Banja Luka International Airport (IATA: BNX, ICAO: LQBK), also known as Mahovljani Airport, after the nearby village of the same name, is an airport located 18 km (11 mi) north northeast of the railway station[3] in the city of Banja Luka, the second largest city in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The airport is managed by the government-owned company "Aerodromi Republike Srpske".

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Banja Luka International Airport Међународни аеродром Бања Лука Međunarodni aerodrom Banja Luka Međunarodna zračna luka Banja Luka
IATA: BNX ICAO: LQBK
Summary
Airport type	Public
Operator	Bosnia and Herzegovina Directorate of Civil Aviation (BHDCA)[1]
Serves	Banja Luka, Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Location	Mahovljani
Elevation AMSL	122 m / 400 ft
Coordinates	44°56′10″N 17°17′57″E
Website	bnx.aero
Map
BNX Location of the airport in Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 17/35 2,500 8,202 Asphalt/Concrete
Statistics (2021)
Passengers 139.886 Aircraft Movements 2.504 Freight (in tons) 2
Source: Bosnian and Herzegovinian Directorate of Civil Aviation BHDCA[2]

History

The construction of the Banja Luka International Airport began in 1976. In accordance with the development plans, capacities were built defining Banja Luka as an airport of secondary importance, restricted to domestic air traffic on the territory of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. After the Bosnian War, Republika Srpska was established with Banja Luka as the de facto capital. That gave Banja Luka Airport new importance and a completely different role. Banja Luka International Airport was opened for civilian air traffic on 18 November 1997. From 1999 to 2003 the airport served as the main hub of Air Srpska, which was the official flag carrier of Republika Srpska. The company was founded by Jat Airways and Government of Republika Srpska. The company ceased all operations in 2003 after increasing debt, and the withdrawal of Jat Airways from the partnership. There were plans for Sky Srpska, a state-owned airline founded in 2007, to start flights, however, the airline, which never had any aircraft, was closed in 2013. The airport's facilities were greatly improved in 2002 and 2003, ahead of the visit by Pope John Paul II to Banja Luka in June 2003.

On 15 December 2010, to celebrate the abolition of visa requirements for Bosnian citizens traveling to the Schengen Area countries, a symbolic charter flight was organised from Banja Luka to Brussels. In 2011, Banja Luka airport handled 8,367 passengers, a rise of 74% compared to 2010. Over the years, the airport has had flights connecting Banja Luka to Athens, Belgrade, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Ljubljana, Salzburg, Tivat, and Vienna, partly thanks to Air Srpska which was an airline based at the airport. Austrian Airlines and Montenegro Airlines served Banja Luka during the late 1990s and early 2000s from their respective bases in Vienna and Tivat. Since Air Srpska stopped operations, the Government of Republika Srpska has tried to attract new airlines to fly to Banja Luka through various subsidies. Subsidised flights included Jat Airways flights to Belgrade between November 2007 and December 2009, operated with ATR 72, Austrojet flights to Salzburg and Tivat between July and December 2008, operated 3 times a week with Dash 8-100, and Adria Airways flights to Ljubljana between July 2010 and November 2011, operated 4 times a week with CRJ 200. B&H Airlines operated flights to Zürich for many years until airline went out of business in June 2015. BH Airlines operated seasonal charter flights to Tivat in Montenegro.

Passenger numbers more than doubled in 2014, as Air Serbia restarted flights to Belgrade, but suffered in 2015 due to BH Airlines' bankruptcy and the suspension of the Zurich route. Banja Luka airport owner Government of RS subsidises Air Serbia flights to Belgrade.[4] In April 2018, Ryanair announced that it would start its first ever flight from Banja Luka (and Bosnia as a whole) with twice-weekly services to each of Brussels Charleroi and Memmingen, while in May, it added Stockholm Skavsta and, in December, Berlin-Schönefeld to its list of new routes. The flights began in October 2018. Overall, the airline expected 100,000 passengers in 2019.[5] In April 2021, Wizz Air announced its arrival and launch of five routes from Banja Luka to Dortmund, Basel/Mulhouse, Eindhoven, Malmö and Stockholm Skavsta.[6]

Airlines and destinations

The following airlines operate regular flights to and from Banja Luka:[7]

Statistics

Passenger statistics[20]

Year/Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year total	Change
2010	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	497	432	602	-	4,798
2011	560	422	640	719	680	536	1,209	942	707	830	545	577	8,367	74.4%
2012	791	424	178	408	402	377	589	688	610	642	550	765	6,424	23.2%
2013	518	448	400	431	601	530	844	893	713	824	434	2,201	8,837	37.6%
2014	1,522	1,352	1,566	1,942	2,201	2,797	3,457	4,011	2,633	2,503	1,661	1,991	27,636	212.7%
2015	1,830	1,154	1,327	2,090	2,353	2,085	2,554	2,591	2,185	1,782	1,078	1,771	22,800	17.5%
2016	1,484	875	1,368	1,581	2,298	2,094	2,835	2,807	1,905	1,905	n/a	n/a	21,694	04.9%
2017	1,484	875	1,171	2,013	2,033	2,023	2,533	2,613	2,048	1,934	997	1,143	20,867	03.8%
2018	1,203	717	1,144	1,806	1,671	2,294	3,109	3,295	2,528	1,876	8,272	8,265	36,180	73.3%
2019	8,838	7,805	9,962	12,460	12,780	14,190	17,073	14,976	12,485	13,174	12,354	13,596	149,693	313.7%
2020	11,538	14,079	6,458	19	265	490	1,419	3,636	1,582	1,073	1,629	1,587	43,775	70.7%
2021	883	271	346	385	646	10,367	27,829	28,273	17,773	17,964	16,834	18,315	139,886	188.2%
2022	10,855	42	16,792	31,243	31,774	35,871	44,637	43,441	36,263	32,671			283,589	189.1%

Passengers (in thousands) 2012–2022

Updated: 8 November 2022

Ground transportation

The airport was built in the area of Laktaši and Gradiška municipalities, in a wide valley of the Vrbas expanding into Lijevče. It is connected to the new Banja Luka – Gradiška motorway.

See also

• List of airports in Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Sarajevo International Airport
• Tuzla International Airport
• Mostar International Airport

References

External links

Media related to Banja Luka International Airport at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website
• Current weather for LQBK at NOAA/NWS
• Accident history for BNX at Aviation Safety Network

На других языках

[de] Flughafen Banja Luka

[es] Aeropuerto Internacional de Bania Luka

[fr] Aéroport international de Banja Luka

[it] Aeroporto internazionale di Banja Luka

[ru] Баня-Лука (аэропорт)