Lufthansa marks 20 years of flights on the Munich-Sarajevo line and two decades of cooperation with the Sarajevo International Airport

German national airline company Lufthansa, the largest European airline and Star Alliance member, marked the 20th anniversary of the establishment of regular international Munich-Sarajevo-Munich airline at the Airport today. A press conference and a ceremonial reception were held, at the same time marking the twenty years of successful business cooperation between the Sarajevo International Airport and Lufthansa.
The first flight on this line was completed by Lufthansa on March 29, 1998, only a year and a half after the Sarajevo International Airport had been reopened for civilian traffic. Thus Lufthansa was one of the first airline companies that started airline operations from our airport since the end of the war, thus considerably contributing towards reintegration of Sarajevo with the rest of Europe and the world, normalization of life in Sarajevo, and strengthening of the economic image of our country.
Over the past several years, only using the aforementioned line, Lufthansa has been covering some 10% of the traffic at the Sarajevo International Airport. When one adds the other three companies that are part of the Lufthansa group, which also operate from our airport– Austrian Airlines, Swiss, and Eurowings – the share of the Lufthansa group constitutes more than one fourth of the total number of passengers transported from the Sarajevo International Airport.
Peter Pullem, Senior Sales Manager for Central, Eastern and Southeast Europe for the Lufthansa Group, said at the celebration today:
“On March 29, 1998, Lufthansa introduced the first flight from Munich to Sarajevo and two decades later we are celebrating the 20th anniversary of our continued presence on the market. The event today shows the commitment to Bosnia and Herzegovina by the Lufthansa Group as the first European airline group that connected this young state with the Western Europe and the world. We are looking forward to continuing the provision of services and the flexible network to the passengers in the region. I would wish to thank all of our passengers and partners, in particular to the Sarajevo International Airport, which have contributed to our continuous success.“
Armin Kajmaković, General Manager of the Sarajevo International Airport, pointed out as follows:
“Since the arrival of Lufthansa, over 10 million passengers have passed through the Sarajevo International Airport, and we have been recording particular growth over the past two years. In this year, when we mark the 20th anniversary of cooperation with Lufthansa, we will be expecting our first one millionth passenger. These figures all for ambitious and extensive development projects to accompany the aforementioned growth and to ensure the capacity of two million passengers per year. We are doing this in order to continue providing the best possible services to all of our passengers, clients and business partners, but also to ensure further growth, including establishment of additional lines. In all of these plans, our relationship with Lufthansa figures strongly, and we are hoping not only for the continuation of this successful cooperation, but also for its further development.“
The German Ambassador in BiH, Ms. Christiane Hohmann, stressed out that it was her honor and privilege to mark the 20th anniversary of the presence of Lufthansa at the Sarajevo Airport.
"It is very important to emphasize the fact that we are marking two decades since 1998, when the first Munich-Sarajevo-Munich flight was established, which enabled the citizens of BiH to travel. It is also important that the flights on this line have been fully occupied in both directions. I can be pleased when I say this, because this means that there is interest in place for visiting BiH, which is very good for this state", said Ambassadress Hohmann.
Airplanes fly on the direct international Sarajevo-Munich-Sarajevo line every day of the week, and once the passengers arrive to the Munich airport, they can use the numerous other Lufthansa lines leading to 137 destinations in 44 countries throughout the world.
In addition, as a member of Star Alliance, the largest airline company association, in cooperation with its partners Lufthansa enables travel throughout the world, where passengers can use the many benefits arising from the joint global product (joint terminals, collecting of gift miles, etc.).