NEWS FLASH
The construction of Niš Constantine the Great Airport's new terminal building is advancing. The new 7.160-square-metre facility will boast ten check-in desks, self-check-in stations, eight passport control booths, four passenger gates and one VIP gate. Furthermore, it will feature one air bridge and a luggage sorting facility. New food and beverage outlets, as well as duty free shops, will also be added, stretching over 700 square metres. The project, scheduled for completion by 2024, will increase the airport’s annual capacity to 1.5 million passengers and will enable it to simultaneously handle six aircraft. The development is valued at eleven million euros. Niš Airport handled 164.584 passengers during the January - May period, representing an increase of 38% on last year and up 21.2% on the pre-pandemic 2019.
Will the old building remain operational once a new building is opened?
ReplyDeleteYes, the old one is being renovated and the two are joined so it will become one bigger terminal.
DeleteNegative! The old building will be demolished, and in its place, a new one of the same size will be constructed, extending approximately 9 meters, if I'm not mistaken.
Deletewow all of that money to then not put more focus on developing the city or even try to turn Nis into a hub, but only keep it as a 'focus city'.
ReplyDeleteAnd all that money wasted to be able to process 1.5 million passengers but are legally limited to only 1 million maximum because of the agreement with VINCI in belgrade.
wasted all that money for no reason.
Niš airport can't properly handle 2 flight departing within the same hour, although practical, the state of INI is not that good and it was in desperate need of expansion. Even if it doesn't reach 1.5 milion, this is well needed, otherwise service quality will continue deteriorating.
DeleteSo far, you can buy transfer tickets with JU via INI, and in the future the potential could be utilized, but without the new terminal and runway renovation it's impossible.
Transfers and a hub in INI? Lol delusional
DeleteOMG, reading the Slav Man's comment, one could think hundreds of millions were spent to build a public bus stop "pečurka".
DeleteNiš is and cannot be hub, although, it can offer it on some flights. Niš is a focus city and should be developed exactly in that direction and only like that you may have more flights and new lines. Finally, Niš is not legally limited to 1 milion. It can have 7 if able to attract and serve that many. Instead, profit of Serbian government ifrom the BEG concession is limited if any other airport reach 1 milion before BEG reaches 15 millions. So, please don't spread negativity and information that are not the truth.
Delete@Slav.Man14:05
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ni%C5%A1
Nis – 184 000~ 260 000 metro, not sure I’d classify city of Nis metropolis to justify creating a hub in such a small city. Lufthansa, German airline with 320 aircraft, has only two hubs, Munich and Frankfurt. Each airport handles around 30-50 million passengers. When Nis hits big time, you make sure to make Nis a hub.
Air Serbia would be smart to start offering a branded direct mini bus transfers to major Serbian cities, targeting the main waves. That would be a massive addition / improvement to the current JU operations in INI. Air Baltic used to offer something similar: https://www.airbaltic.com/en/airbaltic-launches-new-service-bus-to-regional-cities
DeleteAir Serbia offers HHN-INI-IST connections btw. I found it when I was looking for FRA-IST tickets.
Delete@Serbian.Slavic 14:05 Look at the money wasted to renovate Split airport. Split is still without a taxiway, without a single airbridge and it's not even a hub!!!
Delete@Anonymous15:51In defence of SerbSlavic, you can’t built a taxiway at split airport, there's no room, you could theoretically build new parallel runway next to present one, 200m apart but that would require major engineering undertaking and realigning motorway Split – Zadar, project could cost around €200 million, money split airport hasn’t got, EU won’t give the money for project that has no C02 study in place. Passenger boarding bridges were considered, 4 would have been built, but most airlines that land at split airport prefer no jetways. Also, defining a hub, is it a national hub? A regional hub, an international hub?
DeleteRegional hub would be Vienna, Rome, and Milan. International hubs are Frankfurt, Istanbul, London, Paris, Amsterdam and Munich, when it comes to Europe and immediate area.
Airline hubs are major or local operating base, in case of Air Serbia this is Belgrade, in case of Croatia, this is Croatian Airlines…. As to what I think SerbSlavic was referring to, I presume to think this is what he meant is, Air Serbia hub?
Why no room for taxiway? 🤓
Delete@Anonymous 16:49 Let SerbSlavic.Man respond.
Delete@Anonymous17:30
Deleteneeded for future apron expansion, taxiway would limit the amount of airplane positions, if airport plans to expand and hit 10 million passengers in the future, it'll need a slot at the airport, as is, there's congestion at the airport, as there are only 12 positions as is, Split if it wants to grow will need at least 25 positions, a taxiway would remove expansion and limit the amount of traffic airport can handle. Also, taxiway would be too close to the terminal, in fact current runway is way too close to the terminal and will need to move if it is to meet EU airport seafty standards.
@15:51 just because something is not done well in Split that does not mean it is okay for Nis to also make mistakes
Deleteas for the person that told me that the airport is limited to 1 million only until belgrade reached 15 million, if thats true then i apologise,
and ofcourse i know Nis is not a metropolis but if the government focused on developing the city and business and trade then more people would travel to and from the city. Nis has a big catchment area if it can come up with a smart plan.
it is only 2.5 hours away from skopje, which is normal distance of many 2nd airport options and also the border with Bulgaria.
and yes i meant Air serbia hub. to offer routes not only to the serbians but also the Macedonians and Bulgarians that are within the 2.5 hour drive.
Also i forgot to say, i wish they hired the person that designed the airport in Budapest. its so grey and cold, very strong brutalist/ communist vibe. it feels so comfortable to be there. Feels more authentic Yugo aesthetic not the modern stuff theyre introducing now.
@Slav.Man aka Hamburger - Thank you for suggesting Air Serbia should turn Nis into a hub airport. Wow. Just wow.
DeleteWhat a collosal aviation analyst and consultant we have at our disposal, and all for free!
Yes but then government first has to give back city to the citizens (I'm not talking just about Niš). Government should be hold accountable as long as local politics and policies are 100% determined in Belgrade. Have you heard the mayor of Niš recently? Have you seen any mayor from Serbian cities, Kragujevac, Novi Sad, Kraljevo...? Do you really think they are at the place so they can act in the best interest of the people?
DeleteAnonymous09:47
DeleteYou can't blame Belgrade for what is happening outside of it.
Belgrade has been deteriorating in the past decade and the life there is a mess. Major projects in the country are focused on other cities (highways, railways, industrial development) as well. So far, Nis and Novi Sad are better organized, more practical and developing faster than Belgrade itself. Not to mention the public transportation and other infrastructure that Belgrade is not developing.
The only reason Politian's in cities in Serbia are not developing as fast is corruption and general lack of motivation by the people. You get what you deserve, same goes for Belgrade as well even though the capital city generates almost 40% of GDP it doesn't feel it and the tax money is also paying for projects outside of the city.
If INI grows to 1 million it will be interesting to see if BEG will continue growing as well. Many people will prefer to fly from the South.
ReplyDeleteFor INI it's not about BEG but rather the south no longer flying from SKP or SOF. Someone who lives in Nis and the surrounding areas, flying from Sofia or Skopje can be cheaper and more convenient than doing so from BEG.
DeleteINI seems to be doing a fine job at developing a decent enough offer. All these new charters are a major step in the right direction.
They should work on avoiding TSR's fate where they are being suffocated by BEG.
Nemjee18:06
DeleteSerbia is a price sensitive market, which means that if financially justified, people will go to Nis for a cheaper flight. Many people from Belgrade are doing so right now (me included), so development of INI can impact BEG as well, not to a high extent but it just can.
LCC routes and AS being much cheaper in INI + the possibility of fare skipping with economy light on AS is a major advantage that INI has.
Add to that the complete chaos BEG is experiencing, long lines, constant delays and disorganized access to the terminal...so taking Nis express to INI and travel for extra 4 hours to fly cheaper and hustle free is surely a competitive advantage INI has over BEG.
У нашем народу има изрека: Ко не плати на мосту, платиће на ћуприји. Ви из Београда треба да дођете до Ниша. Ако је рани лет, онда морате да обезбедите смештај. И треба да укључите и повратак из Ниша до Београда. И у то треба урачунати и фактор време. Јер, знате како се каже: Време је новац. А ако летите ЛЦЦ, онда се ослањате само на ручни пртљаг и куповину карте много пре путовања.
Deletedd13:45
DeleteSamo Nis ekspres ima 22 polazaka u toku dana ka Nisu, pri tome nije jedini prevoznik, dok je povratna karta oko 20e. Postoji i organizovan kombi prevoz koji je cesto jeftiniji od autobusa, a ukoliko vise ljudi putuje isplati se i platiti gorivo, putarinu i parking.
LCC na pojedinim linijama iz Nisa ima konkurenciju, te je nekada cak i nekoliko dana pre putovanja karta relativno jeftina. Mnogima je potreban samo rucni prtljag te tu uopste nema problema, a cak i da se doplati vrlo cesto je opet jeftinije.
Ukoliko kartu uzmete dosta ranije, cesto je povratna avionska karta jeftinija od autobuske. Tako da ta narodna uzrecica vrlo lagano moze i da ne vazi (a u vecini slucajeva ne vazi). Pogotovo za LCC linije za Stokholm, Maltu,Krf i Bec (vreme utroseno u odnosu na autobus je nesto manje, medjutim izbegnete guzve na granici i vrlo cesto platite manje), kao i AS za Istanbul, Frankfurt i Keln.
"Поготово за ЛЦЦ линије за Стокхолм, Малту, Крф и Беч (време утросено у односу на аутобус је нешто мање, међутим избегнете гузве на граници и врло често мање), као и АС за Истанбул, Франкфурт и Келн."
DeleteОво ми није баш најјасније. Које гужве на граници?
dd19:40
DeleteAko ste nekada putovali za Bec autobusom ili autom, siguran sam da ste morali da prodjete kroz pakao koji se zove `horgos` i da na istoj granici provedete minimum 2 sata, u nekim slucajevima i preko 5. Toga sa avionom nema :D
Up 21.2% on the pre-pandemic 2019 means INI is on a path to a new record year. That and the new building are silencing criticts who claimed "INI is being destroyed since the government takeover".
ReplyDeleteI just read that instead of continuing to grow, the number of passengers at INI started to decline in May, as well as the number of flight operations. Who knows where INI would be now if things had remained as they were before the takeover. The fact is that they took it to position Air Serbia and inject funds into ASL and slow its development, and yes they haven't done much beyond many promises at the airport tbh.
DeleteAre you okay? Can you show proof that 'The fact is that they slow its development'? Or that 'they haven't done much beyond many promises at the airport' when there is a brand new terminal building?
DeleteYour cockamamie argument about decline of passenger numbers in May shows you are not in the professional aviation business. Month to month fluctuation is completely normal. What matters is that growth is 20%+ over 2019 and on track to become busiest year ever.
'What if' question is a matter of dreams not reality. What if there were no sanctions against Serbia in 1991? Air Serbia could have been bigger than Austrian Airlines. Sure, but that is not reality. Bring evidence and facts, not conspiracy theories and dreams.
What is good is that despite losing FR to Bergamo, INI seems to be performing quite well. HHN does really well while IST is more than decent. Flights to BEG are becoming increasingly popular so that leaves only CGN as a weaker A319 route out of INI.
DeleteAs time goes by and as the economy improves so will the offer out of the airport.
+1
DeleteNiš has long deserved a new terminal cos the current state of the terminal is dreadful. Personally, I think this white facade could have been replaced with a more greyish. That would have added a touch of elegance, as it looks quite boxy and cheap now. We hope for new flights
ReplyDeleteGood job INI. I look forward to flying out of Nis again even though I live in Smederevo much of the year. It takes me just as much time to reach Nikola Tesla but the cost of flying out of Beg is sometimes triple the cost of flying from Nis!
ReplyDeleteWell, once the new bypass is completed BEG should be really close from Smederevo. Should take you about 45 minutes.
DeleteThe new crossroad that is being finished at Bubanj Potok will connect you onto the highway that goes around the city.
Road infrastructure is being improved. The new highway extension from Milos Veliki to Novi Beograd is fantastic and it saves you a lot of time and fuel.
If wizz stop flying to pristina for some reasons it will boost nis to the max
DeleteDee09:13
DeleteOr, instead of waiting for Wizz to fail (and with visa liberalization it will probably not) INI can get more flights, better service and airport transfers to Pristina and other cities in the area to get as many gasto passengers that don't want to pay for extremely expensive tickets to Switzerland and Germany during the summer.
PRN is not cheap to fly to, especially during the summer so that the advantage that INI has, plus during peak hours reaching PRN from Pristina itself is hell, so maybe they could think about that especially in 2024 when young people from Kosovo* can fly visa free to the EU.
Proactive thinking and work never established in 🇷🇸
DeleteDee09:53 Yup, true that
Delete