Qatar Airways, which was primarily used by transfer passengers on the Sarajevo service, will now offer travellers a greater selection of destinations in the Gulf region, as the blockade of Qatar by several neighbouring countries has been lifted and flights have resumed. However, unlike two years ago, the carrier faces greater competition from other rival airlines in the region, which have since launched operations to Sarajevo, among which are Kuwait Airways and Salam Air. In the pre-pandemic 2019, Kuwait City was Qatar Airways’ busiest transfer destination to and from Sarajevo, accounting for 9% of all connecting passengers on the route. It was closely followed by Muscat, then Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Sydney.
Top origin and destination points for Qatar Airways in Sarajevo in 2019
The development comes as Sarajevo Airport continues to close in on its pre-pandemic passenger figures, primarily on the back of Wizz Air’s operations out of the city. In February, Sarajevo Airport handled 50.475 passengers, representing a decrease of 2.9% on the same month in 2020 and a decline of 5% on 2019, although Bosnia and Herzegovina hosted the European Youth Olympics Festival that month two years ago. The number of aircraft movements this February…