Banja Luka Airport in talks over new flights
Banja Luka Airport is negotiating with another airline over the introduction of flights, complementing Air Serbia’s and Ryanair’s scheduled operations to the city. The airport’s General Manager, Milan Račić, did not wish to reveal the company’s name, but said the carrier would add new routes from Bosnia and Herzegovina’s second largest city. Currently, Air Serbia maintains flights between Belgrade and Banja Luka, while Turkey’s Freebird Airlines is running charter flights from Antalya. As of today, Ryanair will resume its operations to the city with flights from Memmingen, followed by Charleroi on Monday. The budget airline’s remaining routes are planned to resume at the start of the 2020/2021 winter season, in late October, however, Mr Račić noted, “Depending on the epidemiological situation in the European Union and entry rules and regulations, we expect for the resumption of other flights earlier than planned, perhaps in September or early October”. Ryanair also intends to go ahead with the launch of its new route from Bergamo to Banja Luka on October 26, while its subsidiary Niki will inaugurate flights from Vienna on the same day.
The coronavirus pandemic has put a halt to Banja Luka’s impressive passenger growth over the past year, fuelled primarily by Ryanair. “Prior to the coronavirus crisis we discussed the possibility of an airline opening a base in Banja Luka. We will see what will happen after the pandemic. We also had discussions over the launch of an intercontinental service, and after this situation passes, we hope to resume those talks. A Turkish carrier is also interested in cooperating with Banja Luka Airport. For us, it was important to open up to the world last year and for some flights to begin. We must now seek out new airlines and partners and expand our destination network”, Mr Račić explained.
Commenting on plans for the development of a second commercial airport in the entity of Republika Srpska in Bosnia and Herzegovina, near the town of Trebinje, Mr Račić said, “Personally I am disappointed that we didn’t finalise this project earlier. If we had Trebinje Airport, we would be able to immediately negotiate at least five new routes. Trebinje Airport has potential and should be built. It would bring benefits for tourism and the local economy in Herzegovina. It would not pose as competition to other nearby airports, instead, we would all cooperate and further boost travel in the region”. He added that prior to the collapse of the former Yugoslavia, plans were made to build an airport near Trebinje.
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