Morava Airport opens, commercial ops. to start in winter


Kraljevo's Morava Airport in central Serbia opened at midday today with the landing of an Air Serbia ATR72 aircraft from Belgrade. Scheduled commercial flights are set to begin during the 2019/2020 winter season, according to its operator. The airport was initially opened in 2012, upon the completion of its new 22 million euro terminal building and control tower, however, the state of its 2.265 metre-long runway made it unusable for commercial flights. Since then, the runway has been overhauled, while the Serbian Civil Aviation Directorate is set to complete the airport's certification process by the end of the week. Bureaucratic procedures between the airport's former operator - the military - and the government have delayed its opening on numerous occasions.




Commenting on its future, the head of operator Airports of Serbia, Mihajlo Zdravković, said, "Morava Airport could not be offered to airlines because it did not have an operating license. We will get it by the end of the week and then we will officially be able to start negotiations with carriers. There is interest and certain airlines have already come to us". He added, "We should have the first contracts ready by the start of the winter season. Several global carriers are interested and flights to Germany and Turkey are expected. However, at first we will have regional services with smaller aircraft". The former General Manager of Niš Airport, Dragan Bugarinović, who served at the post between 2008 and 2014, has been named as Morava Airport's first General Manager.




The Serbian Minister for Construction, Transport and Infrastructure, Zorana Mihajlović, previously said she expects the airport to handle up to 20.000 travellers in 2019. "From its opening in late June, until the end of this year, we expect several carriers to introduce flights from the airport. It will handle around 20.000 passengers this year and between 100.000 - 150.000 in 2020. We will also work on developing cargo traffic at Morava Airport", Ms Mihjlović said. Located in central Serbia, it is projected that Morava Airport would significantly boost the local economy since it lies between several industrial cities and is in close proximity to the Italian-run Fiat-Zastava car manufacturer.




Comments

  1. Anonymous08:35

    Bravo Serbia!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous09:02

    Could SkyExpress be the airline that wants to fly from Germany and Turkey?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:06

      Maybe Pegasus

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:10

      You mean Sun Express?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:12

      Yes sorry I meant Sun Express.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:17

      This could be a great airport for Ryanair which does not fly to either PRN or SKP. The only problem is, I doubt they would let FR fly from there.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:21

      " I doubt they would let FR fly from there"

      FR is a European registered airline. No one can block them in Serbia. They are free to fly wherever they wish from EU, Norway and Switzerland to Kraljevo.

      Delete
    6. SunExpress is a joint venture of TK and LH. Its primary job is to fly German tourists and Turkish diaspora between the two countries. They would have no interest in connecting Serbia and Turkey. Among Turkish carriers my bets are either TK or PC.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous12:25

      Air Serbia could easily fly KVO-IST with ATR. They used to fly BEG-IST with ATR.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous13:37

      They can do that only if they get another ATR and base it in Kraljevo.

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:02

    I smell another tender for Air Serbia for new routes.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:06

      And what would be wrong with that?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:07

      Yep, just another way to throw money to the party project.
      Elections are next year after all.

      Delete
    3. Ti si stvarno napolean sa tim izborima. Ne smaraj nas sa tim glupostima. To pišeš 3 godine pred izbore kad god se nešto dobro uradi u ovoj zemlji. Svaka čast na otvaranju Morave, izgleda lepo i nadamo se brzom ulasku u redovni civilni saobraćaj.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:14

      Party project that will enbale people to travel faster and easier.
      Really, really bad.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:32

      Of course it will be Air Serbia. Who else would fly regional routes?

      "However, at first we will have regional services with smaller aircraft".

      Delete
    6. Anonymous09:35

      It is so strange that national carrier flies to the airports in its own country.

      I don't know if it was the case in any other country...

      Delete
    7. Anonymous09:35

      What actually enables people to travel faster and easier is not a state dinosaur that sucks money out of our pockets but open skies policies and low cost carriers.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous09:39

      Anonymous at 09:35
      LOL, I am sure there is actual demand for air travel between KVO and BEG! Also between INI and BEG.
      So lets just throw more millions to the bottomless pit that is JU!

      Delete
    9. Anonymous09:43

      Open Sky policy already exists...

      Don't count much on LCC. They will fly away as soon as they find something they don't like. And before it happens someone needs to provide conditions (airport, infrastructure etc) LCC to come.
      I wonder who can do it? Ryanair or Wizz? :-)

      Delete
    10. Anonymous09:45

      Who said there will be domestic lines?
      Flying from HHN to KVO is not travelling to its own country? Think bit out of a box

      Delete
    11. Anonymous09:45

      @Anon 9:35

      Low-cost carriers are a smaller net benefit for the country than "state dinosaurs", and often indeed a net loss.

      Delete
    12. Anonymous09:45

      YES! Let's shut down JU so that we can subsidize a Hungarian LCC airline. That's a sane economic principle.

      Delete
    13. Anonymous09:50

      I wonder how come that Erdogan did not hear all of these experts when he decided to financially support today powerful Turkish airlines?
      And they fly to the most destinations around the world...

      Delete
    14. well, maybe it is because turkey has a multi-million strong community all over europe, economic growth and investment cycle during last two decades that is unthinkable for serbia, long seacoast who gets millions of tourists each year and is a natural gateway between asia and europe and therefore it had a good potential

      while serbia has a potential only for a smaller operator that would need to run a low cost operation to cater it's price sensitive and mostly short-haul clientele

      Delete
    15. Anonymous11:44

      You didn't get the point.

      Nobody compared size of Turkey with the size of Serbia, but the fact that Turkey invested in its national airline the same as Serbia did. Of course in the Serbian case it much less than in Turkey but enough for so called experts to hate it. In the case of Turkey it is, of course, justified.

      TK tickets are quite cheap for transfer flights no matter of the size of the Turkey or its economy.

      It is called business model.

      Delete
    16. Anonymous12:52

      Latvia supported BT and look at them today.

      Delete
    17. @11:44 it is actually you who missed the point.

      the point is:
      a) if there is a potential - it makes sense to invest (turkish)
      b) when there is no potential - do not invest (JU)

      Delete
    18. Shoul we abandon the national airline and leave the market to the others?

      Delete
    19. Anonymous14:45

      Petar, niti znas koja kompanija ce leteti niti gde ce leteti, ali mislis da je vazno da ceo svet cuje tvoje misljenje o necemu sto jos ne postoji. Ako jednog dana sa Morave budu leteli loukosteri, ovi tvoji komentari ce sluziti za podsmeh i ruganje. Prvo skoci pa reci hop!

      Delete
    20. Anonymous14:46

      It makes no sense GoS to invest in Serbia and its national airline and maybe financially to suppport foreign LCC as done in N.Macedonia?

      Any conversation stops here. It is pointless.

      Have a nice day.

      Delete
    21. Anonymous15:23

      Anon at 14:46 your first sentence makes no sense. What did you want to say?

      Delete
    22. @14:45 tvom komentaru možemo odmah početi da se rugamo, obzirom da ovde diskutujemo o teoretskoj opciji da bude PSO letova i pros/cons takve opcije. hesuse...

      Delete
    23. Anonymous16:28

      Kakvi PSO letovi, ne znate o cemu pricate. Inicijalna cena po putniku sa Morave ce biti 2,5 evra sto je jos nize nego u Nisu. To je dovoljno za Ryan ili Wizz, a ako oni nece ima ko hoce za te pare. Naravno pod pretpostavkom da ce tehnicki uslovi biti ispunjeni kao sto se ocekuje.

      Delete
    24. Anonymous16:35

      It makes no sense GoS to invest in Serbia and its national airline?
      Should it financially suppport foreign LCC as done in N.Macedonia?
      Sorry if it was not clear

      Delete
    25. @Petar Celik you are absolutely right.
      One absurd project (airport) will be followed by another one - "PSO for ATR flights from Krajevo". I will not be surprised if they get 10 mil eur for 2.5 years of ATR operations.

      Delete
    26. Anonymous03:08

      MM kakav PSO za ATR? Opet izmisljas bez ikakve osnove, nece biti PSO za ATR. Kad smo vec kod izmisljanja i hejta, pogledajte Purgerov hejt o Moravi u drugom, donjem videu na stranici:

      http://rs.n1info.com/Biznis/a495676/Lakicevic-o-aerodromu-Morava-Vise-politicki-poduhvat-a-manje-ekonomski.html

      Delete
    27. Anonymous08:38

      People don't understand the concept of long-term investment. Some projects pay off right away, some within ten years and some within 20. LYKV will only enable to region to develop. Someone inform Purger that it's not just Kraljevo that's served but also regions beyond it such as Uzice, Novi Pazar and so on. Also why is he insisting that FR won't come without subsidies? For the love of God they don't get it in INI and BNX.

      Delete
    28. Anonymous09:14

      Dear anon 8:38

      It was already couple of times explained to Purger that LYKV will not serve Kraljevo only, that whole south western Serbia can use it, that INI and BG are too far away for that part of Serbia, that Uzice region can use it as well as Ponikve are still closed, that it is god for flights to Turkey and therefore Turkey invested 10 million euro in that project, but despite all the arguments presented he continues with his story.
      Why? - I will let you make your own conclusions

      Delete
    29. Anonymous07:00

      Turkish Airlines is a company that its shares are traded in Istanbul stock exchange market. All of its financial balance can be visible by every one and there is no governmental financial support to Turkish Airlines neither its balance sheets nor at somewhere else.

      Delete
  4. Anonymous09:02

    Congratulations and good luck!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous09:03

    Terminal looks great actually.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:06

      The sign "Airport Morava" should be "Morava Airport" ?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:08

      I like the marble check-in desks :D

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:54

      @9.06
      You're right! The basics of English. If you have to say it in English, then say it right!

      Delete
    4. Anonymous13:40

      They wrote it correctly on Airports of Serbia sig, but not on the building.

      Delete
    5. Both versions are fine.

      Delete
  6. bugarinović... bogte mazo. mislim da od G17+ kadrova nije bilo većih grobara srpske avijacije. ponadao sam se da će neko od ekipe koju su rasterali iz niša ući da razvija biznis, ali mom optimizmu nema mesta kada država počne da se pita

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:08

      Even funnier is that they chased Bugarinovic away from INI and branded him as judas reincarnated only to bring him back.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:09

      Dinkicevi kadrovi i dalje vedre i oblace po srpskoj privredi najgori neznalacki sljam.

      Delete
    3. nisam 100% siguran, ali koliko sam uspeo da pohvatam priču, uspeli su da ga izbace (odnosno stave na mesto savetnika) ovi majstori iz agencije za razvoj juga i onda su postavili vladicu đurđanovića. dakle šutnula ga je ta ekipa koja se kasnije zakrvila sa gospođom minisatrkom i koju je počistila kada nisu hteli da daju aerodrom. bugarinović je očigledno ostao povezan sa tom sns ekipom.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:10

      big deal

      Delete
  7. Anonymous09:10

    Nice to see them open it on Vidovdan! :)

    I think there is a lot of potential for flights to northern Germany as a lot of people from Raska emigrated there.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous09:11

    I hope Rodney Marinkovic made it to the opening :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:15

      +1

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:20

      He did! I follow him on Facebook and he posted he is there :)

      Delete
    3. Dear friends Anons 09:11 and 09:20.
      Yes I have been on tarmac on thе front of
      Terminal. God bless Serbia....
      Да, срце и Душа су ми на месту.
      Бог вас благословио и комерцијалну авијацију Србије. Видовдан радости. Морава отворена.
      ✈🌐✈☺✈😇✈⛪✈љф

      Delete
  9. Anonymous09:13

    Is there any special flights planned for today. Will Air Serbia send its ATR72?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:14

      No. Taking a plane out of service for a day is not an option for them at the end of June.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:16

      And very good they decided so!

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:17

      Good

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:18

      Also, it would look too much like what Tadić did, and we all know that nothing should be done whar the previous "yellow" government has done :))

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:29

      Not true. A commercial plane will land this afternoon. Not sure if it will be JU but assume so.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous09:32

      The plane will land on the airport that does not have its operating licence yet?

      Delete
    7. Anonymous09:56

      Somehow they will do it

      http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/ci/story/124/drustvo/3572294/morava-treci-medjunarodni-aerodrom-u-srbiji.html

      Delete
    8. Anonymous12:19

      Yes Air Serbia ATR72 landed.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous17:17

      BEG - KVO 26
      KVO - BEG 27

      How does a domestic flight boards at BEG? How do you come out to the platform by skipping passport control but not security check??

      Delete
    10. Anonymous17:21

      You have to present your boarding pass before proceeding to passport control, so after they check they can wave you through one of the passport lanes where they would not check your passport. Security is at the gate.

      Delete
    11. They have send two planes to KVO today. One for politicians and one for orchestra and choir.
      JU schedule was a mess today with flight delayed up to 4 hours

      Delete
    12. Nemjee08:43

      MM are you implying that KVO's opening was to blame for the delays experienced by JU yesterday? Strange, I thought it was mostly because they found a crack in the runway which resulted in the airport's closure for about an hour or even because YU-ALV broke down in TGD so in stead of taking off at 08.30 it actually left at 17.02.

      Delete
    13. Anonymous09:09

      Runway in BEG?

      Delete
  10. Anonymous09:16

    Is there really a possibility they could handle 20,000 pax if flights start at the end of October?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:21

      With regional turboprop planes which will be operating this year, I doubt it.

      Delete
    2. Luka10:27

      Of course not.
      That means that they would have to have cca. 360 pax a day, or 3 daily return flights with AT7 or CRJ.

      Delete
  11. Anonymous09:18

    Well this was 2nd opening... I can except at least another 2 openings in future.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:21

      You don't have to EXPECT anymore openings as this one is the final one

      Delete
  12. Anonymous09:18

    Can we expect some public transport to the Morava airport in coincidence with the flight arrivals_departures? I still have a bad (an relatively expensive) remembrances from taxi from Pristina airport...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:23

      Gea, Terra, Pexon team...you can even ask them now to get you to a desired airport, you can even tell them now to get you to KVO terminal even though there are no flights at all.

      Delete
  13. Anonymous09:23

    How long and width ist the runway now?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:24

      It's the same length. They just put new asphalt.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:28

      So there will be no new flights, because the runway is still 30m width, and NOT needed 45m. Is this opening a joke?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:28

      It's not. They extended it by 65 meters.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:31

      Also the runway is big enough to handle planes. Like it says in the text smaller aircraft will be used at the beginning

      "However, at first we will have regional services with smaller aircraft".

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:23

      Na ovu pistu mogu da slecu i a320 i B737 avoni bez problema kao recimo u Memingenu koji je pregurao preko 10 miliona putnika pre pocetka prosirenja. Naravno da je danasnje otvaranje sarada za narod. Bice poneki carter zimi u pocetku.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous10:37

      To nije istina. Memmingen nikad nije imao samo 30m sirine, nego 45 a sad cak 60m.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous11:03

      Memmingen Airport has an Instrument Landing System (ILS) Category 1 for runway 24 and is equipped with NDB/DME and GPS RNAV. Although the runway length of nearly 3 km (1.9 mi) would allow larger planes to take off and land, the airport's operations certificate only allows planes with wingspans up to 36 m due to the narrow taxiways originally designed to accommodate Lockheed F-104G Starfighters and Panavia Tornados. Additionally, the runway is only 30 metres (98 ft) wide due to its former use as a facility for jet fighter aircraft. However, an expansion to the international standard 45 metres (148 ft) has been granted and was under preparation as of 2016[15] with construction to begin in autumn 2018.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous11:09

      Again not fully true. The runway in the lines is 30m, but on both sides you have plus 15m asphalt. In KVO you have only 30m and then grass!

      Delete
    9. Anonymous11:16

      Da li ti shvatas da ostatak nema dovoljnu nosivost? Ima i beogradski 60 metara sirine ali mu je pista obelezena na 45 metara. Svaka crta na aerodromu znaci nesto i mora da se postuje.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous15:45

      I think Dortmund had the same 30 m width issue and Friedrichafen for sure and still managed to operate B737/A32S for years. First when Condor pushed for B767 they did the shoulders which meaning is to prevent dirt being sucked into the engines.

      Delete
  14. Anonymous09:27

    Congratulations on a very nice looking airport. I hope the terminal will be filled and many flights in the future.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous09:32

    "global carriers" D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:41

      +1
      I bet they would be ...prestigious too!

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:47

      Nope, only one ex-YU airport is reserved for prestigious airlines. lol

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:51

      LOOLL anon 09:47!

      Delete
  16. Anonymous09:33

    For those interested, there will be live coverage of the opening at 12.30PM on RTS1 :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:15

      Yes coverage must started.

      Delete
  17. Anonymous09:59

    Predugo smo slusali od zajedljivaca da Beograd belezi rekorde po broju putnika jer Srbija ima samo jedan aerodrom...

    Od danas ih ma tri!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Србија има 4 аеродрома.

      Delete
  18. Anonymous10:00

    Neka je sa srecom.A AS da polako sprema novi avion za novu bazu :)

    ReplyDelete
  19. Anonymous10:01

    Airport looks cute. I do think it's in a good location and could be very useful for cargo too.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Anonymous10:19

    Great news

    ReplyDelete
  21. Anonymous10:20

    What regional routes could work from Kraljevo? Sarajevo, Podgorica, Skopje? Or is it all too close?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:22

      Also could Belgrade-Kraljevo flights work?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:25

      I do not think KVO will be opened because of regional flights.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:28

      Well CEO of airport operator says it will be for regional flights at first. He is quoted in the article. That's why I ask.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:30

      You are correct, but no LCC will fly it regionally and from the other side JU does not have enough ATR's to cover KVO even in the winter

      Delete
    5. They can always lease additional ATR.

      Delete
  22. Anonymous10:55

    Which village will be the next one with a airport?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:59

      Last time I checked, Kraljevo was not a village.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:00

      Cute town actually
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kraljevo

      Delete
  23. Anonymous12:27

    Officially opened!

    ReplyDelete
  24. Anonymous13:11

    ATR making an appearance :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous13:39

      Anyone know the reg.?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous13:55

      YU-ALT as JU1

      Delete
    3. Anonymous14:13

      What a waste of JU's resources for a photo op

      Delete
    4. Anonymous14:49

      Agree

      Delete
    5. Anonymous15:19

      Speaking of waste of JU resources for a photo op: Na aerodrom Morava je oktobra 2011. godine sleteo prvi putnički avion tipa ATR u kome se nalazio tadašnji predsednik Srbije Boris Tadić.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous15:21

      Yes, we know. Same waste then, same waste now.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous15:46

      Consequently, the scheduled flight from Belgrade to Sarajevo has been delayed 1 hour and 30 minutes due to the aircraft being in Kraljevo

      Delete
    8. Anonymous16:00

      Does anybody know why this particular aircraft has been diverted to Skopje last night, midway through the flight from TGD to BEG?

      Delete
    9. Anonymous16:01

      Because there was a massive storm in Belgrade.

      Delete
  25. Anonymous13:16

    It looks decent. I like :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous13:30

      Agree. A nice terminal. Simple yet elegant.

      Delete
  26. Anonymous13:21

    You never know what KVO will achieve in its first 5 years of operation. Good luck.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Anonymous14:13

    Ceiling is the same type as in SKP.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Anonymous15:23

    why do you keep using KVO, when it's not airport's code? for now, Morava has only one code, LYKV, so use that

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think it's because there are plenty of empty letters between Kivalina, USA, KVL, and Korolevu, Fiji, KVU, in IATA airports 3 letter code denominations, so it's logical to expect ICAO LYKV to be granted IATA KVO code, if requested, in order for operations to start. Btw. hope this time Kraljevo can make it happen and at least manage to repeat INI or BNX story and get some decent traffic.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous15:09

      It is used on wikipedia

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_airports_in_Serbia

      Delete
  29. Anonymous15:48

    Anyone knows why the ATR was parked at the taxiway and not the micro civil apron? Maybe as the airport as civil doesn't have it's license yet so they can only use the remaining infrastructure or?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous15:58

      Because there was a stage for speeches on the apron and the public were standing on the aprin.

      Delete
  30. Anonymous16:33

    Original plan was for JU to fly to Turkey from Morava airport. Check the date on this:

    https://www.b92.net/biz/vesti/srbija.php?yyyy=2012&mm=04&dd=27&nav_id=604380

    ReplyDelete
  31. After all this years my heart is in place! ✈
    INERNATIONAL AIRPORT MORAVA KRALJEVO
    have open its gates. Endless of joy.
    God bless Serbia!
    ✈🌍✈🌎✈🌏✈🌐✈☺✈
    После много година Аеродром Морава
    је отворена. Душа и срце имају мир после свега.
    Емоције су савладане реалношћу, отварањем.
    Бог благословио Србију, народ њен са сваким добром.
    Комерцијална авијација Србије је на препороду...
    Радован / Rodney Marinkovic. Kraljevo✈Sydney
    ✈☺✈🔆✈😇✈💒✈✨✈🌃✈🌐✈

    ReplyDelete
  32. Kraljevo still has not got an IATA three-letter code. KVO is not a valid IATA code.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Anonymous15:48

    Posto su uvideli da pista ne zadovoljava standarde za Erbas 320 i Boing 737 i da su dzaba krecili danas brze bolje vest da sledece godine grade novu pistu.Boze ima li te?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous18:00

      Pista je ok za A320 ali nije pravljena da izdrzi sledecih 20 godina. Drugo, LYKV ima dugorocne planove za kargo prevoz. Vecina kargo aviona ne moze da koristi ovakvu pistu. Trece, ne veruj na svaku rec ministarkinu. Ne treba dve piste, samo jedna ali vredna. Odgovor na poslednje pitanje: nije pamet svakome udeljena podjednako ;)

      Delete
  34. супер вијести. Свака част. За вријеме ове владе у Србији је урађено више него.за задњих 50 година. Надам се некад летовима између Бањалуке и Краљева

    ReplyDelete

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