Serbia’s ghost airport deserted and forgotten

Uncertain future for Kraljevo Morava Airport

Two years after a 22 million euro passenger terminal was built in Kraljevo and the then national carrier Jat Airways operated a promotional service from Belgrade, Morava Airport hasn’t seen a single customer, and is unlikely to do so in the near future. According to the Serbian government, Morava Airport, located in central Serbia, will not cater for any flights until its runway, which can currently accommodate only small turboprop aircraft, is extended by 300 metres. The Turkish government, which invested ten million euros in the terminal’s construction, was to donate a further ten million euros for the lengthening of the runway, with all the necessary donation documentation filed. However, in October 2013, as relations between Serbia and Turkey soured, the then Serbian Minister for Construction and Urbanism, Velimir Ilić, refused the donation, adding that Serbia would find the means to finance the completion of the airport project itself.


Construction of Morava Airport began in 2011 with work on a new control tower and access roads. Later on in the year the first promotional flight was operated from Belgrade with Jat Airways’ ATR 72 aircraft. In 2012 a new passenger terminal was opened featuring a duty free shop, exchange office, commercial office space, a detention centre, clinic, car park and a cargo depot. Jat Airways soon after announced it would launch a two weekly service from Kraljevo to Istanbul. In 2013, the terminal building was granted all necessary operating licenses, allowing it to be used for commercial purposes. At the time, the Serbian Deputy Prime Minister, who is today the country’s Premier, Aleksandar Vučić, said, “The airport will be opened soon. There is interest from a local airline and a Turkish airline to operate flights from Kraljevo to Istanbul and other airports in Turkey. We will soon complete the job in the interest of Kraljevo’s citizens and we won’t open the airport seven or fifteen times so we can smile for the cameras”.


Since those promises were made, almost nothing has been done to resolve Morava Airport’s fate. The only work seen near the airport building came last year when a security fence and gate were built around the permitter of the terminal. Late last year, the Minister for Construction, Transport and Infrastructure, Zorana Mihajlović, presented plans to set up a state-run company to manage up to 25 of Serbia’s airports, including the one in Kraljevo. Morava Airport lies between three larger cities, Kraljevo, Čačak and Kragujevac, and has a catchment area of some two million people. Its runway is shared with the Ladjevci military air base. EX-YU Aviation News has contacted the ministry on several occasions regarding the matter but to no avail. Since refusing the Turkish donation, Mr. Ilić has taken up a post in the newly formed administration as the Minister Without a Portfolio in charge of Emergency Situations.

Comments

  1. Anonymous09:12

    what a shame!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous09:16

    If the government starts lacking support from that region, they will try to establish flights...

    Turkey would be excellent since people from Sandžak region who work and study and have relatives there would use it. As well as Turkish consulate representatives from Novi Pazar.

    Also Belgium and the Netherlands would be okay, because of diaspora.

    During the summer, charters could be used.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:20

      Future consulate, sorry *.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous19:56

      That terminal looks 10 times better than Belgrade's terminal, should have been built in Belgrade not in some backwater dump.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous00:09

      Yes. looks really nice as its newly built, but its more then 10 times smaller at the same time.
      It would have been better if they made it in Nis instead of Kraljevo, but hopefully it will get alive in a few years time. Everything is possible, lets think positive. :)

      Delete
    4. Anonymous23:07

      And why is Central Serbia 'some backwater dump'? This airport would serve surrounding cities and population of 2m.

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:20

    Sad :( Hopefully they will finish it soon, that is really nice terminal and I am sure there is a huge potential for Morava

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous09:23

    Our politicians are famous for ingenious ideas, maybe they should dismantle this building, put it on a truck, move to Niš airport and than reassemble to meet future Wizz Air flights? Da se ne baci.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It would be nice. :)

      Delete
    2. The money that the government wasted to build Morava, they could have spent to develop Nis. In my opinion, Nis is much more viable than Morava.

      Delete
  5. Anonymous09:28

    Epic fail.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous09:31

    Napraviti aerodrom za 22 milijona EUR i onda ne imati ni jedan jedini let, pa to može samo kod nas. Ubređen sam da ima i direktor i radnici koji primaju platu za to što ne rade ništa. On potroše 22 miliona a penzionerima nema za penzije. Lele, majko, netko treba metak da popije, majke mi.

    Ima se, može se!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:45

      Hahahah ovo je novi akcenat na exyu govornom podrucju zvacemo ga hrvatsko-leskovacki. Buhahahahaa

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:21

      Od leskovačkog ima samo lele! Sve ostalo je neki karikirani hrvatski :))

      Delete
    3. Pa, nije samo kod nas. Postoji dosta novoizgradjenih regionalnih aerodroma u Španiji koji nisu imali ni jedan let i koji su koštali mnogo više od 22 miliona evra. LERL je koštao oko 1,1 milijarde evra a LEDS oko 160 miliona, funny sculpture included http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castell%C3%B3n%E2%80%93Costa_Azahar_Airport#mediaviewer/File:El_hombre_avi%C3%B3n.JPG

      Delete
    4. KVO is a result of absolute lack of any strategy for air transort development Serbia. Still, I am sure some charter flights could operate from KVO in summer months

      Delete
  7. Anonymous09:32

    Morava aiport fail.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous10:00

    Tadic and his genius planers. They need new runway at Kraljevo. There is enough free space for it.

    ReplyDelete
  9. OT: Croatia Airlines in Summer 2015 season is introducing additional new route to Macedonia, where it’ll offer weekly Split – Skopje service. This route will operate from 24JUN15 to 09SEP15, on Wednesdays (Thursdays from Skopje).

    OU4362 SPU2220 – 2345SKP DH4 3
    OU4363 SKP0530 – 0700SPU DH4 4

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:08

      Nice.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:12

      O5 ovaj troll

      Delete
    3. It's strange that the aircraft is spending the night in SKP. Wouldn't it make more sense to do it in SPU?

      Delete
    4. Anonymous12:03

      They are probably paying nothing to spend the night there.

      Delete
  10. Anonymous10:12

    Shame. And dissapointment as I'm from Kraljevo. You could have an AT7 flying to VIE and IST on behalf of Austrian and Turkish and connecting to the world. But, not on this government's watch and while AirSerbia is around.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:16

      What are you talking about? They managed to get Wizz on Nis with almost no tax, what they can offer for Kraljevo?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:32

      After a small international airport (like Kraljevo) is built, it costs at least 2,500,000EUR per year to keep it operational. (Airport operator, Custom, Border police, TWR, etc...)

      Delete
  11. Anonymous10:15

    OT: Will AirSerbia have codeshare with AA from Chicago?
    Can BEG-ORD-BEG be completed in 24hr?

    I've seen Lufthansa flight from MUC turning around at ORD in 1.5hr, at least judging by the schedule.

    Thanks in advance!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous16:41

      BEG-ORD-BEG can be done in less than 24 hours. It would make sense to codeshare with AA at both ORD and JFK, but Air Serbia still didn't get all the approvals needed to fly to the US.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous18:07

      I think that it can be done in 18 hours. I suppose it will depart BEG after 17h,Arrive at ORD in the evening and it depart to BEG on same evening. I think it can arrive before 12h next day. That would be perfect match to ASL waves.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous18:20

      ORD-BEG direktno sa 77W treba oko 9 sati :)
      INN-NS

      Delete
    4. Anonymous22:08

      Thank you all !

      Is this RT done with one crew ? If so, this route is a 'no-brainer'.

      What (other) approvals are pending ? Any news on this ?

      Delete
    5. Anonymous00:22

      No way, it would have to be a layover for the crew!

      Delete
  12. Anonymous10:19

    That is another typical lie by government to support their fails!

    Morava airport has runway of 2.200 meters what is more than enough for MTOW for:

    Airbus A320 - need just 1955 m
    Airbus A319 - 1850 m
    Airbus A318 - 1375 m
    Airbus A310 - 1860 m
    Boeing 737-700 - 1921 m
    Boeing 737-600 - 1796 m
    Boeing 737-500 - 1832 m
    Boeing 737-300 - 1939 m
    Boeing 717-200 - 1950 m
    McDonnell Douglas MD90 - 2165 m
    Bombardier CS300 - 1890 m
    Bombardier CS100 - 1463 m
    Bombardier CRJ900 - 1778 m
    Bombardier CRJ700 - 1564 m
    Bombardier CRJ200 - 1918 m
    Embraer 190 - 2056 m
    Embraer 170 - 1644 m
    + all turboprops

    So all Air Serbia planes, most of Turkish planes, and most of planes from all European fleets can land and take off from Morava. Problem is not in runway but in investment of 22 million EUR in project that is total fail!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:31

      Morava investment was undertaken within a kind of 'unofficial' agreement in Turkey (much of the project cost was in fact a donation from Turkey) and the goal was to make it easier for people living in Sandzak and central Serbia to reach IST. TK would have been the first carrier to establish a route and lowcosters would have followed.

      But that was all before Etihad stepped in and Air Serbia was created. The KVO project could only succeed if Serbia had no national carrier (which almost happened). With ASL the entire environment turned upside down and the project has been abandoned due to new strategic orientation. The last nail in its coffin was the cooldown of bilateral relations with Turkey by the current Serbian government/president. Yet another sad story on how Serbia burns all its bridges every time she changes the political party in charge. Same may happen to ASL in the future.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:36

      It is not only length but also width of runaway.

      Delete
    3. Nikola11:04

      it's not the length, it's the width. and size of an apron

      Delete
    4. Anonymous11:51

      Again NOT TRUE!!!

      By international rules Group III runways (100 ft or 30 meters) are legal for A318/319/320/321, 727, 737-100/200/300/400/500/600/700/800/900, DC9, Concorde, TU134/144, DHC-7, DHC-8, BAE-146, Bombardier CS100/300, Bombardier CRJ 700/900, Embraer 170/175/790/195, ATR-42/72

      Apron is aproximatly (75x125 m) what is more than enough for one A320 or 737 plane.

      And this argument that Air Serbia is the reason not to have flights in Morava airport could be true but airport terminal was opened 2 years before Air Serbia was even present as an idea, so it was not like there were Turkish and other flights in first place that were cancelled after that.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous11:56

      Yes, the terminal was opened but there was no landing infrastructure in the airport. And the state is usually not in a hurry so they were taking it all very easy. Then the ruling maf... pardon, party changed which even more slowed the process of putting KVO into operational function. Finally ASL was born and that was it.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous12:26

      ASL was, and is always out of question for Morava.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous12:35

      1. runway is not long enough - and we can see it is

      2. than runway is not width enough - adn we can see it is in group III standard

      3. than apron was not big enogh - and it is more than enough

      4. now there was no landing infrastructure (what that can be, trucks, stairs, navigation) - stupid, it is easy to borrow that from BEG or INI or some other airports in one day notice, and navigation was there as that is also serbian air base.

      And Air Serbia can be excuse for Jat/Air Serbia not to fly there, but how can Turkish or any other company care about Air Serbia. They will fly if there would be demand, doesn't meeter if Air Serbia is in neighborhood or not.

      The true is there is no excuse. It is one of the biggest fail in exYu history. 22 million EUR spent of project that all professionals can say in advance there is no future in it. Somebody should be responsable and put on court. The end of story!

      Delete
    8. Anonymous13:13

      You have problems, Morava do not have ILS like Konstantin. Morava was reserve airport in JNA for Skopski Petrovec. Serbia need Morava airport but it needs time to build it. .

      Delete
    9. Anonymous14:16

      ILS is there in case of bad wather. Little airports dosn't have ILS. For example ILS in Osijek does not work but sill there are 4 routes from 3 operator, and one even during winter. So, again that is not excuse. One more fail atampt to excuse.

      Even if you invest 22 million in airport and did not invest extra 2 million in necesery infrastructure someone should be responsable and put to court for spending money on imaginare project.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous16:57

      Niko ti ne brani da podneses tuzbu.

      Delete
    11. Anonymous21:47

      hahahahaha... pa da se tuzba podnosi za gluposti ovog i viseg ranaga trebalo bi povecati broj sudaca za 300 odsto.

      Delete
  13. Anonymous11:03

    If it were connected with rail and other adjoining infrastructure it could be very profitable. As it is....no chance.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous11:11

    Slovenia eyes Qatari investment for ailing airline

    http://blogs.ft.com/beyond-brics/2015/02/02/slovenia-eyes-qatari-investment-for-ailing-airline/?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:10

      Could you please post the article here?

      Delete
  15. Anonymous12:35

    BWA out of game. I do not complain exYu doing fine job but companies like Wand should stay in left upper side till they made first flight with passengers.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Anonymous14:45

    To me it makes far more sense for JU to fly to KVO than INI. The area around KVO has a lot of people and not enough airports around.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Anonymous14:52

    Kad bi JP letela LJU-КVO-INI to bi bilo zanimljivo sa CRJ9.
    INN-NS

    ReplyDelete
  18. Anonymous15:24

    OT:

    http://www.poslovni.hr/hrvatska/uskoro-izravan-let-zagreb-toronto-289271

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous15:31

      I have to reply to my own comment (3:24 PM), still no official announcement from SkyGreece, there are new articles about flights from Canada to Greece, but they don't mention Zagreb, hope it'll change soon!

      Delete
  19. Anonymous17:26

    For immediate release
    SkyGreece Airlines brings Zagreb and Croatia closer to Canada starting June 22, 2015
    SkyGreece Airlines is pleased to announce its new seasonal flight from Toronto to Zagreb starting June 22 and from Zagreb to Toronto starting June 24, 2015.
    For Canadians, Croatia is definitely the best kept secret in Europe in terms of leisure vacations and at SkyGreece Airlines, we are pleased to bring this exciting destination closer to our Canadian travelers with the only direct flight to Zagreb from Toronto.
    Mr. Denis Codere, Deputy Chief Commercial Officer of SkyGreece Airlines mentioned that “We shared our vision with the Zagreb Tourist board, the Croatian National Tourist Board and the Zagreb International Airport (MZLZ) to make Canada closer to Zagreb and Croatia and we were extremely happy with the openness and the enthusiasm they truly demonstrated in bringing Canadians to discover the beauty of Croatia. We can assure all Canadians that Croatia is waiting for you with its rich history, beautiful scenery, young and active population, trendy lifestyle and the beautiful Adriatic Sea to discover”.
    Zagreb is the perfect city to start discovering Croatia and you will feel so much energy and history that you will simply want to spend the entire summer discovering the city but also the country side and the beautiful coast.
    This new direct flight to Toronto will allow families to see each other more often and Croatians can now also discover the beauty and richness of Canada said Mr. Codere.
    Moreover, we received an exceptional welcome from the Canadian Croatian Business Network – CCBN and also from Mr. Veselko Grubisic, the Ambassador of the Republic of Croatia in Canada and from Mrs. Louise LaRocque, Ambassador of Canada in Croatia. They were all extremely pleased with this new direct flight that will definitely stimulate the exchanges between the two countries.
    There is a New Spirit in the Air with the arrival of SkyGreece in Canada and travel agents and travelers will finally have an alternative to discover Europe with a touch of the renowned Greek hospitality.
    ZAG svaka cast pocinju vam letovi =DD
    INN-NS

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous18:03

      Hvala, INN-NS, lijepo od tebe! ;))

      Delete
    2. Anonymous18:12

      Read the same article in the press over here in Canada last week. Believe me he didn't write it

      Delete
    3. Anonymous18:13

      Where can I see the prices and book flights?

      Delete
    4. Anonymous18:29

      Njihov sajt neradi jos da bi se videle cene a tekst sam kopirao sa njihove FB stranice.
      INN-NS

      Delete
    5. Anonymous18:42

      INN jе цар.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous19:11

      ^ +1 :D

      Delete
    7. Anonymous21:02

      Mene zanima kolika ce im biti cena karte KL nudi sad YYZ-BEG za 497 eur sto je jako povoljno.
      INN-NS

      Delete
  20. Thnx INN-NS :)

    I am honestly touched by the immense amount of enthusiasm and positive outlook that can be sensed from SkyGreece's Press Release on FB. Very, very nice...
    this makes me very happy !!!

    ReplyDelete
  21. IR 72020:30

    You can love him, you can hate him, but everybody will miss INN's presence on the blog.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous21:51

      Do you know something we don't?
      Is our little buddy going anywhere?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous21:59

      Ne idem ja nikud ne znam ni ja sta misli :)
      INN-NS

      Delete
    3. IR 72000:42

      I meant - he would be missed by everybody if he was to leave the blog.

      Delete
  22. Anonymous21:00

    RyanAir wants to fly from Belgrade?

    http://www.b92.net/biz/vesti/srbija.php?yyyy=2015&mm=02&dd=03&nav_id=954203

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous21:07

      Its was probably small talk between RyanAir and those useless Serbian officials, although it would be a dream come true if something happens. Ryan is by far cheapest in the world pobably.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous21:16

      Daj boze da FR dodje u BEG zanima me kako bi se onda branio W6.
      INN-NS

      Delete
    3. Anonymous22:09

      The point is she doesn't have anything to do with air traffic authorities but only with tourism and other aspects of our economy.

      It all depends if Air Serbia would see them as a major threat or not. It would be interesting to see if the whole process is going to be stalled or not (with permissions, taxes etc).

      Delete
    4. Aэrologic01:00

      That re-opens the whole question on whether Batajnica airport should be opened to civilian air-traffic. In my opininon, it would be a much better investment than Kraljevo. I think it would be much smarter to open BJY to civilian traffic and move all the LCC's there, while freeing Nikola Tesla airport. Then, a refurbished T1 or T2 could serve as the exclusive terminal of Air Serbia&partners. From there-on, Batajnica could be developed as a low-cost hub. The only problem being, unlike in some other airports, the % of traffic of LCC in BEG is not that great, so i wonder how much would that improve the situation in the long run.

      Delete
    5. Aэrologic01:10

      "Daj boze da FR dodje u BEG zanima me kako bi se onda branio W6."

      There are plenty of routes unserved by W6 that would be of interest to a low-cost carrier:

      - Tel Aviv
      - Catania
      - Tenerife (Canary Islands)
      - Barcelona
      - Madrid
      - Dublin
      - Charleroi
      - Secondary UK cities

      Those are cities absolutely not covered by W6 (or any airline out of Serbia), which have demand and that would fit perfectly into Ryanair's business plan. As surprising as it may seem, this development seems pretty logical to me.

      Delete
    6. Cevapi i Luk01:14

      ^ I disagree to certain extent since BEG has more than enough gate space to accommodate few Ryanair lines. Opening Batajnica would be waste of taxpayers money for lets say 2-3 wizz flights and 2-3 Ryan flights per day. Now during winter BEG has out of 16 gates like 10 empty ones most of the time plus you have to keep in mind that there are plenty of free parking space without gates. Obviously during summer it gets more busy and I think just by adding 4 more gates and expending overall C area would be more than enough to accommodate ASL expension plus Ryan and few other new carriers such as Germania ( as mentioned in the article) and Vueling. BTW I am talking about short term period ( 3-4 years). As for the long term plan it really would depend on overall ECONOMIC situation in the country.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous01:27

      People should be aware that this was only small talk and that there is a chance that none of the airlines mention will come. From what I understood that politicar said that Ryan Air, Germania, Vueling, and what is the 4th company ( never heard of it) might come.

      Delete
    8. Aэrologic01:30

      Now it all depeneds how much would they want to develop. If they would base an a/c or two that'll serve all those unserved markets and cater for some later growth, then i don't see why BJY should'nt be opened. It anyway costs money to maintain and they've got two runways over-there. Again, it depends on many factors and it's an option to be left on the table as one of the Belgrade-hub expansion options. I for one support the expansion of remote-stands at BEG, especially of the B one located between Tehnika apron and the taxiway. Around 20 jets could be parked around there with an easy runway exit and minimal investments.

      Delete
    9. Cevapi i Luk01:44

      The conclusion is that it depends on how much the low cost companies would like to expend in Serbia and also a BIG factor is the government willingness to bring low costs. At the same time I think that BEG airport and ASL would get hurt unimaginably if lets say wizz, ryan and other LC companies decide to move out of BEG. I would predict like 3 million pax only in BEG. I am not trying to argue btw, just my opinion! What do you think in regards to BEG airport and ASL in case Batajnica opens?

      Delete
    10. Aэrologic02:22

      I think it'll only exacerbate the current trends:

      - ASL becoming more and more expensive to fly from Belgrade
      - LCC's getting most of O&D passengers
      - ASL becoming more and more a "transit airline"

      If you look at the larger picture, that scenario is quite inevitable. Just look at TK or EK. No Turks fly TK when they go abroad (the airline is hated in Turkey for being overexpensive and treating their customers like rubbish, all while wining awards abroad), while EK is always the most expensive to fly on from Dubai, besides few business people and airline staff no one uses it. Let's be real, no airline has so far succeeded to be both and i am as pessimistic concerning Air Serbia. So, in one way, that development seems inevitable. In order to offset the shortcomings of such a model, people should be able to use LCC's that can take them from point to point at a decent fare and most importantly - bring foreign tourists to Serbia. So far Air Serbia was trying to offset that with low-cost like promotions 3 days of the week out of 7, but it's a question for how long they'll keep on doing that in order to fill the not-yet matured transit routes. Ultimately, that costs money as well. So, in view of that i do actually support ultimately separating BJY and BEG.

      Delete
    11. I don't think that the government has any need to give LCCs a separate Belgrade airport, which would cost money, and is tantamount to giving subsidies to LCCs at the expense of Air Serbia and all other airlines.

      If Ryanair wants to fly to Belgrade, they can do what every other airline does and fly to an airport that already is open to civilian traffic, if BEG is too expensive for them, they have an option of multiple airports in Serbia that are attempting to attract service, such as Nis, Morava, Uzice, or even Vrsac.

      If Ryanair can't find an airport in Serbia that suits them, then too bad. It would show that their model is unsustainable.

      Delete
    12. Aэrologic02:53

      What you all don't get is that Batajnica costs one way or another. By opening Batajnica:

      - Much higher influx of passengers to Belgrade
      - Increasing the land value of an otherwise poor zone
      - New job opportunities
      - Alternative airport for the Belgrade area with two runways, to be used in the case of temporary closures at BEG (much better than Nis)
      - Ryanair unlike Wizz Air (which pretty much tried to copy its network and undermine Jat on it) is no competition to Air Serbia. People who fly Ryan won't fly Air Serbia anyway and same for people who fly Air Serbia, they're unlikely to look for Ryan. On the other hand, Wizz Air is a more troublesome option which should better be put in Nis (or Batajnica obviously and fight with Ryan in-there).

      From the additional money you receive at Belgrade tourist board you can subsidise Air Serbia as much as you want, promote Belgrade as a tourist destination or even invest into BEG's new facilties that'll be needed one way or another. Things have to be looked-on in a very long term. If Serbia can get a chance to develop its second capital city airport then it should not hesitate to do so since it is a strategic investment that can be symbiotic with Air Serbia's model.

      Delete
    13. Anonymous03:55

      you can talk about batajnica all you want, it is not going to happen. deal with it.

      Delete
    14. The investment to turn Batajnica into a civilian airport would actually be pretty significant. There isn't even enough parking space there right now. Everything would need to be bought and built. All of this already exists in BEG.

      The land value would most likely not change much. Globally, airports tend to decrease land values rather than increase them.

      Two airports would require double everything. The government has no responsibility to cater to Ryanair, and they are welcome to open flights to any of the several civilian airports. BEG is actually a very good bargain compared to similar airports throughout Europe.

      The main issue here is that Ryanair doesn't get to have both their cake and eat it too. They shouldn't get access to the biggest market in Serbia, and get it for free. They can either fly to Nis, Morava, Uzice, or Vrsac for nearly no cost, or if they want access to the Belgrade market they must pay the cost to be the boss.

      Delete
    15. Anonymous12:32

      The investment to turn Batajnica into a civilian airport would be everything but significant - especially if we tailored the airport to Ryanair`s standards. Don`t tell me it costs so much to build a parking lot there?! Funny enough, Batajnica airport even has a railroad connection.

      The fact that we`d have to "double everything" suggest that we`d have more people employed in airline business, and that is the concept that majority in Serbia is unable to grasp: a modern, competition-driven economy, in complete contrast to "take Surchin or leave Serbia" monopolist approach.
      And that is indeed the public attitude necessary for the anti-logic to prevail: it is better to have one airport serving 5 million pax, than two airports serving 5,5 million pax and employing a larger workforce. For that is precisely what you, anti-Batajnica lobbyists are pledging for.

      Delete
    16. Anonymous15:56

      Modern, competition driven economy in the US offered Atlanta Hartsfield-
      Jackson airport to Southwest instead of building second airport for lower cost airlines in the Atlanta proper and Southwest is now flying from ATL side by side with Delta and the others. Same in Budapest. Belgrade and area (including Novi Sad) will need second airport only after Tesla goes beyond 15 million. So STFU about Batajnica already no one cares about your own opinion.

      Delete
    17. Anonymous16:16

      Really, I don`t care about yours either, and even less about Atlanta`s and State of Georgia`s transportation policy.
      Will not stop, instead - goin` to advocate Batajnica`s development strongly..
      Cheers!

      Delete
    18. Anonymous17:45

      Your point was about "modern, competition driven economy" and I gave you example from one. You can ignore the fact this is how things are sometimes done even in modern economies and believe in fairytales if you want.

      Your crusade for Ryan and Wizz interests will be going against interests of Belgrade airport which is currently owned by GoS and against new airport operator in the future. Why don't you try something easier, like LCC airport for Budapest?

      Delete
    19. Anonymous18:00

      Do they have any EXISTING, HEAVILY UNDERUSED airport in the vicinity of Atlanta/Budapest? 15 km from city center? With two runways, operating ILS, oversize in any sense for its current purpose? Well, in Warsaw they had one, and they converted it for air traffic. Poland is the example of a successful, modern economy in Europe.

      Your point is at the end of the post - that would be "against interests" of Tesla airport. Who gives a f... about that? What is in common interest (of Serbia and its economy) is the only that matters. And I gave my arguments for that above.

      Delete
    20. Yes.
      -Dobbins AFB is 20 miles from Atlanta.
      -Dekalb Airport has 4 runways and is 15 minutes from the center

      The difference is that in America, people understand that it makes no sense to have multiple airports unless the city is very large, which Belgrade certainly isn't.

      In the future, BEG's T1 could be exclusively for LCCs and charters, just like in CPH.

      A true competitive driven economy would have all the airlines given access to the same airport, without special benefits such as a single airline getting their own airport. If RyanAir can't compete in BEG, it means that they are not competitive or sustainable, and they have no place in a "modern, competition driven economy".

      Delete
    21. Aэrologic01:38

      @AnonymousFebruary 4, 2015 at 12:32 PM, 4:16PM, 6:00PM

      +1

      Fully support your arguments. Alongside Warsaw, Kiev is another example where two such airports coexist side by side all while catering to totally different markets. It's useless to argue, it looks like we're confronted with people who're afraid to think big and long term, hence all the arguments are useless. Thank you for joining the conversation and throwing in a piece of clarity of mind.

      Delete
    22. Anonymous13:26

      @Aэrologic

      Thanx.

      @Aleksandar Stojanovic

      So, you made my point - which of those two airports in Atlanta is not used enough? A USAF airbase? A general aviation airport in a city that hosts "Coca Cola"`s HQ? The letter has more than 200.000 operations annually, they claim. And what about Batajnica? And Kovin?

      Is it so hard to grasp that Serbia is the economy of dead assets: of airports with no planes landing, of rail tracks and stations that have not seen any train for weeks (or years), of unfinished public buildings and infrastructure, of vacant industrial facilities etc.? And no - Serbia is not any sort of prosperous, modern economy. Unlike Poland. And here`s one more example from that country. In Krakow, airport authorities did not want to reduce charges for LCC. Hence, local government threatened to build new airport, on military land. So, the airport reduced charges... and Krakow has seen an impressive growth in numbers of foreign tourists` visits.
      But we seam not to care about that.

      Delete
  23. Anonymous01:13

    Ryanair has a very aggressive growth targets and they are looking everywhere all the time. Some competition would be welcome. Wizz essentially copied Ryanair's model but then outdid them in all kinds of charges that you can think of. Baggage fees is the best example.

    BTW, I've read somewhere that Wizz air's CASM is comparable to Ryanair's and well below the rest of the pack.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous03:51

      Outdid them?!?! Joke of the month! How can you outdo them if you don't compete in the same market? Wizz is East-West, it does not even play in West-West market. And Wizz certainly didn't outdo Ryan on profits! Cost you mentioned is CASM is one thing, yield is completely different. Ryan is better positioned to take on legacies with inroads to key airports and business class, something Wizz can only dream of! I am no fan of Michael's antics, but I am a fan of Ryan's results. Ryanair is in a class above Wizz!

      Delete
    2. Anonymous01:05

      Chill out,please and learn some manners. No need for disrespect. But if that makes your day...
      i meant 'Outdid' in how far they managed to piss the passengers by charging them for everything. I'm not an expert, but CASM is how they compare costs. And we talk about Low COST carriers. Nobody mentioned yield.

      Delete
  24. Koliko dugo vlada Srbije moze da odlaze dogradnju aerodroma MORAVA Kraljevo?. Kada ce to javno objaviti? I ako ova vlada nije odgovorna za gradnju civilnog dela aerodroma, ona je odgovorna za ulozenih 22 miliona evra uzetih preko poreza od svih ljudi zemlje Srbije. Dobijanjem vlasti vlada je preuzela sve obaveze. Ako je "promasena investicija", onda postoje potpisi ljudi koji su delimicno realizovali svoje zamisli, ali nisu zavrsili. Ostaje jedino po onoj narodnoj,"rodilo se, valja ga ljujati". Vlada gospodina Aleksandra Vucica, sa ministarkom za saobracaj, gospodjom Zoranom Mihailovic su duzni poreskim obaveznicima javno izneti detalje pocetka nastavka daljih radova i instalacija na ovom aerodromu. Dovodjenja LCC, Kargo i Carter operatera. Prema meni nemaju nikakav dug izuzev da zavrse Aerodrom Morava Kraljevo. Kao sto je receno 22 miiliona evra nesme u zemlji Srbiji biti promasena investicija ni sada ni u buducnosti. U suprotnom Srbija nece ostati samo bez dece, vec nestati kao HOPLESS country promasenih investicija i promasene buducnosti.
    Jasam optimista da ce ova vlada zaista zavrsiti u potpunosti pomenuti Kraljevacki aerodrome. Vlada bez akcije, sa sprovodjenjem preuzetog od 2015 godine pa nadalje jeste neodrziva. U iducih 20 meseci ja vidim Moravu zavrsenu sa putnickim letovima. Sta kazu na optimisticke poglede, lideri vlade Srbije. Oglasice. Ne na moj komentar, vec kada to oni zele. Vladi uspeh, MORAVI civilnu avijacju, pa i meni uskoro srecan put za Sydney.
    Rodney & friends. Home of Qantasville. Kraljevo + Sydney

    ReplyDelete
  25. Serbia doesn't need more than BEG.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

EX-YU Aviation News does not tolerate insults, excessive swearing, racist, homophobic or any other chauvinist remarks or provocative posts with the intention of creating further arguments. A full list of comment guidelines can be found here. Thank you for your cooperation.