Airlines Bulgaria and Bosnia and Herzegovina launch joint airline initative

According to several newspapers, Bulgaria’s Prime Minister Boyko Borissov and the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina have developed a concept for a new joint airline. The carrier could operate flights between capital cities of countries in the Balkan region that do currently not have an own national carrier. Such countries could be Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia or Albania. The countries could subsidize the airline project with the goal of improving the existing transport infrastructure.

Bosnia and Herzegovina has currently four major airports without a national airline: Sarajevo, Tuzla, Mostar and Banja Luka. Macedonia, with the two major airports in Skopje and Ohrid, does not have an own carrier. The Tirana-based airline Albawings is the only Albanian carrier, operating flights to Italian destinations with a fleet of three Boeing 737 Family aircraft. Bulgaria’s flag carrier Bulgaria Air operates a fleet of ten single-aisle aircraft from its hubs in Sofia, Burgas and Varna.

The Hungarian low-cost carrier Wizz Air operates flights from several airports in the Balkan region including the Macedonian airports in Skopje and Ohrid.

Most airlines, operating flights from the Balkan countries focus on flights to Western European destinations. There are currently only very few flights connecting the Balkan region with Bulgaria. According to Prime Minister Borissov, the Bulgarian transport minister will work on the new idea of a regional airline.