Croatia Airlines celebrating 25th anniversary of launch of flights on Zagreb-Sarajevo route, and 25th anniversary of business cooperation with Sarajevo International Airport
26th August 2021, Zagreb
– Croatia Airlines is celebrating the 25th anniversary of the launch of scheduled international flights on the Zagreb-Sarajevo route, and the 25th anniversary of successful business cooperation with the Sarajevo International Airport.
To mark the occasion, all passengers on today’s flight OU344 from Zagreb to Sarajevo were gifted a 25-euro voucher redeemable against their next purchase of Croatia Airlines air tickets. All passengers on the return flight OU345 from Sarajevo to Zagreb will also be gifted a 25-euro voucher. All passengers on the flight from Sarajevo to Zagreb were also gifted small tokens of gratitude by our business partners from the Sarajevo International Airport, with which they have joined us in celebrating this important anniversary.
Flying an ATR42 passenger aircraft, Croatia’s flag carrier operated its first international flight from Zagreb to Sarajevo in August 1996, and was the first airline that landed at the renovated Sarajevo International Airport. Sarajevo also saw the opening of a Croatia Airlines branch office, whose employees have assisted passengers flying on the Sarajevo-Zagreb route ever since, introducing them to all the benefits of the Croatia Airlines product.
Croatia Airlines has interruptedly connected the capitals of Croatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina all year round ever since, with the exception of last year’s temporary suspension of flights due to the coronavirus pandemic. Croatia Airlines has operated a total of 32,220 flights, and has flown almost 1,113,000 passengers on this route.
– We’re glad that we’ve been providing the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina with direct flights to Croatia for 25 years, and that our successful cooperation with the Sarajevo International Airport contributes to the quality of our product. Our daily flights between Zagreb and Sarajevo, which we’ve continued to operate even during the course of this particular public health crisis, confirm that the market of Bosnia and Herzegovina has always been, and remains a very important regional market where we’re available to the business community and tourists alike. I thank all our service users for their trust. I also hope that they’ll continue to take advantage of our service, particularly the option of connecting flights from Zagreb to European destinations and, through them, to destinations around the world thanks to our membership of Star Alliance, and collaboration with other Star Alliance members – said Jasmin Bajić, CEO and President of the Management Board of Croatia Airlines.
– We’re taking this opportunity to first congratulate our long-term respectable business partner, Croatia Airlines, on having developed a successful business over the decades not only in Sarajevo, but throughout both Europe and the world. The story that unites the Sarajevo International Airport and Croatia Airlines began immediately after the war had ended, in August 1996, when a Croatia Airlines aircraft landed at the newly renovated Sarajevo International Airport. That landing marked the official re-opening of the airport to civil air traffic. It’s a widely known fact that the post-war re-opening of the airport had been preceded by months of hard work and reconstruction, which was contributed to mostly by the then employees of the Sarajevo International Airport led by Mr Bakir Karahasanović, Faruk Kopčić, and Elvedin Begić. Today, to mark the occasion, they congratulate the staff of Croatia Airlines, whilst pointing out that the launching of Zagreb to Sarajevo flights was proof that being dedicated to reconstructing what had been a completely destroyed airport finally paid off. Since then, Croatia Airlines has operated tens of thousands of flights on the Zagreb-Sarajevo route, connecting Sarajevo not only with Croatia’s capital, but also with other international destinations. Accordingly, we’d like to once again thank the entire Croatia Airlines collective for their trust, and successful business cooperation which we’ve been developing together for the past 25 years, in the hope and belief that we’ll continue to be reliable partners, recognised for the quality, and safety of our services – Management of Sarajevo International Airport highlighted.
During this period of the year, in which flight networks have been dictated by the market demand for air transport services, Croatia Airlines has been connecting Zagreb and Sarajevo directly every day of the week.