French companies eye Belgrade Airport investment


Two French management companies are considering vying for a concession for Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport, according to the Serbian Prime Minister, Aleksandar Vučić. The comments were made following a meeting with French business leaders in Paris. The two companies in question are believed to be Vinci, which has previously expressed interest in investing in Serbia's main airport, as well as Bouygues Bâtiment International, which has a 20.77% stake in the consortium running Zagreb Airport. The government has already selected a French advisory firm to manage the privatisation process. While a formal decision is yet to be made on whether the airport will be fully privatised or put up for concession, Mr Vučić said the latter is "almost certain", noting that the process will be completed by mid-2017.

The Serbian government plans to offer a 25-year concession contract through a tender procedure, with the future operator required to provide an up-front payment of 310 million euros and invest at least 700 million euros in the airport. The concessionaire will be responsible for the airport’s long-term development strategy including management, maintenance, financing and capacity expansion. The airport is seen as a valuable asset with it being home to a national carrier with a fleet of over twenty aircraft and a further eight jets on order, as well as plans to expand its business including long haul operations. On the other hand, it is also a base for budget carrier Wizz Air, which will station a second aircraft and expand its operations from the city next year.

Belgrade Airport recorded revenue of over forty million euros during the first seven months of 2016 and profit of just over fourteen million euros over the same period. It has no outstanding credit loans or debts and is considered one of Serbia most profitable public enterprises. Between January and August it handled a record 3.291.141 passengers, up 0.4% on last year. Furthermore, it recorded its busiest day in history earlier this month. Air Serbia continues to be its busiest customer, followed by Wizz Air, Lufthansa, Montenegro Airlines and Swiss International Air Lines. So far, within the former Yugoslavia, Zagreb, Pristina, Skopje and Ohrid airports have been given up for concession, while Ljubljana, Maribor and Portorož airports have been fully privatised.

Comments

  1. Anonymous09:05

    Wouldn’t it be a conflict of interest if a company which runs Zagreb Airport also ran Belgrade Airport? I mean aren’t they a bit too close?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:12

      I think Pristina Airport in its concession terms issued a requirement that the operator can not be managing another airport in the radius of 300km or something like that.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:52

      @9.12 smart move in my opinion.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous16:04

      Exactly.One of the two will have to suffer.

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:07

    odlican clanak..

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous09:08

    It’s a public ‘secret’ that Vinci has already been selected two years ago to run BEG.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:50

      I heard that an American-Arab company is a favorite. I guess each part of "čaršija" has its own theory.

      Delete
  4. Anonymous09:13

    Profit margins are quite good actually.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous09:22

    I agree that the airport has a few things going for it - a strong national airline is a good foundation for any airport and it is becoming obvious that they intend to expand next year as well. You also serve as a base for a low cost airline which is treated the same way as others and they still plan to expand which is a good sign.

    There are also a few challenges in my opinion - Nis Airport is expanding which is great but will undoubtedly take away some passengers, airports in the region have also woken up, particularly Zagreb although I think ultimately they are different markets (different passenger structure).

    I hope this concession goes well and they don't muck it up.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anon 9:22 AM, slazem se sa Vasim vidjenjem stvari. Uveren sam da ce Francuski Vinci dobiti koncesiju za novi razvoj i granju vise puta pominjanih. Treceg terminal, Druge piste, hotela, visespratne garaze, adekvatnih novih prikljucaka sa auto putem, zeleznicom... Mozda najbolja kombinacija bi bila prodaja 49% stranom investitoru i 51% nekom domacem privatnom konzorcijumu. Ipak domaci investitor ne verujem da ima kapacitet sa finansijske strane u najmanju ruku da bih ucestvovao. Drzava treba da izadje iz upravljanja i velikog investiranja. Pravi investitori sa svojim strategijama pozicioniranja u Evropi i ''very deep pocket'' su prvensveno U.A Emirati I Kina. Ipak, put Srbije EU ne dozvoljava taj ''bericet''. Ipak Francuska korporacija Vinci ima najvece sanse da se stacionira iducih tridesetak godina na Nikoli Tesli. Dodao bih ovome, da razvojoj Niskog, Kraljevackog I Uzickog aerodrome u srednjem period do 15 godina imace zajedno dvadeset pet do trideset posto saobracaja putnickog sabracaja kroz LCC saobracaj. Naravno i carter. Do 75% Nikola Tesla bi prevozio iznad deset miliona putnika u novoj konstalaciji buducih vremena. Dolaskom investitora. Pozdrav Rodney+✈

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:43

      Pa dokle vise, svima je jasno da Nis ima minimalne sanse, a Kraljevo i Ponikve apsolutno nikakve za opstanak.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous15:59

      Nisam razumeo, kad Beogradska vazdušna luka treba da ima 10 miliona putnika?

      Delete
    4. Pa svima je jasno koji misle kao Vi, postovani Anon 12:43 PM. Po nekim misljenjima Srbiji netrebaju civilni aerodrome. Po Vama, jedini opstanak je Nikola Tesla. Pa neka bude kako Vi kazete da je jedino tako moguce. Tu je Pristina, Tuzla, Osjek, Temisvar, Sofija... Oni se nalaze odmah iza granica sadasnje Srbije. Izuzev Pristine, sluzbeno. Dokle se moze legalno prelaziti granice Srbije, putnici ce traziti LCC prevozioce. Zbog cene karata. Ovi aerodromi ukljucujuci i Skoplje, pai Kukus u severo istocnoj Albaniji obilno nude Low Cost usluge. Beograd za sada ne. Na njemu je do sada 95% tradicionalne, full service carriers. Sta ce da urade po Vasoj ekspertizi sa ulozenih oko tri ipo milijardi dinara u Kraljevacki i Uzicki aerodrom. Sta ce sa putnickim terminalima? Mozda se iza Vaseg deklarisanog imena Anon stoji neko ko odredjuje razvoj putnicke avijacije u Srbiji. Kako kazete neka bude. Sorry Sir. Od Vas dovoljno. Zurim na Etihadov avion sa Beogradskog Nikole Tesle. Rodney neistomisljenik & Team. +✈+ WSA✈.

      Delete
  6. Anonymous09:29

    "The concessionaire will be responsible for the airport’s long-term development strategy including management"

    Hopefuly this means the end of the current one.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:45

      The two biggest disappointments of this management is that they have not done anything to attract new airlines and have not done the planned expansion of the terminal (although I doubt that has to do anything with them).

      The plus side is that they have improved the transfer area by opening a new coffee shop, bakery, pharmacy, post office, quite area with reclining seats, massage chairs, free wi-fi, observation area with sofas which overlook the tarmac... True all these seem like small investments but are much appreciated by people who are just transferring and that is more and more.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:01

      Agree with you on the second point, anon. 9.45.
      I don't quite understand your first point, about new airlines being a measure of success. Isn't it more important to open new connections? BEG opened quite a few new destinations with the existing airlines. Unlike in ZAG or in LJU, people can chose an LCC alternative for most European destinations. The customers have better choices in Belgrade, which is particularly significant since Serbia is not an EU-country.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous17:25

      @Anon at 9:45

      Airside improvements are just a patchwork. Overall impression is far from modern terminal. Where improvements are made they are alredy obsolete. There is not enough sitting areas with tables and chairs, with USB, power outlets and tablet devices preinstalled at tables and at table level, not down by the floor:

      http://images.macworld.com/images/article/2012/06/otg_ipads1-283272.jpg

      http://images.huffingtonpost.com/2013-12-22-D71_0005.jpg

      http://apex.aero/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/APEX-airport-restaurants-1.jpg

      Hleb & Kifle is another obsolete concept. Instead of letting customers with their baggage and carts inside small service area, they should have made a linear order and pickup section, with larger outside area with tables for consumption, similar to food court organization as shown in links. It is proven to be more effective and less cramped than each food outlet having own seating area.

      New management and terminal designed to world class standards is the only solution.

      Delete
    4. JATBEGMEL19:20

      @ anonymous 9,45pm

      small corrections:

      - post office isn't in the transit area.
      - the new coffee shop was supposed to have a smokers lounge many months ago.
      - free wifi sort of works at best in some areas, but it drops out a lot.

      @ anonymous 5,25pm

      I don't see people in the transit area with carts so I don't see this as a problem.

      Problem is that not all outlets at BEG are open for all departures. Last week I went to check out hleb and kifle and it was closed. I departed BEG in a wave with 12 departures. Directly opposite were full flights to AUH and BEY, down the hall pax waiting to board for TLV and SVO.

      But I couldn't agree more that the improvements are just patchwork. I think with the amount invested in updating the look of the terminal a more modern one could of been built.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous19:50

      Not carts, but carryon bags with wheels.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous20:09

      JATBEGMEL, do you prefer USB and power outlets at desk or close to floor level when at airport lounges or airside public areas?

      Delete
    7. Anonymous20:31

      USB and modern power outlets are in a worse shape on many much bigger airports than BEG. Please, give it a break.

      Delete
    8. JATBEGMEL23:13

      @ anonymous 8,09pm

      At the chair makes it more convenient in the sense that you can use you device at the same time while charging it. Other devices can charge via USB ports making it convenient for those who do not have an adapter with them.

      BEG has small charging tables which has 1 cable of a few types ie: 1 iPhone, 1 Samsung etc. I think BEG could of installed a couple phone charging lockers (1 and C5/6/7, 1 at transfer desk, 1 in the lounge area between A6 and A7).

      Delete
  7. Anonymous09:30

    other ex-Yu airports under concession should also pay attention to this because if the same company is running two airports it could affect the other airport since BEG would undoubtedly be the busier of the two. Interesting times ahead.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous09:46

    Maybe they form a French consortium - VINCI + Bouygues

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous09:57

    What's all the talk that one terminal will be taken over by Air Serbia?

    ReplyDelete
  10. OT: In case you didn't get a chance to print your online check-in boarding pass for Air Serbia flight departing BEG, are there any Air Serbia self check-in machines available to do it when you only travel with hand luggage? The airport website mentions some machines available but only for a few other companies, not Air Serbia.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:51

      Machines are for certain companies, but not for Air Serbia. If you haven't printed your boarding pass you can just show them you phone I think with the email.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:52

      The ground staff will print the passes for you. You just need a passport.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous16:42

      What happened to new baggage handling system, self bag drop machines and kiosks that were talked about last year? That area now has advertisement for ice cream, any progress in the background?

      Delete
    4. Anonymous16:47

      Work in progress. As soon as that is finished work starts on terminal 1 ground floor and a6-10 gate area so T1 will be completely refurbished by summer 2017.

      Delete
    5. JATBEGMEL23:18

      I can almost guarantee that A6-A10 will not be finished by summer 2017.

      Delete
  11. Anonymous10:40

    Successful tender would be required to make a 1 billion euro investment??

    Will they realistically manage to secure this amount?

    I have my doubts. thoughts?

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous10:55

    Ex-yu, imajući u vidu da je 700 miliona evra pozamašna svota, dajte nam okvirni plan šta će se od investicija minimalno zahtevati u početnoj fazi trajanja ugovora, recimo za prvih pet godina. Na ovom blogu postoje različite, a često i preambiciozne ideje oko toga u šta će biti primarno investirati na Aerodromu Beograd.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:17

      Ovo ne zna ni država, a kamoli ex-yu.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:59

      Well, Serbian Government will surely have some minimum technical requirements for the concessionaire and these will be published in tender documentation. So Serbian Government must know what is necessary to build at first.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous17:22

      And if the government and the concessioner have different opinion about what is necessary? Most proposals of gov. do not make sense economically.
      Also the development plan is basically from 30 years ago ...

      Delete
    4. In the case of the second runway i would not consider it necessary at all as an investor.

      Delete
  13. Anonymous11:36

    At least foreign airlines will be treated properly.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:18

      Name one way in which foreign airlines are not treated properly at the moment.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous13:13

      Key word: at the moment.

      However, until now that wasn't the case, that is as long as JU received subsidies.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous15:44

      Exactly. Wizz Air decided to start expanding here only once subsidies ended.

      Delete
    4. JATBEGMEL18:54

      Wizz Air used to receive illegal subsidies and was why they expanded in the first place! They cut back only when those subsidies ended.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous20:14

      True that JATBEGMEL. It feels like some people have Wizz stocks or are working for Wizz PR department. They always conveniently "forget" these illegal sweet subsidies, which no other company was able to enjoy.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous20:17

      Wizz return has nothing to do with subsidies, but with the arrival of Ryanair. As soon as Ryan entered Serbian market, BEG prices suddenly and inexplicably were not "crazy expensive" but quite fine for Wizz. So glad that BEG saw through their bluff.

      Delete
  14. Anonymous14:15

    BEG Airport will be at World Routes next week. I really hope they try to lire some legacy carrier.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous16:35

      Air Serbia has unwritten right of first refusal for new destinations. Once Air Serbia refuses a new destination, other carriers should be welcomed by airport management. For example, if Air Serbia is not interested in flights to Lisbon or Toronto (and they are officially not interested), then TAP and Rouge should get discounts and incentives to start Belgrade.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous17:59

      Does that mean that Air Serbia would get a discount if it wanted to fly to Lisbon or Toronto?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous20:20

      Your dialogue feels misleading, so let me correct it:
      Does that mean that ANY company would get a discount if it wanted to fly from BEG to Lisbon or Toronto or any new destination?

      Yes.

      Yo're welcome :)

      Delete
    4. Anonymous21:44

      It seems the dialogue was only misleading to you.
      yo.

      Delete
  15. Anonymous15:27

    When Will they refurbish and rekonstruct a6-a10 area? I hope they will before a concession takeover in Jun next year.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous16:08

      test

      Delete
    2. Anonymous16:11

      test

      Delete
    3. Anonymous16:45

      Yes. Work starts this winter.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous17:07

      When? And How long its gonna take?

      Delete
    5. Anonymous00:37

      Wasn't they start 2 years ago! It was also 100% sure!

      Delete
  16. Anonymous16:22

    It is so obvious that this government has already selected the French as concessioner.
    The French advisor hints to it very much.

    Had the others ever a real chance?
    To me it stinks like a done deal and theres possibility of lawsuits against this deal.
    Suspect of corruption.
    The whole deal could be exploited by the opposition parties for political gains.

    Also lawsuits and a possible renegotiation could take years.
    Many years where investitions will be on hold.
    Do we really want this mess?

    Somehow i have concerns in the success of the whole issue and fear it could end in a second Berlin Airport disaster.


    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous16:29

      Zagreb Airport concession tender was an absolute mess with lawsuits and accusations of cover ups (do google search) in the end I see they will get a new terminal.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous16:38

      Would it be possible to cancel the concession in Zagreb if the concessor also gets Blgrade Airport?
      I mean this deal would really harm Zagrebs future...

      Delete
    3. Anonymous17:15

      Anonymous 4:38, hahahahahahaha, please tell me you're joking?

      Delete
    4. Anonymous17:16

      The Serbian government will see that competitors will sue them not in Serbia but on US courts.They are simply not prepared for.

      Delete
    5. @anon 4:38PM, off course yes. BUD had changed their concesionare several times. besides, here in ZAG's and BEG's case - the main show run the "builders" that is the construction companies, while the airport management (at least in case of ZAG) is just there...to do some work on a side. BEG and ZAG are really not of any big player's importance, but rather there's money to be earned in these so called "big infrastructural" deals...so here you go. Aeroport de Paris will probably/most likely pull out if they so please in several years...

      Delete
    6. Anonymous17:20

      Same with Split Airport new terminal which has again been delayed because a third company participating in the tender to build the building has accused Split Airport of fixing the tender. It is now being investigated.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous17:22

      The concession tender has not even begun and all of you already know who will win, that it has been fixed and even which court in which country they will sue the government. Please.

      Delete
  17. Postovani Anon 3:59 PM. Rast Investicija, razvoja biznisa i rasta standarda, izbora i mogucnosti u Srbiji u iducih deset do petnaest godina, povecace promet putnika sa sadasnjih pet miliona na preko deset miliona u vremenu koje prethodno navedoh. Ako sam preterao, obrazlozite. Svako dobro. Rod+✈

    ReplyDelete
  18. Anonymous16:32

    OT Does anyone know what is ASL plan for Belgrade-Istanbul daily service ? From today until the end of summer season they cancelled 12 flights and on 7 occasions they decided to use ATR72 instead of A319.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nemjee18:08

      My guess is that IST is underperforming due to the ongoing crisis, both political and economic.
      That market would be best served by a regional jet with a departure out of BEG at 00.30 and the return flight arriving back at 05.20.

      Delete
  19. Anonymous17:08

    When is The new tower supposed to start being built

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous17:32

      It was supposed to start in 2013

      Delete
    2. Anonymous17:42

      Not true at all and please don't make things up.

      The Belgrade Airport construction date for the new tower was never announced. They only announced that they will build a new tower in the future (announcement was at the end of 2014). At the same time they announce Tivat Airport tower construction with completion date for summer 2016 and they opened the tower few months ago on time.

      http://www.exyuaviation.com/2014/10/new-control-towers-for-belgrade-and.html

      Delete
    3. Anonymous19:44

      SMATSA announced construction of new Belgrade tower in 2012 with completion date in 2014:

      http://www.exyuaviation.com/2012/03/new-control-tower-for-belgrade-airport.html

      Did top brass from SMATSA ended up being fired over this lie? If money for new tower was set aside and ready for 2013 where did it dissapear?

      Delete
    4. Anonymous20:02

      Did Split Airport managment get fired for 7 year delay of new terminal?

      Delete
    5. Anonymous20:12

      It's easy to switch topic. Today it's BEG airport. Back to SMATSA money for BEG tower from 2012, where is it?

      Delete
    6. Anonymous20:19

      I work for Smatsa so I should know? BTW Smatsa and its finances are controlled by Eurocontrol. Shoot them an email and ask them since you are interested. It is easy to make accusations without having any of the facts when you have a general dislike for a certain country.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous22:33

      Eurocontrol did not issue statement from 2012 about new tower. SMATSA did, so they should be responsible.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous22:35

      You suggested there is corruption involved. Since Eurocontrol sets and controls SMATSA's annual budget you can ask them where the money for the tower was redirected.

      Delete
  20. Anonymous17:41

    Taadaa ... then again, we've all known this. You can only get hired by BEG if you were in a party.

    https://pistaljka.rs/home/read/569

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous18:01

      Too many things that would make me reconsider a deal with them.
      1.The order me how much to spend .
      A Billion is way TOO much.
      2. They order me to build things not necessary.
      3.too much politicians that want jobs without qualification or simply want get bribed.
      4.in the end i will get no deal,because it is all already fixed beforehand.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous18:30

      Expert.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous18:47

      Anon 06.30

      Are you an expert? Or are you one of those BEG employees? :D

      Delete
  21. Anonymous17:58

    OT:
    Wizz will base 4 A321 and 3 A320 @ SOF.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous18:00

      4 A321?! Where will they fly them to? o,O

      Good for them, Sofia is so lucky.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous18:08

      Currently they have 6 A320 based at SOF. The first A321 (7th a/c) will be based in late December. At March they will replace 3 of the A320 with A321. Yesterday they announced another 2 destinations from SOF. They will fly daily to Varna and twice weekly to Catania.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous18:25

      +42% capacity increase in spring 2017 for wizz, they are desperately fighting against Ryanair and will use A321 as their weapon (lower op. cost)

      A321 on the busiest routes such as MLA, LTN, EIN, BCN, BRI, BHX, BLQ, CRL, FMM, CGN, MAD, etc

      Delete
  22. Anonymous19:14

    OT:
    TAROM suspends Dubai-International (DXB) from 29 October 2016.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous19:17

      This is ex yu site. Not Romania and Bulgaria.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous20:04

      And WizzAir started few months ago to fly from Cluj to Dubai..Interesting.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous00:08

      As a Serb I am interested in news from Romania or Bulgaria much more than news from SPU or PUY so... they can keep on positing here.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous01:34

      Well then you are on the wrong blog my friend, because the name of it is ex-yu aviation.

      Delete
    5. It Off-topic, you can write anything don't be rude. i'm interested to hear whats happening around the world and neighboring countries. So if you are going to be rude then you might as well get off the blog. no one needs your negative attitude

      Delete
    6. Anonymous17:40

      +100 12:08AM

      Delete
  23. Milivoje Rodic19:55

    I'm wondering when their shops/bars will be on some miles program.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Anonymous20:54

    I hope Air France comes to BEG

    ReplyDelete
  25. Anonymous22:17

    I hope as soon they will start flights Belgrade to Pristina. His would be great. There are many Serbian kosovo traveling to Serbia and the Kosovars also traveling to Serbia.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Anonymous11:08

    Svakako bi ovo bio najbolji izbor za Aerodrom BEG.
    INN-NS

    ReplyDelete

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