Turkish Airlines has begun talks with Banja Luka Airport over the potential introduction of flights to the city. The carrier’s representatives met with the airport’s General Manager, Natalija Trivić, in Banja Luka this week. The meeting was also attended by the Ambassador of Turkey to Bosnia and Herzegovina. Talks between the two sides are set to continue in Istanbul next month. Banja Luka Airport last had scheduled flights to the Turkish city in the winter of 2007 when the now-defunct B&H Airlines maintained a one weekly service with its ATR72 turboprop aircraft. The last scheduled flight between Banja Luka and Istanbul was operated on January 10, 2007.

Commenting on its operations in the former Yugoslavia, the Turkish flag carrier previously said, “Turkish Airlines currently flies to every capital city in the region such as Belgrade, Sarajevo, Podgorica and Ljubljana. Before we decide on introducing a new route within our destination network, our team of experts conducts a number of studies focusing on various aspects and taking into account the performance of our existing destinations, which also plays a deciding role in our network expansion. In addition, it is important to take note of various changes on the market and have initiative”. Turkish Airlines, which currently maintains operations to Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina, is the city’s largest carrier with a total of 2.272 flight operations and 383.975 seats this year.

Turkish Airlines operates flights to all markets in the former Yugoslavia, serving the capital cities, as well as Dubrovnik and Tivat. The latter was added to its network last year. This coming winter season, Turkish Airlines will maintain a combined total of 4.927 flights to/from the region with total available capacity of 800.312 seats. Of those, it will have the most services to Belgrade, followed by Podgorica. It will have the same number of flights to Ljubljana, Sarajevo, Skopje, and Zagreb, followed by Pristina, Tivat and Dubrovnik. Banja Luka Airport handled a record 281.766 passengers during the January – July period, representing an increase of 64.6% on last year, which was its busiest. In July alone, the airport welcomed 51.649 travellers, up 15.7% on 2022 and an increase of 202% on the pre-pandemic 2019.