be found here. Tickets for AJet’s new Tuzla service are now available for purchase through the airline’s website.
AJet plans to expand its operations to Tuzla in 2025, with the introduction of seasonal summer flights from Antalya. The route, which will be launched during the 2025 summer season, will be maintained four times per week. The service is yet to be scheduled and put on sale. AJet currently operates flights to four destinations in the former Yugoslavia, including Sarajevo, Belgrade, Skopje, and Pristina. The carrier maintains operations from Istanbul Sabiha Gocken Airport to all four cities, from Bodrum to Sarajevo, Skopje, and Pristina, from Ankara to Belgrade, from Antalya to Sarajevo and Pristina, as well as from Izmir to Belgrade.
The arrival of both AJet and Pegasus Airlines in Tuzla will provide a much needed boost for the airport, which handled 90.942 passengers during the first half of the year, representing a decrease of 67.1% on the same period last year. The sharp decline comes as a result of the closure of Wizz Air’s base in the city last September. Although AJet and Pegasus Airlines will both maintain flights from Istanbul and Tuzla, they will run on different days, with the latter maintaining its service on Saturdays. Pegasus Airlines will initially deploy the A320 jet on the route but will upgrade its equipment to the 239-seat A321 aircraft in September.
wow well done Tuzla
ReplyDeleteGreat but two airlines flying the same route with just one weekly flight...
ReplyDeleteSomething is better than nothing
DeleteGood to see Tuzla getting new traffic.
ReplyDeleteThese flights to Istanbul could have been negotiated years ago.
DeleteWould have been better if they started Ankara-Tuzla
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteAmazing that both will be flying with A321s
ReplyDeleteHope it works out
ReplyDeleteIs there enough demand?
ReplyDeleteIt's just one flight per week. So it is limited.
DeleteAre these two being subsidized?
ReplyDeleteNo, these flights are not subsided
DeleteI highly doubt that neither AJet nor Pegasus will be paying anything to Tuzla in terms of handling and landing fees.
DeleteSo? It is the only way TZL can get flights at the moment.
Delete^ then it does not need flights at all.
DeleteAirports that need to subsidise should be closed down. What is the point of them, they just take the piss out of taxpayers
DeleteGreat news. Also excellent that there will be scheduled Antalya flights next summer.
ReplyDeleteAnd it's 4 weekly!
DeleteÝes, that's very good. How many times per week does Freebird currently operate these charters to/from Tuzla?
DeleteFreebird operates 3x pw and Tailwind 1x pw
DeleteHas Tuzla completed the runway approach lights they have been announcing for the past 10 years?
ReplyDeleteOf course not.
DeleteThey used the downtime over last year effectively :D
DeleteThey will never build it. Useless politically appointed management which is directly responsible for Wizz Air and Ryanair leaving. Not to mention the debacle with Lumiwings.
DeleteTZL has continually had one of the worst airport management in the region. Some of the CEOs even sued one another at some point
DeleteYes that is true. SDA kadar
DeleteMeanwhile Ljubljana can't get either Pegasus or Ajet for SAW. Bravo Fraport
ReplyDeleteThere may be bilateral restrictions. Pegasus was only allowed to start Zagreb this year after 5 years of trying to get a permit. Turkey does not have an agreement with EU as a whole but has bilateral agreements with each EU member.
DeleteTuzla is twice as big market as LJU so no surprise here.
DeleteProbs the bilateral, yeah. Considering how full TK's flights are during summer, there's enough demand for a few extra weekly LCC flights
DeleteNot gonna lie, was hoping the new destination was Ljubljana :D but I'm happy for Tuzla
ReplyDeletewhat is the point of one weekly flight? I think that minimum should always be 2 weekly flights
ReplyDeleteThey are working on it to get more flights pw
DeleteAt least something
ReplyDeleteTuzla Airport's gold days are over. Now we have to be happy with anything we can get.
DeleteI'm still wondering if this is for Turkish tourists or for people from BiH? Genuinely asking and not trying to be offensive but is there anything to see in Tuzla? I completely understand Mostar and of course Sarajevo flights from IST but Tuzla?
ReplyDeleteThere are lot of people who are traveling from Tuzla to Istanbul, a lot of them are going by bus. For example i traveled to Istanbul from Tuzla with a bus, that was not so nice, so im happy to see that TZL also have flights to SAW
DeleteInteresting, thanks
DeleteBosnians in general love to visit Turkey. This route even if it fails to capture the Turkish market, will survive off Bosnian tourists.
DeleteThey have to lunch for Mostar
ReplyDeletePegasus is coming to Mostar
Deletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2024/07/pegasus-airlines-negotiating-eighth.html
I'm happy that Tuzla has finally woken up a year after Wizz closed its base.
ReplyDeleteWon't change the situation much but Tuzla needs all the flights it can get at the moment.
ReplyDeleteThis is nice but they need an airline to open a base in TZL.
ReplyDeleteFR please
DeleteThey left Tuzla within months and never looked back.
DeleteHopefully they eventually increase frequencies.
ReplyDeleteThey will. management is working on it.
DeleteLooking back at it, what a waste of money it was to spend on those Lumiwings flights.
ReplyDeleteThe sum was relatively small. It could only cover a few months of flights which is what TZL got at the time.
DeleteIirc it was over a million euros, no? That's the money LJU is paying for AirBaltic, Norwegian and Luxair combined
DeleteLJU is not paying anything, its the GOV.
DeleteI am sure there will be way more airlines coming. This is a great start!
ReplyDeleteSo over 400 seats per week from Istanbul to Tuzla and also 400+ back. Not bad for a small airport.
ReplyDelete800 additional weekly pax, assuming the route lasts for an entire year, would yield around 40k pax annually. For an airport like Tuzla, that's very much noticeable
DeleteGood to see Tuzla with intercontinental flights, considering Sabiha Gokcen Airport is on the Asian side of Istanbul.
ReplyDeleteHahaha good one!
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