Niš Constantine the Great Airport expects renewed momentum later this year when it opens its new terminal building (pictured). The airport, which handled a record 448.312 passengers in 2023 saw a softer start to the year, welcoming 26.391 travellers in January, down 18.2% year-on-year. The decline comes as a result of an 11.8% slump in the number of operated flights and a 10.1% decrease in capacity, with Ryanair operating 41% fewer flights this January compared to last, while Wizz Air reduced operations by 19.6%. However, the airport has begun work on diversifying its network by attending route development conferences and earlier this month took part in the CONNECT Route Development Forum in Turin.
The 7.160-square-metre new terminal building will have the capacity to handle 1.5 million passengers and up to six aircraft at the same time. “This will satisfy the airport’s needs for the next thirty to fifty years considering that Niš is a secondary airport and operates in a very specific environment due its proximity to airports in Skopje, Sofia and Pristina. This has an impact on our operations”, the CEO of operator Airports of Serbia, Mihajlo Zdravković, said. He added, “Construction of the new terminal has been mostly completed and we are now working on equipping the building. At the same time, we are working on the project for the demolition of the existing terminal. It will be replaced by another building, which will be connected with the new facility and cater for arriving passengers only”. Mr Zdravković noted that while the new building was initially to open this summer season, it has been slightly pushed back due to supply chain issues with specific equipment required by the airport. It is now likely for the new terminal to open in September.
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Commenting on air traffic development, Mr Zdravković, said, “As an airport we can’t influence airlines but the improved facilities, not only in terms of passenger handling, but also aircraft services will have a positive impact. We have invested 5.9 million euros in acquiring new equipment over the past three years, as well as installing a new runway lighting system. Thanks to these investments, airlines know that when they deploy their aircraft to Niš, they will be serviced quickly, efficiently and without issue. That gives carriers a certain degree of confidence. On the other hand, the improvements we are making for passengers will hopefully boost demand”.
The new terminal at Constantine the Great Airport 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. Together with the existing terminal, the facility will jointly stretch over 10.000 square metres. The airport’s management recently requested for an environmental impact study to be conducted by the relevant authorities to enable the construction of a new 1.680 metre taxiway.
Must say the new terminal looks really nice
ReplyDeleteits "only" render images
DeleteThe first (night) image is not a render. It's the completed terminal.
DeleteYes, it looks nice. They still have to install the air bridge though.
DeleteThat white section with entrances on the front side of the building isn't just poorly designed, it's catastrophically designed from an architectural standpoint. While the glass parts on the corners add some ornamentation, honestly, many supermarkets are better designed than this. This is my humble opinion.
DeleteNice
ReplyDeleteLike, seriously, who has a cut on these horrible white and black tiles that they love putting everywhere (with of course white grout) , and they incredibly dirty within 5 days? Same with the completely white walls. Best of luck, but someone should be thinking of maintenance sometimes... Look at all these old Yugoslav infrastructure/hotel projects from 60 to 80s, with huge negligence in maintenance during 90s and 2000s, they still looked pretty decent and often better than "new" one year old constructions.. (Not only because of the quality of construction, but also because of design choices.)
ReplyDeleteFully agree. A building like an airport terminal with huge amounts of people passing through it every day, needs to be made with materials and furniture which are above all durable and easy to clean.
Delete"terminal building will have the capacity to handle 1.5 million passengers (...) This will satisfy the airport’s needs for the next thirty to fifty years"
ReplyDeleteWell, I think that number could be reached way earlier, especially if Wizz and Ryanair open their bases and maybe if they call airport as "Niš (Belgrade south)", and that's always possibility with them. Anyway, period of 30-50 years is long, number of 1,5m passengers is underestimated, in my opinion.
They cannot call it Belgrade South. Then it also could be Sofia West. Maybe Kraljevo could be called Belgrade South. Just maybe.
DeleteIt's not like people will fly less, there will be less and less people to fly, considering the demographic development
DeleteFrankfurt can be called Moscow West?
DeleteDidn't the EU ban these misleading airport names?
DeleteUnfortunately, it will be very difficult for Nis to achieve a better result than over 500,000 passengers. A good part of the area belonging to Niš is actually equally far from Belgrade, which offers much more. Skopje, Sofia and Pristina are also close by. Another important factor - that part of Serbia is poor. Apart from guest worker lines, there is no great potential for other flights. As an explanation for the cancellation of the line to Milan, Ryan Air wrote that as soon as the tickets are slightly more expensive than 10-20 euros, the plane will be empty immediately.
Delete8 passport booths for 1.5 million pax. At the same time Belgrade, with almost 10 million pax this year, has 16 booths. Hilarious BEG...just hilarious
ReplyDeleteBEG is getting a further five passport scan gates
DeleteHow many policeman on duty is actually an issue
DeleteI think you will find few airports of BEG's size with 21 passport control booths/scanners. That's quite a lot.
DeleteCommenting on air traffic development, Mr Zdravković, said, “As an airport we can’t influence airlines but the improved facilities, not only in terms of passenger handling, but also aircraft services will have a positive impact.“
ReplyDeleteActually, working with airlines and developing new relationships is your main job - obviously the guy didn’t bother reading his own job description.
His job is to sabotage the expansion of INI traffic in order not to upset our French partners
DeleteSome of the comments here are detached from reality. Nis never had more passengers than last year, so your comment makes no sense.
Delete@Anon 13:40 these are the same people that comment on Nis Airport Facebook page. They don't believe that W6 has any engine issues and that W6 pulling out of Nis is a conspiracy to move the route to BEG instead... tinfoil hat brigade at it's best.
DeleteYet those pax numbers have nothing to do with current management and its performance as it is a result of state-owned company’s PSO flights.
DeleteI am not saying it is not a good thing, JU should fly from all Serbian airports, but it is irrelevant in context of INI performance.
they should rely on state owned PSO because the market is small
Delete@Anon 9.38 exactly
DeleteAnonymous13:40 It seems that despite having a good number of passengers last year, they won't reach even 300k this year. Instead of boasting about attending fairs, they could actually do something to increase the number of passengers, which has been declining sharply over the past few months.
DeleteMr Zdravković what limits the growth potential of Niš is the Vinci-GoS deal who does not allow the airport to reach its full potential as this would "steal" passengers from BEG.
ReplyDeleteLets be honest here.
+1
DeleteYes, with below 500k traffic the airport will cause GoS to break the contract with Vinci. Nis is nowhere close to one million, a figure it should not pass within first 10 years of Vinci concession.
Delete@9.46 so Vinci is to blame that W6 and FR closed lots of their routes?? and not because it wasnt profitable?
DeleteGood job INI. Now lets hope we get some new destinations. I live closer to BEG but when flying in Europe always choose Nis .
ReplyDeleteTrue dat.
DeleteIt is an easier airport to use with everything going quicker.
And with future fast rail, even more people from Belgrade, Novi Sad and beyond will use INI as cheaper alternative.
DeleteThat fast rail is very much into the future...
Deletecheaper alternative to where?? all INI's flights are serviced from nigger airports around it
Delete*bigger
DeleteLol
DeleteNigger airports 🤣🤣🤣🤣 basketball american airports
DeleteCheaper alternative to where?
Delete@anon 10:11 lol how could you miss that
DeletePričati o periodu za narednih 30-50g je u najmanju ruku neozbiljno. 1ml. putnika za taj period je katastrofa,
ReplyDeleteAgree
DeleteI believe JU will add some flights from INI once the new terminal is opened. The Minister said a few months ago that JU is looking to add more flights.
ReplyDeleteI would honestly love it if they packed up and went back where they came from or finally started flying under the same conditions as others, without subsidies based on profitability principles. This way, it's just draining money from taxpayers. Instead, I hope for the opening of a Wizz Air or Ryanair base with 10 new flights if, of course, they are allowed to do so, which I highly doubt.
Delete^ it would be wise not to misinform people, or educate yourself. No one can allow or not allow Wizz Air or Ryanair to base 10 planes. If they intend to fly to an ECAA country, they can do what they want. Secondly, I hope you understand Wizz Air and Ryanair are highly subsidised from Nis, they pay only 3 euros to Nis airport, the rest is covered by taxpayers.
DeleteAlso the new terminal will have a business class lounge. Considering no airline currently flying to INI offers business class, my guess is they will attempt to attract more legacy airlines.
ReplyDeleteLet's hope so
DeleteAir Serbia has no business class? You can fly with them to Belgrade and Istanbul and then further, so it kinda makes sense to have a business class.
DeleteDBV had 15.095 pax in January....just sayin'...
ReplyDeleteDont understand ...
DeleteOne summer month at DBV equals to INIs year result, just sayin
INI should and must gear up and be ready to become a LCC base, restore ski charters and become an important airport. Also why not talk with FZ and launch DXB flights. It could aim for the 1 million passenger mark very easily by in 2-3 years. Yes, it is close to BEG and SOF, but so what? It can have regional ambitions
ReplyDeleteFZ to DXB? How about they make Zurich work first. Both JU. Swiss snd Germania all failed on that route
Deletebigger question is why JU doesnt push to grow out of INI. It has more ATR's and now the embraers, which are both built and designed for small airports such as INI
DeleteIt is a hub and spoke airline with a single hub. Developing unprofitable routes from INI does not fit in with that strategy.
DeleteConsidering that they are almost at about 7% of BEG volumes it lines up with the fact that BEG is far larger a market. FZ to DXB is not realistic. W6 to AUH on the other hand is more realistic, but would compete with their flights from the region and they won’t do that. Current strategy of business traffic between Turkey and Serbia, as well as gasto’s is where they have to keep the focus going. Eventually FZ will come to INI in about 10 years when EK replaces them in BEG and there is a need for FZ. While locals still take buses and cars on summer holidays to paralija there is no need for FZ as it’s financially unsustainable.
DeleteWhy are saying FZ cannot fly to INI? What are the reasons? FZ recently announced Max flights to Tallinn if all goes well of course and INI is way much closer? No visas. What is the problem and why does everything necessarily be in BEG? Ok, it is the capital but think Serbia is doing a good job aviation wise. Tour operators can work to bring FZ or restore ski charters like before. CND in Romania for example used to have summer flights a long time ago. RO does not have Greek or Croatian beaches, but good vibes, nice people etc.
DeleteINI can do the same. JU did a very good job to connect various cities and just works to modernise its airports. If someone is ignorant not to see it, just buy some eyeglasses. Very tired of Balkan countries being told what they have to do and look there is enormous potential. KVO aslo an airport with huge potential. Decent terminal but okay maybe Vinci are on a mission and do this on purpose. Balkan people are very resiliant and they all know this. Once together could be very strong, they just wanna divide us. Good luck INI and at least your new terminal does not look like a hospital similar to Klagenfurt. Hopefully, more routes and development in the region and look I am not even Serbian saying this.
Just think the region has so much to offer. Very interesting and varied history, a mix of peaceful cultures but they wanna divide us just because we are small. Rakia culture, same music and thousands and thousands of examples. And Serbia is just beautiful like Croatia, BiH, Montenegro, Bulgaria. INI has the potential and will achieve it.
Sorry but the CEO sounds like an absolute idiot. It is not the airport's job to attract airlines?
ReplyDeleteI agree on that. In the 6 years since the government took over the airport (and management), they have only managed to get 2 routes, while losing a plenty of them. Out of 23 destinations, they now have 9 if I'm not mistaken. This is not just bad - it's catastrophic!
DeleteBravo INI. I hope that the empty promises about attempting to bring in new routes and carriers will finally materialize, and that we will see the faces of the management not just with empty promises in the media but with concrete results.
ReplyDelete