Sarajevo International Airport

Sarajevo International Airport Međunarodni Aerodrom Sarajevo Међународни Аеродром Сарајево
IATA: SJJ – ICAO: LQSA SJJ Location of the airport in Bosnia and Herzegovina
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
Coordinates		43°49′29″N 18°19′53″E
Website		sarajevo-airport.ba/?lang=eng
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
	m	ft
12/30	2,600	8,530	Asphalt
Statistics
Passengers 2011			599,996
Passengers 2010			563,266
Passengers 2009			530,391
Passengers 2008			505,269
Source (excluding statistics): Bosnian and Herzegovinian AIP at EUROCONTROL

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 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.

In 2011 Sarajevo International Airport had 599,996 passengers which is more than all of the airports in Bosnia-Herzegovina had together and 6,5% more than in 2010. The growth rate in 2012 is expected to be around 10%.

In 2005 the European branch of the Airports Council International awarded Sarajevo the award of Best Airport Under 1 Million Passengers.

History

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. 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.

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.

Airport expansion

Sarajevo airport after expansion

Airport Center Sarajevo, which will be connected to the new terminal

Extension of the passenger terminal, together with upgrading and expanding the taxiway and apron is planned to start in Fall 2012. The existing terminal will be expanded with 7.000 square metres. 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.

• Sarajevo International Airport upgrade 2010

Airlines and destinations

Scheduled airlines

The following airlines operate scheduled flights at Sarajevo International Airport (as of November 2011)

Airlines	Destinations
Adria Airways	Ljubljana
Austrian Airlines	Vienna
Austrian Airlines operated by Tyrolean Airways	Vienna
B&H Airlines	Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Düsseldorf [begins 2 June 2012], Istanbul-Atatürk, Skopje [begins 25 march 2012], Vienna [begins 25 march 2012], Zürich Seasonal: Gothenburg-Landvetter, Stockholm-Arlanda [begins june 2012]
Croatia Airlines	Zagreb
Germanwings	Cologne/Bonn Seasonal: Stuttgart [resumes 31 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

Charter airlines

Airlines	Destinations
B&H Airlines	Seasonal Pescara, Grottaglie
Corendon Airlines	Seasonal: Antalya
Middle East Airlines	Seasonal: Beirut
Sevenair	Seasonal: Tunis
Tailwind Airlines	Seasonal: Antalya

Cargo airlines

The following airlines operate cargo flights at Sarajevo International Airport (as of February 2011)

Airlines	Destinations
Icar Air	Ancona
Solinair	Belgrade

Passenger statistics

Year/Month	January	February	March	April	May	June	July	August	September	October	November	December	Year total
2012	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2011	30,484	34,148	40,803	49,489	56,812	62,994	81,042	59,042	59,074	52,975	39,785	33,348	599,996
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

Accessibility

By bus

Service	Destination (departing from the airport)	Operators
200E	Avaz - Nedžarići - Alipašino Polje - RTV Dom - Otoka - D. Malta - Pofalići - Z. Muzej - Baščaršija	JKP GRAS and Centrotrans-Eurolines

Gallery

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  BH airlines fleet

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  Sarajevo airport apron

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  Sarajevo airport

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  Sarajevo airport inside

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  Sarajevo airport inside

External links

• Official website
• Official website (Bosnian)
• Current weather for LQSA at NOAA/NWS
• Accident history for SJJ at Aviation Safety Network