Banja Luka International Airport

Infobox Airport
name = Banja Luka International Airport
nativename =
nativename-a =
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IATA = BNX
ICAO = LQBK
type = Public
owner =
operator = Airports of Republic of Srpska a.d.
city-served =
location = Banja Luka
elevation-f = 400
elevation-m = 122
coordinates = Coord|44|56|29|N|17|17|51|E|type:airport|display=inline,title
website =
metric-elev =
metric-rwy =
r1-number = 17/35
r1-length-f = 8,202
r1-length-m = 2,500
r1-surface = Paved
stat-year =
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Banja Luka International Airport Airport codes|BNX|LQBK (Serbian Cyrillic: "Међународни аеродром Бања Лука", Serbian Latin: "Međunarodni aerodrom Banja Luka"), also known as Mahovljani Airport, after the nearby village of the same name, is an airport located 23km (14.3 miles) from the city of Banja Luka, the administrative seat of the Republika Srpska and the second largest city in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The airport received 17,622 people in the year 2006 which is a 16% decrease compared to 2005.

History

The construction of the Banja Luka International Airport began in 1976. In accordance with the development plans, capacities were built defining BNX as an airport of secondary importance, restricted to domestic air traffic on the territory of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

After the political and territorial upheaval within the former Yugoslavia, the Republic of Srpska entity in Bosnia and Herzegovina was established with Banja Luka as the capital. That gave Banja Luka Airport new importance and a completely different role. Banja Luka International Airport was opened for civilian air traffic on November 18th, 1997.

From 1999 to 2003, the airport served as the main hub of Air Srpska, which was the official flag carrier of the Republic of Srpska. The company was founded by Jat Airways and government of the Republic of Srpska. Unfortunately, the company ceased all operations in 2003 after increasing debt, and the withdrawal of Jat Airlines from the airline partnership. There are plans for a new airline, Sky Srpska, to start and be based at Banja Luka Airport.

The airport was built in the area of Laktaši and Gradiška municipalities, in a wide valley of the Vrbas River expanding into the well-known Lijevče polje. It is connected to the main Banja Luka – Gradiška road and will also be connected to the new Banja Luka – Gradiška highway, which is due to be completed in a few years.

Flights

Over the years, the airport has had flights connecting Banja Luka to Belgrade, Zürich, Vienna and Tivat, mostly thanks to Air Srpska who were an airline based at the airport.

Today, the airport is a focus city for B&H Airlines, who offer direct flights to Sarajevo and Zürich, along with charter flights to Antalya during the summer.

The airport is also seeing an increase in interest from foreign airline companies such as Ryanair, easyJet, Wizz Air and Austrian Airlines. From November 9, 2007 Serbian airline Jat Airways resumes their flights between Belgrade and Banja Luka after a break of 2 years.

Austrojet will have a new flight route (Salzburg - Stuttgart - Salzburg - Banja Luka - Tivat - Banja Luka - Salzburg - Stuttgart - Salzburg) 3 times weekly. The new fligt route is starting the 6 August.

Airlines and destinations

*B&H Airlines (Sarajevo, Zürich)
*Jat Airways (Belgrade)
*Austrojet (Salzburg, Tivat)

The Airport Authority

Airport operator: Airports of the Republika Srpska a.d.

Address: Kralja Petra I Karadjordjevića 111, 78000 Banja Luka, RS, BiH

Telephone numbers: [phone], [phone]

Fax numbers: + 387 51 305 913, [phone]

Email: [e-mail]

Website: http://www.banjaluka-airport.com/

External links

* [http://www.banjaluka-airport.com/ Banja Luka International Airport, official website]
* [http://www.banjaluka.rs.ba/_e/ Banja Luka, official website]
* [http://www.bhdca.gov.ba/eng/index.php Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Directorate of Civil Aviation]