IN MEMORIAM: Samra Pehilj (1964–2026)

It is with deep sadness and sincere regret that we bid farewell to our longtime colleague Samra Pehilj, Director of the Development, Engineering and Standardization Department and former member of the Management Board of Sarajevo International Airport.

Samra dedicated nearly three decades of her professional life to Sarajevo International Airport. Since 1997, she played an active role in its recovery, development, and transformation, leaving a lasting professional legacy through some of the most significant projects that have shaped the Airport as we know it today.

As a mechanical engineer, leader of numerous development projects, Executive Director for Airport Development, and the first woman ever appointed to the Management Board of Sarajevo International Airport, Samra continually pushed boundaries and opened doors for others through her expertise, experience, energy, and determination.

A special place in her professional legacy belongs to the major investment projects implemented during the period of intensive airport development, including the expansion and modernization of Terminal B, the apron expansion project, the construction of the administrative and business building, as well as numerous other initiatives aimed at enhancing airport infrastructure, technical systems, and standardization.

However, Samra always emphasized that no major project is the work of a single individual. Speaking recently about the development of Sarajevo International Airport, she noted that major achievements are the result of a “shared energy and a shared vision.” It was precisely this approach to people and to the Airport that defined her professional journey.

She belonged to the generation of employees who helped build and develop the modern Sarajevo International Airport. She often spoke with pride about her colleagues whose dedication, expertise, and sacrifice contributed to the growth of our company and firmly believed that the work of generations of people who wanted Sarajevo and Bosnia and Herzegovina to have a modern international airport is embedded in every part of it.

Today, with great sadness, we can say that she, too, became an inseparable part of that Airport.

We will remember her as an exceptional professional, a strong and determined woman, a colleague of great experience, and a person whose professional career was intrinsically linked to the development of Sarajevo International Airport.

Her expertise, dedication, and contribution will remain permanently recorded in the history of our company. Above all, however, she will be deeply missed by the people who shared with her the challenges, achievements, and everyday moments of working life over many years.

The funeral prayer (Janazah) will take place on Tuesday, 1 September 2026, at 11:00 a.m. at Vlakovo City Cemetery.

We extend our deepest condolences to her family, friends, colleagues, and loved ones.

Dear Samra, thank you for the years of dedication, knowledge, and commitment you gave to our Airport.

"Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un"

"Indeed, we belong to Allah, and indeed to Him we shall return."
(Al-Baqarah, 2:156)