The Serbian Minister for Construction, Transport and Infrastructure, Zorana Mihajlović, has confirmed that VINCI Airports will take over operations at Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport in late September and will invest 500 million euros into its infrastructure within the first five years of its 25-year concession. Speaking following a meeting with French investors, Ms Mihajlović said, "We have a very good agreement here. No one expected it would be this good. During the first five years VINCI is obliged to invest 500 million out of the total 732 million euros and we know exactly what this money will be spent on. We also have projections on how many passengers will be handled, how many new flights we can expect etc.".
VINCI itself will outline its development plans for the airport once it takes over, however, Ms Mihajlović said there will be a significant focus on growing traffic, with an emphasis put on low cost carriers as well. The Franco - Swiss consortium, led by Zurich Airport, which also participated in the concession tender and is believed to have come second just behind VINCI, recently published plans it presented to the government during the bidding process (video below). It gives an idea as to some of the developments VINCI is expected to undertake as well. Belgrade Airport's General Manager, Saša Vlaisavlejvić, previously said, "Belgrade Airport, with the planned investments which will in large part be utilised during the first five years of the concession, will look nowhere near to what it does today. I am fascinated by what is planned".
Ms Mihajlović has confirmed that the construction of a rail link between the airport and city has high priority but has not been included in the contract with VINCI, meaning the project, valued at twenty million euros, will be carried out through a public private partnership. Talks concerning the matter were recently held with Russian railway group RZD. Ms Mihajlović noted that project documentation for the New Belgrade - Belgrade Airport urban railway line is currently being drafted, after which an international tender will be held to select a contractor. "The planned growth in passenger numbers over the coming years is reason enough for this investment to be carried through and says a lot about its importance and profitability", the Ministry for Construction, Transport and Infrastructure said in a statement.
I can't wait to see their final plans. Those from ZRH look quite nice. I hope we get something similar.
ReplyDeleteI like it to and especially their plan to build another apron and add parking positions behind the B platform. Could be used by LCCs.
DeleteBEG definitely needs more gates. Just the other day an Air Serbia A319 was parked at a remote stand because there wasn't enough space at the airport. A few days ago I arrived on Etihad from Abu Dhabi and they parked us at A10 gate because there was no other gate available.
DeleteSwiss consortium planned refurbishment at the last phase, VINCI obviously plans it in a first 5 years, I think that's one of the main reasons why they are choosed, why would our dear actual politicians wait 25 years, if they can wait only 5, as refurbishment is most visible by us passengers, so mihajlovic an Co. can show off.
DeleteWell I think refurbishment is necessary straight away. And I'm no politician.
DeleteReconstruction and division of incoming and outgoing passengers is absolute priority.
Delete@ anonymous 8,49am
DeleteBEG needs more gates for flights departing remote stands. 11 remote stands and only 3 gates means that turboprops and CRJ's block gates with air bridges they cant use. Wizz and Transavia dont fully use the bridges, having them use remote stands would provide additional space.
Having a lower floor and an additional, perhaps 7 such gates would work. Renumber them B1-B10 would be better than the current A4a, A4b system. This should be sufficient enough until a new pier/terminal or what ever they intend to do is complete.
@JATBEGMEL
DeleteInteresting idea. But where to put these B gates on the ground floor?
There is enough space under A7-A10.
DeleteIf you relocate JU office.
DeleteHalf a billion euros for 5 years. Not bad.
ReplyDeleteI have a feeling U2 might open a base in BEG. This is just a thought. They have very close cooperation with Vinci and they are expanding their operations from BEG this summer nicely.
ReplyDeleteThat would be fantastic.
DeleteI don't think they will do anything rash to hurt Air Serbia for the first few years. Same as the French in Zagreb who didn't try to attract any new airlines for the first 2 years.
DeleteWell at least they will create a level playing field for all airlines.
DeleteThe only difference is that JU isn't shielded from competition the same way OU was. Wizz Air recently added a second aircraft, easyJet is expanding, Transavia keeps on.adding flights... BEG isn't doing a lot to keep competition away.
DeleteI agree with you Nemjee but it hasn't actively done anything to attract airlines either. All of them came on their own. I'm assuming Vinci will have a much more proactive approach and marketing plan, which they already said they will.
DeleteTrue but then again Belgrade's network isn't that bad. That said I am disappointed by how passive Wizz Air has become.
DeleteWizz Air has become more focused on western europe now it seems.
DeleteWe are poor market so Ryan air would the best option for us. We would get much more connections to Western ans Southern Europe.
DeleteWhen you say "we" who are you referring to>
DeleteSerbia
DeleteYes, I'm sure you are one of "us"
Delete@anon 3:15
DeleteChill out! People have right to different opinions. :)
We are one of the poorest countries of Europe.
DeleteDenying it doesn't make us any richer.
Yes, your country is too
DeleteShame that they didn't include the rail in the concession agreement.
ReplyDeleteMaybe they did - we have not seen the agreement.
DeleteIt says in the text that they didn't
Delete"Ms Mihajlović has confirmed that the construction of a rail link between the airport and city has high priority but has not been included in the contract with VINCI, meaning the project, valued at twenty million euros, will be carried out through a public private partnership."
They did not even made an effort to oblige VINCI to build/finance a rail link!
DeleteNice line-up of widebodies today at BEG
ReplyDeleteAl Masria - A330-200
Hainan Airlines - A330-300
Air Serbia - A330-200
And Iran Air sending A300 tomorrow again.
Nice
DeleteTheir A300 has C22 Y239 configuration. Big plane
DeleteIf I'm counting right today we have 13 charters departing from BEG.
DeleteOnly 13 charters on Friday 29/6 just show had bad the economic situation is. And yes I know it is kind of the record for this part of the year.
DeleteGet a life.
DeleteNobody is saying that economic situation is great but it's definitely better than last years. I'l be very happy if every year we have increase in charter traffic of 20+ percent. In ten years that will be cumulative increase of at least 600% or 80 charter flights in one day. There's no country that become rich and developed overnight and definitely won't be better if you only complain how it's bad.
DeleteAnon @10:56 why you reading this and commenting here if you have a life?
DeleteYou wrote a number of comments how Serbia is poor. Ok, we get the point. It's poor but it's the only country in ex-Yu with so many outbound charters.
DeleteAnd btw charter trafiic peaks in mod July and early August. Not June.
DeleteLOL, well it is the biggest country population-wise and btw...check out the map and see that it has no seaside :D
DeleteRegardless, Serbs also travel in winter. Access to sea or not.
DeleteOh wow you wrote a comment without writing how poor the country is. Good for you.
DeleteWe are indeed very poor market. We had virtually zero growth of salaries since the beginning of the financial crises in 2008. Charter flights are really not something to cheer about, they indeed show how little our citizens travel.
DeleteHaha you really don't give up. I guess the UK is also a poor market judging by how many charters they have. Jelous idiot.
Delete@anon 3:16
DeleteRead once more your post. What are you actually claiming? xD
"We have a very good agreement here. No one expected it would be this good"
ReplyDeleteI'm very skeptical when I hear this from our politicians.
+1
DeleteSo a second runway is definitely planned judging by those plans?
ReplyDeleteThey said from the start that a second runway would be built.
DeleteI think there is a lot of potential in foreign charters and tourists. Yesterday Israir arrived with 174/174 passengers and departed with around 160. We can see how popular Serbia has become with Iranians and Turks so it will be interesting to see which market is next. I wouldn't be surprised if it's Russia.
ReplyDeleteIt is surprising how many of these new non traditional markets have opened up - I'm thinking about Israel and Iran primarily.
DeleteI think the next one could be something even more surprising, like Azerbaijan for example.
Azerbaijan would be pretty cool especially since we have good political and economic relations with them.
DeleteThe youth of israel and iran mayby partying together in belgrade? Haha who would have thought that lol
DeleteThere are flights from TLV to every village with an airport in Eastern Europe. I don't see a reason why we should be surprised by a full plane to such a beautiful city that BG is
Delete@anon 9:46
DeleteExactly.
@ nemjee
DeleteIm surprised the Russians are not visiting in bigger numbers. More Chinese last year visited Serbia than Russians, Israelis were not far behind, while double the amount of Turks visited Serbia.
Whats also interesting is that there isnt much tourism from the Middle East considering most GCC nationals dont require visas for Serbia, the availability of direct flights as well as Serbia offering what they look for when travelling abroad.
I think Indians are next. Unfortunately the Serbian Bureau of Statistics hasnt uploaded data past february 2018 to see the trends.
Thailand would be cool to see. As for Azerbaijan, the visas were lifted for them at the begining of the month, along with Georgia.
There were around 500 Indian tourists in Serbia this past February. We never had any before so it's a start. I guess TK, QR and FZ got a nice little boost.
Delete@jatbegmel
DeleteThat is because, whatever we spoke or wanted, average Serbs and Russians have virtually nothing in common. Now, I know this is going to hurt people of a particular sort, but I must tell you I even speak Russian very well and I used to live with a Russian woman.
Anon @4:03 what are you talking about? What does 'having something in common' have to do with tourism? Your post makes no sense, except to advance your agenda and bias.
DeleteNo agenda of mine whatsoever. I know them quite well, and also love/like some of them. There's been a visa free regime for years now, still not many Russians around. They prefer Bulgaria. And Hungary. And they need visas for the EU. And I wouldn't call Belgrade an unattractive city. That's how it is.
DeleteSo are you surprised they are not coming in bigger numbers, or aren't you? I am surprised. Bulgaria and Hungary are lovely and so close they could combine a trip.
DeleteI support BEG's concession but I strongly oppose any deal, that includes hurting INI, because in the end this will only hurt the customer e.g. us...
ReplyDeleteLet's see how things play out. Hope someone adds new flights to INI (except Air Serbia from Belgrade which will probably be the government's attempt at showing how they can secure new flights)
DeleteExactly. No point if you hurt local consumers and prevent other airports developing.
DeleteIn the same way INI is handed to the government it can be handed back to the city of Nis. Let's see what government will do in next 2 years and if there is no enough positive development under them we can always ask that airport be returned to the city. It's much easier to win a "battle" if you have arguments and proof that this was bad move.
DeleteBattle was already lost. They took over the airport in order to prevent its expansion. It is so obvious. If they wanted it to boom, they could have given money and invest state funds as in any other local project helped by the central government. No difference here.
DeleteAnon @10:00 You are absolutely true if they had clear and good intentions and wanted to develop INI they were able to do it without taking control over airport. My point is that one battle is lost but another battle can and will start if they don't do enough regarding INI development. Everything what happened with INI smells bad and fishy but I'm positive person and wan't to believe that not all what happened is bad. Time will tell and if their intentions were exclusively bad that will be very bad for them on long run.
Deleteyeah and finalization of the highway to SOF is also an attempt to kill INI
DeleteHighway + undeveloped airport is bad. People will use highway to go to other airports. Highway + developed airport mean people will use the highway to fly from INI :-)
Delete@anon 10:25
DeleteWe are on the same position but you seem to be way more optimistic than me. With these people bad intentions should be assumed.
SOF is the natural airport for INI region. The government can't be blamed for that.
DeleteAnon at 10:54
DeletePlease read again your post.
Perhaps if we didn't have the border. Even then, I woudl think that INI airport is natural for INI region.
@Anonymous June 29, 2018 at 12:16 PM
DeleteWith the new highway you can reach SOF for maximum 2 hours. As the Bulgarians are also building their part of the highway the time will drop with another half an hour after it is completed. So, you will be able to reach SOF for 1.5 hours. Imagine what will happen when we join the EU and there will be no-borders, or at least not hard (strict) borders with Bulgaria.
@ anonymous 9,20am
DeleteAs much as I hope other Serbian airports see more activity, I also think the government should fund JU to fly BEG-INI as a PSO route. If they can operate subsidised flights to BNX, Im sure they can get support for domestic flights. I dont see how this would be a bad thing.
Sure, LCC are great, but they dont really do much to improve connectivity (as seen in SKP).
BEG-INI is OK and JU should receive state aid for that. But the thing they did with the Nis airport telling us all that we are crazy along the way...this really look like 90es in Serbian politics.
Deleteanon @ 12:59
Delete"...when we join the EU..."
...........
Wonder if we will see more long hauls.
ReplyDeleteThey said they will work on it.
DeleteThis is what they said :)
Delete"We will work very hard with other airlines to create routes which develops connectivity for the country and the city and brings many new visitors".
"We believe in the project and we think that with our network and knowledge we can also try to bring the best airlines to open new routes and enable new connectivity"
Great. Sounds good. Thanks.
DeleteThis is all nice and promising. 500 mil EUR in 5 years is great investment for an economy like ours. Looking forward to airport becoming better. However, we must first see the concession agreement. Keeping it secret is against the laws of Serbia, and why would they have the agreement secret if they are not hiding something?
ReplyDeleteMain suspicious provisions that have probably been put in the agreement:
1. Projected number of passengers not reached according to plans - government pays compensation
2. Projected number of operations not reached - government pays compensation
3. AirSerbia decreases number of passengers and operations - compensation
4. AirSerbia goes bankrupt and ceases operation (possible when the next government comes in power and stops the state aid) - major compensation like in Malev case
5. All other airports prevented from developing - we are already seeing this with INI
Thats why there is a annual revenue income to the state, from 0 to 10million € depending on how it goes for vinci, thats the "compensation" youre talking about
DeleteNo, no, no. I am talking of other types of compensation as stated above if any of the mentioned situations arises.
DeleteYeah and the answer is we will get 0 in annual income if their profits are hurting!
Delete500 upfront for 25 y. plus some renovations on their expense (and it might actually turn out to be substantial investment) are very good. No profit - no annual fee. That is OK.The issue is - what is the list of reasons to pay compensation. What if we end up compensating them heavily for whichever reason.
DeleteThat is one really nice looking terminal.
ReplyDeleteThat video is sad. It doesn't have rail link, hotel and new cargo facility. It only adds 3 new jet bridges (A11-A13). BEG had 16 jet bridges for decades, so adding just 3 new jet bridges over the span of 4 decades (and dozens of remote stands) is a disaster of a proposal. Vinci should hopefully have something better.
ReplyDeleteVINCI will build a hotel where the Borik restaurant is now.
Delete@anon 11:12am
Deletewhere did you read this?
Aviatica I think
DeleteThat is a good location for a hotel. Do you have a link?
Deletebtw, were there some other posts in this thread before? :)
Jedino sto je izvesnpo jeste da cu za vreme uprave VINCI Airport, sletati na sasvim pristojniji, duplo veci, svetao i moderan aerodrom sa oko 25 avio mosta na tri terminala.
ReplyDeleteSedamdeset deveti let iz Sidneja bice mi na jesen, na dosadasnji aerodrom. Simbolicno ce mi biti osamdeseti let sa Nikole Tesle sa pocetkom uprave VINCI Airports. Od kojih iskreno ocekujem ekspeditivan, efektivan razvoj ove vazdusne luke. Verujem da to ocekuje najveci broj ljudi koji ocekuju uspesnost.
Rodney Marinkovic.
Kings Park
Sydney AUSTRALIA
Stari dobri Rodney, uvek pun optimizma kada je Srbija i nas avio saobracaj u pitanju :)
DeleteNista na Rodnijev racun, ali mnogo je lakse biti optimista u vezi sa lokalnim desavanjima i razvojem kada ne zivis u Srbiji nego je samo posecujes s vremena na vreme.
DeleteDragi Anon 4:11. Pristojan je Vas osvrt na moje pisanje. Hvala Vam. Svak zivi u omome, kakve su mu misli. Pesimicnost je stanje coveka koje void patetici. Glavobolji i nemoci za promenu. Svedocim mojim zivljenjem. Putujuci svetom u zadnjih 50 godina, sreo sam do sada na preko 170 aerodromima sveta do sada vise of million ljudi. Neprekidno kretajuci se stekao sam mozda malo iskustvo, vrednosti i saznamja o pesimizmu i optimizmu. E sad da li su ljudi u mojoj Otadzbini Srbiji za mene nedokucivi da bi ih razumeo i shvatio uslove pod kojima zive... To moze da bude ali ne mora da znaci. Neznam sta drugi znaju. Naravno ni sam neznam mnogo. Uglavnom se drzim dobrih misli i postupaka u zivotu. Verujem da je svetlo jace of tame, dobro od zla, istina od lazi, stvaranje od lenjosti. Optimizam od pesimizma. Verujem da ce Srbija izaci iz tame ljudi koji su do skora je gurali u ambis pesimizma, apatije i nemoci... Meni, pa i ostalim kako Bog da. Neka nam bude. Zive po svojoj savesti. Vama Anon, toplo, zdravo i veselo leto. I pocetak preporoda Aerodroma Nikola Tesla Beograd. Radujem se tome iskreno. Ko bih drugacije, taj je bezdusan!.
DeleteSa iskrenoscu Radovan.
Sydney Australia.
Bravo radovane! Pozdrav iz Gothenburg, Sweden!
DeleteGrande Rodney!
DeleteBez zelje da se nastavljam sa ljudima, zivot nas o svemu uci. Ni sam nisam Bog zna kakav "djak", ali nastojim da letim prema dobrim ljudima. Kako duhovno tako i avionima
DeleteA Beogradska vazdusna luka jeste jedna od mnogih gde zive, rade i lete ljudi i bolji, sposobniji od tamo nekog Radovana izgubljenog po Sidneju. Postovani Anon 7:58 AM. Vama srecan put i toplo leto dole u Srbiji. Naravno i sl;etanje na pred VINCI aerodrome Nikola Tesla Beograd. I ako mozete, bar pozelite da se otvore aerodrome Morava i Ponikve za pocetak.
Svako Vam dobr.
Rodney Marinkovic,
Sydney.
I would love to get a video with visuals of what Vinci is planning.
ReplyDeleteThe question is still will they build a new terminal?
ReplyDeleteCurrent capacity is 7-8 million passengers. If they are thinking of handling 15 million they will have to build a new one.
DeleteWait wait wait. So Vinci will build a base case inserted runway like Zurich Airport planned to build. Remember Vucic said they will build this runway so they probably will. I still don't see the benefit of it.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I can see a second parallel runway will be built at the end of the concession. Interesting.
Yes. They call it an "inserted runway". Vlaisaveljvic confirmed to that Vinci will build it.
DeleteInserted runway :)))
DeleteWhat is an "inserted runway"?
DeleteIt's something similar to runway, similar to what simple people in Prokop call Metro :)
DeleteMaybe a bit of a stupid question but is the museum part of the concession?
ReplyDeleteNo, the museum was never run by the airport.
DeleteMuseum belongs to the ministry of defense.
DeleteFor some strange reason it was transferred to Ministry of defense recently
DeleteCan't wait for them to take over.
ReplyDeleteWho is the idiot who authorized a facility without the new cargo center?
ReplyDeleteI hope that didn't happen.
You are telling you don't know who is the One and Given, who authorizes everything in Serbia, especially in aviation?
Delete