Kraljevo Airport to open by mid-2016

Serbia’s ghost airport expected to open next year

The Serbian government plans to open Kraljevo’s Morava Airport for commercial use by mid-2016. Located in central Serbia, the airport’s terminal building was completed in 2012 but has been closed ever since. According to the Serbian Minister for Construction, Transport and Infrastructure, Zorana Mihajlović, “We want the airport to be commercial with scheduled flights. At this point, I cannot say how often or to which destinations these flights will operate to”. Ms Mihajlović noted that a similar model to the one employed at Niš Constantine the Great Airport would be used in Kraljevo as well. “We will do the same in Kraljevo – we will make it profitable without subsidies”. Niš Airport recently reduced its fees to just three euros per passenger, which saw Wizz Air introduce flights from the city.

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, however, these never materialised. Since the airport lies between several industrial cities, the government is hopeful the likes of the Italian run Fiat-Zastava car manufacturer would make use of the airport and that further business and investment in the area would be stimulated. In addition, part of the Raška region has close historical ties with Turkey and a portion of the local population is expected to use the airport for future flights to Istanbul.


Minister Mihajlović believes that flights from Kraljevo would accelerate the region’s development. “Serbia has a central, transit and important hub in Belgrade, which is now especially significant in regards to future flights to the United States. However, we must have several smaller airports if we want to develop our tourism industry. It is much better to arrive at your destination by plane”, she said. In April, the Serbian government announced it was willing to enter into a public private partnership agreement with a German company which would operate flights from Kraljevo to both Frankfurt and Istanbul. The name of the company was not specified. “I’m certain that all preparations for the first flight will be completed soon. Morava Airport is vital for the entire region”, Ms Mihajlović concluded.

Comments

  1. Anonymous09:07

    Ex-Yu should not post these kind of announcements when they are given in pre-election period. Promises about Niš were made earlier and thus had more significance.

    Kraljevo does have potential, but it is kind of too early to talk about it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:11

      Why not? At least ex-YU writes when those promises are not kept. You voted for those politicians,

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:41

      lol this entire airport was built for the elections in 2012. Why shouldn't they report about it. By the way, I remember they reported numerous times that the airport was sitting empty and no one has been using it.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:56

      I am not saying anything about admins objectivity, he is really great and doing excellent work overall.

      I am just saying these info are useless for now, and repeating over and over again, just like stories about long haul flights.

      Delete
    4. Aэrologic17:35

      As a matter of fact, Kraljevo would be a much better option than INI as a low-cost base for Wizz
      Air/Ryanair, providing there is an organized shuttle-bus from Nis and other major cities in South&Central Serbia. That is notwithstanding the fact that it has a much more recent terminal and a wider touristic area to draw upon. It is also closer to Belgrade making it a more viable option even for travellers from Belgrade and other areas of Serbia.

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:10

    yawn :-O !

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous09:10

    Exyuaviation, Sunday, August 31, 2014 :

    ..........The Serbian government has announced plans to set up a state-run company to manage up to 25 of its airports, including the country’s busiest - Belgrade. The public company running Belgrade Airport will be renamed to “Airports of Serbia” with more than twenty smaller airports to be added to its managing portfolio. The move is believed to be in relation to the upcoming concession or sale of Serbia’s busiest airport, through which the future operator will also gain control to the rest of the country’s airport infrastructure. The Serbian Minister for Construction, Transport and Infrastructure, Zorana Mihajlović, says the company WILL BE SET UP WITHIN DAYS. “Six airports are currently confirmed to be part of the company including those in Niš, Kraljevo and Užice. We are not setting up a stand-alone enterprise, rather, these airports will be added to the “Aerodrom Beograd” company which manages Belgrade Airport”, Ms. Mihajlović said......

    No comment

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:12

      State misses deadlines on Belgrade Airport’s future

      http://www.exyuaviation.com/2015/06/state-misses-deadlines-on-belgrade.html

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:27

      ExYU is a reporter, not a political activist. You guys can afford to ignore the government's announcements or publish them along with reminders on all their undelivered promises, because as political campaigners you bear no professional obligations.

      However a good NEWS REPORTER reports what is going on, without looking what may lie behind it. An ANALYST could dig a bit deeper and remind of certain things but this is a NEWS blog. And it covers the region with some symbolic aviation activity. Daily updates from such region require professional coverage of what governments say. It is up to you to like or dislike it. Many readers here do not really appreciate your ability to turn any discussion into a political circus but yet we live with it.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous13:05

      Airport Ladjevci is technically absolutely unprepared for any serious traffic. It needs so much investment before starting regular flights. That's quite obvious. So there will be no regular flights any sooner. Why some people always make something up.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous01:01

      So, how much money/time is needed to prepare it? What is the 'laundry list' ? Please back your opinion.

      Delete
  4. Anonymous09:16

    We need "national" carrier to introduce few flights from KVO as well as INI. One ATR72 could cover both airports with introducing service like INI-KVO-VIE-INI-KVO, same with few more destinations such as MXP, MUC or even IST and seasonal flights to TIV. How come there is now enough passengers from Nis with Wizzair and there is not enough for Air Serbia with ATR! I am sure LF on those flights would be 100%!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:27

      Pricamo o gradu koji se ubrzano smanjuje, pričano o gradu iz koga se samo prošle godine iselilo 2.000 ljudi, pričamo o gradu koji skoro da više nema privrede... A vi kažete da ste sigurni da bi LF bio 100%?! ..pa makar to bio ATR...

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:43

      Ako sam dobro razumeo rekao je Nis i Kraljevo zajedno pun avion sto nije nemoguce. Ako cemo pravo, ekonomska situacija u celoj zemlji nam je takva da ne bi trebali imati avio prevoz uopste..ali ljudi lete, putuju, idu na more..uvek se za to para nadje ne znam ni sam kako!

      Delete
    3. There are enough passengers for Wizz because unlike Air Serbia, they realized that the only way to win passengers in Serbia is to offer those €60 return fares.

      Air Serbia is unable to do that because of a totally wrong business model so they will be stuck sending half empty planes like idiots.

      Even Lufthansa can't defend itself from low cost carriers and they have resorted to starting various LCC carriers of their own (germanwings, eurowings, etc) so they can compete with Ryanair and the rest.

      Whoever is really pulling the strings at ASL has never learned about "if you can't beat them, join them".

      ASL should have been a network LCC such as JetBlue, Alaska Airlines, Aer Lingus, Air Baltic, Pegasus, and other successful airlines.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:06

      Pricamo o gradu koji ima fabriku aviona npr., ima toliko potencijala jer sedi na sredini industrijski najbogatije doline (od uzica do krusevca) u Srbiji izmedju Vrnjacke Banje, Mataruske Banje i Kopaonika. Kada budemo videli da sredjuju tamo pistu znacemo da ima letova u najavi barem u zimskoj i letnjoj sezoni po dva meseca.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:59

      Ne mogu da verujem koliko ima likova koji misle da je Bg centar sveta i da samo Beogradjani lete a iz ostalih gradova misle da lete samo gastarbajteri. Najveci izvoznik iz Srbije je iz Kragujevca i verujem da bi ogromnom broju Italijana bilo lakse da slete u Kv nego da se klackaju do Bg, Verujem da bi isto mislili i turisti koji dolaze na Kopaonik, Vrnjacku banju, Zlatibor...kojih bi posle toga samo bilo u vecem broju. Valjalo bi zbog takvih napraviti neku statistiku korisnika Bg aerodroma po regionima da bi videli koliko nisu u pravu. Ili neka iz gradskog budzeta finansiraju Air Serbia tj. Air Belgrade pa onda mogu sa punim pravom da se bune protiv Nisa i Kraljeva. Na sva usta su komentarisali ko ce da leti iz Nisa, iz te doline gladi i sl. pa ih statistika malo demantuje. Valjalo bi da pojedinci shvate da postoji zivot i van Beograda, ma koliko im bilo tesko da poveruju.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous11:06

      AnonymousJuly 31, 2015 at 10:59 AM

      Beogradjanin sam, ali se kompletno slazems sa tobom. Nas najbolji BG izvoz je zanovetanje i pljuvanje.

      Samo napred! Aerodrom Nis polako napreduje, a ako Bog da, i dogodine da krene Kraljevo.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous11:37

      Aj ne sprdajte se... Procice mnogo leta gospodnjih dok na taj velelepni aerodrom sleti neki putnicki avion u redovnom saobracaju...

      Delete
    8. Anonymous14:48

      Zatravo sigurno nece proci mnogo leta.Nije potrebno mnogo ulaganja za Ladjevce da pocnu sletati a319 i manji avioni.

      Delete
  5. Upitnik09:36

    will there be elections in Serbia soon?
    this kind of infos pop up usually few months before an election

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:43

      Ako ih bude, samo na lokalu.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:43

      I think the elections are not due for another two years. However, I am sure SNS is feeling the heat because since they took complete control of the country nothing good came out of it.
      If anything, their 'reign' was marred by scandals, increased control of media while the country's economy slowly but surely disintegrated into complete chaos. :)

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:59

      AnonymousJuly 31, 2015 at 9:43 AM

      Opposition BOT.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous15:41

      @10.59 uhhh, provalio si me.. danas nema sendvica...

      Delete
  6. Anonymous10:32

    LYKV (not yet KVO) has a potential:

    Over 30% of diaspora has roots within 2hr drive from the airport. For about 15% of diaspora, LYKV is the closest airport (in Serbia).

    This is just existing passengers. I see that LYKV would take some traffic from BEG and , with the right price, from bus companies.
    There would be some new traffic (leisure, business, cargo) once you put it on the map and connect to the world.

    With several targeted destinations, it could succeed
    I'd say that AirSerbia and Austrian are best positioned short term due to turboprop, but I can imagine in medium/long term alsoTurkish/Pegasus/Wizz/Ryan if the infrastructure is completed (i.e. ILS).

    my2cents

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous12:11

    Srecom pa ce i LYKV imati letove ja mislim da ce to biti jedna Turska Aviokompanija koja e ga povezati sa IST i mozda OS sa linijom za VIE ma da je to jako malo verovatno.
    INN-NS

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:30

      Kraljevo Morava Fail

      Delete
  8. Anonymous12:47

    Da li neko od vas cita uopste vesti? Izgradnja LYKV je krenula preko donacije Turaka od 1/3 sredstava i stalo je sve kada su Turci podrzali Albance. Dok Mihajlovicka ne odvoji pare za pistu nema nista od ozbiljnih letova osim ATR72. Ni Turkish ni Pegasus nemaju taj avion.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous13:02

      Turkish has wet-leased ATRs from Borajet in the past (before Borajet switched fleet). I don't see the fleet as a big issue. My sense is that Turkish/Turkey would find the way to take the advantage of LYKV opening.

      my2cents

      Delete
    2. Anonymous13:30

      The main reason was not dispute on Albanians or whatever, but this:

      http://vijesti.in.rs/region/velja-ilić-odbio-tursku-donaciju-od-10-miliona-evra

      On je rekao da je Turska dala donaciju od 10 miliona evra, uz uslov da oni izvedu kompletne radove za 28 miliona evra. "Zašto bismo mi uzimali njihovu donaciju kada naši građevinari mogu za 18 miliona evra da urade isti taj posao?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous15:03

      L

      Delete
  9. Anonymous14:10

    OT: Does anyone have the loads of relaunched Germanwings Stuttgart-Belgrade flight yesterday?

    ReplyDelete
  10. cleanliness is next to godliness17:26

    OT: na jednom forumu objavljena je slika sa BEG aerodroma sa oštećenim stubom od vode oko C5 ili C6 i komentarom o prljavim prozorima i WC-om. Neko je odgovorio da treba poslati email aerodromu. Imaju oni i formular na sajtu i fejsbuk komentare (na koje ne odgovaraju) ali ove stvari oni moraju sami da vide a ne da im neko salje poruke. Ovako se to radi:

    Ptice volim ali ne oko aerodroma. Na sva mesta na terminalu gde ptice sleću i prljaju stavlja se ovo, bird spikes:
    http://www.bird-x.com/

    Pored elektronskog tajmera za merenje vremena izmedju čišćenja WC-a već godinama najbolje rešenje je dodati i ovo:
    http://www.ydr.com/ci_21139588/dirty-restroom-63-some-businesses-have-button-that

    Pritisak šalje poruku i čistačima i menadžmentu, pa se vidi ko tokom smene ima najmanje a ko najviše pritužbi za čistoću.

    Er Serbija kao najveći prevoznik na aerodromu najviše gubi ako se ovo ne sredi.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous17:45

      Tako je. Nema opravdanja za urednost WC na aerodromu. Na zalost to traje vec godinama. Najvise prituzbi na C..

      Delete
  11. Anonymous18:25

    Today BEG-SPU-BEG lf 100% both ways (A320).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous18:38

      Celu sezonu je tako.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous18:49

      Ali zato kako prodje sezona.....

      Delete
  12. Anonymous23:57

    Kraljevo i okolina je siromasna oblast kao i ostale u srb. Ljudi slabo lete avionima. Videcete da ce i ini puci u toku zime. To sada gastabajteri dolecu i odlecu jer je vreme odmora. Wizz ce leteti prazan u nov, feb i martu, a to nije dobro. Tako ce biti i sa moravinom vazdusnom lukom. Presiromasni smo. Beg ima 4 ipo miliona putnika ali posto jos uvek nemaju nikakvu statistiku mi je znamo kolioi je tacan broj gradjana srbije, koliko stranaca..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous01:31

      Ne zaboravi da te gastarbajtere posecuju roditelji, rodbina i prijatelji. Ti isti gastarbajteri im cesto placaju put bas zbog niskog lokalnog standarda. Oni obicno dolaze van sezone i ima ih vise nego samih gastarbajtera. Sami gastarbajteri bi mozda dosli cesce da be moraju da se voze jos 2 sata kolima iz BEG. Ovo pricam iz licnog iskustva.
      Okolina LYKV moze da bude prilicno siroka (1.5-2 sata voznje), ne treba potceniti.
      Ima verovatno i ljudi u Srbiji , ne vezano za dijasporu, koji bi mozda i leteli (cesce) da ne moraju da se cimaju do BEG.

      Delete

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