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.
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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.
Hopefuly this means the end of the current one.
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.
Will they realistically manage to secure this amount?
I have my doubts. thoughts?
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.
However, until now that wasn't the case, that is as long as JU received subsidies.
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.
I mean this deal would really harm Zagrebs future...
Also the development plan is basically from 30 years ago ...
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.
https://pistaljka.rs/home/read/569
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
Wizz will base 4 A321 and 3 A320 @ SOF.
Good for them, Sofia is so lucky.
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.
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.
A321 on the busiest routes such as MLA, LTN, EIN, BCN, BRI, BHX, BLQ, CRL, FMM, CGN, MAD, etc
Are you an expert? Or are you one of those BEG employees? :D
TAROM suspends Dubai-International (DXB) from 29 October 2016.
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.
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?
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 :)
yo.
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).
INN-NS