Sarajevo International Airport

Sarajevo International Airport
Međunarodni aerodrom Sarajevo
Међународни аеродром Сарајево
Međunarodna zračna luka Sarajevo
Summary
Airport type Public
Operator Bosnia and Herzegovina Directorate of Civil Aviation (BHDCA)
Serves Sarajevo,
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Location Butmir
Elevation AMSL 1,708 ft / 521 m
Coordinates 43°49′29″N 018°19′53″E / 43.82472°N 18.33139°E / 43.82472; 18.33139Coordinates: 43°49′29″N 018°19′53″E / 43.82472°N 18.33139°E / 43.82472; 18.33139
Website sarajevo-airport.ba
Map
SJJ
Location within Bosnia and Herzegovina
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
12/30 2,700 8,858 Asphalt
Statistics (2017)
Passengers 957.971 Increase 14,2%
Aircraft Movements 12.773 Increase 12,0%
Freight (in tons) 2.957 Increase 3,2%
Source (excluding statistics): Bosnian and Herzegovinian AIP at EUROCONTROL[1]
PE Sarajevo International Airport
Native name
 ЈP Međunarodni Aerodrom Sarajevo
Public-owned enterprise
Industry Consumer services
Founded 2 June 1969 (1969-06-02) (Current form)
Headquarters Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Area served
 Bosnia and Herzegovina
Key people
 Armin Kajmaković (Director)
Services Airport operations
Revenue Increase €24.25 million (2017)[2]
Increase €6.64 million[3]
Total assets Increase €126.37 million (2017)[4]
Total equity Increase €86.00 million (2017)[5]
Owner Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (100.00%)
Number of employees
 484 (2016)
Website www.sarajevo-airport.ba/ Edit this on Wikidata

Sarajevo International Airport (Bosnian: Međunarodni aerodrom Sarajevo/Међународни аеродром Сарајево); (IATA: SJJ, ICAO: LQSA), also known as Butmir Airport, is the main international airport in Bosnia and Herzegovina, serving Sarajevo, capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is located 3.3 NM (6.1 km; 3.8 mi) southwest of the Sarajevo railway station[1] and some 6.5 NM (12.0 km; 7.5 mi) west of downtown Sarajevo in the Ilidža municipality, suburb of Butmir. In 2017, 957,971 passengers traveled through the airport, compared to 323,499 in 2001.[6]

History

Early years

First regular flights to Sarajevo using an airfield in the suburb of Butmir begin in 1930 when the domestic airliner Aeroput opened a regular route linking Belgrade to Podgorica through Sarajevo.[7] A year later Aeroput opened a new route which linked Belgrade and Zagreb going through Sarajevo, Split and Rijeka. In 1935 Aeroput operated three times weekly the non-stop route Belgrade – Sarajevo, which was extended to Dubrovnik a year later. In 1937 Aeroput included regular flights linking Sarajevo to Zagreb, and 1938 was the year when first international flights were introduced when Aeroput extended the route Dubrovnik – Sarajevo – Zagreb to Vienna, Brno and Prague.[7][8]

The airfield in Butmir remained in use all the way until 1969. The need for a new airport in Sarajevo, with an asphalt-concrete runway, was acknowledged in the mid-1960s when JAT, Yugoslav national carrier at that time, began acquiring jet planes. The construction of the airport began in 1966 at its present location, not far from the old one.

Sarajevo Airport opened on 2 June 1969 for domestic traffic. In 1970 Frankfurt became the first international destination served. Most of the time the airport was a 'feeder' airport where passengers embarked for flights to Zagreb and Belgrade on their way to international destinations. Over time the traffic volume steadily grew from 70,000 to 600,000 passengers a year. The first renovation came for the 1984 Winter Olympic Games, when the runway was extended by 200 meters, the navigation system was improved, and a new terminal building was built, designed for 1 million passengers a year.

At the beginning of the Bosnian War the airport was put under control of Yugoslav People's Army (JNA). When the regular flights were stopped the JNA evacuated some 30,000 people, mostly women and children, who were fleeing clashes in Sarajevo; the first humanitarian aid from the US and France arrived in this period too.[9] After JNA left, the airport was for a while under control of Bosnian Serb forces and in June 1992 they handed over the airport to the UN to use it for humanitarian purposes (UN Security Council Resolution 757). In the biggest humanitarian operation in history of the UN that followed, during the Bosnian war, some 13,000 flights were carried out and over 160,000 tons of international humanitarian aid was delivered to the besieged city of Sarajevo.[9]

The airport re-opened to civilian air traffic on 16 August 1996 and has since been renovated and slowly returned to its former glory. Since the Dayton Accord in 1996, the airport has welcomed a thriving commercial flight business which includes Austrian Airlines, Lufthansa, Air Serbia, Croatia Airlines, Turkish Airlines, Germanwings and others.

Development since the 2000s

On 18 October 2005, Paddy Ashdown, the High Representative of Bosnia and Herzegovina, suspended a decision by Bosnian authorities to name the airport after Alija Izetbegović, the first President of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The High Representative stated that such a renaming might undermine the reconciliation process by alienating non-Bosniak citizens.[10] In 2005, the European branch of the Airports Council International awarded Sarajevo the award of Best Airport Under 1 Million Passengers.[11]

In 2013, Sarajevo International Airport had 665,638 passengers which is more than all of the other airports in Bosnia-Herzegovina had together and a 14.7% increase from 2012, this is the highest number of passengers per year since the reopening of the airport. On 26 December 2014, The airport welcomed its 700,000th passenger on Austrian Airlines flight OS758 to Vienna.[12]

In May 2015 work has started on expansion of Sarajevo International Airport. Current work is undergoing on expansion of arrival area, adding more passport control check stands and rearranging whole arrival area to make it more passenger friendly. Next to follow is expansion of check in area which will include three more check in counters making it total of 15 check in counters. By the end of the year the airport will begin with platform expansion and the construction of rapid exit taxiway with scheduled completion by mid of the next year. 2017 should be the year in which airport will enter into the reconstruction of the runway and the maneuvering areas. Expansion of the airport at the current level is financed by Sarajevo Airport own funds. On 6 June 2015 Pope Francis visited Sarajevo arriving on an Alitalia Airbus A320-200 from Rome Fiumicino Airport. Welcome ceremony was held at Sarajevo International Airport.

The airport served as the home base for the country's flag carrier, B&H Airlines, until July 2015 when the airline ceased operations.[13] During December 2015, Sarajevo Airport experienced very low visibility and fog. About 40% of flights were canceled which impacted passengers growth and financial loss to the airport. Airport handled only 28.167 passengers of 50.000 planned (last year in December 43.079 passengers were handled). For Sarajevo International Airport one of major restrictions is a mountain terrain that requires a high approach precision and a big inclination angle in a procedure of unsuccessful approach and landing. Mr Vlado Jurić, Head of the Office for aviation safety, presented the information about problems caused by reduced minimums at Sarajevo Airport. For the implementation of ILS categories (CAT II or CAT III), the terrain in front of the runway start should be free of obstacles for at least 1000 meters. It means that the RWY 12 threshold should be moved for additional 200 meters which would reduce the runway length and as such is unacceptable. From the point of view of procedure design, the reduction of minimums is not an option and therefor it is necessary to find other solutions for improvement of landing conditions at Sarajevo Airport. The biggest problem at Sarajevo Airport is fog. The representative of Sarajevo Airport, Mr Nermin Zijadić informed that there is a relevant plan regarding this problem. He also presented the information about future projects of Sarajevo Airport among which the most important one is a reconstruction of the runway including its lighting system.[14]

In 2016, Qatar Airways announced a new route from Doha to Sarajevo. However, the start of this service was first postponed and then moved to 10 October 2017. with four weekly flights.[15] On 5 December 2016, The airport welcomed its 800,000th passenger on Air Serbia flight JU113 to Belgrade.[16]

On 3 May 2017, the airport announced a major terminal expansion. The project is worth 20 million Euros and scheduled to be completed in 2018. A new, 9000sqm building on four levels will be built as an addition to the current terminal building. The new terminal will have capacity to handle 2 million passengers per year and will be equipped with four jet bridges.[17]

In 2017 Sarajevo International Airport welcomed six new airlines and seven destinations: Atlas Global (Istanbul), Wizz Air (Budapest), Wataniya Airways (Kuwait City), Nesma Airlines (Riyadh), TUI fly Belgium ( Brussels South Charleroi), Flydubai (Podgorica), Qatar Airways (Doha)[18]

On 28 November 2017, Sarajevo International Airport has welcomed its 900,000 passengers of the year, representing a record number of passengers in one calendar year.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

Turkish Airlines A330 at Sarajevo Airport
Main building
Check-in hall
Apron view and control tower

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Sarajevo International Airport:[19]

AirlinesDestinations
Adria Airways Ljubljana
Aegean Airlines Seasonal: Athens (begins 13 June 2019)[20]
Air Arabia Seasonal: Sharjah[21]
Air Serbia Belgrade
AtlasGlobal Seasonal charter: Antalya
Austrian Airlines Vienna
Croatia Airlines Zagreb
Eurowings Cologne/Bonn, Stuttgart[22]
flydubai Dubai-International
Lufthansa Munich
Nesma Airlines Seasonal: Riyadh[23]
Norwegian Air Shuttle Stockholm-Arlanda
Seasonal: Oslo-Gardermoen, Copenhagen
Onur Air Seasonal charter: Antalya
Pegasus Airlines Istanbul-Sabiha Gökçen
Qatar Airways Doha[24]
Scandinavian Airlines Seasonal: Copenhagen
Swiss International Air Lines Seasonal: Zürich
Turkish Airlines Istanbul-Atatürk
Seasonal charter: Antalya
Tunisair Express Seasonal charter Tunis[25]
Wizz Air Budapest[26]

Cargo

AirlinesDestinations
ASL Airlines Switzerland Basel/Mulhouse[27]
DHL Aviation Ancona, Bergamo, Sofia[28]
Lipican Aer[29] Ljubljana[28]

Statistics

Traffic figures

Passenger numbers[30]
Year/Month January February March April May June July August September October November December Year total Change
2018 54,113 48,986 65,991 86,995 81,026 92,997 159,380 159,506 - - - - 749,028 +12,1%
2017 43,377 41,122 57,381 79,796 84,137 78,170 140,025 144,330 100,923 80,769 57,887 50,218 957,971 +14,18%
2016 41,208 42,567 53,438 68,085 85,738 66,429 109,141 118,350 91,123 71,360 47,352 44,183 838,968 +8.5%
2015 43,700 39,908 50,273 63,064 80,143 74,855 89,319 101,307 79,120 71,255 51,793 28,167 772,904 +8.8%
2014 36,114 35,435 45,789 56,611 71,513 74,976 74,948 88,591 71,168 64,844 46,833 43,079 709,901 + 6.6%
2013 33,437 30,399 44,631 56,918 65,495 72,949 69,699 79,796 66,721 64,387 44,446 36,760 665,638 +14.7%
2012 33,247 26,278 36,765 49,709 55,107 62,491 69,346 60,787 60,323 52,115 38,612 35,278 580,058 – 3.3%
2011 30,484 34,148 40,803 49,489 56,812 62,994 81,042 59,042 59,074 52,957 39,785 33,348 599,978 + 6.5%
2010 + + + + 51,398 59,636 72,615 60,475 54,753 51,137 40,912 – 563,266 + 6.2%
2009 + + 87,257 + + 143,906 + + 177,762 + + 121,427 530,391 + 4.7%
2008 23,909 27,121 34,896 38,052 46,974 55,391 62,524 61,560 42,752 46,094 34,089 32,913 506,398 + 0.2%
2007 32,235 28,028 35,168 42,297 43,633 53,281 59,436 57,381 45,113 43,980 31,952 32,735 505,269 + 8.4%
Traffic archive by calendar year: Passengers, Aircraft Movements and Cargo[6][31][32]
Year Passengers Change from previous year Aircraft operations Cargo (metric tons)
2000 354,995 15.4Increase 3,910 1,652
2001 323,499 8.8Decrease 6,887 1,682
2002 310,126 4.1Decrease 7,401 1,686
2003 364,512 17.5Increase 9,877 1,648
2004 399,607 9.6Increase 9,982 n/a
2005 433,222 8.4Increase 11,309 n/a
2006 455,626 5.1Increase 13,433 n/a
2007 496,756 9.0Increase 13,891 n/a
2008 510,396 2.7Increase 13,599 1,837
2009 533,915 4.7Increase 13,824 1,815
2010 563,266 6.2Increase 13,347 1,753
2011 599,978 6.5Increase 11,633 1,607
2012 580,058 3.3Decrease 10,635 1,526
2013 665,638 14.7Increase 11,026 1,603
2014 709,901 6.6Increase 12,074 2,060
2015 772,904 8.8Increase 11,107 4,235
2016 838,966 8.5Increase 11,399 2,865
2017 957,971 14.2Increase 12,773 2,957
2018
(Jan-Jul)		 589.522 12.5Increase 6,162 1,143

Busiest routes

Top 5 busiest routes at Sarajevo International Airport[33]
City Airport(s) Weekly departures
(Summer 2018)		 Airlines Passengers (2017)
Istanbul Atatürk Airport and Sabiha Gökçen Airport 29 Turkish Airlines, Pegasus Airlines 321.546
Dubai Dubai International Airport and Sharjah International Airport 29 Flydubai, Air Arabia 105.479
Vienna Schwechat Airport 14 Austrian Airlines 130.313
Zagreb Zagreb Airport 13 Croatia Airlines 65.975
Munich Munich Airport 7 Lufthansa 79.134


Passenger traffic by the airline and destination in 2017[34]
Airline
 Destination
 Airport(s)
 Passengers
Turkish Airlines and AtlasGlobal Turkey Istanbul Istanbul Ataturk Airport 212.625
Austrian Airlines Austria Vienna Schwechat Airport 130.313
Pegasus Airlines Turkey Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen Airport 108.921
flyDubai United Arab Emirates Dubai Dubai International Airport 86.260
Lufthansa Germany Munich Munich International Airport 79.134
Croatia Airlines Croatia Zagreb Zagreb International Airport 65.975
Eurowings Germany Cologne, Stuttgart Cologne Bonn Airport, Stuttgart Airport 57.478
Norwegian Air Shuttle SwedenNorwayDenmark Stockholm, Oslo, Copenhagen Stockholm Arlanda Airport, Oslo Gardermoen Airport, Copenhagen Airport 39.220
Air Serbia Serbia Belgrade Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport 38.319
Adria Airways Slovenia Ljubljana Ljubljana Airport 28.629
Turkish Airlines and Tailwind Airlines Turkey Antalya Antalya Airport 23.761
Air Arabia United Arab Emirates Sharjah Sharjah International Airport 19.219
Swiss International Air Lines Switzerland Zurich Zurich Airport 18.900
Wizz Air Hungary Budapest Budapest Airport 17.827
Nesma Airlines Saudi Arabia Riyadh King Khalid International Airport 11.200
Wataniya Airways Kuwait Kuwait City Kuwait International Airport 8.990
TUI fly Belgium Belgium Charleroi Brussels South Charleroi Airport 6.900
Qatar Airways Qatar Doha Hamad International Airport 4.300

Access

Bus stop in front of the terminal building

By car

Sarajevo Airport is connected to the Sarajevo–Zenica-Mostar highway (A1) via a nearby Stup Interchange and Brijesce Interchange.

By bus

Centrotrans Eurolines, in cooperation with Sarajevo International Airport, introduced a new bus service Airport – Baščaršija City Center-Airport, starting from August 1, 2016. Bus stand is just outside of arrivals area in main terminal. WiFi internet is available on board.[35]

By trolleybus

Airport is connected with Sarajevo city center with trolleybus number 103 operated by GRAS transport company [36]

Accidents and incidents

  • 18 January 1977: Džemal Bijedić, then prime minister of Yugoslavia, and his wife were among the eight people killed when their Learjet 25 crashed on the Inač mountain near Kreševo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The plane took off from Batajnica Air Base in Belgrade and was en route to Sarajevo when it crashed, ostensibly due to poor weather conditions. Conspiracy theorists have suggested that the crash was not an accident but rather the result of foul play at the hands of his Serbian rivals.
  • 31 December 1994: Belair cargo plane Ilyushin 76TD, registration EW-76836 was operating flight from Luxembourg to Sarajevo on behalf of the United Nations. At the time of landing Sarajevo airport runway was flooded and the aircraft overran runway and struck a ditch with the nose gear. There were no fatalities in crash-landing but the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.[37]
  • 23 December 2001: A Crossair Avro RJ, registration HB-IXH, skidded 100 meters off the runway when it tried to land at Sarajevo airport under snowy conditions. Nobody was injured in the accident, nor was there any damage. By next Monday afternoon, the aircraft had been recovered and was parked on the apron. The French Air Detachment (DETAIR) and local aeronautical authorities have opened an investigation to determine the cause of the accident. It was snowing on the afternoon of 23 Dec.. The airport snow plough had just cleared the runway, a 20-minute job, when an HB-IXH from Zürich requested authorization to land." In those circumstances, the air traffic controller cannot give authorization. He only informs the pilot and the pilot is the one who has the responsibility to take the decision to land," said Maj. Olivier Mrowiki, air deputy commander. "The pilot (captain) decided to land and began the IFR approach procedure. The maneuver was correct and the touch down (landing) was perfect. The problem arose when the aircraft did not stop on the runway and went beyond it and stopped just in front of the ILS (instrumental landing system) antennas more than 100 meters beyond the end of the runway,"[38]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "EAD Basic - Error Page". Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  2. ↑ http://www.parlamentfbih.gov.ba/dom_naroda/v2/bs/propis.php?id=298
  3. ↑ http://www.parlamentfbih.gov.ba/dom_naroda/v2/bs/propis.php?id=298
  4. ↑ http://www.parlamentfbih.gov.ba/dom_naroda/v2/bs/propis.php?id=298
  5. ↑ http://www.parlamentfbih.gov.ba/dom_naroda/v2/bs/propis.php?id=298
  6. 1 2 http://www.sarajevo-airport.ba/statistika/statistics_archive_en.pdf
  7. 1 2 Drustvo za Vazdusni Saobracaj A D – Aeroput (1927–1948) at europeanairlines.n
  8. ↑ Aeroput, the First Airline that Landed in Sarajevo at sarajevotimes.com, 21-4-2014, retrieved 19-7-2014
  9. 1 2
  10. ↑ High Representative Suspends Decision Renaming Sarajevo International Airport Archived 26 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine.
  11. ↑ Excellence in airport operations: 1st ACI Europe Best Airport Awards Archived 23 September 2006 at the Wayback Machine., 29 June 2005.
  12. ↑ "Sarajevo-Airport.ba - Međunarodni aerodrom Sarajevo". Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  13. ↑ ch-aviation.com - Sarajevo to shut down B&H Airlines citing mounting debts 1 July 2015
  14. ↑ "Sarajevo-Airport.ba - Međunarodni aerodrom Sarajevo". www.sarajevo-airport.ba.
  15. ↑ http://www.qatarairways.com/us/en/destinations.page
  16. ↑ "Sarajevo-Airport.ba - Međunarodni aerodrom Sarajevo". www.sarajevo-airport.ba.
  17. ↑ "Pogledajte kako će izgledati novi terminal sarajevskog aerodroma vrijedan 38 miliona KM (FOTO)". klix.ba.
  18. ↑ "Sarajevo-Airport.ba - Međunarodni aerodrom Sarajevo". www.sarajevo-airport.ba.
  19. ↑ sarajevo-airport.ba - Timetable retrieved 11 May 2016
  20. ↑ http://flyingbosnian.blogspot.com/2018/08/aegan-airlines-to-launch-athens.html
  21. ↑ "Flights to Sarajevo - Air Arabia". www.airarabia.com.
  22. ↑ Eurowings: Flight schedule
  23. ↑ "Saudi Arabia's Nesma Airlines set for int'l debut in 3Q17". ch-aviation.com.
  24. ↑ eTurboNews: Historic city of Sarajevo to join Qatar Airways’ expanding global network. August 8, 2017.
  25. ↑ http://elitetravel.ba/tunis-rani-booking/
  26. ↑ Wizz Air - Booking
  27. ↑ Statistik, Bundesamt für. "Luftverkehr: Linien- und Charterverkehr, Jahresresultate 2016 - 2016 - Tabelle -". www.bfs.admin.ch.
  28. 1 2 http://sarajevo-airport.ba/files/SAM_06_2016.pdf
  29. ↑ "LIPICAN AER Flight School and Tourist Agency". www.facebook.com.
  30. ↑ "Sarajevo-Airport.ba - Međunarodni aerodrom Sarajevo". Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  31. ↑ "Agencija za statistiku BiH". www.bhas.ba.
  32. ↑ "Home page". www.bhdca.gov.ba.
  33. ↑ http://flyingbosnian.blogspot.com/2018/09/sarajevo-airport-2017-passenger-numbers.html
  34. ↑ http://flyingbosnian.blogspot.com/2018/09/sarajevo-airport-2017-passenger-numbers.html
  35. ↑ http://www.centrotrans.com/uimages/odrzavanje/08082016_NEWS_1_BIG.jpg
  36. ↑ "How to get from Sarajevo International Airport". Retrieved 11 March 2018.
  37. ↑ Harro Ranter (31 December 1994). "ASN Aircraft accident Ilyushin 76TD EW-76836 Sarajevo Airport (SJJ)". Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  38. ↑ "Crossair aircraft has slid off the runway of Sarajevo airport". Retrieved 6 June 2015.

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