Serbia plans Kraljevo Airport opening in 2018

Work on the overhaul of Kraljevo Morava Airport's runway, in central Serbia, is expected to resume shortly, which would give way for its opening in 2018, some six years after its terminal building was completed. The Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has said that several Turkish companies are willing to continue with the project, which would include the widening of the runway from thirty to forty metres. The Turkish government, which has already invested ten million euros into the airport, was to donate a further ten million for its completion, with all necessary donation documentation filed. However, in October 2013, as relations between Serbia and Turkey soured, the then Serbian Minister for Construction and Urbanism refused the donation, noting that the country would fund the rest of the development on its own, which it has failed to do. However, following a meeting between the Serbian and Turkish presidents this week, the completion of the project has been agreed upon. "There were some technical issues but we are now certain to overcome them. A high-ranking Turkish delegation visited Belgrade last year to discuss the project in more detail. We haven't given up on it and its completion is now our priority", the Turkish Ambassador to Serbia, Tanju Bilgic, said. The construction of Morava Airport's 22-million euro terminal was completed in 2012, however, its 2.200 metre-long runway can only handle smaller turboprop aircraft.

Last year, Belgrade Airport donated 300.000 euros towards the runway's overhaul, however, these funds were insufficient. Construction of a new control tower and access roads at Morava Airport began in 2011 and was completed a year later. That same 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. Wizz Air recently said it was following developments at Morava Airport and would consider adding it to its network once all construction work is completed. Serbia's Minister for Construction, Transport and Infrastructure, Zorana Mihajlović, said last week, "We anticipate signing certain memorandums and agreements with the Ministry of Defence shortly, so Morava Airport can effectively become a mixed-use civilian-military airport. The reasons its opening has been delayed include the necessity to lengthen the runway and some other things. However, we established the public enterprise 'Airports of Serbia' in order to develop small airports across the country, such as this one".

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 District, in which Kraljevo is located, has close historical ties with Turkey and a portion of the local population is expected to use this airport, instead of Pristina, for future flights to Istanbul. Ms Mihajlović added, "Serbia has an important central transit hub in Belgrade, which is now especially significant due to 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”. Last April, the Serbian government announced it was willing to enter into a public-private partnership agreement with a German company which would operate services from Kraljevo to both Frankfurt and Istanbul. The name of the company was not specified.