Sarajevo International Airport , also known as Butmir Airport, is the main international airport in Bosnia and Herzegovina, located just a few kilometers southwest of 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 and others. In 2006, 466,186 passengers traveled through Sarajevo airport, compared to only 25,000 in 1996.

In 2005 the European branch of the Airports Council International awarded Sarajevo the award of best airport under 1 million passengers.

History

The need for an airport in Sarajevo was acknowledged in the mid 1960s and after suggestions that the airport be built Sokolac (35 km away from Sarajevo) were rejected construction of the airport began in 1966 at its present location.

The Sarajevo-Ilidža Airport opened on June 2, 1969. In 1970 Frankfurt became the first international destination served. During this period the airport was still a 'feeder' airport where passengers embarked for flights to Zagreb and Belgrade on their way to international destinations. During this period between 70,000-100,000 passengers passed through each year. The first expansion came for the 1984 Winter Olympic Games, when the runway was extended by 200 meters and several adjustments were made.

In the first weeks of the 1992-1995 war in Bosnia and Herzegovina the airport was taken over by Serbian forces who seriously damaged and looted the airport. From June 1992 until the end of the war the airport was under UN control which used it to fly in humantiarian aid when the besieging Serbs permitted it. The airport was the site of many tragedies during the war since the only way to leave the city was to cross the airport runway and reach government territory on the other side. Around 800 people were killed in the attempt by Serb gunners on three sides of the airport, until a tunnel was dug under the runway.

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 Izetbegovic, 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.

News

• Germanwings will commence flights to Stuttgart Airport starting October 28.As of April 2009 Germanwings will fly 3 times weekly Cologne-Sarajevo and 3 times weekly Stuttgart-Sarajevo.Germanwings also has plans to fly Berlin-Sarajevo route in the near future.
• British Airways will end its flights to Sarajevo when Winter Timetable commences.
• Norwegian Air Shuttle will end its flights to Sarajevo from Stockholm and Oslo on October 25th.

Airlines and destinations

• Adria Airways (Ljubljana)
• Austrian Airlines (Vienna)
• British Airways (London-Gatwick) [ends October 26th]
• B&H Airlines (Cologne/Bonn, Frankfurt, Istanbul-Atatürk, Skopje, Stuttgart, Zurich)
• Croatia Airlines (Zagreb)
• Germanwings (Cologne/Bonn, Stuttgart [starts October 28th])
• Jat Airways (Belgrade)
• Lufthansa
• operated by Lufthansa CityLine (Munich)
• Malév Hungarian Airlines (Budapest)
• Norwegian Air Shuttle (Oslo-Rygge, Stockholm-Arlanda) [both end October 25th]
• Turkish Airlines (Istanbul-Atatürk)

Charter Flights

• Air Cairo (Hurgada)
• Atlasjet (Antalya)
• B&H Airlines (Antalya, Bodrum, Istanbul-Atatürk, Larnaca)
• Ghadames Air Transport (Tripoli)
• Jordan Aviation (Aqaba)
• Onur Air (Istanbul-Atatürk)
• Sky Airlines (Antalya)
• Spanair (Palma de Mallorca)
• Tunisair (Monastir)
• Turkish Airlines (Istanbul-Atatürk, Gaziantep)

Cargo

• Icar Air (Ancona)
• Trade Air (Zagreb)

Former airlines and destinations

• Alitalia (Milan-Malpensa)
• Czech Airlines (Prague)
• Air Bosna (Copenhagen, Oslo, Stockholm, Goeteborg, Amsterdam, Vienna, Budapest, Rome, Ljubljana, Munich, Berlin, London, Pristina, Djerba, Izmir)
• Swiss International Air Lines (Zürich)
• Scandinavian Airlines (Copenhagen)
• Arnoro (Copenhagen, Oslo, Stockholm)
• Aero Flight (Frankfurt)
• Montenegro Airlines (Podgorica)
• Avio Express
• operated by Lufthansa, Condor, dba (Düsseldorf)

Passenger statistics

Year/Month	January	February	March	April	May	June	July	August	September	October	November	December	Year total
2008	23.909	27.121	34.896	38.052	46.974	55.391	62.524	-	-	-	-	-	288.867
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

References

External links

• Official website