Low-cost carrier Wizz Air has been selected as the sole winner of a public tender launched by the Tuzla Canton Tourist Board to provide subsidies for launching new routes or reopening a base in the northeastern Bosnian city.
The Hungarian airline, which closed its two-aircraft base in Tuzla in September 2023, was the only bidder during the unusually short five-day tender period.
The local government has allocated €615,000 in subsidies for Wizz Air’s operations in 2025, with annual funding set to rise to €1 million between 2026 and 2028. Under the agreement, the airline will receive €6 per arriving passenger on newly launched routes.
The Tourist Board said it would now begin talks with Wizz Air to finalise the list of new destinations and assess the potential reopening of the Tuzla base. Five new routes are expected to be introduced – Eindhoven, Hahn, Berlin, Malmö and Gothenburg – in addition to a previously announced service to Vienna, scheduled to begin next Sunday.
Wizz Air has continued limited operations in Tuzla since closing its base, but the number of flights and destinations has dropped sharply, contributing to a significant decline in passenger traffic at the airport.