Bosnian Airline To Connect London And Sarajevo By Year End

The newest airline of Bosnia and Herzegovina, FlyBosnia, has confirmed that they will begin operations from the airline’s hub in Sarajevo to London. The precise airport is yet to be announced, but according to FlyBosnia's website, they will probably choose either London Gatwick or London Luton. The carrier is expected to begin service on the route at the end of this year.

FlyBosnia received its Air Operators Certificate in January 2019, therefore becoming Bosnia’s flag carrier after the demise of B&H Airlines, the country’s former air operator, in June 2015. The country’s main airport, Sarajevo international, has not had any direct flights to London for decades.

FlyBosnia hopes to be the first airline to reinitiate a direct connection with the UK’s capital.

FlyBosnia commenced operations in May of 2019, with a flight to the Middle Eastern nation of Kuwait. Other destinations in the same geographic location followed, such as Riyadh, Gassim and Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, and Manama in Bahrain. The airline’s fleet is rather small, only being composed of two Airbus A319 aircraft, but FlyBosnia has announced that they plan to reach a fleet of eight aircraft by the year 2023.

The main investor and owner of the newly estabilished Bosnian airline is the Saudi Arabian investment group Al-Shiddi group. They are one of the largest foreign investors in the small Balkan nations, having invested in buildings and hotels in the capital city Sarajevo.

As of July 2019, FlyBosnia only flies to Middle Eastern destinations. However, in an interview with N1 television, the airline’s former CEO, Chris Gabriel, revealed that new destinations such as Frankfurt, Rome, Paris and Barcelona would be served by the Bosnian airline. He also stated that the airline’s focus would be direct flights and the European continent.

Nevertheless, questions have arisen about the to-be-introduced London flight: there are fears that the flights will be quite empty, because of different factors such as limited trade between the UK and Bosnia, a harsh visa regime for Bosnian citizens, and no interline agreements with bigger airline, thus no possibility for connecting flights. FlyBosnia has not commented on these matters.