FlyBosnia returns jet, plans Paris and Barcelona flights
FlyBosnia has returned one of its two Airbus A319 aircraft to its lessor Aercap and will operate a single-member fleet for the duration of the 2019/20 winter season, which runs until late March. The jet in question, registered E7-FBB, was ferried to Bangor in the United States on Tuesday, ending its five-month run with the airline. The lease was initially planned to be on a long-term basis. The carrier has said it will add another A319 to its fleet in April once it resumes seasonal operations to the Middle East. However, earlier this year it signed a deal with lessor AerCap to take on another two A319s and set a target to boast a fleet of eight jets by 2023. “One aircraft is sufficient for our operations until April”, the carrier’s spokeswoman said.
FlyBosnia currently maintains just one scheduled route, to London Luton, which will be joined by Rome as of tomorrow. The airline also plans to resume operations to Riyadh in Saudi Arabia on November 14 and conduct a number of charter flights over the winter months, primarily to Naples and Bari. The carrier’s CEO, Tarik Bilalbegović, has said the company will introduce services to Paris and Barcelona, with flights to the French capital expected to launch in January. “The next cities will be Paris and Barcelona, then we will increase London Luton and Riyadh up to daily in order to meet the passenger demand between the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia. In the future we are intent on launching Milan, probably during the course of 2020. However, no firm decision has been made”, Mr Bilalbegović said recently.
Despite its expansion plans, FlyBosnia still owes Sarajevo Airport almost half a million euros in handling, landing and other charges. The airline has submitted a plan to pay off its mounting debt, however, it is believed the proposed solutions were unsatisfactory for the airport. Last month, FlyBosnia said it was considering shifting its operations away from Bosnia and Herzegovina’s capital to Mostar and Tuzla. "Our company and staff are considering the possibility of shifting our operations to Tuzla and Mostar. In such a case, we would fly to Rome from Mostar, while London and other EU destinations would be maintained from Tuzla, from which we would provide bus transfers to Sarajevo", the airline said.
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