Wizz Air to announce Tuzla expansion today

Low cost carrier Wizz Air will announce the launch of new routes from its base in Tuzla today. It comes just weeks after local authorities refused to reach an agreement with Ryanair over the introduction of flights, citing Wizz as one of the reasons for their decision. Wizz Air has grown significantly out of Bosnia and Herzegovina this year, with the launch of its Sarajevo base, as well as services from Banja Luka. However, Wizz Air has stagnated with its Tuzla operations in recent years. Today’s expansion will be announced at a press conference by the airline’s President Robert Carey, the newly appointed acting General Manager of Tuzla Airport, Meris Šabanović, and the Minister for Trade, Tourism and Transport of the Tuzla Canton government, Hamza Bešić.

Wizz Air’s CEO. Jozsef Varadi, visited Bosnia and Herzegovina last month. He said, “Bosnia and Herzegovina has held up well against the pandemic. It was flexible and resilient during the crisis and performed stronger than most traditional European markets in which Wizz Air operates. There were measures introduced by the government, but there was movement of people. More people travelled from Bosnia and Herzegovina than other countries. We believe Bosnia is a good market to invest in. There are a lot of investment prospects, as well as opportunities to bring more airlines into the country and launch new routes. We will be seeing that in the coming months”. He added, “This, combined with all the development I see going on, encourages us to think of what’s next in terms of increasing the number of aircraft, employees and services. That is something we are working on and I am pretty sure that Bosnia and Herzegovina can be a winner in all of this”.

Wizz Air, as the only airline operating scheduled flights out of Tuzla, helped kick-start the airport's passenger development eight years ago. The airline currently maintains fifteen routes to six countries from Bosnia and Herzegovina’s third largest city. Potential new routes include Hamburg or Hannover, Paris Beauvais and Milan, as well as the possible resumption of services to London Luton and Sandefjord, which were previously suspended from Tuzla by the budget carrier. The airline recently noted, "We look forward to continuing our fruitful partnership with Tuzla International Airport and remain committed to bringing even more exciting opportunities that can best meet our customers’ needs, while further stimulating economic and business relations in the country”.

This news item will be updated during the day.

EX-YU Aviation News

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