Tuzla, 14 June 2017: Wizz Air, the largest low-cost airline in Central and Eastern Europe, and Bosnia and Herzegovina’s leading airline, celebrated today a new passenger record along with remarkable achievements of four years of operations at Tuzla Airport. WIZZ’s lucky 1 millionth passenger was travelling from Mulhouse to Tuzla and was greeted upon arrival with a WIZZ return ticket.
Wizz Air, the pioneer of high quality and low-fares air travel in Bosnia and Herzegovina, is dedicated to its customers since 2013, when the first WIZZ flight took off from Tuzla to Malmo. Over the past 4 years of successful operations at Tuzla International Airport, WIZZ has carried 1 million passengers on its low fare routes, constantly expanding its operations in the country and bringing even more truly affordable travel opportunities for its customers.
Since the beginning of 2017, more than 189,000 passengers have enjoyed WIZZ’s low fares, easy booking system and excellent on-board service, to and from Tuzla, showing an increase of over 56% compared to the same period in 2016 and have supported over 140 local jobs* in aviation and tourism industry. Already the largest airline in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the WIZZ base from Tuzla represents an investment of more than $ 198 million**, with two allocated aircraft and a local staff of more than 65 aviation professionals. Furthermore, WIZZ offers in total nearly 687,000 seats on sale on Tuzla routes in 2017, increasing its yearly total capacity with more than 90%.
Looking to provide the lowest fare possible, WIZZ is offering now tickets from as low as BAM 19.99***, to 16 destinations in 7 countries across Europe from Tuzla, stimulating bi-directional tourism and boosting trade links between the countries. Passengers travelling on WIZZ low-fare routes from Bosnia and Herzegovina can discover in total 17 destinations across 8 countries in Europe and beyond, from Sarajevo and Tuzla, including the newest connections from Tuzla to Växjö, Bratislava, Cologne or Nuremberg. During 2017, 6 new routes to 4 countries have already commenced from Bosnia and Herzegovina, along with adding Sarajevo as its second Bosnian airport and introducing the exciting low-fare connection to Budapest.
Speaking at a press conference in Tuzla, Sorina Ratz, Communications Manager at Wizz Air, said: ” After four years since the start of our Tuzla operations, Wizz Air is celebrating remarkable results and a new passenger record, reaching the first million carried passengers in Bosnia and Herzegovina. As the leading airline in Bosnia and Herzegovina, our investment in the country created affordable travel opportunities for our passengers and since the beginning of 2017, our traffic increased with more than 56%, compared to the same period in 2016. In 2017, we expanded our Tuzla offer to a total of 16 services across 7 countries, allocated a second aircraft and created more local jobs. We look forward to continuing our fruitful partnership with Tuzla International Airport and remain committed to bringing even more exciting opportunities that can best meet our customers’ needs, while further stimulating economic and business relations in the country.”
The Prime Minister of Tuzla Canton, Bego Gutić at today’s press conference, said:” The progresses made, 16 destinations and one million passengers carried surely mark a result that deserves only words of congratulations aimed at Wizz Air and Tuzla International Airport. We hope and wish that the next million passengers will be carried by the end of 2018.
It is not an impossible task to achieve.
With another positioned aircraft and introduction of some new, attractive destinations, the next milestone is closer than we think.
This would also represent an invitation to our partners, Wizz Air with whom we cultivate friendship, due to the fact that Tuzla Airport and The Government have implemented activities on increasing the capacity of the terminal building”.
General Director of the Tuzla International Airport, Rifet Karasalihović said:” With the number of operations increased by introduction of new routes from Tuzla International Airport, as well as the increase of passenger flow, came a necessity of expanding and overhauling the passenger terminal building, in order to meet the needs of passengers travelling from Tuzla International Airport.
At the moment, Tuzla International Airport is implementing its project of passenger terminal expanding and overhauling. First of two planned stages should commence by the middle of July 2017, while the second one should start after the announcement of tender competition, hopefully this week.
The investment for the project is valued at 6.5 million BAM in total, of which 70% of the funds have already been secured while the remaining 30% should be secured by the end of July”.
About Wizz Air
Wizz Air is the largest low-cost airline in Central and Eastern Europe, operates a fleet of 82 Airbus A320 and Airbus A321 aircraft, and offers more than 500 routes from 28 bases, connecting 141 destinations across 42 countries. At Wizz Air, a team of approximately 3,300 aviation professionals delivers superior service and very low ticket prices making Wizz Air the preferred choice of 23.8 million passengers in the financial year ended 31 March 2017. Wizz Air is listed on the London Stock Exchange under the ticker WIZZ and is included in the FTSE 250 and FTSE All-Share Indices. Wizz Air is registered under the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Operational Safety Audit (IOSA), the global benchmark in airline safety recognition. The company was recently named 2016 Value Airline of the Year by the editors of Air Transport World, one of the leading airline trade magazines, as well as 2016 Low Cost Airline of the Year by the Center for Aviation (CAPA), a leading provider of independent aviation market intelligence.
* ACI suggests creation of 750 on-site jobs for every 1 million carried passengers per year
*** One way including all taxes and non-optional charges
For more information:
Sorina Ratz; Wizz Air Group; communications@wizzair.com
Follow us on Twitter: @wizzair
Notes for Editors:
- All flights operated on Airbus A320 aircraft, with 180 seats and A321 aircraft with 230 seats
- New Airbus A321 deliveries started in November 2015
- For free pictures of aircraft, crews and logo library please visit http://wizzair.com/en-GB/press
