Sarajevo International Airport

Sarajevo International Airport Međunarodni aerodrom Sarajevo Međunarodna zračna luka Sarajevo Међународни аеродром Сарајево
IATA: SJJ – ICAO: LQSA
Summary
Airport type	Public
Operator	Bosnia and Herzegovina Directorate of Civil Aviation (BHDCA)
Serves	Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Location	Butmir
Hub for	B&H Airlines
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
Passengers 2015 (estimated) 800,000 Passengers 2014 709,901 Passengers 2013 665,638
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. In 2006, 466,186 passengers traveled through the airport, compared to 25,000 in 1996.^[2] It serves as the home base for B&H Airlines.

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.^[3] 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 flghts 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.^[3][4]

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 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 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 B&H Airlines, Austrian Airlines, Lufthansa, Jat Airways, 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.^[6] Also in 2005, the European branch of the Airports Council International awarded Sarajevo the award of Best Airport Under 1 Million Passengers.^[7]

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.

Extension of the passenger terminal, together with upgrading and expanding the taxiway and apron is planned.The EBRD is supporting the modernization of Sarajevo International Airport with a €25 million loan to expand the airport’s infrastructure and help it address capacity constraints. The loan is extended directly to Sarajevo International Airport and is guaranteed by the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina.^[8] The existing terminal will be expanded with 7,000 square metres (75,000 sq ft).^[9] The upgraded airport will also be directly connected to the commercial retail center Sarajevo Airport Center making it easy for tourist and travellers to use the time before the flight for some last minute shopping.^[10] The work on preparing the space for the expansion of the arrival gate on the ground floor of Terminal B should begin in 2015, the construction of rapid exit taxiways should take place in 2016, and 2017 should be the year in which airport will enter into the reconstruction of the runway, the airstrip and the maneuvering areas.^[11]

The airport welcomed its 700.000th passenger on December 26, 2014 on Austrian Airlines flight OS758 to Vienna.^[12]

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

Airlines	Destinations
Adria Airways	Ljubljana
Air Méditerranée	Charter: Jeddah, Medina
Air Serbia	Belgrade
Austrian Airlines	Vienna
B&H Airlines	Banja Luka, Zürich Charter: Mostar
Corendon Airlines	Charter: Antalya
Croatia Airlines	Zagreb
flydubai	Dubai-International
Germanwings	Cologne/Bonn, Stuttgart
Lufthansa	Munich
Middle East Airlines	Charter: Beirut
Norwegian Air Shuttle	Stockholm-Arlanda Seasonal: Copenhagen, Oslo-Gardermoen
Pegasus Airlines	Istanbul-Sabiha Gökçen
Swiss International Air Lines	Geneva, Zürich (begins 1 May 2015)
Turkish Airlines	Istanbul-Atatürk

Cargo

Airlines	Destinations
Icar Air	Ancona
Solinair	Belgrade, Ljubljana
Trade Air	Zagreb

Destinations map

Statistics

Passenger numbers^[13]

Year/Month	January	February	March	April	May	June	July	August	September	October	November	December	Year total	% Change
2015	43,700	39,908	50,273	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	–	133,881	+14,09% (Jan-Mar)
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	+ 6,64%
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	+14.75%
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	– 3.32%
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%

Top 5 busiest routes at Sarajevo International Airport

City	Airport(s)	Weekly departures (April 2015)	Airlines
Istanbul	Atatürk Airport and Sabiha Gökçen Airport	25	Turkish Airlines, Pegasus Airlines
Vienna	Schwechat Airport	14	Austrian Airlines
Zagreb	Zagreb Airport	13	Croatia Airlines
Belgrade	Nikola Tesla Airport	7	Air Serbia
Munich	Munich Airport	7	Lufthansa

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.^[14]

• 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,"^[15]

See also

• List of airports in Bosnia and Herzegovina
• List of the largest airports in the Former Yugoslavia

References

External links

Media related to Sarajevo International Airport at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website
• Sarajevo International Airport upgrade 2010
• Current weather for LQSA at NOAA/NWS
• Accident history for SJJ at Aviation Safety Network

Airports in Bosnia and Herzegovina International Banja Luka Mostar Sarajevo International Tuzla Military Sarajevo Military Airport Tuzla Air Base Željava Air Base Unscheduled Banja Luka-Zalužani Bihać Golubić Bijeljina Ciljuge Ćoralići Doboj Glamoč Kupres Bajramovići Livno Brda Bosni Modriča Mostar Jasenica Novi Travnik Prijedor Urije Sarajevo Butmir Tomislavgrad Trebinje Tuzla Jegen Lug Visoko Sport Airfield

Sarajevo History of Sarajevo Ancient times Middle Ages Early Ottoman Late Ottoman Habsburg Empire (Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand) Yugoslav era (1984 Winter Olympics) Modern era (Siege of Sarajevo) Mayors Timeline Municipalities and neighborhoods City proper: Centar Novi Grad Novo Sarajevo Stari Grad Metro area: Ilidža Ilijaš Hadžići Vogošća Neighborhoods: Alipašino polje, Babića bašća, Baščaršija, Čengić vila, Dobrinja, Grbavica, Hrasno, Mejtaš, Otoka Buildings and landmarks Avaz Twist Tower BBI Centar Bijela Tabija Bosmal City Center Despić House Eternal flame Goat's Bridge Greek-Bosnian Friendship Building Latin Bridge Morića Han Presidency Building Sarajevo Rose Sarajevo Tunnel Sarajevo Zoo Šeher-Ćehaja Bridge Skakavac Waterfall Svrzo's House UNIS Towers Vraca Memorial Park Vrbanja bridge Vrelo Bosne Places of worship Muslim: Ali Pasha's Emperor's Ferhat-Pasha's Gazi Husrev-Bey's Istiqlal King Fahd's Catholic: Sarajevo Cathedral St. Anthony's St. Joseph's Orthodox: Serbian Orthodox Cathedral Sarajevo Old Orthodox Church Church of the Holy Transfiguration Jewish: Sarajevo Synagogue Culture Sarajevo National Theatre Sarajevo Philharmonic Orchestra National and University Library Gazi Husrev-beg Library Galleries and museums Ars Aevi Museum of Contemporary Art Historical Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina National Museum National Gallery Sarajevo City Museum Education Public: University of Sarajevo (Academy of Performing Arts, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Political Science, Law School, Music Academy) Private: American University in Bosnia and Herzegovina International University of Sarajevo Sarajevo School of Science and Technology Sports venues Stadiums: Koševo Stadium Grbavica Stadium Otoka Stadium Indoor arenas: Skenderija Hall Zetra Hall Transport Sarajevo Airport Sarajevo Tramway Events Baščaršija Nights Sarajevo Winter Festival Sarajevo Jazz Festival Sarajevo Film Festival