AUA emergency landing in Bosnia

An Austrian Airlines (AUA) flight had to carry out an unplanned landing en route to Austria.

The passenger flight was due to land at Vienna International Airport (VIA or VIE) near Schwechat, Lower Austria yesterday afternoon (Weds). However, pilots of the Dash 8 jet – which started at Podgorica Airport (TGD) in Montenegro – decided to touch down at Sarajevo International Airport (SJJ) in Bosnia and Herzegovina after cabin crew discovered a problem with its air conditioning.

Passengers were safely taken to VIA by another plane. A spokesman for the Viennese carrier stressed they were not endangered at any time. He explained the air condition issue was currently being investigated by technicians at SJJ.

AUA is the most important business partner of VIA, Austria’s biggest aerodrome, as 51 per cent of all takeoffs and landings are carried out by AUA planes. The formerly state-owned airline was founded in 1957. It was taken over by Germany’s Lufthansa Group two years ago. AUA had 5.1 million passengers in the first half of 2011, up by 1.9 per cent compared to the same time span of 2010. It suffered a loss of 63.1 million Euros between January and June 2011.