This tip was submitted by BELEN, a foreign student studying in Sarajevo.
The best way to get to Sarajevo is by plane. There are daily flights from a few European airports for example Franz Josef Strauss Airport in Munich or Vienna International Airport in Austria. If you are departing from another European city, you will have to book a flight which stops at one of these cities. It’s also possible via Budapest, in Hungary.
The most important companies that offer daily flights to the capital of Bosnia Herzegovina are Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines and Malev.
The German-owned company Lufthansa has few delays and good on-board service. It offers lunch or a snack and some beverage during the trip; flight assistants are cordials and the seats are comfortable. The company owns a large number of planes and the service at the airport is good. In some airports you can take the company’s shuttle to designated destinations. You will likely to fly Lufthansa from Munich. The price is cheap, but of course it always depends on the dates and how far in advance you book the ticket. If you search for a flight from, for example, Madrid to Sarajevo, the first option (cheapest one) will probably be Lufthansa. You can carry up to 20 kg of luggage without paying a fee or 40 kg if you travel first-class. For every extra 10 kg, you pay 10 EUR. Try to travel with the correct weight since the extra fee will push up the ticket price, thus it’s not worth to fly with them anymore. You are allow to bring two pieces of hand luggage for first class and one for economy class.
Austrian Airlines is a member of Miles and More, the same group Lufthansa belongs to. Checked-in luggage is 20 kg in economy and 30 kg in business. One piece of hand baggage, up to 8 kg is permitted in economy, or two weighing up to 8 kg and 4 kg respectively for business class. Excess baggage fee is also 10 Euros per kg. Austrian Airlines, understandably, is the first option when you fly from Vienna International.
Another choice is Hungarian owned Malev Airlines departing from Budapest, lasting 1h and 15 minutes. It’s a little more expensive than the others, but this is a good company with polite air hostess, great seats and free food and beverage. Baggage is 23 kg in economy and 30 kg in business class. (I like companies which do not make a huge distintion between “second” and “first” class). Regarding hand luggage, you can bring up to 10 kg and 10 + 8 kg, respectively. The 10 Euros per extra kg seems to be the same for all companies.
There are other airlines connecting Sarajevo with other part of Europe and the world which I will review them in my future posts so you will have all the possibilities to make the best choice. In the mean time, I hope you find this post useful.
I'm a motivation explorer, personality type hacker, behavioral investigator and storyteller. I help startup founders, entrepreneurs, and corporate managers to understand themselves, the people they manage and how to get the best of their people. Specialty is in psychological personality types and brain-based methods. When I don't do the above, I hop around planet Earth with TravelJo.com to learn the Art and Science of people from everywhere and to give you all the free travel and tips and advice in many cool destinations.
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2 thoughts on “Life in Bosnia: Best Flight Options to Sarajevo”
Isa BellePosted on 3:00 pm - Dec 30, 2009
The problem with Sarajevo is that it is just a small airport and that there are no pricefighters flying to it, so you’ll always pay a bit more, but also for some extra service. If you are in Italy again, there is a very cheap Ryanair flight from Pisa to Zadar (on the Croatian cost). If you book at the right time (which has no logic for Ryanair) you’ll have a very cheap flight and then it will cost you a bit more to get to Sarajevo (it costs 30 euros to get to Mostar for example, via Split).
Hope you’ll be able to enjoy the wonderful burek or cevapi in beautiful Sarajevo!
navidePosted on 6:07 am - Dec 24, 2009
This is great info, thanks..
Last summer I was in Europe (Florence, Italy, to be exact) and I had the hardest time finding decent prices from there to Sarajevo (considering we are a family of four). We ended up traveling by train and it was long and tiring.. But also full of memories for me who used to do that kind of travel growing up! (especially if you think that the last time I was in Sarajevo was in ’96!!)
I am hoping to be back in Europe next summer and if I could find something really cheap I’d love to go back to Sarajevo for some time with my family and some wonderful burek!! :-)))
Do you know what would be the cheapest option for us?
Thank you,
nat