Tuzla Airport launches airline subsidy tender

NEWS FLASH

Tuzla Airport opened a public call last Friday to subsidise airlines that launch flights to the city. Giving carriers a brisk ten days to apply, the terms and conditions of the tender have not been made public and can only be obtained by interested airlines. The funds will be provided by the Tuzla Canton government. It has allocated roughly 1.27 million euros in subsidies. “By subsidising airlines, we want to restore routes that were discontinued with the departure of Wizz Air. We have held discussions and made agreements with several airlines. We do not anticipate spending all the funds, but we want to share the risk”, the Prime Minister of the Tuzla Canton, Irfan Halilagić, previously said. Tuzla Airport handled 18.825 passengers in October, down 65.2% on the same month during the pre-pandemic 2019, as a result of Wizz Air’s base closure in mid-September of this year. Air Montenegro, which had planned to launch flights from Tuzla to ten cities this winter has only managed to obtain permits to fly to two destinations - Istanbul and Maastricht - as a foreign carrier operating between two other foreign countries.