Eighth Gulf carrier to commence Sarajevo flights
Omani low cost carrier SalamAir will commence operations between Muscat and Sarajevo next month, becoming the eighth Gulf airline to maintain services to Bosnia and Herzegovina’s capital this summer, with five of them introducing flights only this year. SalamAir will maintain one weekly rotation between the two capital cities, each Monday, starting July 12. The journey, which lasts over six hours, will be operated by the 180-seat Airbus A320neo aircraft. It marks the first time Sarajevo and Muscat will be linked by a scheduled air service. Based on OAG data, in 2019, which is considered the last normal year for commercial aviation, 9.784 passengers flew indirectly between Sarajevo and Muscat on a single itinerary. Sarajevo becomes the only city in the former Yugoslavia to be linked to Oman.
From the Gulf, Sarajevo Airport is currently served by Flydubai from Dubai, Air Arabia from Sharjah, Air Arabia Abu Dhabi from the Emirati capital, Jazeera Airways from Kuwait City, Flynas from Riyadh and Jeddah and Gulf Air from Bahrain, the latter introducing flights over the last weekend. They will be joined by Kuwait Airways this coming Saturday. Furthermore, a number of these carriers will increase operations to Sarajevo mid-way through next month due to the Eid al-Adha holiday, with the likes of Flydubai operating up to four daily flights to Bosnia and Herzegovina’s capital on select days.
The introduction of SalamAir’s service from Muscat will result in Sarajevo being linked to all countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council, with exception to Qatar, with its national airline discontinuing flights to Bosnia and Herzegovina's capital in March 2020 as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Almost all of the demand from the Gulf to Sarajevo is generated exclusively during the summer, with almost all flights operated on a seasonal basis. Bosnia and Herzegovina has become a popular destination for tourists from the region. Arab investors are building homes and hotels around Sarajevo and heavily promoting the destination to middle class families looking for cheaper alternatives to Western Europe, fuelling point to point travel from the Middle East to Sarajevo. This has been further compounded in 2021 by Covid-19, with Gulf nationals and residents unable to enter the majority of the European Union and Schengen area this year. Following the launch of Muscat, Tel Aviv becomes the busiest unserved route from Sarajevo to the Middle East, while the busiest unserved destinations in the Gulf are Dammam in Saudi Arabia and Beirut in Lebanon.
Further flight details for SalamAir’s new Sarajevo service can be found here.
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