| Sarajevo International Airport Međunarodni Aerodrom Sarajevo Међународни Аеродром Сарајево |
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| IATA: SJJ – ICAO: LQSA
SJJ
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| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Public | ||
| Operator | Bosnia and Herzegovina Directorate of Civil Aviation (BHDCA) | ||
| Serves | Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina | ||
| Location | Butmir, Bosnia and Herzegovina | ||
| Hub for | B&H Airlines | ||
| Elevation AMSL | 1,708 ft / 521 m | ||
| Website | |||
| Runways | |||
| Direction | Length | Surface | |
| m | ft | ||
| 12/30 | 2,600 | 8,530 | Asphalt |
| Statistics | |||
| Passengers 2010 | 563,266 | ||
| Passengers 2009 | 530,391 | ||
| Passengers 2008 | 505,269 | ||
| Passeengers 2007 | 506,398 | ||
| Source (excluding statistics): Bosnian and Herzegovinian AIP at EUROCONTROL[1] | |||
Sarajevo International Airport (IATA: SJJ, ICAO: LQSA), also known as Butmir Airport, is the main international airport in Bosnia and Herzegovina, located 3.3 NM (6.1 km; 3.8 mi) southwest of the railway station[1] in the capital city of Sarajevo in the suburb of Butmir.
Since the Dayton Accord in 1996, the airport has welcomed a thriving commercial flight business which includes B&H Airlines, Austrian Airlines, Lufthansa, Jat Airways, Croatia Airlines, Turkish Airlines, Germanwings and others. In 2006, 466,186 passengers traveled through Sarajevo airport, compared to only 25,000 in 1996.[2]
In 2010 Sarajevo International Airport had 563,266 passengers which is more than all of the airports in Bosnia-Herzegovina had together and 6,2% more than in 2009. The growth rate in 2011 is expected to be above 10%. [3]
In 2005 the European branch of the Airports Council International awarded Sarajevo the award of Best Airport Under 1 Million Passengers.[4]
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First regular flights from Sarajevo to Belgrade and Zagreb started in 1935 from an airfield in the suburb of Butmir, near Sarajevo. The airfield 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.
The Sarajevo Airport opened on June 2, 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 400,000 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 1992-1995 war in Bosnia and Herzegovina the airport was put under control of Yugoslav federal 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.[5] 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.[5]
The airport re-opened to civilian air traffic on August 16, 1996 and has since been renovated and slowly returned to its former glory. 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. Citing his reasons, the High Representative stated that such a renaming might undermine the reconciliation process by alienating non-Bosniak citizens.[6]
Extension of the passenger terminal, together with upgrading and expanding the taxiway and apron is planned in the near future.
The following airlines operate scheduled flights at Sarajevo International Airport (as of November 2011)
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Air Berlin | Düsseldorf (Starts 6 April] |
| Adria Airways | Ljubljana |
| Austrian Airlines | Vienna |
| Austrian Airlines operated by Tyrolean Airways |
Vienna |
| B&H Airlines | Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Istanbul-Atatürk, Zürich |
| Croatia Airlines | Zagreb |
| Germanwings | Cologne/Bonn Seasonal: Stuttgart [resumes 27 March] |
| Jat Airways | Belgrade |
| Lufthansa | Seasonal: Munich |
| Lufthansa Regional operated by Lufthansa CityLine |
Munich |
| Malév Hungarian Airlines | Budapest |
| Norwegian Air Shuttle | Seasonal: Oslo-Gardermoen [resumes 15 June], Stockholm-Arlanda [resumes 31 March] |
| Turkish Airlines | Istanbul-Atatürk |
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| B&H Airlines | Seasonal Pescara, Grottaglie |
| Corendon Airlines | Seasonal: Antalya |
| Middle East Airlines | Seasonal: Beirut |
| Sevenair | Seasonal: Tunis |
| Tailwind Airlines | Seasonal: Antalya |
The following airlines operate cargo flights at Sarajevo International Airport (as of February 2011)
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Icar Air | Ancona |
| Solinair | Belgrade |
| Year/Month | January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August | September | October | November | December | Year total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 30,484 | 34,148 | 40,803 | 49,489 | 56,812 | 62,994 | 81,042 | 59,042 | 59,074 | 52,975 | 39,785 | - | 566,648 |
| 2010 | + | + | + | + | 51,398 | 59,636 | 72,615 | 60,475 | 54,753 | 51,137 | 40,912 | - | 563,266 |
| 2009 | + | + | 87,257 | + | + | 143,906 | + | + | 177,762 | + | + | 121,427 | 530,391 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 2006 | 26,743 | 24,292 | 30,484 | 37,380 | 44,290 | 49,987 | 56,504 | 54,811 | 45,394 | 38,690 | 28,166 | 29,287 | 466,186 |
| Service | Destination (departing from the airport) | Operators |
|---|---|---|
| 200E[7] | Avaz - Nedžarići - Alipašino Polje - RTV Dom - Otoka - D. Malta - Pofalići - Z. Muzej - Baščaršija | JKP GRAS and Centrotrans-Eurolines |
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