Several airports in the former Yugoslavia should benefit from subsidies granted by the State or local authorities to airlines willing to set up. Currently, three public tenders are underway concerning Sarajevo, Ljubljana and Tuzla, with tender procedures for the maintenance of flights from Niš and Kraljevo expected to start later this month.
The public call for airlines to launch operations or establish a base in Sarajevo closed yesterday, with funds to be made available to carriers that either introduce flights from a destination that has not been served in the last twelve months, or is starting services to one of 26 destinations. deemed of strategic importance, park a plane in the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina or undertake flights lasting more than six hours. The amount of the grants has not been made public. In a similar tender earlier this year, three airlines applied: Wizz Air for its London Luton service, Jordan Aviation which plans to establish a base, and Bosnia Airlines, which does not have a carrier certificate air. Only Wizz Air fulfilled the conditions of the call for tenders.
Slovenia has launched a third tender for airlines to introduce new routes to the country in exchange for subsidies lasting three years. Although the public call concerns all three commercial airports in Slovenia, only services to Ljubljana have attracted interest. The current call for tenders, for which the State has allocated 16.8 million euros in subsidies spread over three years, or 5.6 million euros per year, will close on November 27. The previous two public appeals generated mixed results, which the government described as “disappointing”. “. Luxair and airBaltic were the only two to apply. Luxembourg’s national carrier has since launched operations to the Slovenian capital, and airBaltic will follow suit with services from Riga in May next year. Only airlines registered and based in the European Common Aviation Area (ECAA) are eligible for subsidies. The ECAA is made up of states that are part of the European Union, as well as Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Iceland, Macedonia, Norway and Montenegro. The Slovenian government is mainly aiming to introduce flights from Vienna, Copenhagen, Madrid, Prague, Berlin, Rome, Stockholm, Oslo, Barcelona and Lisbon to Ljubljana, although all destinations not served within the ECAA are eligible .
Tuzla Airport launched a tender last Friday to subsidize flights to the airport, with the deadline for submitting tenders expiring next Monday, November 20. The terms and conditions of the tender have not been made public and can only be obtained by interested airlines. Funds will be provided by the Tuzla Canton Government. It allocated around 1.27 million euros in grants. On the other hand, during the second half of November, the Serbian government will launch calls for tenders for the maintenance of existing flights subject to public service obligation from Niš and Kraljevo from January 1, 2024 to December 31, 2027 .Grants will be awarded for the year. round-trip flights from Niš to Belgrade, Cologne, Hahn, Istanbul and Ljubljana, as well as seasonal flights to Athens and Tivat. From Kraljevo, permanent flights to Istanbul will be subsidized, as well as seasonal services to Thessaloniki and Tivat.