Turkish Airlines not happy in BH union

SARAJEVO - Anatolia News Agency

Chairman says Hamdi Topçu Turkish Airlines has done all it can for Bosnia’s BH Airlines. Hürriyet photo

Turkish Airlines has done all it can for Bosnia and Herzegovina’s BH Airlines, but the Bosnian authorities have failed to keep their promises, the chairman of the Turkish carrier Hamdi Topçu has said.

Topçu told the local Bosnian Oslobocenye newspaper that Turkish Airlines had formed a partnership with BH Airlines back in 2008 when the world was going through a financial crisis.

“We presented our plans, projects, and recommendations, but the other side did not implement the necessary decisions,” said Topçu stressing that BH Airlines’ general manager had quit and there was no replacement for ten months, leaving a void with no one in charge to approve strategic decisions.

Topçu explained to the Bosnian newspaper that BH Airlines General Manager Altan Büyükyılmaz has not been able to get an appointment from the transportation minister for three months and that as a result Turkish Airlines has not been able to receive approval for various flight recommendations.

“We have sent a letter to the Bosnian prime minister about this and other similar issues, but have not received any answers. The biggest source of our problems is that we have not received the necessary interest from the other party,” said Topçu.

Topçu also claims that when Turkish Airlines partnered with BH Airlines, the carrier was heavily in debt and that Turkish Airlines paid off a large part of these debts.

In response to a question as to whether or not Turkish Airlines would be interested in acquiring 100 percent of BH Airlines, Topçu said: “We never wanted anything like this. In any case, according to the laws, BH Airlines can only sell a maximum of 49 percent of its shares to a foreign buyer.”