Serbia anticipates €600m for airport concession

GLOBAL AVIATION NEWS

Qatar Airways posts $4.1 billion loss

Qatar Airways has announced that it suffered a more than $4 billion loss in revenues over the last fiscal year, as lockdowns triggered by the coronavirus pandemic slashed demand for long haul travel. The major loss, which the state-owned airline largely attributed to the grounding of its Airbus A380 and A330 wide-body jets, highlights the dramatic toll of the pandemic on the industry. Even so, the Doha-based airline reported an increase in earnings to $1.6 billion before taxes and other costs compared to the previous year - costs that dropped significantly as the airline saved on jet fuel, reduced salaries by 15% and cut some 13.400 employees from its workforce. The pandemic has hit international routes the hardest, dealing a heavy blow to super-connectors in the Persian Gulf that essentially lack domestic markets. In the last several months, the flagship carrier has received a boost from an end to a yearslong boycott that locked Qatar Airways out of the airspace of Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The embargo had forced the airline to take longer routes and consume more jet fuel, raising expenses. For the first time since 2017, the energy-rich state's airline reopened key routes to hubs like Dubai, Cairo and Riyadh as the political dispute eased in January. The long-haul carrier praised its resilience in the face of the fast-spreading virus variants still racing around the globe, noting that its operational loss of $288 million stood at 7% less than the year before. “Whilst our competitors grounded their aircraft and closed their routes, we adapted our entire commercial operation to respond to ever-evolving travel restrictions and never stopped flying”, Qatar Airways CEO, Akbar al-Baker, said in a statement. The airline acknowledged receiving a $3 billion lifeline from the Qatari government to keep operating as it struggled with virus restrictions. The carrier took just 5.8 million passengers to the skies in the last fiscal year, compared to 32.3 million the year before - a staggering 82% drop.
Reuters

Serbia anticipates €600m for airport concession

NEWS FLASH

The Serbian Prime Minister, Aleksandar Vučić, has said he expects for Belgrade Airport's concession fee to amount to some 600 million euros over a period of 25 - 30 years. The PM noted the process should be finalised next year. The announcement was made last week and is somewhat different to past statements made on the matter. Previously, it was suggested that the Serbian government would 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 ten 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. Several companies have already expressed interest in the airport, with French and Chinese investors being the front runners at this point.

Comments

Unknown23:47
the concession is absolutely unnecessary. belgrade airport is capable of expanding though self-financing or bank loans. there is no need for a second runway, if they want to build a hotel, even now that would be possible, the only investment belgrade airport needs is the baggage sorting system upgrade. i strongly oppose any concession here.
ReplyDelete
Replies

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.