Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport has completed the first of a number of ongoing expansion projects as part of its 730-million-euro upgrade. Yesterday, the airport undertook an Operational Readiness and Airport Transfer (ORAT) exercise at two new bus gates with the capacity to handle 130 passengers, marking the project’s completion. The gates have two direct exits to the apron and will be used to serve aircraft at remote parking stands. They are expected to play a greater role once work begins on merging the existing terminal building with the new expanded wing of the facility, which is currently under construction. Their integration into a single functioning unit will force the temporary closure of some gates while the process is underway.
Preparatory work for the refurbishment of the existing departure gates with jet bridges has begun, with two gates by two to be overhauled at a time. This will also lead to the construction of a third “gallery” floor on top of the existing building - a five-metre wide corridor. Upon landing at the airport, passengers will enter the jet bridge and go up to the new arrival gallery. They will then reach a central transfer zone, a chimney-like structure with escalators going down to the first level, for transfer passengers (corresponding to departure level), and the ground level, for baggage reclaim and the arrival hall. The segregation of arriving and departing passengers during the first phase of the project will enable Belgrade Airport to centralise its passenger and luggage security. The plan for September next year would be to use centralised security with the airport’s Pier C only and Pier A some six months afterwards, or end of March 2022. The second option would be to open the first phase of the terminal extension (Pier C and Pier A) at once at the end of March 2022 depending on phasing to accommodate airport operations in the coming months.
Belgrade Airport also recently completed work on the overhaul of its duty free and food and beverage facilities, which will be in use over the next few years until the entire building is overhauled. Simultaneously, the first phase of the expansion of the Pier C complex is currently in progress and will see the addition of eight gates equipped with airbridges, as well as four bus gates for outbound passengers flying out from remote aircraft stands. Its completion is expected in less than a year’s time, in September 2021, with the second phase to begin immediately afterwards. It will entail the construction of an additional four airbridge gates. Work on the new 3.500-metre inserted runway is also in full swing. It is expected to be ready in October or November of 2022 at the latest. Other ongoing and upcoming projects include the overhaul of the existing terminal, new apron, new de-icing platform, remote car park facility, power plant, solar power plant, as well as a solid waste and wastewater treatment plant.
Looks good. Nice to see construction continuing even during corona times.
ReplyDeleteSo nice to see BEG growing!
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised at how quickly they are completing things. I also noticed that the control tower structure is also above ground already.
ReplyDeleteYes, considering they started in March
DeleteThe way things are going they could complete the expanded C building before next September.
DeleteI think they will finish but certification might take longer.
DeleteGood to see. Keep it up
ReplyDeleteIn the last photo, what is that area near the end of the runway that is being developed? The one that is rather remote from the rest of the airport complex.
ReplyDeletePrivate aviation.
DeleteNo, I think it is the begging of inserted runway, it will be longer than existing one. And aprons can not be under the landing path, planes will be too low above the apron there while landing. It is not private aviation apron for sure, or not before the existing runway is reconstructed, but i think it won`t be at that time either
DeleteThe biggest improvement of them all is the fact that they are building a third floor and separating inbound and outbound passengers.
ReplyDeleteGood work
ReplyDeleteNice, steady progress.
ReplyDeleteI'm curious to see what they will do with the old control tower once the new one is built.
ReplyDeleteIt will be up to SMATSA since they own and run the tower.
DeleteWhat will happen with T1? Will it also be renovated?
ReplyDeleteYes
DeleteFinally some decent looking toilets :D
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteLet's see if they manage to keep them clean which I'd something they seem to be unable to do.
DeleteExactly what anon 9.55 said. The toilets actually look very good at BEG, that's not the issue. It's their upkeep that should be maintained.
DeleteI was at the airport about a week ago and many toilets were closed so people were forced to use the few that were available. The one by JU's checkin was so disgusting that there are no words to describe it... starting with the fact that there was water and tissues all over the floor. Funny how they are spamming the world with their anti-covid measures yet basic hygiene is missing from their airport.
DeleteInteresting how many complaints I see about the cleaning of toilets at BEG. Compared to Norwegian airport toilets they are like dining tables...
Delete@Nemjee - its neither Air Serbia airport nor Air Serbia toilets. At the end its on the people to follow the measures, the lone existence of the same is not enough.
DeleteWho said it was Air Serbia's fault? It's the fault of the airport operator for tolerating such filth, they need to hire more cleaning staff so that they can maintain decent health standards.
DeleteNemjee exactly, toilets are really a disgrace. And they are not going to hire anyone of course. They are here to make money, period. I don't know how toilets look in Norway but it is not possible to be much worse than in BEG.
DeleteHow many bus gates does BEG have at the moment?
ReplyDeleteI believe 5
DeleteA4a, A4b, A7a, A7b, C7
And the new part of the terminal will have another 4 bus gates too.
DeleteGreat, thanks
DeleteI wonder if Wizz will keep using the air bridges or will they use remote stands.
DeleteWizz pays to use the jet bridges. If they wanted to use remote stands they could have done it by now.
DeleteHow can Wizz use these gates when they are for up to 130 passengers? They are upgrading Belgrade to A321 with 230 seats.
DeleteTrue, these gates are for turboprops and regional jets.
DeleteAfter phase 2 of the C pier extension is completed there will be a total of 28 jet bridges and 8 bus gates. 36 in total.
DeleteIf I am not mistaken BEG will have more airbridges than ATH.
DeleteHow many does ATH have?
DeleteAthens has 33 airbridges if you include the satellite terminal. There are 23 at the main terminal plus another ten at the satellite one. There are another 17 bus gates which handle all those remote stands they have going on.
DeleteAegean loves remote stands.
DeleteThey can't get enough of it.
DeleteSo BEG will have 34airbridges or more?
DeleteNo, it will have 28.
DeleteSo it will not have more jetbridges then ATH.
DeleteNo, don't know what Nemjee is talking about.
DeleteI realized I was wrong once I counted them on a map. However ATH doesn't use the airbridges on the satellite terminal, people board planes (mostly FR and W6) by stairs.
DeleteIn a couple of years BEG will have more airbridges than any other airport in SE Europe area in the approx triangle of IST-ATH-WAW. Those three airports will be ahead of BEG, but BEG will have more airbridges than BUD, OTP, SOF, SKG and any other ExYu airport. Outside of those three large airports (WAW, ATH, IST), BEG is aiming to solidify leading position of the transfer hub of the Balkans and take some of VIE transfers back where they belong.
Delete@An.09.56
DeleteIt's possible. Here is what they do in Scandinavia, SAS in particular, but others as well :All passengers leaving the terminal trough the bridge, those seating in rear part leaving the bridge going down the stairs, walking few steps the apron, and entering plane through the rear door, up the stairs again. Front rows passengers going the bridge all the way, entering plane front door. Makes boarding and disembarkation much faster. Not saying applicable in BEG, but theoretically possible
An airport is not only measured by its airbridges. Take VNO with few airbridges but an impressive network and not to mention CRL with no airbridges.
DeleteNeither do JU's ATRs need them nor Wizz or Easy.
Belgrade has a pretty decent and growing network, something we should all be proud of.
DeleteVNO is not a major hub, U2/W6 are not transfer airlines. ATR's can't use an airbridge.
DeletePoint is, investment in that many airbridges has a very specific purpose. What is that purpose?
Let's look at the contrasting example first: SOF concession plans include new concourse to be built without a single airbridge. Concourse will only have passenger walkout gates. Those are obviously designed for LCCs, not for long haul A350/B777 type of planes. SOF is not spending money on many new airbridges, SOF does not have a major hub airline, their growth is clearly expected to focus on LCCs.
On the other hand, investment in so many BEG airbridges is to fortify it's position as a transfer hub of the region with easy airbridge access to/from planes, both narrow and wide bodies. To make it easier to understand: reimaging of BEG is designed to support Air Serbia transfer model in the next couple of decades. It is not designed primarily for LCC needs.
Nice, well said.
DeleteWow didn't know that about Sofia. That's just bad.
DeleteAt the end of concession in 2055 (!!!) SOF will have a max of 12 airbridges. BEG had 16 for more than a decade.
DeleteNew B concourse planned for SOF with no airbridges, just walkout to apron:
https://youtu.be/C96TkDyja_o?t=145
But don`t forget that all of those jet bridges can also be used as BUS gates, like in Vienna for example. It could be named D and F Like A5 can also be D5 or something like that
DeleteThe LCC part in Sofia looks depressing. At least in Belgrade Wizz Air is forced to use airbridge for the front half of the airplane because of competition.
DeleteNothing bad having more LCC routes compared to more airbridges, tbh. Airbridges need constant maintenance and cost more and some airlines would sometimes even avoid them. Examples are LH and OS. SOF has fewer airbridges but more destinations, OTP has 14 airbridges and again very strong LCC traffic.
DeleteBEG will focus mainly on Montenegro, Swiss and JU traffic and obviously is having airbridges as a priority.
Again, just because VNO doesn't have a lot of airbridges doesn't make it less important. All depends on the type of airport.
"take some of VIE transfers back where they belong."
Delete??
I just saw plans for SOF expansion. It looks very very nice. Better then BEG, BUD and OTP.
Delete-But don`t forget that all of those jet bridges can also be used as BUS gates
DeleteYes they can if absolutely needed. But since you missed the whole point of airbridges at BEG let me ask you again: why would you invest a lot more in airbridges if you plan on using them mostly as bus gates?
BEG will not focus just on Montenegro and Swiss, LOL!!! Since you can't figure it out with all this help, you may have to wait a couple of years and see for yourself.
It is obviously that jetbridges in BEG will be used same as in SKP. Jetbrige for every non-turboprop/CRJ aircraft no matter what airline.
Delete@19:27 - Wanna deny the importance of Montenegro, Switzerland? TGD, TIV and ZRH are the most important destinations in BEG and would say have a significant market share.
DeleteYes, airbridges may be used as bus gates but they still require maintenance. If you have a standard bus gate, boarding is definitely quicker and much cheaper. Like I previously said, try flying from WMI, CRL or VNO.
As for the future China, Canada, Iranian and so on routes discussed regularly, then yes, they will obviously require airbridges as it is imagined they will be served by widebodies.
What a child. Airbridges need maintenance, so what? Planes need maintenance. To avoid maintenance stop flying and just walk to the other country. Wizz loving infant.
DeleteYou are comparing apples with pears. So comparing aircraft maintenance with airbridge maintenance is basically nonsense. You have a LCC quick, proper walking gate and you reach the aircraft in no time. Yes, the rain and snow but it's a 2min walk. The airline leaves on time, you leave on time, the airline pays less, you pay less. Very easy.
DeleteAnyway, enjoy the numerous airbridges.
ZAG had 0 airbridges but got 8 with the new terminal. Where were your genius mind to prevent them from spending money on airbridges and all the maintenance when you could have told them how fantastic it is to have no airbridges. What a backward, sick way to attack decades of advances in airport technology that gave us convenient, modern airbridges and advocate ugly, cheap and uncomfortable walkout solutuion as superior! Are you nuts?
DeleteWell, if Wizz is paying to use airbridges in BEG but not in SOF then it can only mean that the market in BEG is lucrative enough for them to absorb the additional cost. I guess if they weren't making enough money here they wouldn't be boosting their base from next year.
DeleteYes, Switzerland and Montenegro are important markets for BEG but let's not forget Russia as well. This year we were supposed to have:
1. SVO - 21 on SU and 10 on JU.
2. DME - 4 on WZ.
3. LED - 3 on JU.
4. KRR - 3 on JU.
5. ROV - 3 on JU (or was it 4?)
That's 44 weekly flights which is pretty decent in my opinion. Italy is another growing market and so is Turkey. So BEG is definitely expanding its offer into new markets and the network expansion is a good indicator of that. Obviously that ZRH dominates with its 400.000 annual passengers and it will take a long time for this to change. Though one has to wonder if IST would have been number one by now if there were no restriction.
Like I wrote in another post, BEG is getting the best of the two aviation worlds. An ULCC and a hybrid-legacy carrier. BEG is also renovating the general aviation platform which I suppose will be get a few more remote stands. What we will have to see is what Wizz Air does once things go back to normal and once the airport is fully renovated. Will they keep on using the airbridge or not. Personally I think they will. I think BEG would have opened larger bus gates if Wizz Air was planning on migrating to remote stands. My guess is that these bus gates will be used to handle turboprop and regional jet operators into BEG but also maybe easyJet which from what I remember is not connected to the airbridge.
"Well, if Wizz is paying to use airbridges in BEG but not in SOF then it can only mean that the market in BEG is lucrative enough for them to absorb the additional cost. "
DeleteIt doesnt mean actually. Of course that BUD, OTP and RIX are far larger and more lucrative airports then PRN and SKP, but still you will saw more Wizzs planes on airbridge in PRN and SKP then in BUD. Why? Because in these two airports you have a lot of them so without all airlines using them they would be empty, while that is not a case in BUD where all existing airbridges are usually full with full service carriers. BEG had 6.1 mil. passagers in 2019. and soon it will have 28 jetbridges so it is expectable to see all carriers using them.
@02:14 This is a completely different story. If an airport did not have any air bridges and added new ones then that's fine. So it's also "backward thinking" of having standard bus or walking gates? Clearly you don't fly that often to realise that this method is definitely cheap & convenient. Besides, from a travellers perspective you get to really see and feel the plane up close or even take a selfie or memorable photo.
DeleteAir bridges are very comfortable as well, it just suits bigger aircraft.
Finally, it is also much more convenient to have 2 exit doors especially with a packed plane and avoid the waiting, especially if you are seated at the back.
Anon 08.10
DeleteI don't know how true that is because last summer when there was a real shortage of airbridges, Wizz Air was still using them. They did not move to remote stands so that others who are paying for them can use them. This can only mean that in Belgrade they have to use them as a competitive advantage. If I remember correctly, if you used Wizz Priority you could board the plane via airbridge even if you are seated in the back. This is one way they might be covering these extra costs.
Well, BEG is still not so big airport with a lot of jetbridges and i never saw some other legacy airline with mid size plane at BEG at remote stands. Do you know which airlines were not using jet bridges because of Wizz using them?
DeleteOnce all A gates and bridges are renovated and brought to the same level as other gates/bridges at BEG, it could be expected for BEG operator to significantly increase differentiation between remote stands and airbridge pricing. Wizz might then realize remote stands are the only viable solution for them in BEG.
DeleteAny plans to build a food court?
ReplyDeleteThey will build it.
DeleteThey really should. Food options at BEG are rather limited.
DeleteNever understood people eating at airports and willing to pay these inflated prices...
DeleteThey eat at airports because some people have to spend long periods of time due to transfer at the airport. Considering BEG serves an airline which has developed a transfer hub system, it should be something they should work towards.
DeleteOnly ice cream stands in front of the main entrance have the same price like in the city. Everything else is double priced. I was shocked even in Borik restaurant (outside 100m away from the main entrance) is overpriced.
DeleteThis is great news
ReplyDeletehe airport is really starting to look good. Can’t wait for the new level to be built.
ReplyDelete*the
DeleteAll in all, it is great news.
ReplyDeleteConsidering we are in the middle of a pandemic, it's good to see that these works are going ahead at all.
ReplyDeleteand not getting downsized too.
DeleteThe sooner the work is completed, the more money VINCI will make.
DeleteActually the sooner more and more flights resume the more money Vinci will make.
DeleteI notice that the signage at the new gate is the same as at all other VINCI airports. They have a uniformed system.
ReplyDeletegreat to see so many projects and that they are all on schedule
ReplyDeleteIt probably helps there is less traffic right now so they can work faster.
DeleteHow lucky that BEG completed the concession transaction last year. Not sure it would have gone through if it were arranged for this year.
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, we got most money possible.
DeleteI think they paid a fair price. Even now in Corona demand has not collapsed.
DeleteNice. It really will be a transformation.
ReplyDeleteThere will be some nice views from the top floor gallery :)
ReplyDeleteI hope they build an observation deck.
DeleteI don't think there will be one. They are building a 5 metre wide corridor.
DeleteIt is certainly exciting times for BEG in terms of infrastructure and development.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the report. Good to see things moving in the right direction.
ReplyDeleteThe should start working on attracting more airlines to fill up those gates.
ReplyDeleteWell, El All starts flights this weekend. A nice new legacy airline. Wizz Air bases third aircraft from next summer, Eurowings launches new route next summer. I think it's all ok, considering the state of the global aviation industry.
DeleteIf you look at LY's website you will notice that fares are quite high and business class is sold out on many days. Lowest fare is $92 one way and those are almost gone. I think there are no more available anytime in December. Most tickets are available from $135 to $500. I don't know what the bilateral says but I hope there are no restrictions on capacity as it would be great if they upgrade some flights.
DeleteIts disappointing that JU isnt codesharing on their flights. However, it looks as if JU has changed their departure times for TLV.
DeleteJU810 BEG TLV 0755 1145 A319 Thur
JU811 TLV BEG 1350 1555 A319 Thur
JU814 BEG TLV 1705 2055 A319 Sun
JU815 TLV BEG 2150 2355 A319 Sun
Good to read something positive in these troubled times.
ReplyDeleteThis also means that all the airbirdges will have to be replaced right?, if they are building a third floor that will be connected to the airbridges?
ReplyDeleteI don't think the airbridge will go all the way to the third floor. It will be something like in MUC where the bridge connects to the terminal where there are stairs that take you up and down.
DeleteYes, every gate and airbridge will be refurbished.
DeleteThis will be the first really big and "real" airport and hub in ex-yu. I hoped for something like this to happen in ZAG, as city itself and the country have enormous potential, but thanks to incompetence, corruption, and lack of strong national carrier and any kind of strategy, clearly BEG is the winner. Congratulations BEG, hope covid crisis stops soon, the project gets completely finished, people return to normal travel, numbers start to grow even more, and we all enjoy in this modern facility
ReplyDeleteDon't think that Serbia is any better when it comes to corruption, to date the concession contract remains a secret. And why was it given to the French also remains very questionable.
DeleteThing is with ZAG that after initial boom in demand it slowed down really fast so the French revised the plan and made it smaller. It's not the airport that's the problem but the airlines that are lazy to focus on the market in ZAG.
DeleteWhy is FR launching GOT BNX and not ZAG? Makes no sense.
French revised the plan and made it smaller before they started construction, not after they built it.
Delete@ pozdrav iz Rijeke
DeleteI agree with you completely. OU has/had a fantastic opportunity to create a decent hub in ZAG and hasn't used that opportunity. It's disappointing looking at its current state, alot of unused potential.
The location of these new bus gates is quite good. They can easily serve the B platform, without having to wait on or impact on other traffic around.
ReplyDeleteOnly disruption they might experience is if a plane is pushed back anywhere from A6 to A10. However given the fact they are reconstructing the whole area I wouldn't be surprised if they create a new road all the way around.
DeleteIs it me or the numeric order of the bus gates is idiotic?
ReplyDeleteThey are numbered based on the jet-bridge gate they are located across from.
DeleteI also think this A/B thing is stupid. But that was the former management's brilliant idea. Like they named the new check in area between T1 and T2 - T2b.
DeleteTotally stupid.
DeleteThe names of the gates at different airports don't depend on their location.
I.e it will be the same numerical format just a different first number.
There should just be an arrow pointing out to the right direction.
In my opinion the bus gates should simply be named B1, B2...B7.
DeleteEspecially that there are apron names with those allocations already.
Too bad the French have followed the old tradition.
What I think is that the bus gates should simply have regular names according to the wing (pier) where they're located.
DeleteI.e A4a should become A5, A4b should become A6, while A5 (regular) should be moved to A7 and so on.
That would be the way to avoid any confusion.
With the right markings.
DeleteReminds me of new buildings in Mirijevo and Altina, when they build new building between two existing ones, so they need to number it with existing number + b, c and so on :)))
Delete+1
DeleteExactly so.
DeleteI love the first photo with construction and all the JU planes in the background :D
ReplyDeleteIt really looks impressive, make you think that JU has dozens of planes!
DeleteOnce all of this is constructed and built, BEG will become a serious player in the region. On top of modern and competitive facilities, airport will be home to an ULCC airline (Wizz Air) and a hybrid-legacy airline (Air Serbia) which offers connections. BEG will have the best of both worlds. What's good is that both W6 and JU have managed to coexist at the airport without really going after each other as is the case in Vienna for example.
ReplyDeletePassengers can only profit from this.
W6 managing to coexist with other airlines at the airport? Don't be naive, only in the short term.
DeleteWhenever and wherever possible, Wizz modus operandi is monopoly or dominant, near monopoly position. Long term for BEG it ends with Air Serbia going out or business or Wizz getting kicked out. Hope for the latter.
I think he meant that Wizz realised that it can't kill JUBso they are growing regardless of them.
DeleteWizz is not growing at BEG. Corona forced them to postpone expansion plans.
DeleteWizz is growing, just their growth was moved to march. it wasn't cancelled.
DeleteAnon 16:07 said: Wizz is growing regardless of JU. That's not true in BEG. Corona postponed already announced expansion plans for both airlines. Remember this:
Deletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2019/12/air-serbia-set-for-major-network.html
Air Serbia will grow post-Covid regardless of Wizz.
Both will grow post-covid.
DeleteInserted runway developing quite well
ReplyDeletehttps://i.ibb.co/PQgtBX7/BEG-September-2020.jpg
Great report, thank you! We now know inserted runway will be done by Nov 2022 and we can assume reconstruction of the existing one will start at that point.
ReplyDeleteOne thing we still can't get info about is new building, or new check-in area however you want to call it. New parking is ready or almost ready, so nothing stops current T2 parking to be closed and prep work in that area to start. That is the most important piece of the renovated airport and no one is even talking about the start, let alone end date for that piece of construction.
Surprised the French haven't pulled out yet, surprised the works is ongoing too. Air traffic won't normalize for at least another 2 years, well the vaccine won't be ready before mid 2022. By this point all airports could suffer massive losses that could be insurmountable for smaller airports. Wonder how many airlines will continue to fly by 2023, I can see massive shift in how people fly and the volume of traffic. most airports and airlines won't recover for a decade after this crisis is over.
ReplyDeleteWell, for starters, traffic in BEG has not collapsed which is good. It probably gives hope to the French that better things are to come. Good thing is that we have Israeli tourists coming in now so that will provide some relief.
DeleteBy the way, talking of Israel, seems like Israir is operating two flights tomorrow. Nice to see demand growing so much, will help out the hotel industry in Belgrade.
DeleteSeems Vucic didnt made so useless thing while replacing embasy location in Israel.
DeleteWhat are you going on about?
DeleteFrance and Spain to announce full lockdown, lasting at least 4 weeks. Things are getting out of control. Sorry not following what is happening in your neck of the woods, just was surprised to see flights still going, construction going on, here everything is at a standstill.
Delete-just was surprised to see ... construction going on
DeleteYou don't build terminal for the next 4 weeks, you build it for at least the next 40 years.