State in talks with several LCCs over Niš Airport base

Serbia's Minister for Construction, Transport, and Infrastructure, Goran Vesić, has announced that discussions are underway with several low cost airlines regarding the establishment of a base at Niš Constantine the Great Airport. While the Minister did not name the airlines involved, it is believed that talks have been held with Wizz Air, Ryanair, and Eurowings, as well as a Turkish airline. "Representatives of [operator] Airports of Serbia have been negotiating for a number of weeks with several large low cost carriers for Niš to became a base for one of them. I hope we will succeed as the airport would handle up to 700.000, 800.000 or even a million passengers per year". Mr Vesić said.

The Minister also noted that discussions are ongoing with Air Serbia for the introduction of a new service from Niš, which would not be subsidised by the state, as opposed to the existing seven which are maintained as part of a Public Service Obligation (PSO) contract. “Very soon Air Serbia will launch a new commercial service from Niš. We are in discussions over those flights. It will not be a subsidised route but one based on commercial terms”, Mr Vesić said. The carrier currently maintains services from the southeast Serbian city to Belgrade, Cologne, Hahn, Istanbul, and Ljubljana, as well as seasonally to Athens and Tivat. It also runs a number of summer charters.

All of Air Serbia’s scheduled services out of Niš are subsidised based as part of its PSO contract. The value of the ongoing four-year contract, which also includes services from Kraljevo to Istanbul and Tivat, amounts to 34 million euros. Air Serbia has attempted to add flights from Niš in the past, outside of its PSO obligations. In the winter of 2022/23, it introduced a limited service from Constantine the Great Airport to Zurich. However, the flights were cut short due to insufficient demand. Last year, the airline invested in the opening of a new call centre, as well as an aircraft balancing service department in the city. Furthermore, it has said it would open a “special business lounge” within Niš Airport’s new terminal building.

Despite a record 2023, Niš Airport has been hit by sliding passenger numbers during the first three quarters of this year. This is primarily because of fewer flights operated by the airport’s two other carriers - Wizz Air and Ryanair. During the January - September period, Niš Airport handled a combined total of 282.869 travellers, down 20.4% on 2023. It comes on the back of a 36.3% reduction in the number of flights by Wizz Air, and an 12.3% reduction in the number of operations by Ryanair over the same period.