carrier at that time, began acquiring jet planes. The construction of the airport began in 1966 at its present location, not far from the old one. Sarajevo Airport opened on 2 June 1969 for domestic traffic. In 1970, Frankfurt became the first international destination served. Most of the time the airport was a 'feeder' airport where passengers embarked for flights to Zagreb and Belgrade on their way to international destinations. Over time, the traffic volume steadily grew from 70,000 to 600,000 passengers a year. Later, during the Bosnian War, the airport was used for UN flights and humanitarian relief. Since the Dayton Agreement in 1995, the airport retook its role as the main air gate to Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 2017, 957,971 passengers travelled through the airport, which was 61,4% of the total airport traffic in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Plans for extension of the passenger terminal, together with upgrading and expanding the taxiway and apron, started in the fall of 2012. The existing terminal was expanded by approximately . The upgraded airport was directly linked to the commercial retail center Sarajevo Airport Center, making it easier for tourists and travellers to spend their time before flight boarding shopping and enjoying the many amenities that are offered. Between 2015 and 2018, the airport was upgraded for more than 25 million euros. International relations Twin towns – sister cities Sarajevo is twinned with: Coventry, United Kingdom (since 1957) Tlemcen, Algeria (since 1964) Baku, Azerbaijan (since 1972) Magdeburg, Germany (since 1972) Friedrichshafen, Germany (since 1972) Tripoli, Libya (since 1976) Ferrara, Italy (since 1978) Bursa, Turkey (since 1979) Innsbruck, Austria (since 1980) Tianjin, China (since 1981) Harrisburg, United States (since 1984) Venice, Italy (since 1994) Collegno, Italy (since 1994) Ankara, Turkey (since 1994) Budapest, Hungary (since 1995) Serre Chevalier, France (since 1995) Prato, Italy (since 1995) Tirana, Albania (since 1996) Istanbul, Turkey (since 1997) Kuwait City, Kuwait (since 1998) Dayton, United States (since 1999) Barcelona, Spain (since 2000) Madrid, Spain (since 2007) Pula, Croatia (since 2012) Tehran, Iran (since 2016) Skopje, North Macedonia (since 2017) Doha, Qatar (since 2018) İzmir, Turkey (since 2022) Podgorica, Montenegro (since 2022) Friendship Sarajevo is befriended with: Naples, Italy (since 1976) Wolfsburg, Germany (since 1985) Calgary, Canada (since 1986) Stockholm, Sweden (since 1997) Zagreb, Croatia (since 2001) Ljubljana, Slovenia (since 2002) Salt Lake City, United States (since 2002) Cairo, Egypt (since 2006) Dubrovnik, Croatia (since 2006) Konya, Turkey (since