Mostar International Airport
Mostar International Airport (Croatian: Međunarodna zračna luka Mostar, Bosnian: Međunarodni aerodrom Mostar; IATA: OMO, ICAO: LQMO) is an airport near Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the village of Ortiješ, 4 NM (7.4 km; 4.6 mi) southeast of Mostar's railway station.[2]
Mostar International Airport Međunarodna zračna luka Mostar Međunarodni aerodrom Mostar | |||||||||||
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Summary | |||||||||||
Airport type | Public | ||||||||||
Owner | City of Mostar (88%) Zagreb Airport (12%) | ||||||||||
Operator | Mostar Airport Ltd. | ||||||||||
Serves | Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina | ||||||||||
Location | Ortiješ | ||||||||||
Elevation AMSL | 48 m / 156 ft | ||||||||||
Coordinates | 43°16′58″N 17°50′45″E | ||||||||||
Website | mostar-airport.ba | ||||||||||
Map | |||||||||||
![]() ![]() OMO Location within Bosnia and Herzegovina | |||||||||||
Runways | |||||||||||
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Statistics (2020) | |||||||||||
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Source: Bosnian and Herzegovinian Directorate of Civil Aviation BHDCA[1] |
History
Mostar Airport was opened for civilian air traffic in 1965, targeting domestic flights. Prior to 1965, Mostar was a local airport with a large concrete runway used by aircraft manufacturer SOKO for testing and delivering military aircraft. Currently, the airport primarily serves charter flights for Catholics making the pilgrimage to nearby Medjugorje. In 2012, the airport had a twofold increase in traffic, making it the second-busiest in Bosnia and Herzegovina after Sarajevo airport.
In November 2017, German low-cost carrier Eurowings was the first airline to schedule regular flights from Mostar, namely to Düsseldorf and Stuttgart, serving both with two weekly flights from May 2018 respectively.[3] On 3 May 2018, the first landing of a Croatia Airlines aircraft marked the introduction of the twice weekly nonstop Mostar-Zagreb service.[4] The COVID-19 pandemic has severely disrupted the airports operations, causing Croatia Airlines and Eurowings not to continue their services as planned, therefore losing all scheduled traffic. Also, numerous irregularities in the spending of airport funds and illegally elected administration were noticed.[5] The airport received 1,000,000 Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible marks (€500,000) from the government in March 2021 as an aid to overcome the Covid-crisis.[6] On 8 September 2021, Croatia Airlines operated a charter flight from Shannon in Ireland to Mostar Airport, marking the resumption of any civilian traffic in Mostar since March 2020. Airport management also started negotiating flights with low cost airline Wizz Air to sustain direct flights to the diaspora in Germany and Sweden, tough without any outcome.[7] In 2023, Mostar gained two new direct links to Italy, with AeroItalia launching flights to the secondary airport of Forlì and Greek charter airline Lumiwings connecting Mostar with Foggia.
Airlines and destinations
The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Mostar Airport:
Airlines | Destinations |
---|---|
Croatia Airlines | Zagreb[8] Seasonal charter: Beirut,[9] Bergamo,[10] Cork, Dublin,[11] Naples, Palermo[12] |
Electra Airways | Seasonal charter: Catania[13] |
Lumiwings | Seasonal: Foggia[14] |
Controversies
While the likes of Sarajevo, Banja Luka and Tuzla have steadily reached passenger numbers of above 100,000; Mostar Airport has never succeeded to reach these levels. Instead, Mostar Airport continues existing by strong support of the Federal government. The Airport management has failed securing flights to diaspora rich destinations such as Sweden, Denmark and Germany, but is in talks with low cost carrier Wizz Air for flights in 2024, after not being able to secure any flights for the 2023 season.[15][16]
Despite a very low number of passengers, 8 million BAM were awarded to the airport.[17]
The current Airport director Ivan Ljubić was appointed against the law since there was no City Council when he assumed office.[18]
Statistics
The record number of 86,000 passengers was recorded in the year 1990,[19]
Year/Month | January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August | September | October | November | December | Year total | Change |
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2023 | 5 | 30 | 4 | 874 | 1,320 | 1,533 | 2,573 | 5,838 | 3,737 | 15,914 | ![]() | |||
2022 | 6 | 39 | 21 | 110 | 189 | 942 | 2,151 | 4,623 | 1,914 | 711 | 5 | n/a | 10,711 | ![]() |
2021 | 2 | 16 | 2 | 12 | 17 | 76 | 218 | 253 | 664 | 324 | 153 | 205 | 1,942 | ![]() |
2020 | 384 | 267 | 133 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 76 | 190 | 11 | 25 | 288 | 1,374 | ![]() |
2019 | 163 | 294 | 289 | 1,291 | 2,423 | 4,029 | 4,677 | 8,369 | 6,218 | 3,512 | 931 | 670 | 32,866 | ![]() |
2018 | 0 | 171 | 448 | 1,557 | 3,881 | 4,004 | 3,173 | 7,561 | 4,963 | 1,654 | 570 | 481 | 28,463 | ![]() |
2017 | 290 | 493 | 1,014 | 3,741 | 5,406 | 5,765 | 5,201 | 8,876 | 7,437 | 4,121 | 379 | 395 | 43,118 | ![]() |
2016 | 226 | 24 | 1,122 | 3,797 | 6,139 | 7,178 | 8,411 | 10,788 | 10,225 | 4,692 | n/a | n/a | 53,618 | ![]() |
2015 | 775 | 186 | 2,425 | 6,680 | 11,867 | 9,696 | 9,715 | 13,305 | 11,502 | 6,718 | 852 | 1,303 | 75,024 | ![]() |
2014 | 395 | 117 | 1,575 | 5,817 | 9,689 | 9,288 | 8,831 | 10,691 | 10,499 | 7,731 | 1,426 | 1,921 | 67,980 | ![]() |
2013 | 155 | 7 | 2,453 | 7,737 | 9,082 | 9,146 | 6,665 | 11,103 | 9,599 | 7,602 | 3,339 | 2,058 | 68,939 | ![]() |
2012 | 177 | 318 | 2,139 | 9,169 | 8,677 | 11,922 | 9,921 | 13,737 | 10,839 | 6,360 | 2,923 | 1,873 | 78,055 | ![]() |
2011 | 554 | 0 | 696 | 2,193 | 4,029 | 5,087 | 4,343 | 4,644 | 8,432 | 4,265 | 1,086 | 1,478 | 36,807 | ![]() |
See also
References
- Bosnian, Flying (18 January 2019). "Bosnia and Herzegovina aviation news: ✈Bosnia and Herzegovina air traffic report for 2018".
- "EAD Basic - Error Page". Retrieved 7 June 2015.
- Bosnian, Flying (7 November 2017). "Bosnia and Herzegovina aviation news: ✈Eurowings Mostar flight schedule".
- Bosnian, Flying (4 May 2018). "Bosnia and Herzegovina aviation news: ✈Zagreb-Mostar flights inaugurated".
- "Nalaz revizije: Aerodrom Mostar netransparentno trošio novac, brojne nepravilnosti". www.klix.ba.
- "Vlada Federacije BiH izdvaja devet miliona KM za aerodrome". www.klix.ba.
- "Mostar Airport plans 2022 revival". exyuaviation.com. 12 September 2021.
- "Croatia Airlines to restore Mostar flights". 27 March 2023.
- "Red letenja za razdoblje od 29.7. do 25.8.2022". mostar-airport.ba. 27 July 2022.
- "U Mostar sletio avion sa 140 putnika iz italijanskog Bergama i najavljen talas letova". klix.ba. 28 April 2023.
- "Mostar". dublinairport.com. 18 May 2022.
- "Direktor Zračne luke Mostar najavio čarter letove iz Poljske, Italije, Jordana". mostar.ba. 25 April 2022.
- "S Düsseldorfom nova linija, cilj 100.000 putnika u pet godina". vecernji.ba. 28 March 2022.
- "Lumiwings to launch Mostar flights". 10 April 2023.
- "Home page". zamaaero.com/08/05/2022/analize/intervju-ivan-ljubicic-direktor-zl-morstar/.
- "Mostar eyes Wizz Air flights in 2024". 6 April 2023.
- "8million bam to save mostar airport". klix.ba.
- "Mostar airport director appointed illegal". klix.ba.
- "Zračna luka Mostar". mostar-airport.ba.
- "Home page". www.bhdca.gov.ba.
External links
Media related to Mostar International Airport at Wikimedia Commons