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B&H Airlines

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B&H Airlines
Boeing 737-400
IATA ICAO Call sign
JA BON BH AIRLINES
FoundedMay 1994 (as Air Bosna)
Ceased operations
2 July 2015
HubsSarajevo International Airport
Fleet size1 (as at time of closure)
Destinations3
Parent companyGovernment of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (99.93%)
HeadquartersSarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Key peopleAmir Jažić, CEO
Websitebhairlines.ba

B&H Airlines d.o.o. was the flag carrier of Bosnia and Herzegovina with its headquarters in Sarajevo.[1] It operated scheduled and charter passenger services, as well as small parcel services, from its base at Sarajevo International Airport.[2] It ceased operations in June 2015.[3]

History

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Early years

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Air Bosna logo
Air Bosna McDonnell Douglas MD-80 in 2002

The airline was founded as Air Bosna in May 1994 and officially registered on 12 August.[4] The carrier initially experienced great difficulties because of the nation's tumultuous political situation. Flight operations began two years later, on 15 August 1996, using ad hoc leased aircraft. Regularly scheduled flights were launched on 19 February of the following year and stabilized after the Paris political agreements in December.[citation needed]

In September 2003, the airline ceased all operations due to its inability to repay its debts. It remained idle until May 2004, when the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina promised to revive it. In June 2005, it restarted operations, operating a pair of leased ATR-72 aircraft. Scheduled flights were restarted one month later.[citation needed]

Exactly a year later, its corporate name was changed to B&H Airlines. In late 2007, the Bosnian government announced it would sell its shares in the airline.[4] On 23 February 2008, it was reported that Turkish Airlines was in negotiations to buy the airline,[5] and on 30 March 2008, Croatia Airlines was also reported to be interested in a stake.[6] The government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina also invited Comintel and MyAir (in addition to Turkish Airlines and Croatia Airlines) to recapitalise the airline.[7]

Bids were received from Turkish Airlines, Malaysia's Comintel Corporation and a Jordanian consortium, which included Royal Jordanian.[8] On 29 October 2008, the Bosnian government announced that Turkish Airlines had been picked as the best bidder in an auction for B&H Airlines shares.[9] Turkish Airlines proposed to sub-lease B&H Airlines two Boeing aircraft, if requested by the airline, and in return for 49% of the shares of the company, covered the lease payments of the Boeing aircraft and participated in capital increase decisions.[9] However, in June 2012, Turkish Airlines ended the joint venture[10] following which the government of Bosnia and Herzegovina gave the airline a cash injection of €3.5 million.[11]

Developments since 2012

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By mid-2012, the airline was jointly owned by the government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (99.93%) and Energoinvest (0.07%), after the government's purchase of a former joint stake by Turkish Airlines (49%).[2] In April 2013, the airline had to cancel flights when its only airworthy ATR-72 was withdrawn for maintenance. Its other ATR-72 had previously been grounded for similar reasons.[11]

In June 2015, the Federation government decided to liquidate the carrier. The Federal Minister for Transport and Communication, Denis Lasić, said the best option would be for the airline to declare bankruptcy. "They [B&H Airlines] have eaten up everything they had and now they are in a situation where they must redirect all state funding to HETA". B&H has some eight million euros worth of debt owed to HETA, the asset management company, for the financial lease of its two ATR 72s. The Minister added, "I have held talks with the Prime Minister Fadil Novalić and the conclusion is to liquidate the carrier."[12] B&H Airlines owed the airport of Sarajevo over 3,5 million Euros and the lessor of their aircraft over 7,5 million Euros.[13] The total debt was over 17 million US-Dollars at the time of closure.[3]

The airline flew its final commercial service on 11 June 2015.[14] The company's Air operator's certificate was revoked on 2 July 2015.[15]

Destinations

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As of March 2015, B&H Airlines operated scheduled flights to the following destinations:[16]

Bosnia and Herzegovina
Switzerland

Fleet

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Airbus A319-100
ATR 72-200

Previously, B&H Airlines operated the following aircraft:

Statistics

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Passenger numbers[19]
20052006200720082009201020112012201320142015 Q1
24,90659,79268,22261,90487,158138,241129,43559,69731,70535,6063,604
Increase 140.1%Increase 14.1%Decrease 9.2%Increase 40.8%Increase 58.6%Decrease 6.7%Decrease 53.6%Decrease 46.9%Increase 12.3%Decrease 42.3%

See also

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References

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  1. ↑ "Headquarters Archived 4 March 2010 at the Wayback Machine." B&H Airlines. Retrieved on 10 March 2010. "PE "B&H Airlines“ Limited Liability Company Hamdije Čemerlića Street 2/16, 71 000 Sarajevo Energoinvest Building"
  2. 1 2 Flight International 27 March 2007
  3. 1 2 "Sarajevo to shut down B&H Airlines citing mounting debts". ch-aviation.com. 1 July 2015.
  4. 1 2 "Public invitation for expressions of interest in recapitalization of the Public Company "B&H Airlines" d.o.o. Sarajevo" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 April 2008. Retrieved 9 March 2008.
  5. ↑ "THY is in discussions with Air Bosna for possible acquisition". Hürriyet. 23 February 2008. Retrieved 9 March 2008.
  6. ↑ "Croatia Airlines - ch-aviation.com". ch-aviation. Archived from the original on 18 January 2012. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
  7. ↑ "Partnerstvo Croatia i BH Airlinesa?". Vjesnik. 29 February 2008. Retrieved 10 April 2008.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  8. ↑ "Turkish Airlines Best Bid For BH Airlines - Corporate Financing Week". Archived from the original on 12 April 2010. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  9. 1 2 "Turkish Airlines picked bidder for Bosnia carrier- gov't". Hurriyet Daily News. 30 October 2008. Retrieved 22 February 2009.
  10. ↑ "Bosnia's BH Airline Grounded Over Debt". Retrieved 6 March 2013.
  11. 1 2 "B&H Airlines", Airliner World: 7, June 2013
  12. ↑ "Bosnian government to liquidate B&H Airlines". Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  13. ↑ "B H Airlines: Bosnien schließt seine Nationalairline". 3 July 2015. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  14. ↑ "More Bosnian Bother". Airliner World. September 2015. p. 9.
  15. ↑ "Aircraft Operations". bhdca.gov.ba. Archived from the original on 4 October 2017. Retrieved 4 July 2015.
  16. ↑ "Winter timetable (Effective 26 October 2014–28 March 2015)" (PDF). B&H Airlines. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 May 2015. 
  17. ↑ "Flota (Fleet)". Internet Archive. BH Airlines. 1 November 2011. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
  18. 1 2 "Flota" [Fleet]. BH Airlines (in Bosnian). 10 August 2013. Archived from the original on 10 August 2013. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
  19. ↑ "Air Transport, 4th quarter 2013" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2014. Retrieved 27 February 2014.
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