On this day in 1969, Sarajevo International Airport was officially opened

(Patria) - Air passenger traffic in our region began even before World War II. In 1930, the Belgrade - Sarajevo - Podgorica line was opened. Smaller passenger planes were used, and during that period, the military airport in Rajlovac was used. After the end of World War II, from 1947, regular civil air traffic to Sarajevo was re-established, with lines between Sarajevo, Belgrade, and Zagreb.

The airport in Butmir began to be used then.

Due to the needs and introduction of new types of jet aircraft into operation, which required solid concrete surfaces for maneuvering areas, the idea of building a new Sarajevo airport was pursued. After many years of analysis and testing of the future airport's location, it was decided to locate it in Sarajevo Field, in close proximity to the existing Butmir grass airport. Construction itself began at the end of 1965 and lasted a little over three years. The necessary airport infrastructure was built: a runway, taxiways, apron, a modest terminal and administrative building. The control tower was also part of the airport building.

Sarajevo-Ilidža Airport, as it was officially called at the time, was officially opened for civil air traffic on June 2, 1969.

The opening of the new international airport also meant opening new routes and opportunities for the development of civil aviation. Passenger and aircraft traffic increased gradually each year during this period, but Sarajevo Airport continued to serve as an airport that provided passengers to airports in Belgrade and Zagreb.

With Sarajevo's bid for the 1984 Winter Olympic Games (WOI '84), the need arose to expand the airport's basic capacities: extending the existing runway, building a new parallel taxiway, a new terminal, and the Air Traffic Control facility with a new control tower.

During the war, the Airport was under the control of Serbian paramilitary units, which began a general looting and destruction of equipment, radio navigation aids, and everything else that could not be transported to territories under Serbian control. After the war, Sarajevo Airport was renovated and reopened for civil traffic on August 16, 1996.

(historija.ba)