VINCI prepares for Belgrade Airport takeover


The French concession and construction company VINCI is readying to take over operations at Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport this autumn with a number of preparatory measures taking place. The concessionaire has set up its Serbian subsidiary - VINCI Airports Serbia - which is being headed by Massimo Bruzzo, who previously served as the French company's Regional Head for Structured Finance, as well as the Project Director for Business Development. VINCI representatives have been touring and assessing the airport over the previous month as they seek to quickly reorganise and optimise passenger flows and expand retail areas following the takeover and prior to undertaking more wide-ranging work. The company plans to utilise the majority of the 732 million euros it has earmarked for investment in the airport by 2023.

In the lead-up to VINCI's takeover, the Serbian government has transferred 28 plots of state-owned land around the airport's premises to allow for its expansion. Furthermore, after ten years, the airport has been granted control of all car parks located on its premises. As the only supplier of car parking on its grounds, the airport is expected to earn significant profits. Up until now, the state-owned Parking Service company has been running and managing all car parks within the airport complex. VINCI Airports has also filed a concentration report, as well as an application for the protection of data, with the Serbian Commission for Protection of Competition. This has raised questions whether details of the concession agreement will be made public. The Serbian government has so far insisted it would publish details of the 1.5 billion euro deal following the financial close of the agreement, expected sometime between September and November of this year.

Touching upon its future plans, VINCI Airports Chairman, Nicolas Notebaert, previously said, "In the digital economy of today, we will bring many new things to Belgrade from the very beginning in terms of quality of service. We will also develop a very strong airline marketing development policy for the airport. We will work very hard with other airlines to create routes which develops connectivity for the country and the city and brings many new visitors. This is our motto. We believe in the project and we think that with our network and knowledge we can also try to bring the best airlines to open new routes and enable new connectivity". He added, "Within Nikola Tesla Airport, we will deploy our HR (human resources) policies, values and practices, social dialogue, health and safety at work, training - through our VINCI Airports Academy - management, innovation and very entrepreneurial culture because we are the first private airport operator in the world. We look forward to making Nikola Tesla Airport our herb in the Southeast Europe region".

Comments

  1. Anonymous09:04

    "We will work very hard with other airlines to create routes which develops connectivity for the country and the city and brings many new visitors."

    Good to hear. Looking forward to the new arrivals. Wonder who we might see.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:08

      On my opinion, we will see more French connections: ORY, LYS, TLS, NCE, MRS, BOD. The return of AF or Joon.
      Maybe flights to Guadeloupe or Réunion Island...

      Delete
    2. Nemjee09:10

      Ok, you are trolling with the last part but I think it's realistic to expect more links with CDG, ORY, LYS and maybe MRS on a summer seasonal basis.

      They might also encourage easyJet to expand or Wizz Air to add a third plane.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:31

      javio se Gvadalupe,haha

      i dont know about serbian diaspora in France bu i think Nizza is popular with the BEG bling bling crowd

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:36

      In don't see anything wrong of being offered charters to more exotic places. Serbs can enjoy a new experience. It's not always the Mediterranean or Egypt.
      Those French islands ara amazing.

      Delete
    5. Nemjee09:38

      Yes but those exotic French destinations are widely available via CDG. There aren't enough passenger to warrant a non-stop flight.

      That said, what we might see are certain charter flights to Cuba, after all, we almost got them some years ago.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous09:55

      I disagree with you regarding the French Overseas Territories. You cannot convince me that you can't fill a 260 A330 to Guadeloupe or Reunion with 1 weekly flight in winter.
      BEG can then be the first airport in Eastern Europe to have this product.
      Either way, I will email Vinci to ask, doesn't cost a thing.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous10:23

      Anonymous at 9:55 AM

      SMFH...

      Delete
    8. Anonymous10:46

      not even FRA LHR have Guadalope, sta sanja onaj tip

      Delete
    9. Anonymous11:47

      Guadeloupe&Reunion you forgot Papeete and Bora Bora hahahahaha, I haven't laughed this much for long long time, you really made my day :) :) :) I mean yes, I wrote yesterday in anniversary greetings post that I believe both BEG and ZAG will have some 10 long hauls each in next 3-4 years, like China, India , US, Canada but Guadeloupe&Reunion OMG some people really cannot get down to the Earth

      Delete
    10. Anonymous12:26

      We really need better connections with France and flight to Lisbon. That is feasible in short period. Hope they will bring AF back and boost Easy jet operations.

      Guadeloupe and/or Reunion are not impossible. More and more people from Serbia are travelling to exotic destinations. If they are marketed well some winter charters could work. The same goes for more likely destinations - Varadero/Havana, Punta Cana, Bangkok.

      Delete
    11. Anonymous12:49

      It seems Anon 12:26pm is the sole person with common sense.
      Of course Serbians want to explore the world. There are no visas for Guadeloupe or Réunion, so charter flights are quite realistic. I hope Vinci is reading between the lines of our debate.

      PPT and Bora Bora are far away.

      BEG-PTP would be a 9 hour flight and can be operated by a mono economy class A330 or 767. Packages can be sold by local tour operators.

      Delete
    12. Anonymous14:10

      Nope, NOU is way too far and expensive.
      Guadeloupe is in the Caribbean and not that far from BEG.
      Did you know that there are charters from WAW to the following destinations:

      Bangkok–Suvarnabhumi, Cancun, Denpasar/Bali, Ho Chi Minh City, Panama City, Rio de Janeiro, Varadero, La Romana, Punta Cana.

      If it is possible from WAW then, there is no reason why this can be replaced with the French islands.

      Delete
    13. Anonymous14:11

      It is possible from WAW because Poland has a population of almost 40 million.

      Delete
    14. Anonymous14:15

      Polish population is spread out so the city itself serves less than half of the country.

      Delete
    15. Anonymous14:32

      So, say BEG is 2 million with catchment area. There is absolutely no way not to able to sell a full plane to those islands. 200 seats out of 2 million population is 0.0001 of the entire BEG population.
      If you have 4 flights per month from Nov-March that's 40 return flights * 260 seats makes 10400 seats during the entire winter season. If the average price of seat is 500€ then voilà, this can easily be achieved.

      Delete
    16. Anonymous14:45

      In what universe is BEG's catchment area 2 million?

      You have that many in Belgrade alone. Add another 2 million in Vojvodina and we are already at 4.

      Timis county, among the wealthiest in Romania, has 680.000.

      We are already at 4.685.000.

      Say there is another 2 million south of Belgrade and we are already at 6.685.000.

      Csongrad in Hungary has 400.000 so we are at 7.000.000.

      Bács-Kiskun County has another 500.000 so we are at 7.500.000.

      Bekes has 350.000 so we reach 8.850.000 and then to this add eastern Croatia Bosnia and we comfortably pass the 10.000.000 mark and that's without south-western Romania.

      Delete
    17. Anonymous14:55

      So, if 10 million people cannot fill a 200 seated aeroplane, then we have problems. Serious problems.
      People here think that it's all about flights to German towns.
      Middle class people would gladly pay a bit more and travel a bit far to find new places. Enough of lame destinations to the same places every year.

      Delete
    18. Anonymous15:39

      Indeed. If people are offered good packages they will travel to far away destinations.

      Delete
    19. Anonymous15:44

      I don't think Hungarians (from HU) use BEG.

      Delete
    20. Anonymous16:14

      Why wouldn't they? Szeged is halfway between BEG & BUD and there is a highway between.

      Delete
    21. Anonymous16:25

      WizzAir could expand massively in Belgrade, add 4th plane, 130 weekly flights out of Belgrade, handling 1.36 million per year.

      Return of Air France is possible, with twice weekly service to Paris CDG in winters and 6 weekly in summer months, but all depends on demand, Air France pulled out cause they had low load factor on the route.

      Return of BA is unlikely, as UK has strict visa regime in place with Serbia, and Air Serbia barely fills the plane on London route.

      SAS, KLM, not sure, there's very little demand for the route, Norwegian and Transavia aren't doing well on the route.

      Cause the deal is so secretive, it is hard to find out what exactly is Vinci buying, and expanding @Belgrade airport.

      Belgrade really needs more platform space, right now there are only 278 platform positions for single isle aircraft. Add 3 wide body aircraft, and you're down to 24, this needs to expand, Belgrade with projected 6.0 million pax in 2020 and 12 million by 2030, should have at least 40 parking positions for single isle aircraft.

      This is way less than Bucharest, Belgrade often likes to compare itself to.

      Ideally new modern 45000sqm terminal should be built, and present two terminals combined in to a single terminal for more space and higher capacity.

      Current terminal has designed capacity of around 10 million pax, with maximum capacity of around 15 million, so new terminal should be ready by 2024 ideally.

      Construction of 2nd runway is also a must, improvements or moving the Cargo terminal which now looks more like a shack.

      New parking structures must be added as well, ideally multi story car park, for up to 2000 cars.

      however, all these improvements are still bellow €740 million supposed investment.

      Am i missing something ?





      Delete
    22. Anonymous16:28

      How do you know Norwegian and Transavia "are not doing well"? Transavia has doubled its flights from AMS to BEG compsred to last summer to 6x per week. I doubt that is a sign of them doing poorly.

      Delete
    23. Nemjee16:36

      Wait... what?

      First of all, when AF suspended BEG their average LF was 86%! They cut the route because their costs were extremely high and didn't allow them to make enough money on the route. Btw this was even before Wizz Air launched flights out of BEG.

      If/when AF does return I am sure it will be with daily flights as JU and W6 are constantly full.

      In what universe there isn't demand from BEG to The Netherlands? JU has 10 weekly flights to AMS year-round and very often it manages to fill the A320.

      Transavia doubled its flights from AMS while W6 increased BEG-EIN a while ago.

      I guess you are right about DY. They are doing so poorly that they increased OSL to 3 weekly and they actually operate it the whole summer.


      BEG might have the capacity of 10 million but upgrades are already needed now. In summer all airbridges are occupied in the morning and around noon. Afternoon bank is also almost full. There are only three bus gates to serve 11 remote stands (4 on C and 7 on the B platform).

      Delete
    24. Nemjee16:38

      FYI LHR is among JU's most profitable destinations and flights are P.A.C.K.E.D. both in business and economy class.

      There is a reason why JU manages to operate 9 weekly in summer and 7 weekly in winter.

      That said, I would love to hear where you got your info from.

      Delete
    25. Anonymous17:27

      @anon 4:25
      I am not sure your info on Transavia is right. They are packed with O&D passengers plus transfers.
      On the other hand I am not sure whether JU is making good money both to AMS and CDG as most people are transferring to AF and KLM so these seats are sold at low price.
      @Nemjee this is even more the case with LHR. Half empty most of the time, astronomical costs and lots of cheap seats for Virgin transfers.

      Delete
    26. Nemjee17:33

      I know from a reliable source at BEG that LHR has very good loads, especially in summer.

      Mind you, most transfers onto Virgin were to JFK so they were replaced by locals. Demand for London was always strong. Remember, Jat performed really well.

      Delete
    27. Anonymous17:42

      Ovde se stvarno izmišlja i piše kako kome padne na pamet. Transavija ne da je puna nego je rasprodata i po nekoliko nedelja unapred. AS is LHR je također prebukirana, i to je jedna od bolje popunjenih linija. Zašto ljudi vole da ovde lažu to je neverovatno

      Delete
    28. Anonymous18:07

      JU was always performing well on LHR route during school holidays. Every time I fly outside this periods it is always really comfortable with lots of empty seats.

      Delete
    29. Anonymous18:41

      Anonymous June 2, 2018 at 6:07 PM

      Ne znam zasto pises neistine, 2 puta mesecno putujem u London sa JU (firma mi placa karte koje nimalo nisu jeftine) i avion je uvek pun kako tokom sezone tako i u novembru i februaru. Da se razume, preko 80% su O&D putnici.

      Delete
    30. Anonymous18:43

      Anon 5:27pm is right. LHR is not as profitable to JU as ZRH and SVO are. Slots are extremely expensive and you have to ensure a high LF.
      What JU can do is launch flights to ORY and then connect to the French Islands with French Blue or Air Caraibes.
      Level is also launching flights to Guadeloupe next month.
      BEG doesn't need more flights to Holland, it's more than enough.

      Delete
    31. Anonymous19:03

      SVO was the worst performing route last winter, so much for your post. ;)

      Delete
    32. Anonymous21:04

      @last anon
      SVO worst performing?!

      Delete
    33. Anonymous22:01

      Purger went to Guadeloupe in late 2015, same writing style as Guadeloupe anons above. Draw your own conclusion.

      BEG-LHR is doing very well indeed, both from other sources and my own travel experiences outside of school holidays.

      Delete
    34. Anonymous23:21

      @anon 6:41
      We obviously do not take same flights :)))

      Delete
    35. Anonymous05:26

      What's your point about Purger now?

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:05

    Very nice! It's really impressive how BEG is one of the most dynamic airports in SE Europe.
    I hope INI follows the same path & gets privatised to Fraport or TAV.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:33

      Nobody would buy INI if they are constrained by law not to grow and develop in too much.
      The GoS agreement with Vinci stipulates that.
      Which is good news for SKP, PRN and even SOF airports.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:41

      Good point. However, it's so evident how well INI is performing without privatisation and already catching up with SKP. Just imagine what will happen if a huge operator takes it over...definitely an economic boom and soaring numbers.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous12:28

      That INI cap on growth is probably only one of bad aspects of that concesion deal.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous13:22

      what exactly is INI catching up with SKP??

      infrastructure/navigation system?
      number of carriers?
      pax number?

      Delete
    5. Anonymous13:31

      Well INI scored Swiss and Ryanair. We gotta give them credit for that. Also soon they will get a more modern ATC control. :)

      Delete
    6. Anonymous14:13

      True dat mate. All those small improvements make big impacts as we saw.
      For example tomorrow LX will arrive with A320 from ZRH and not smaller CS100. Yesterday same thing.
      W6 will fly A321 in winter too.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous18:08

      Hopefully citizens of Nis will be able to defend their airport!

      Delete
  3. Nemjee09:09

    Basically the only thing they said was: we will work to bring new airlines so that we can make more money.

    Nothing concrete on upgrading airport infrastructure. I am disappointed they haven't mentioned any (serious) investment into airport's cargo facilities. Widebody cargo planes are regular visitors and they are forced to use several remote stands either on the B or C platform.

    As for airlines, there are two I see coming and they are TAP and airBaltic.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:24

      Vlaisavljevic said the airport would be unrecognisable in 5 years because of all the stuff VINCI has planned. I think they just don't want to reveal it yet.

      Delete
    2. Nemjee09:43

      I am certain the airport will be reconstructed and eventually expanded but I have a feeling it won't be happening right away.

      BEG could use an expansion as it becomes extremely overcrowded during the waves of departures.

      Naturally it goes without saying that A6-A10 area should be their top priority. It looks like a scene from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous12:30

      A6-A9 could be revamped over winter. It is not a huge investment. What we need is a new proper terminal for legacy carriers leaving existing two for LCCs.

      Delete
  4. Anonymous09:12

    They will try to get JU to fly to ORD for sure.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous09:15

    I believe we will have major expansion of low cost carriers... Can't wait to see Ryanair, Volotea, Vueling (from Rome and Vienna), and of course further expansion of Wizz to other destinations with more airplanes based in Beg.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:33

      You forgot the return of BT and TP. Also, Laudamotion.
      In terms of being regional hubs, both BEG and RIX are competing. BEG being the southeast, regional hub and RIX being the northeastern one.
      Vinci should consider this, as RIX is seriously growing too, although BEG beats with flights to China, USA and Middle East.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:03

      RIX is growing quite nicely as well. In Q1 it served 1.352.776 passengers while BEG had 997.518. The two airports are not far from each other but BEG has still a lot of catching up to do.

      However BEG has a better geographical location and a larger catchment area.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:31

      RIX is also closer to richer Scandinavian countries, Belarus and Poland.
      BT product is similar to JU - buy on board BoB.
      BEG has better connections and pleasant transfer times.
      BT does not have A330.

      Delete
    4. Thing with LCC is that if you have to subsidies them they are good for the city and wider economy but not overly good for the airports bottom line so they’re initial priority could be ‘full service’ or traditional carriers similar to Zagreb.

      Delete
    5. *their (not they’re)

      Delete
    6. Anonymous12:33

      @Q400
      It depends. LCCs passengers at the end spend quite a lot for parking, in airport shops and restaurants.

      Delete
    7. Nemjee12:37

      Good thing with BEG is that they made it clear from the start that there will be no preferential treatment for anyone (except JU) and if they want discounts then there are clear guidelines how to get them.

      All in all, BEG might be earning less from LCCs but they are still making money from them. Pegasus and Wizz Air basically pay the same.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous13:04

      JU should not have a preferential treatment to any company that would be able to handle similar (or substantive) number of passengers.

      Delete
    9. Nemjee13:34

      I agree but so far the biggest carrier is Wizz Air with some 450.000 to 500.000 passengers which isn't enough for the airport to give them discounts. Now if they decide to commit themselves and actually add a third and fourth plane, then the airport might consider it.

      Wizz Air isn't even fully using their A320s in BEG. They are far from being the most deserving carrier.

      All in all right now there is no one but JU that could bring the necessary volume.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous14:01

      Nemjee is right. BEG relies heavily on JU for its operations. Reminds us of W6 in SKP.
      But hey, if that works fine, then why not?

      Delete
    11. Nemjee14:09

      Well, you can't compare JU in BEG with W6 in SKP simply because one dominates the market while the other is constantly shrinking. You figure out which one is which.

      Personally, I avoid JU since they switched to the new business model as the flying experience became quite sad. That said, I don't think you can say that we heavily rely on JU.
      BEG is home to two carriers while there is an increasing number of foreign airlines. Heck, even RO will have more flights to/from OTP than JU.

      Bottom line is that the market is finally expanding while JU is stuck making it easier for others to steal its lunch.

      Delete
    12. Anonymous14:20

      I think JU can try and see what RO is doing. They recently launched Caucaus flights to move away from the LCC fight, which I find reasonable.
      Smaller FB launched SOF-ODS and BOJ-SVO + charters to close, warm destinations, to yet again avoid the fierce competition between W6 and FR.
      JU can still stick to their current business model and look elsewhere. If the GoS is currently seeking new deals, then why not look into Georgia, Armenia, other cities in Ukraine, Algeria - same as BUD did, Riga - codeshare with BT, other cities in Poland such as KTW, resume VAR with normal schedule....
      As you can see there are many, many options for JU to prove itself one more time.

      Delete
    13. Anonymous17:08

      Good points by both Anon 2:20 and Nemjee regarding JU.

      Delete
    14. Anonymous17:12

      There seem to be no strategy to develop the company.

      Delete
  6. Anonymous09:22

    Great news for Vinci and BEG is that FR almost completely closed its TSR base. Lot's of people use BEG as is now.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:33

      haha, but Wizz expanded at TSR.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:49

      Lol! TSR maybe lost FR but RO reacted fast and already launched CDG, STR.
      W6 has flights to Spain and Italy, home to Romanian diaspora.
      After all, it had 1.6 million pax, that's almost SKP traffic...

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:54

      Tarom also cut OTP-TSR so they are hardly a competitor.

      We saw in SKP what happens when Wizz becomes a dominant player, fares start growing real fast. Same will happen in TSR.

      I checked their destinations and BEG has a much larger network to the Balkans, eastern Europe, Scandinavia and most of northern Europe.

      Routes by W6 from TSR are those that are mostly not served by anyone from BEG.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:06

      i don't know what exactly you have seen, but fares with W6 from SKP have not grown.
      I will fly from SKP to BTS in the next 2 weekends for 27 euros return

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:06

      Wizz is servin primaly RO diaspora in IT, ES

      Barcelona, Bari, Bergamo, Bologna, Charleroi, Dortmund, Hahn, London–Luton, Madrid, Memmingen, Paris–Beauvais, Rome–Ciampino, Tel Aviv–Ben Gurion, Treviso, Valencia

      Delete
    6. Anonymous10:21

      TSR has Lufty to both FRA and MUC.
      W6 fly to MAD and VLC, not available from BEG.
      Anyway, FR never succeeded in Romania. They are pulling out of OMR & CRA by the end of the year.
      The same for Bulgaria. They were not successful in PDV.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous10:28

      Also don't forget Wizz doesn't have many frequencies from TSR, Beauvais is only 2 weekly compared to BEG-PAR which is like 18 weekly and there are connections on JU-AF.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous10:41

      TSR will soon have TSR-CDG next month, operated by RO.
      I think TSR has a nice mix of gasto destinations, charters and excellent domestic ones. Flights to OTP,CLJ, IAS & CND!!

      Delete
    9. Anonymous12:25

      How come FR was not successful in PDV? They increased number of routes from 1 to 3 recently. It's also the only airline operating scheduled year-round flights to PDV.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous12:42

      They launched PDV-HHN and stopped it. CRL, BGY are probably not being extended in winter. Only PDV-STN, 3 weekly.
      Sole very successful FR Bulgaria winter route is surprisingly VAR-CRL.

      Delete
    11. Nemjee13:35

      'Sole very successful FR Bulgaria winter route is surprisingly VAR-CRL.'

      I suppose you excluded their SOF operations?

      Delete
    12. Anonymous13:59

      Not all their routes were successful in SOF, neither. Remember the pilot scandal last year? It affected their reputation badly in the country and W6 won the hearts of others.
      Since they based their 3 a/c in SOF in Sep 2016, there were no more expansions ever since. Maybe their biggest successful routes in SOF are STN, MAD, ATH, BHX (because W6 pulled out), SXF (because AB went bust), CRL and FKB.
      In Romania there were no serious expansions in OTP neither. Just AMM and MRS (not from OTP base).
      INI in turn, was the biggest "winner" as its FR destinations remained untouched ever since they were launched. INI-NRN is obviously doing good since W6 stopped operating.

      Delete
    13. Nemjee14:16

      Interesting and what about Wizz Air in SOF? I remember they reduced some operations a while ago.

      I was surprised to see that they were defeated by Tarom and Blueair on OTP-LCA!

      Delete
    14. Anonymous14:27

      W6 in SOF is still doing fine. The latest "south destinations" were very successful. Especially Lisbon and Nice. Athens is okay but a very fierce battlefield.
      Overall, the gasto destinations are dieing in SOF.
      Similar to BEG, the charter boom is obvious.

      As for W6 OTP-LCA, yes! It was a big surprise indeed. But also remember that FR opened a base in PFO too, so it took more traffic.
      W6 situation in OTP isn't bright either. I think they are stopping LIS in October too.

      Delete
    15. Nemjee17:25

      I just looked online and there seems to be quite a few cancellations in Sofia:

      1. Baku - Bhuta
      2. Glasgow - Ryanair
      3. Castellon - Ryanair
      4. Paphos - Ryanair
      5. Pisa - Ryanair
      6. Skavsta - Ryanair
      7. Basel - Wizz Air
      8. Catania - Wizz Air
      9. Naples - Wizz Air
      10. Nuremberg - Wizz Air

      Routes being added:

      1. Edinburgh - Ryanair
      2. Aqaba - Ryanair (seasonal)
      3. Antalya - Turkish (seasonal)

      I remember some months ago when I said there is just too much capacity and that this will happen people started to attack me. Growth we saw in SOF was not organic. Some made it while some other haven't.

      Will be interesting to see passenger numbers in the last two months of the year. So far this year SOF grew by 6%.

      Delete
    16. Anonymous17:28

      W6 "lost" the OTP to LCA battle because RO is based in OTP and has been flying to Cyprus for decades and also Blue Air has bases both in OTP and LCA.
      So W6 was always going to be the underdog in that fight.

      Now from SOF they entered the Athens market were A3 is very strong and there are also FR and FB on that route.
      Plus all the competition from bus companies and cars linking the two countries through good highways.
      I am surprised that FB is keeping the route against all this competition.

      Delete
    17. Nemjee17:36

      I am surprised RO outlived Wizz Air on this route as last winter they departed LCA at 01.40 or 02.40! This summer the situation is actually much better as I think they have a mixed schedule.

      Blueair is actually the strongest of the three so I am not surprised about them. They are popular among Cypriots as well. Mind you, they also had a base in LCA back in 2009 or so.

      Isn't FB flying twice a week to ATH?

      Delete
    18. Anonymous17:46

      Wizz Air is also having problems in OTP. They are cutting LCA, LIS and PSR.

      I guess too much capacity, not enough demand.

      Delete
    19. Anonymous17:49

      SOF-NYO cancelled while INI-NYO lives on. :D

      Delete
    20. Anonymous17:58

      Scandinavia was never successful from SOF. Barely any Bulgarian diaspora. Oslo was also cancelled a few years ago. But...
      Sharp increase to FRA, TLV, ATH, many charters and birth of Tayaran Air will all see changes ahead.
      SOF will easily surpass 7 million..

      Delete
    21. Anonymous18:10

      ATH already saw reductions so I don't see where you got sharp increases there.

      TLV saw just one weekly frequency upgraded to 777.

      All this will hardly enough to bring additional 510.000 passengers this year especially with 6% growth so far and 10 routes being cut.

      Delete
    22. Anonymous18:12

      Catania and Naples do seem very ambitious from Sofia!

      Delete
    23. Anonymous18:14

      FYI Aegean downgraded SOF to a mix of A319 and Q400. Also, didn't Wizz reduce ATH-SOF?

      Delete
    24. Anonymous18:19

      Nope, last year there were no W6 daily flights to ATH, BCN, 5 weekly CPH, LIS + NCE. Also, there were no 3 daily flights to FRA and WAW nor flights to LJU and 6 weekly LY to TLV.
      Of course, the figures will not be crazy high but will remain positive.
      In the winter FZ will go daily up from 5 weekly. LO will remain 2x daily.
      So all those cancellations listed by Nemjee are probably right but....there will also be flights to LIS, NCE, ATH and 6 weekly TLV this winter, which were not present last year. So basically, growth will remain the same.

      Delete
    25. Anonymous18:32

      I think it will be growth between 6% and 10%.

      Delete
    26. Anonymous18:37

      Anon 6:14pm W6 initially launched ATH-OTP and ATH-SOF daily and reduced them to 5 after Easter and then back to daily in summer and again 5 weekly after mid September. A3 are very strong and their rates sometimes are a bit more expensive and of course people will prefer them to W6 or FR.
      FR is solidly maintaining daily SOF-ATH though.

      Delete
  7. Anonymous09:30

    Exciting times ahead. Can't wait for them to take over. Hope we see BA come back.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:33

      No thanks, I would rather have Norwegian or easyJet from LGW.

      BA is basically the expensive version of FR with worse legroom.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:39

      "BA is basically the expensive version of FR with worse legroom." ... good one :)
      I miss BA, I preferred them to JAT on London route in old times, but have not flown with the company for many years.
      I would also prefer Easyjet/Norwegian from LGW.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous15:11

      Norwegian from LGW with cheap connections to North America.

      Delete
  8. Good luck from Zagreb,Belgrade and all the best !

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:15

      Thank you Zoran. It is really nice to read positive wishes from Zagreb

      Delete
    2. Here is another one from Croatia wishing all the best to BEG!!! And first of all flights to RJK to be re-introduced. Keep on going well as in the last and this year, to BEG, and to all of the exyu airports!!! Cao!

      Delete
    3. Anonymous12:41

      It would be lovely to have flights to Rijeka! And hopefully to have the whole coast covered year round from Belgrade.

      Delete
    4. Nemjee13:36

      Would it even make sense for JU to serve both RJK and PUY? Aren't they like 100 km apart?

      Delete
    5. It would make perfect sense to fly each 3 pw. So people who stay just overnight, for business or what ever, could use one to arrive and the other to depart. Those who stay longer could choose between the two, depending of the destination. And transfer pax would be more equally distributed onto JU flights. Once, when and if JU enlarge its regional fleet, this is exactly what should be done. The market is definitely there, both in RJK and PUY, and no one from RJK is expecting anything from OU, as they simply don't care about RJK at all.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous15:49

      Why not? More and more people are visiting Croatia. There is probably room to cover both

      Delete
    7. podrav iz Rijeke, nice to see you back. RJK and PUY would work just as you described. I would use RJK from NS (BEG) at least 1-2 per year.

      Delete
    8. Hi Charlie! Thanks for welcoming me back. Actually I have never left, I was here all the time, just posting as Anonymous during the "ERA" of INN-NS and similar fanboys who used to accuse me of things I never wrote and meant. And let's hope those times are gone and at least we here can continue in civilized manner. Best regards to beautiful NS where my grandma attended "Uciteljsku skoku"

      Delete
    9. Yeah, sometimes the fanboys go to far. It's good that INN-NS is on sabbatical. I have relatives in Hreljin.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous14:27

      @Charlie - are you in NS or North America? You asked for news to be posted later because of time zone difference.

      Delete
    11. Mostly North America, but I do spend some time in NS every year.

      Delete
  9. Anonymous09:49

    Jel u planu razdvajanje odlazecih i dolazecih putnika,tj pravljnje jos jednog sprata ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:57

      Ако се крене у велику експанзију и ако крену да граде нови терминал онда ће путници вити раздвојени. Мислим да за сада није у плану да се ,крпи' аеродром.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:46

      Ako se napravi novi terminal i smanji check in zona na terminalina 1 i 2, predpostavljam da je moguce da se dolazeci putnici spuste pokretnim stepenicama na nivo prizemlja gde bi bilo izdavanje prtljaga. To bi konacno omogucilo da imamo samo jedinsteni security pre pasoske kontrole.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous14:31

      But AMS does not separate pax.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous15:51

      AMS does seoarase passangers. At least when coming outside of Schengen

      Delete
    5. Anonymous18:30

      seoarase?

      Delete
    6. Anonymous19:12

      separate*

      Delete
    7. Anonymous22:23

      gotcha.

      Delete
  10. Anonymous10:10

    There is also something interesting happening. For the first time Wizz is being challenged by another airline on a route they serve. Usually it was the other way around. Let's see who wins on BSL-BEG. My money is on easyJet.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:14

      Much better product and flying times has U2

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:23

      Have you ever used W6?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:26

      Yes, Wizz is much worse than easyJet. Plus who wants to arrive from BSL at 00.25 when there is a normal time on easy.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:46

      Where exactly did you see these flights? Example?

      Delete
    5. Anonymous12:14

      easyJet will fly three times per week:

      Tuesday:
      06.40-08.35 // 09.30-11.45

      Thursday:
      17.15-19.10 // 20.05-22.20

      Sunday:
      06.10-08.05 // 09.00-11.15

      Wizz Air on the other hand will fly three times per week:

      15.30-17.25 // 22.35-00.25

      Wizz Air uses this BEG plane to operate BSL-OSI.

      Delete
  11. Anonymous10:40

    By 2030 BEG will probably be a much larger airport with a large new modern terminal 3 and a second runway handling about 15 million passengers, and INI maybe even more than 2 million. I also suppose KVO and UZC will have some flights by that time. Things are finally looking up for Serbian aviation after so many years :) It would have been even better if there wasn't for war, not only for Serbia but whole ex-Yugoslavia

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Postovani Anon 10:40 AM. Zaista ste rekli sto sam i sam nameravao. Ostaje nekoliko meseci za finansijsku trans akciju. A od novembra velika posvecenost koncesionara VINCI. Neznatan broj ucesnika na ovom blogu imaju uvid u razvoj i ekspeditivnost ove krupnije investicije ovog velikog Francuskog koncesionara. Do pocetka septembra sletecu 79-ti put iz Australije na Beogradski aerodrom Nikola Tesla. Mogu da zamislim kakva ce biti ta Srpska vazdusna luka po upravom VINCI AIRPORTS, kada budem sletao devedeseti put iz Sidneja. Za desetak godina. Ako me zdravlje i zivot podari. U proslih 50 godina letenja bilo je OK. Nadam se da ce i u iducih desetak godina doletati i odletati sa tog obecavajuceg primarnog aerodroma Otadzbine Srbije. Naravno, Niski, Kraljevacki i Uzicki bice aktivni regionalni aerodromi u deceniji koja je pred nama. Vera, nada i strpljenje su preduslov za ostvarenje. Uz pozdrav i zelju za prijatno leto i uspesnu jesen, iz zimskog Sidneja,
      Rodney Marinkovic.
      Aviation Enthusiast & Globthroter
      Hhome Qantasville II.🇦🇺🇷🇸🇦🇺
      Kings Park
      Sidney Australia

      Delete
    2. Anonymous15:28

      Ja sam imao nadu u srpsko upravljanje Nikole Tesle, a vama je važno da bude strana korporacija. Neko se uzda u svoj narod, a neko ne.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous16:18

      It was absolutely possible for the airport to grow and develop with Serbian management. It is a stable and rich company. Any bank would provide money for further development.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous18:28

      What about politics, corruption, cronism?

      Delete
    5. Anonymous21:01

      Airport was doing fine in spite all of that. These all exist in France andany other European countries as well.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous22:17

      Not only that it was "absolutely possible" to grow and develop BEG airport "with Serbian management", but it was also possible for that same management to get into global airport concession business and get airports like Lisbon or Osaka to be managed by that same Serbian management. They would apply their global experience and know-how in keeping non-aviation revenue to minimum, applying 19th century design to restaurants like Hleb&Kifle, expanding D official crossing and other MAJOR construction projects to global airports. Any bank would provide money for further development. Great idea!

      Delete
    7. Anonymous22:46

      Yous serious about Serbian management running airports outside of Serbia? Ok, just reread your post and realized that you were being sarcastic. Good one.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous23:30

      Bit more self respect people and others will then respect you more

      Delete
    9. Dragi Anon 3:28 PM. Naravno da verujem da Uprava aerodroma Nikola Tesla je mogla da podigne kredit. I da razvija aerodrom po proceni politicara... Iskustvo tog aerodroma jeste da su ga razvijali strucnjaci i pamet Srbije do sada. Koji je rezultat?. Za 56 godina postojanja Beogradski aerodrom je dosao do 5 miliona putnika. To je vise od pola veka. Jeste Vi mislili na takvu efikasnost, ekspertizu, sposobnost povecanja biznisa i privlacenja putnika i otvorenosti za avio saobracaj?...
      Oprostiite, ali ni aerodrom ni Srbija nemaju finansijsku moc da uloze jednu ipo milijardu evra za iducih 25 godina.
      Ne da drzava polako gradi 100 godina.
      Jednostavno koncesionar VINCI Airports jeste sposobniji od mogucnosti Srbije u dogradnji vazdusne luke Nikola Tesla. Do skora Srbija je bila zemlja monopola i u vazdusnom saobracaju. Zao mi je sto ne pisem "patriotski", ali postoje cinjenice i fakt. Koncesionar aerodroma Nikola Tesla jeste VINCI Airports!. Zasta ja nisam zasluzan odavde iz Sidneja. A vi? Sve najbolje vam zelim. Prvenstveno brz i efikasan razvoj Nikole Tesle. Uz otvareni Niski, otvaranje i razvoj Kraljevacke Morave i Uzickih Ponikvi. Aerodromi Srbije su lek za ravoj i skalpel za monopol.
      Rodney
      Sydney. 🇦🇺🇷🇸🇦🇺

      Delete
    10. Anonymous10:32

      Dear Rodney, I am not anon3:28 PM.
      Just to be clear, the whole deal (possible) concession fee + investments are 1.5 bil. Investment is 732 mil over 25 years which is quite doable for a Serbian public enterprise even if the bulk of investment is done in first years.
      As for the concession fee - we are yet to see small print and how much Government will have to compensate if things go bad with JU. Lets not forget Malev/Budapest scenario.
      I know your intentions are good, but I am worried this deal is not good for developing traffic from Nis and Kraljevo.

      Delete
    11. Anonymous14:19

      Investment is 732 mil over 25 years which is quite doable for a Serbian public enterprise

      Обожавам овакву несвест! Јеси ли видео шта су у пролеће 2015 обећали да ће урадити а шта су на крају урадили? Па само најлакше и најјефтиније ствари! Они нису способни да ураде велике пројекте као што су нова писта и терминал, немају знања ни искуства и доказали су то у ове 3 године. А тек што немају везе како да увећају друге приходе и раде као пре 30 година, то је тек срамота. Концесија је најбоља ствар која се десила аеродрому! А развој Краљева и Ниша је као да Енглези кажу да ће да развијају Ливерпул уместо да улажу у Т5 и Т2 на Хитроу, да праве трећу писту итд. Гледај где иду паре.

      Delete
    12. Anonymous19:04

      Even with this current management airport is doing just fine. Many very successful companies all over Europe are publicly owned. If you think that better management is needed (I agree on that) you can always hire professional (inter)national management with expertise and experience. Like any private owner would do.
      Serbian citizens have around 10 bil EUR in savings with local banks, so plenty of capital to finance the very secure project.

      Delete
  12. Anonymous11:18

    A zasto celokupan jutrasnji saobracaj prilicno kasni danas? jel opet pala kisa u Beogradu?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:04

      Не само што је падала киша већ је и грмело тако да нису смели да танкирају авионе.

      Delete
  13. Anonymous12:29

    Milsilm da bi bilo dobro razmisliti o produženju C dela terminala. BEG ima 16 aviomostova međutim u periodima velike opterećenosti to je malo i fale još 3-4 aviomosta.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous13:18

      Not all aircraft need to be connected to the gates. B-platform can also be utilized. There is also the de-icing platform which is not in use in summer.

      Delete
  14. Anonymous13:10

    Yesterday JU flight to Tivat in midday A319 LF close to 100%,same situation with flight to Podgorica. Lot of transfers as well

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous15:36

      Nice.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous17:05

      If that leads to 200+ EUR BGD-TIV tickets it is not good.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous22:49

      Nice that LF is high, people are travelling, demand is there.
      One day they will open up this route to LCC.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous23:17

      Again, demand driven by transfer passangers, fares higher for local population and the whole business concept subsidiesed by two governments.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous08:56

      Demand between BEG and TIV is NOT driven by transfer passengers but by extremely strong local demand.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous10:08

      There are still only 5-6 flight a day during summer season (lot less than in 80es and 90es). Before people started transfering in BEG to TIV prices were lower. So demand is not exactly driven by transfer passengers but they influence loads and affordability of tickets for local populations.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous10:37

      This ticket cost me around 115 euro, i am ok with that.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous12:35

      Tickets Belgrade - Montenegro are still very expensive. We regularly end up paying 150-200 for 40 min flight. We need wizz on these routes to break duopoly but that is being prevented to keep JU and especially YM afloat.

      Delete
  15. Anonymous13:27

    And parking prices are already changed, at least on the pay-per-day parking near gas station.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous15:35

      That is not because of Vinci.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous15:53

      They are preparing the ground for Vinci with new parking arangements

      Delete
    3. Anonymous15:59

      @ Anon 3:35: How it is not related to Vinci? Airport took over parking slots from "Parking Servis" and prices are changed.
      Although, it was expected for sure.

      Delete
  16. Anonymous19:34

    @3:59
    They didn't take over anything, parking space always belonged to the airport it was just managed by Parking Servis until now.

    New management (Vinci) obviously wants to manage it themselves.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous02:57

      Alo, kakav jezik? Šta je ovo?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous08:38

      So they didn't take ove ownership but they did take over management? :)

      Delete

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