Belgrade Airport turns fifty

New investments planned
Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport marked its fiftieth anniversary over the weekend since it opened its doors on April 28, 1962. The airport was opened after four years of construction and replaced what was known as the Dojno polje Airport, which was not too far away from the current airport sight. Later on, a second terminal was built to deal with the big increase in passenger numbers. In the 1980s plans were made for the airport’s development until 2010. However, the plan did not foresee the breakup of Yugoslavia. It outlined the construction of a third terminal and a second parallel runway.

Today, Belgrade Airport is the busiest in the former Yugoslavia. It predicts 2012 will be its best year on record. The airport is currently in the middle of an expansion project, however, further investment is planned. The largest ground handling company in the aviation industry, Siwssport International, has announced it will soon begin work at Belgrade Airport. The company will take over ground handling for several airlines which have requested their services. The company projects that it will employ some 150 people in Serbia. A total of 52 million euros will be invested into Serbia’s busiest hub according to the airport within the next three years.

In 2011, Belgrade Airport handled 3.124.633 passengers making it its third best year on record. This summer the airport will see Norwegian Air Shuttle, Qatar Airways, Croatia Airlines and Air One launch new flights. Below you can view Belgrade Airport’s five most successful years since opening its doors in 1962

YearPAX
19873.311.951
19883.277.537
20113.124.633
19792.839.995
19862.822.908

Comments

  1. Anonymous09:14

    happy birthday! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous09:39

    Congrats !

    Now can something be done to improve the area outside of the arrivals exit area? Most of the airport is decent enough but once you exit the terminal you have to deal with uneven pavement, and huge upward ramp which is difficult when pushing a cart with luggage toward the parking area. A modern parking garage would also be nice, with a covered walkway from the terminal.

    I would also like to see direct rail connects to Beograd centar, and north to Novi Sad.

    Otherwise things have been improving greatly over the years.

    Cheers

    Charlie --

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous22:20

      Fully agree on this, especially railway link to the main railway station in Belgrade and Novi Sad from where passengers could reach other places . Novi sad would cover Vojvodina and and from Belgrade wherever is possible. Nis has a decent connection via Podgorica with YM(and I must say prices I have seen are more than reasonable) and one or two other low cost destinations (Wizzair would be brilliant on these ones - maybe Germany, Spain seasonaly, Scandinavia,...). KVO, idea about IST seems very reasonable too to start with and if it works, than to expand.

      Delete
  3. Anonymous10:04

    Just a little correction - it's BEG's 50th anniversary!
    Happy anniversary!!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous10:14

    Happy anniversary BEG!!!! All the best!
    The management seem to be doing a lot to attract the new flight but to little the airport to look better. I know you cannot change over night something that wasn't invested for so many years but the looks has to improve besides all troubles for which I certanly know exist.
    Additionally, from what I know BEG is not runned solely by the airport authority but there are a lot of independent players running parking, retail, transport, etc. That has to change and everybody has to be runned by the interest of the airport to work smoothly and look decent!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous10:28

    Are they getting the new jetways for that À platform?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:43

      Yes, every gate will get a new jetway!

      Delete
  6. Anonymous10:56

    Good news and good news about Swissport as well. APR will see big growth at BEG.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous17:17

      April growth will be 11-12%, not so impressive. Does anyone know something about ZAG figures for March ? I cannot find them anywhere.

      Delete
  7. Anonymous11:27

    Good to see Swissport enter the Serbian market, the ones offered by Belgrade Airport are very unprofessional and rude. Those employed by Suport are even worse!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous12:20

    I have to say that in the last 2 years BEG has really managed to transform itself business wise. Good work and I hope the good run continues.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Happy birthday to the biggest airport in ex-Yu, congratulations for growth in both numbers and quality, and best wishes for the future!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous22:08

    BEOGRAD metropola bre!!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous01:49

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous08:39

    So i am wondering which companies will swissport serve except Austrian, Lufthansa and Swiss?thanks

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous08:50

      For start all Star carriers flying to BEG, among those also Adria, Croatia and Turkish which is pretty much more then a half of the BEG market.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:49

      I guess LOT too. My guess is Qatar too.

      Delete

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