Very good news. I hope for the best outcome for the airport. It really deserves it.

So the offers are around 600 million EUR up front? Must admit I'm a bit surprised.

Why do I have the feeling that they leaked this to the press intentionally so the Chinese would send in the best offer since they are the last ones left?

Fantastic August numbers help.

With the government offloading the airport off their hands, I am wondering why doesn't it do the same with Air Serbia? It has a 51% share in JU. Why doesn't it sell all or part of its shares? With Etihad becoming a less reliable partner which fastracked the demise of two European airlines, wouldn't it be smart to have another investor there?

And who would buy asl

Not everything is a conspiracy.

Don't get why they extended the submission deadline from September to end of October when pretty much everyone has submitted their final plans?

No chance because under EU rules it would mean that the other shareholder would either have to be from Serbia or a EU country and it is unlikely there is an investor from either of those.

Rumor is ZRH consortium has biggest financial offer. Don't have any firm evidence of this, just what I heard around.

Apparently govt. ask for new operator to build a new terminal, runway, hotel, cargo centre and car park.

If they did do that, then that is a smart move.

Serbia isn't in the EU so it doesn't have to abide by that rule.

10% minimum u džepove ovih na vlasti

I heard this too.

Trust the Serbian press to announce the winner a month before the deadline even closes :D

Why?

Because the Chinese asked them.

Some of that is completely unnecessary.

Not true. As an EU candidate state, the ownership structure has to be minimum 51% owned by a company from Serbia or a EU registered company. Why do you think they sold 49% to EY and not 50% or 51%?

I would start focusing more on attracting new customers i.e new airlines.

I don't know if it was the Chinese but someone did. You can see it on BEG airport's concession webpage. Straight after they announced the final 5 someone requested for the deadline to be extended in the question and answers section.

There are European airlines willing to invest in others. Ryanair and easy jet are bidding for Alitalia.

I´d personally prefer the Chinese

Compared the market size of Italy and Serbia and you will have your answe why they are interested in Alitalia.

*compare

It's quite a lot and they also have to pay concession fees each year.

Also I don't think there was an upfront payment for other concessions in the region like ZAG, PRN and SKP/OHD.

They attracted 3 this year, which ok for an airport handling 5 million passengers per year.

haha so true

The best deal Belgrade airport could get is without doubt the Chinese. The hundreds of millions they would invest would only be part of it since they would invest in tourism as well. If the Serbian government makes a wrong decision about this it could ruin the future of the national airline.

Current BEG management must be replaced by professional management.

Even if one of these airlines would buy JU, you can forget about political routes (JFK) or employing 3000+ people for 20 aircraft.

Not that I see it happening anyway...

It is the largest of the ones listed so its normal that the government will get more money than for those.

Corrupt government will take the French or Swiss money to advance EU accession talks.

What happened to Airport of Serbia and offering all airports as part of the concession? Did they even create that company?

Posle marta 2018 bice BEG, Jadnici sa Francuzima i sitna boranija.

And what's wrong with the current management? Record profit, constant infrastructure upgrades, new airlines, record traffic. What have they done wrong exactly?

New runway? Really? What for?

Take a look at what Gatwick is doing. In 2016, they've had 275.633 aircraft movements with a single runway. BEG had 58.633. Still a lot of room for expansion.

For comparison, Stansted is at 180k/year and Luton at 130k/year.

No need for runway, new terminal is probably not necessary for the next 5 years.

Imagine what would have they done if a professional management was in place which could have attracted more airlines, started building a third terminal. Profits would also probably be double.

Or maybe they take it because they offer the most money?

Apart from a new terminal or T2 extension I don't think BEG needs too many upgrades... especially not a second runway.

Excellent news for Belgrade Airport and Serbian people. The more money they get, the better.

Switzerland isn't in the EU.

Speaking in parliament, Mr Vučić said, "The 25-year concession agreement with an up-front payment will have a starting value of 310 million euros and an additional annual concession fee of ten, eleven or twelve million euros, which will be paid throughout the term of the concession. By mid-2017, the government plans to bring in a long-term partner for Belgrade Airport, which will be responsible for the its long-term development strategy including management, maintenance, financing and capacity expansion".

2016

?

They formed the company. I don't know what airports are part of it, if any, but definitely not BEG and INI, which are the only two airports with traffic in the country.

Record profits are due to their near monopoly on the market.

Only someone who has never flown through BEG could say that a new terminal is not needed.

So what was their initial expectation?

310 million
between 400-500 million?

BEG is by far the biggest prize in ex YU. We shouldn't be surprised by all this

In the past 2 years they mentioned all of those numbers. Last year Vucic even said 600 million but for the most part they have rpeated 500 million.

Well they have always had a near monopoly in Serbia but it is only now that they have such large profit.

LOL why would it ruin Air Serbia's future?

"long-term development strategy including management"

Thank god. It means they will get rid of Vlaisavljevic & co.

Because foreign airlines would be treated properly then.

I would prefer a company that would increase the amount of airlines and frequencies at BEG. Stimulate LCCs and launch of new destination. No matter if they are Chinese, French, Swiss, Indian or Korean.

Really only major idiots can only reveal at this stage that the starting bid point is exceeding expectations ... why would you announce that other than to lower your negotiating power!?! Very smart move indeed from our government officials!

Are you saying they are not treated properly now? Because I see 20 foreign airlines flying to BEG and none have pulled out because of improper treatment.

+100

600 million for the concession of BEG? Who will pay this amount of money? If anybody does, I don't expect that they will invest a single euro in the airport in the next 25 years.

So is this 100 million on top of eur 400-500m or eur 310 million?

Taking AERO market cap from Belex eur 388m, include a control premium of say 20-25%, that's eur 465-485m.
Not sure what concession fee can be received if the bid is eur 500m, considering all other envisaged inestments.
Comparable transactions could indicate higher value.

my2cents

Yeah all those airport planners around the world sure are stupid. I can't believe that nearly every airport above 1 million passengers has multiple runways. Don't they know that they could be saving big money??

Just because Gatwick can somehow get by on one runway (gatwick has always had two runways anyway) doesn't mean that BEG should be the same. BEG is now building the airport for 25 years. Now is the time to develop it. We don't know what the situation will be like in 25 years and from experience in other cities it seems to be a good idea to build runways before the city expands and it is no longer possible.

Hopefully BEG falls in good hands and at least the new management copes to lower the airport taxes to attract LCC.

Vlaisavljevic is leaving no matter who gets the airport.

I am glad they didn't put all airports as part of the same concession. Having a complete monopoly on airport infrastructure in one country is ludicrous.

Another state entity for 'family and friends' ....

The Swiss are not in the EU dude, calm down.

Drzava je bila i bice uvjek los privrednik.

Anon 9:48, sigurno nisi mislio na standard, jer bi onda bilo Slovenija, Hrvatska i "šaka jada s prosjekom plaća od 400 eura"

Jos jedan pametnjakovic se oglasio :)

Chinese are the only ones likely to bring extra traffic. Given their track record in infrastructure in Serbia, it is a safe bet.

Now, politics always play a role in such transactions. Serbia, on the other hand, rarely benefits from these political transactions (Airbus, NIS). I hope it's better this time around.

New terminal is required as soon as possible.

600 million fee and, let's say 200 million additional investment makes 32 million per year over 25 years, sustainable if the annual profit at he moment is close to 30 million. It'll rise through the years to come

Give it to the Turks who are with the Koreans. Turkish companies have developed PRN and SKP nicely.

Sell to a french company or forget your EU-membership -a good example of European values.

I just cannot see the government getting that sort of return... But fingers crossed that what they are saying is true and that offers are well above expected.

I wish gov't strikes a deal like this. Being realistic, bidders also need to make some money because after 25 years they need to hand back the keys.
Growth is the key assumption.

Because they had to write-off JAT's and Air Serbia's debts in recent past.

I wonder how many passengers would BEG be handling today hadn't Yugoslavia collapsed? BEG in its times was quite competitive among European airports.

Very competitive. It was busier than Vienna in the 1980s!

Perhaps Chinese have even bigger ambitions. With airport and freeway access, and potentially railway extension and new river port terminal, this would make it a perfect combination for major industrial zone.

my2cents

Had more passengers than Prague and Budapest too. My guess is it would be handling around 18 million passengers nowadays. Zagreb, Ljubljana, Dubrovnik, Split would also have a lot of traffic.

U novom planu detaljne regulacije kompleksa Aerodroma Nikola Tesla planirana je nova pista, terminal, hotel, parking garaža na tri nivoa i heliodrom. Najveći noviteti biće na polju saobraćajne infrastrukture pošto se planira povezivanje aerodroma i centra grada železničkom prugom. Na prostoru samog aerodroma vozovi bi saobraćali kroz predviđenu tunelsku deonicu, a radi još bolje putne konekcije planirana je i izgradnja još jedne saobraćajne petlje. Budućnost aerodroma odrediće i budućnost velikog broja nelegalno sagrađenih stambenih objekata koji se nalaze u njegovoj okolini, u zaštitnoj zoni aerodroma. Realizacija svih predviđenih sadržaja planirana je u pet faza do 2040. godine

All of that would cost billions.

Exactly @anon 10.39

Yeah people forget that JU started paying BEG its fees last year. Before that neither Air Serbia or Jat Airways paid fees.

These are dreams.

Governemnt did say they will use the new masterplan as a basis for future negotiations with concessionaire, so while some of it may be dreams some of it could become a reality.

Gatwick indeed has 2 runways, but effectively only one is in use at a time because they are too close together. So capacity-wise they have one, redunancy-wise they have two.

Why would you build the runway then now? Purchasing the land and keeping it for future plans is much more economical than building a runway before the traffic (perhaps) raises to the levels that would require its use.

It's a common market, you have to play by common rules. Nobody's forcing Serbia to joing the EU, but if it does, it has to play by the same rules like everybody else.

Are you saying that if LH, OS, FR or EZY based 10 aircraft today at BEG, they would get the same treatment as JU?

Doubt it.

ako se to desi to bi bila prva postavljena pruga u srbiji u veoma dugo vremena. i preteča metroa zapravo. ne sećam se kada su se radila železnička infrastruktura, a da u pitanju nije bio remont pruge.

e sada, najveća prepreka tu bi bio svakako taj tunel. ne znam ni gde bi se to moglo uključiti u postojeću železničku mrežu (zemun ili tošin bunar?)

BEG gets quite a bit of cargo traffic. There were plans 15 years ago for some American company to build a cargo center in BEG. Hopefully the new concessionaire will consider developing this branch.

Belgrade does not need second runway. Even this one is not fully utilized so the second one is surely not needed.

What BEG needs is the following:
- new terminal ==> although it looks like this one is still ok it is slowly approaches its maximum.

If BEG remains with this terminal:
- better organisation ==> despite there are enough passport control points only 3-4 were occupied yesterday that created massive queue in departure hall. At the gate only one person made doc check for whole plane. As there where a lot of transfer passengers it took way too long for that lady to check each of them. No need to say that every time when there was some unusual case she had to make a phone call to, I suppose, her boss and it took a lot of time till she explained whole situation.
- hotel ==> if BEG wants to become transfer hub it needs to have hotel at terminal where people could sleep and have a rest. It does not have to be charged per night as some people need only refreshment and short rest so it can be charged per hour (as in IST)
- Much better parking ==> I still wonder how it is still possible that the way out of BEG airport is in so bad condition. They could at least repare asphalt, it looks like nothing has been done there since 1981
- more fast food shops in international area
- way too small arrival area after baggage claim

If Yugoslavia still existed and there was a peaceful transition to a market economy then I think BEG would have 30 million at least. ZAG probably at least 7 or 8 and SPU and DBV 10 or 15. JAT had big ambitions in the late 80s.

Yugoslavia would be more developed then Poland or Czech Republic is today.

That should be one of the priorities.

There are many other hurdles that EU will throw at us. We shouldn't bend every single time. EU carrot is on a really long stick.

Only Chinese can bring something extra to the table , which will benefit Serbia in the long term.

It will be interesting to see what 'strings' are attached to the airport deal with respect to Air Serbia.

I doubt that Air Serbia can deliver the type of growth bidders will require if eur 500m + is the final figure. At least not on its own (i.e w/o subsidies).

Cargo will need to make a good chunk of any calculation.

Poland is not exactly developed.

Also the new airport operator might want to liberalise airline access through 5th and 6th frredom right.
Also have liberal bylaterals with other countries. ASL might not be able to follow such opening of the market and defend its share.

AnonymousSeptember 4, 2017 at 1:13 PM

Compared to other Eastern European countries, it very much is

Sve to nije u nadleznosti aerodroma.

The way to and from BEG airport is completely new and I saw the work last month.

I don't know if we are talking about the same way.
I meant pedestrian approach to BEG from and to parking after arrival area (through the small tunnel).
I was there 3 days ago and it is still in bad condition

Great article describing Etihad's dire position:
http://aviationweek.com/commercial-aviation/etihad-struggles-reinvent-itself-after-strategy-shift

Unless of course the airport operator who is going to invest millions might want to actually be able to increase traffic and passenger numbers.

Nebojsa, just to be clear, the airport is not responsible for 2 things you have raised - no matter who runs it:-

1. The number of police manning the immigration windows on either departure or arrival. The police solely determine when and how many people they will allocate in any given shift - like it is at every other airport around the world.

2. The number of staff allocated at each gate to check documents is determined by each airline - not the airport.

Regarding to the police - I do agree about it, but still police and airport still have the same owner :-)

Point nr. 2 - I believe you did not understand me correctly. It was not the lady in the gate, it was the lady working before the gate and before security control who checked documentation. It is done by airport people.

Гледам у соц у шољи и јавља ми се да ће у следећа два месеца бити објава нове линије из/за Београд. Прилично велика ствар ако је веровати мојој кафи.

Али колико год да сам гледао у карте, кристалну куглу и шољицу нисам нигде видео да се у јавности износе детаљи понуда за и даље отворени тендер. Ни Тарабићи ни Ванга нису могли ово да предвиде.

They need to do something with the exterior of this terminal ASAP , it's so ugly , so early eighties !!!

Yugoslavia was NEVER more developed than Czechia. And wouldn't have been today either.

It's not like there were restraints on expansion. Airlines are free to add flights if they want to.

BEG is slowly, yet surely soon be the best airport in the Balkans and Southeast Europe. The only airport connected to 3 continents: North America, Asia and Africa. If only they can resume direct flights to Australia then it will be unique! Traffic may easily grow to 15 million by 2025.
What is desperately needed is the metro to the downtown area.

Yugoslavia was America for Czeckoslovakia in 80's. I was there in 1987. You had only cans in stores. People were stopping us asking to sell them aspirin and other things , people could only dream about that. My father , as engeneer had salary 1100$ in 1979. Enough, or more?

An 6:15
First of all, you cannot compare Yugoslavia and Czechia. You can compare Yugoskavia and Czechislovakia, or for example Slovenia or Croatia euth Czechis. Second, people in Yugoslavia lived UNCOMPARABLY BETTER better than those in Czechoslovakia, with much bigger standard and benefits. And the third: Even if I agree partially to your statement that Czechia/Czechoslovakia was always industrially more developed than Yugoslavia, it was NEVER the case with the civil aviation that we discuss here, because Czechoslovakia had one airline, with only narrow bodied Soviet aircraft and very modest network of services, not to mention the number of passengers transported which was some 20% of numbers of passengers transported in Yugoslavia, which had 3 airline companies, american-made aircraft including wide-bodied and triple more destinations in their networks. Cheers!

How is it that a Chinese Co. bought Frankfurt Hahn?

When exactly did BEG have DIRECT flight to Australia? I don't remembery any aircraft have range for a direct flights in the past....

South Koreans are what you need, because soon they might not have Incheon anymore. As in - Incheon might not exist.
Seriously though, Chinese aren't only the best option for Belgrade, but if they don't win the concession, somebody will have done something unseemly to line their pockets.

HAHAHA!!! So true!

There is a difference between a direct and non-stop flight. In English it's different. Google it.

Never going to happen. This is Trump style negotiating. Pompous and ridiculous. Half a trillion upfront...smh.

Yet they had their own factory producing very successful line of L-410 aircraft, not to mention glider aircraft.

Yugoslavia was West in comparison to all those Soviet block countries. If there had been no war, nowadays it would definitely be one of the top 10 European economies. Definitely ahead of Poland and probably just behind Sweden.

Not a big deal sezonski je i Agram povezan sa Afrikom i Amerikom.

Balkans, maybe. Southeast Europe? Not a chance. Even if it leaves Sofia behind, it'll never surpass Bucharest, or Athens.

There was almost a deal with some Israeli company some years ago to build a new cargo terminator.

Nek' si ti name reko.

Wet dreams......not gonna happen.
Tough, does size matters so much?
I don't think so.

But, for narrow minded falks.....who cares anyway?

The Czechs had the L-410 and L-39 but Yugoslavia had the J-22, G-4, and was soon to have a 4th generation fighter jet.

Какав тендер, износ понуда су требали да пошаљу преко Твитера или директно на лични Вајбер.

What 4th generation jet? Yugoslavia had bought 16 Mig 29s and that was it. Wasn't even working on producing its own 4th gen

How were they not working when they were starting the prototype stage? First flight would have been in 1992 and entry in service in the mid 90s.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novi_Avion

What's especially interesting and why offers might be as great is the amount of cargo the airport handles.

August 2016: 1.102.381 kg
August 2017: 2.182.200 kg

That's almost double.
So far the airport handled 33% more cargo than last year. That's extremely impressive and it only goes to show that BEG and LJU will become the main cargo airports in the ex-YU region.

On a similar note, INI's cargo business seems to be booming. I am sure it's a welcome income for the airport.

In 2016 they handled 1.967.808 tonnes of cargo while in the first 8 months the number already reached 1.982.305.
I guess TK Cargo is performing well there. Maybe we could see a second weekly flight soon?

They are only free to add flights to the EU.

That wasn't production. I remember it was a joke because people knew that Yugoslavia didn't have neither the necessary components, nor the money to produce a 4th gen jet. Especially not during Markovic and hyperinflation. Common, get real.

LOL 4th gen jet. Yugoslavia didn't even have a single superosnic jet in their production and you said 4th gen was almost there. Hahahaha.