Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport has completed a multi million euro upgrade of its Terminal 1 building which includes the addition of 33 check-in desks, eleven retail desks, commercial areas, oversized baggage check-in, a new baggage sorting facility and an additional 475 square metres of space. This will result in an increase in capacity from the current 5.5 million passengers per year to seven million. Last Friday, the airport put into use one of the overhauled areas for check-in purposes (dubbed Terminal 2b, check-in 400), which was formerly used as the arrivals area for domestic flights. On the other hand, the finishing touches for the remaining upgraded facilities within Terminal 1, which will also feature open views of the apron, are being carried out. The official opening of the overhauled terminal is expected in the coming weeks. The upgraded facilities also feature five self check-in desks and two self bag drop-off points, the latter being situated in the check-in area 600. While not officially confirmed, it is believed that the overhauled terminal will be used by foreign carriers, while Air Serbia and Etihad Airways Partners would gain exclusive use of Terminal 2.
Click images to enlarge
Click images to enlarge
General Manager, Saša Vlaisavljević, previously noted that the ongoing expansion and overhaul of the airport's facilities will have it fully prepared to welcome its second long haul flight, from Beijing, which is to launch during the third quarter of the year. "We are expanding capacity because there is a real need for it. Once the reconstruction of Terminal 1 is completed, we will have 33 new check-in desks, including 28 standard ones and five self check-in counters for passengers to use at their disposal. The new check-in desks will be connected to the new baggage sorting facility". The airport had previously overhauled the first floor of the Terminal 1 building and put it into use in 2015.
Further investment into Terminal 1 is expected by the end of the year. The airport plans to begin construction of an open air observation deck, which should be located within the premises of the T1 building, Furthermore, it will complete the overhaul of its "A" departure gates. Although the gates are jointly shared by both terminals, the "A" gates are considered to belong to T1 as they were part of the original building when it was opened 55 years ago. While almost all gates have been renovated, four remain untouched since the early 1980s. The project will include the overhaul of 2.640 square metres and the construction of an additional 6.360 square metres of space, which will take in 800 square metres of retail areas. The work will encompass the installation of five new jet bridges, with the last gate to cater for wide-body aircraft. Moreover, an additional two ground floor gates will be opened from which passengers will be bussed to their aircraft at remote parking positions. Meanwhile, the Serbia and Montenegro Air Traffic Services Agency (SMATSA) has completed tender procedures for the preparation of technical documentation for the construction of a four-level 75 metre new control tower. The project also includes the construction of a two-level flight control centre, which will be linked to the tower. SMATSA anticipates for construction to take three years to complete.
Looks good. I like it.
ReplyDeleteSo when airport is fully revamped capacity should increase to what 10 million ?
DeleteAdd planned 11000sqm extension with 4 additional passenger boarding bridges, and capacity could be in the region of 12-13 million?
Overall, the terminal will be what, 50000sqm, all in. 33000sqm + 11 000sqm + revamped 6000sqm ???
I guess, Belgrade airport by size would overtake 41000sqm Skopje airport and Future 47500sqm Split airport.
However, Zagreb will extend its lead, once the terminal hits 8 million pax, from 65800sqm + 6700sqm to eastern pier + 10500sqm = 83000sqm.
Nice but I would prefer that they spent money on the plan to extend the C concourse like they announced 2 years ago. What's happening with that anyway?
ReplyDeleteThey got the project and documentation approved but they never started tendering for construction. I assume they are not doing it because of the concession.
DeleteCan't wait until they open the one with airside views :)
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteThe rumour is that they will place the observation deck above C gates. I like the new look.
ReplyDeleteYes, apparently above C1/C2. It should be opened by the end of the year.
DeleteThat would be fantastic because then the deck would have direct view of the runway.
DeleteDoes Air Serbia really need all of T2?
ReplyDeleteYeah why would they need so much space.
DeleteI think under purchase agreement between EY and Serbia there is a condition granting JU exclusive right to use one of the terminals. so I guess T1 was too small for them. it is just the question of what does exclusive right to T1 means? will JU get all of the retail space as well or just the check-in counters.
Deletedoes JU really needs it? well in the last couple of years it had 50+% share on the airport, so they might need that much if they were growing, which they are not :/
anyhow, now there is enough quality space for everybody and no one would be impaired if it got check-ins on T1 which is now light years apart from T1 3y ago
They will be getting only check in counters but the last check in counters, closest to the new 400-410 check in desks will also be used by foreign airlines if there is a need.
DeleteIf Etihad wants a new terminal for Air Serbia they should build them one!
DeleteWasn't the original plan for Air Serbia to take T1?
DeleteI'm not sure if the part of the deal of Air Serbia getting a terminal is applicable anymore. In the agreement between Etihad and GoS this was meant to happen in 2014 and it didn't so...
DeletePrelepo izgleda i mislim da su uradili fantastičan posao sa renovacijom.
ReplyDeleteIt looks really great.
ReplyDeleteCongrats BEG. Looks modern.
ReplyDeleteIt looks reallh good! I like it! Once the refurbish those gates remaining A gates, the airport will be good for the next 10 years i think.
ReplyDeleteWhy are they doing all of this is the airport will be given for concession. What's the point in wasting all this money?
ReplyDeleteApart from the fact that the concession tender can be cancelled at any point if the state finds that the bids are unsatisfactory, by investing in infrastructure now that they can also raise the concession fee. Also they obviously have some planned investment schedule which is not impacted by concession or anything else.
DeleteBut you really got to wonder what is the point of the concession. If the airport can expand without taking loans, like it is, why would you need foreigners to come in?
DeleteThey said that the planned future investments are too expensive and that the airport would not be able to finance it on its own. That's why they need a partner.
Delete^^ That is the PR reason. The real reason is that the government has a deal with IMF and have to sell state owned companies to be able o get money from them.
DeleteI'm glad they will finally do up those A7-A10 gates. They look horrible and are the only part of the airport left with the black rubber floor
ReplyDeleteIt's actually A6 - A10
DeleteAmen. The remotest gates (A8-10) are ugly, cramped and uncomfortable as a gate can get.
DeleteReally like the detail of the integrated logo in the seating area at check in. I still hope they will expand the C gates like they planned.
ReplyDeleteMe too, looks nice :)
DeleteWhen will construction of the new control tower begin? Three years for construction seems a bit long. I mean it's a control tower.
ReplyDeleteI think in Q4 this year.
DeleteSo A10 and the C gates will be able to handle wide bodies. Nice.
ReplyDeleteWhen they finish that I'm pretty sure they will dump Wizz onto remote stands. Wizz Air uses those A7-A10 gates. But when they do them up I doubt they would allow them.
DeleteIf Wizz Air pays to use the air bridges at BEG then I don't see why they would put them at remote stands. Since they use the air bridges at the moment I assume they do pay for the,.
DeleteWizz Air doesn't use the airbridge, they are just parked next to it. Even though the aircraft is connected to it, you still use the stairs, walk over the tarmac and then board the plane through the stairs. So in a way it's a waste of an airbridge.
DeleteThey should just move them to the B platform.
That is such a waste of space. Why on earth do they connect the planes with the airbridges if they are not used?
DeleteI think only those who buy the priority pass get to use it. Also, I think BEG allowed them this because they didn't have the need for all those air bridges in the past. With BEG traffic increasing I am sure this will change, especially around noon.
DeleteThat's rubbish; anyone sitting in the front half of the plane uses the airbridge and anyone in the rear half walks down the stairs to the rear door.
DeleteThat wasn't the case when we flew to LCA.
DeleteOK but I regularly fly with Wizzair out of (and to) Belgrade and boarding has always been in the manner I posted above.
DeleteWizz uses bridges, Mostly old A's but once when I flew we departed from aircraft over refurbished A5. I also saw Lufthansa and some other legacy carrier on those old gates...
DeleteThey've done a good job.
ReplyDeleteThey should now replace the T2 check in desks to match the ones in T1.
ReplyDeleteWhy would they waste the money? T2 check in is good.
Deleteso they can be uniformed across the airport.
DeleteCan you now check in and print boarding passes for Air Serbia flights on those machines? They used to be for other carriers only.
ReplyDeleteNo, I think Air Serbia will be buying its own check in machines.
DeleteFor now Air Serbia has check-in ambassadors. They stand in front of check-in and help you do it online.
DeleteSo when the additional 2 ground gates are opened there will be a total of 20, am I right?
ReplyDeleteYes. 16 gates with jetbridges and 4 on the ground floor.
DeleteYou forgot bus gate C7
Delete^True so 21 in total.
DeleteI passed through T1 last night and it looked really nice, a massive improvement compared to what we had before. The whole area is bright and modern looking. Really nice job.
ReplyDeleteBtw VCE-BEG 61/64 passengers. From what I could there were 20 connecting passengers, mostly going to Greece and Russia and a few to LCA which, from what a friend told me, returned 100% this morning with 6/8 in business class.
Thanks for sharing Those are very good loads. Good to hear. Looks like they selected a good route.
DeleteBtw the whole Venice region is covered with their ads which was a nice change. I guess that's why the route is popular with Italians.
DeleteAfter the end of the AUH route they should look into increasing frequencies to destinations such as Russia, Greece, Cyprus etc. where there is year round demand for travel.
DeleteFrom many people's accounts these flights are full and not just during peak season.
Just my 2cents.
Good job Belgrade it looks really nice. Thumbs up.
ReplyDeleteHow many check in desks do they have now? 60?
ReplyDeleteI think 66.
DeleteI hope some new airlines will accompany the updated infrastructure :)
ReplyDeleteExcept for Hainan there is nothing new announced.
DeleteAl Masria starts flights in a few days. Ellin Air, Transavia and Atlas global all started flights this year and Wizz based a second plane. That's pretty good in a year.
DeleteIt would be really nice if they brought back the fountain which used to be in the middle of T1 where there was an open roof.
ReplyDeleteFound it in the vintage photos
Deletehttp://1.bp.blogspot.com/-U-RCKc50P0o/UV7DKNnwvZI/AAAAAAAAIqE/eao3GftAXMk/s1600/t11964.png
That would be really cool!
DeleteAbsolutely agree! +1
DeleteRenowned advertising agency McCann has a slogan Truth Well Told. Airport is on a massive PR roll to spread the news of recent renovation, so the „well told“ part is covered. Let’s see if they deliver the „truth“ part:
ReplyDeleteIn April 2015 Belgrade airport announced two year plan to upgrade and expand the airport:
https://s7.postimg.org/b3ek2nl0b/plan_razvoja_beg_2015-2017.jpg
They didn’t complete half of what they promised. Terminal 1 reconstruction is only half way done, as most the important part – refresh of old A gates, didn’t even get started.
When we look at the financial side of what has been done so far, results are even worse. Less than a third of all investment by dollar value is completed as mostly cheaper, low-hanging projects were done so far. New official gate D was estimated at about 500k eur and deicing platform at 3,5mil eur. Projects that didn’t get done are a lot more expensive, such as old A gates refresh, new fire station (est 8 mil), extension of C concourse (est 15 mil) and runway overhaul (est 45 mil eur). All the figures were taken from links:
http://bit.ly/2r3nryQ
http://bit.ly/2shf82n
Circumstances may have changed and growth slowed, but not enough to justify this reduction. Airport only delivered small portion of project value they committed to deliver two years ago. When you consider new tower that was originally planned to be completed in 2014 and one terminal to be handed over to Air Serbia in 2014, things looks far from truth. Concession and new professional, accountable management are long overdue.
I agree that this is why we need a concession partner that will be able to handle all those major investments, although the control tower is being financed and organised by SMATSA, not the airport.
DeleteTerminali 1 i 2 su kompletirani tek kada se zamene stari avio mostovi, zapadni deo terminala Jedan. Zavrsi patforma za posmatranje, observation platform. Naravno i javno objavljno produzenje zgade na C platformi.
ReplyDeleteIstina, Nikola Tesla Aerodrom nemoze se racunati u prave Evropske aerodrome ako se ne napravi treci Terminal, druga pista, novi Kontrolni Toranj, hotel sa tri i cetiri zvezdice. Potpuno redizajniranim putem i prilazima terminalima. Novim vise spratnim auto parkingom. Novom kontrolom taksi sluzbe... Poboljsanje rulne staze i dogradnja rapid exit linkova. Poboljsanje sistema komunikacione mreze. Podizanje aerodroma na nivo 4B. Naravno to ce sve biti moguce i vise od ovoga dolaskom koncesionara. Bez njega sadanjim tempom ulaganja
To nebi bilo moguce. Sa "nasim tempom, nasom dinamikom", to u iducih 35 do 40 godina ne bi bilo moguce. Ako se ne uklapa u drugacija posmatranja, Beogradsku vazdusnu luku ipak nije moguce u razumnom roku do deset godina izgraditi bez koncesije... Ima ljudi koji misle da nam takav aerodrom nije potreban. Ima ljudi koji takodje smatraju da ni auto putevi ne trebaju. Svakakvih ljudi ima. Zivot i razvoj idu napred.
Iz zimskog Sidneja,
Rodney
Koji ce im visespratni parking kada ni sadasnji nisu popunjeni? U zagrebu su Francuzi potpuno zahebali domacine imaju vise sirokotrupnog prometa no sto im zgrada dopusta. Takvi su koncesionari.
DeleteTreba napomenuti da BEG ima visespratni parking. Ali je skup.
DeleteThis is one of the better comments by Rodney in months. Only his direct opinion, without all the fluff. And I agree, BEG needs a concessionaire asap.
Delete@Radovan Maeinkovic +1
DeleteKad su dva širokotrupca u Zagrebu (Emirates + Air Transat ponedjeljkom i srijedom, te Emirates + Korean) onda je Emirates na gateu 8, a ostali na gateu između 5 i 6. Istovremeno se normalno koriste 4 i 7.
DeleteIn my opinion they need a foodcourt. The couple of restaurants and the Hleb & Kifle bakery is hardly enough.
ReplyDeleteAgree about the food court. A cafe and a Hleb & Kifle bakery really isn't good enough especially with more and more transfer passengers using the airport and spending a few hours in the transfer zone. Duty free zone I think is fine. Its quite large plus there are several other stores as well including a few branded shops.
DeleteGlupost. Ima recimo na terminalu 4 na jfk i uglavnom poluprazan. Pre im treba jedan malo bolji restoran od budjavih fast fudova kao hleb i kifla.
DeleteStorage lockers for baggage would also be a good idea for people with long transfer times.
DeleteYou can't have the storage lockers as long as the transit area is un-secure, ie, as long as security checks are performed at the gate.
DeleteLooks really good
ReplyDeleteLooks nice, love it!
ReplyDeleteGood it was about time they did something with that outdated terminal. Going from T2 to T1 was just like entering another dimension.
ReplyDeleteNice job! Congrats to BEG AP
ReplyDeleteAnd what will happen with much needed runway overhaul?
ReplyDeleteSupposed to start this year
Delete"Traffic will not be disrupted during this period because we will undertake the overhaul in the most risky but modern way, similar to what the airports in Frankfurt and Zurich have done. Work will be carried out between midnight and 05.00 in the morning. This sort of reconstruction is the most demanding", Mr Vlaisavljević told the "Novi Magazin" weekly. He added, "Currently, Chisinau Airport is undertaking a similar project and we will send our teams to review the work being done there".
http://www.exyuaviation.com/2016/12/belgrade-airport-outlines-plans-for-2017.html
In the remaining 5 and a half months of 2017 airport will complete current T1 overhaul and it will also complete runway overhaul, complete A gates refresh and build observation deck. They could not do it in the past 2 years but will now do it in 5 months? LOL ha ha ha so funny!
DeleteThis is all great but they are running around 2 years behind schedule on all major projects.
ReplyDeleteSomehow I doubt they are making all these improvements for T1s biggest user Wizz Air. So I assume there is a catch.
ReplyDeleteThey are not making it for Wizz Air, they are making it for all foreign carriers. Did you read the article? Obviously the current system of T1 being used for low cost and charter flights will no longer be applicable, and Aviolet will also move to T2.
DeleteThanks. I seem to have skipped that part.
DeleteIt's almost midday and I am surprised that the traditional debate about BEG needing a second runway hasn't started yet :D
ReplyDeletelol I think all has been said on that topic.
DeleteMy opinion has not changed ever since, BEG really needs a second runway. In 10 years, the traffic will be 15 million and you will remember my words, ok?
DeleteBut where can they place a second runway.
DeleteParallel to the current one. There is more than enough space.
DeleteThere is enough space but ZERO need for it.
DeleteWhy zero? Please give us your arguments behind this.
DeleteArguments are needed FOR something, not AGAINST something.
DeleteMy argument is that BEG's foretasted traffic for the next 20 years at least does not warrant the construction of a second runway.
DeleteAre you being serious with the 2nd runway??! Belgrade will need at least another decade to maybe reach 10-12 million pax. And before that, discussing a second runway is ridiculous. Nikola Tesla needs a lot of infrastructure, but runway ain't it. Dubai and Heathrow are airports with over 40-50 million pax annually and they have 2 runways. Doha too. And American airports like Chicago, Denver or Dallas, with 6 or 7 runways are pure nonsensical extravagance and over-indulgence.
Delete+1
DeleteLondon Gatwick with only one runway serves 43-45 million a year and rising!
Whatever happened to the whole "Airports of Serbia" thing? They created a public enterprise, employed a few people for absolutely nothing.
ReplyDeleteThey established the company last year but it doesn't include BEG. As expected, it is a waste taxpayer's money.
DeleteWell the government expects the future concessionaire to build a new runway.
DeleteThey are living in dream land.
DeleteIt looks nice. I like it.
ReplyDeleteGood use of space and I'm glad they finally reopened the "Terminal 2b" zone after so many years.
ReplyDeleteWhat is happening with the concession process? When are they going to announce who made bids.
ReplyDeleteLook it up. They will announce the companies that qualified to submit binding bids next week
Deletehttp://www.exyuaviation.com/2017/06/belgrade-airport-to-announce-nonbinding.html
When you compare the airport to 10 years ago it is completely unrecognizable. Both terminals!
ReplyDeleteGate A10 is totally recognizable not just from 10 but from 30 years ago!
DeleteThe only thing left to do to have the complete T1 and T2 done now is just the A6-A10 gates. Then they can start thinking about expanding T2 like they planned with 4 additional gates.
ReplyDeleteVery nice work , now please work with the outside , it looks so early 80's.
ReplyDeleteBTW these days BEG is seeing sharp passenger growth coming from foreign airlines, some 25 to 30%.
ReplyDeleteSerbia vs Wales
DeleteMore than 2000 fans of Wales.
DeleteDid they come on charter flights or scheduled services into BEG?
Deletescheduled services, no charter flights. Only Wales football team charter flight 737-300 Titan Airways
DeleteOT: Eurowings will start two weekly Duesseldorf-Sarajevo flights from WTT. Flights will be operated by Air Berlin's A319 on Thursdays and Sundays.
ReplyDeleteEW 9944 DUS-SJJ 09:10-11:05
EW 9945 SJJ-DUS 11:55-14:00
Well, well. So ZAG and BEG can now be proud of their terminals. Great great. By 2020 LJU will have a new one too.
ReplyDeleteINI - refurbs
PRN - runway extension
SKP - shiny low-cost airport
All good news really.
What about Dubrovnik and Split?
DeleteWhy make all these upgrades and spend so much during a tender process and inevitable sale, am I missing something here?
ReplyDelete