The French concession and construction company VINCI has confirmed it is finalising the 25-year takeover of Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport. In a statement to EX-YU Aviation News, the company said, "The VINCI Airports teams have been very busy finalising the satisfaction of the conditions required for the concession agreement to enter into force". It added that it will soon share an official date of the takeover. It comes after the French Ambassador to Serbia, Frederic Mondoloni, said in mid-November, "The official takeover will take place in the coming weeks as stipulated by the contract". It was previously tipped to occur during the first week of December, during an official state visit by French President Emanuel Macron to Serbia, which has been postponed following widespread protests by the Yellow Vest movement in France.
VINCI submitted the best bid for the 25-year concession for the financing, development through construction and reconstruction, maintenance and management of infrastructure of Belgrade Airport on January 5. It signed the concession agreement, valued at 1.2 billion euros, with the Serbian government, on March 22. At the time, VINCI Chairman, Nicolas Notebaert, said, “We will prove that this was the right choice. We have come here as long-term partners. We have an energetic investment plan. First and foremost, our aim is to make every visitor remember Serbia in the best possible way, since the airport is the first and last place they will see in the country. We are excited that Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport will become a true hub in this part of Europe”.
The French concessionaire closed the financial construction of the contract on November 1, when it was granted a 100 million euro loan by the European Bank For Reconstruction and Development. It previously received loan approval from other financial institutions, including the International Finance Corporation, France's PROPARCO and the German Investment Corporation. Meanwhile, Belgrade Airport posted its financial results for the January - October period, during which it recorded revenues of 76.5 million euros, which is up 12% on last year. Furthermore, its net profit stood at 26 million euros, representing an increase of 2% on 2017.
My guess is January 1.
ReplyDeleteMatter of days. New contracts signed between VINCI and employees, French already at the airport, Vlaisavljevic & co packing their things... Probably last week of December or first week of January.
DeleteHave conditions for employees changed with new contracts?
DeleteNo, everything is the same. Pay has increased slightly.
DeleteI am certain Toronto is next, either on JU or AC. Btw the bilateral, does it allow for Rouge or only AC mainline?
DeleteI doubt the bilateral specifies that. Both companies are Air Canada so they can choose whichever.
DeleteThey can't just chose because their IATA designation is not the same, so it's either AC or JU. They are two different business entities owned by the same company.
DeleteAnd that is why JU will fly this route, AC can't make money on it.
DeleteNobady van make. Money as monopoly is name of the game so only vinchi i. Air serbia
DeleteThey have really drawn out this process but finally at least someone has asked VINCI for a comment. They have been completely quiet since they signed the contract. All the comments came from politicians afterwards.
ReplyDeleteIt's a massive transaction, so it's normal that it takes some time.
DeleteThere is a lot of things to do at the airport but I'm glad there are two airlines already announced for next year. I look forward to see what Air Serbia wil have in store for summer 2019.
ReplyDeleteLots of frequency upgrade too.
DeleteBEG-PTP in 2021? <3
DeleteI have a feeling U2 might open a base in BEG in 2020;
DeleteMaybe more long hauls from Air Serbia next year.
DeleteAnon 10.34
Delete+1000 I can see them launch these with Aviolet.
Exciting times coming for BEG :)
ReplyDeleteAjde više...
ReplyDeleteI hope this is when the concession agreement will also be made public. Very interested to see what the government has signed off on.
ReplyDeleteI shouldn't hold my breath. It took them a year to publish the Air Serbia - Etihad deal.
DeleteBut they published it in the end. Same will be with the airport.
DeleteNot all of it, and devil is always in details (annexes).
DeleteGood luck fellow neighbours. Hoping that this concession is good for Belgrade and entire Serbia and region. Looking forward to the future improvements.
ReplyDeleteLets see who will win the concession of our airport next month.
Greets from Sofia.
Thanks and good luck to SOF too. Do you know which companies have bid?
DeleteThere is a huge interest and so far, 2 companies have confirmed:
Delete1. Manchester Airport Group (MAG's strategy focuses on introduction of more routes from Sofia to Belgrade, Zagreb, Sarajevo and Tirana, as well as all other European capitals)
2. Spanish AENA (operator of all Spanish airports including MAD and BCN)
Most likely Fraport (already won VAR and BOJ) and TAV.
The list will soon be published but MAG and AENA seem to be very interested as they quickly confirmed their interest.
Interesting. Thanks
DeleteHold your breath and see how Zagreb works
DeleteWhat do you mean by this? The current ZAG concession?
DeleteWe can't compare ZAG and BEG concessions, BEG one is more promising as Vinci already works with lowcost carriers and they have done a marvellous job at bringing more airlines to serve the airport. Also, at BEG thy are taking over a highly profitable business.
DeleteDid ZAG benefit from the concession apart from the nice terminal building of course?
DeleteHow many new routes were launched after the Frenchies took over?
Any major infrastructures?
I know VINCI have big plans in converting BEG into a serious regional hub.
Yeah but very few of those routes made it through the winter and ZAG will not make its 10% growth target for this year.
DeleteNadam se da ce ovo biti dobro za BEG i da koncesionar nece gledati samo svoje interese kao sto to cine na drugim ZL u regiji!
ReplyDeleteWhat a dumb comment ! What world do you live in ? Ofcourse they are going to look after their own interests - they are a private company out to make money, that's how the capitalist system works. They are not the Red Cross. It is the Govt's job to ensure that Serbian interests are protected and hopefully they will have done this with the concession agreement. Once we can all finally see it, we will know how good a job the Govt have done.
DeleteWhat will be there priority in terms of infrastructure development at BEG?
ReplyDeleteI think first year they will mostly focus on bringing new airlines and they said something like "reorginizing" the departures area.
DeleteThe runway.
DeleteIt is better to build a second runway now, because the price will increase in 5-7 years time. Tarmac is expensive.
DeleteI'm interested to see who will be the new CEO.
ReplyDeleteBruzzo maybe? He is the head of VINCI Airports Serbia.
DeleteHighly likely
Deleteit´s taking forever.
ReplyDeleteLike I said above, a big transaction like this takes time. The important thing is it will happen.
DeleteProfit and revenue results are fantastic.
ReplyDeleteCan't wait for them to take over.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to see their final plans.
DeleteI hope they attract more European legacy airlines that used to fly to BEG such as British Airways and SAS. Nice to see AF coming back.
ReplyDeleteI highly doubt we will see SAS. They have failed on almost all ex-Yu markets and now keep a low profile with some seasonal and charter flights to the Croatian coast.
DeleteYes but BEG is the single biggest market and one of the few to have successfully managed to reduce its seasonality. So if SK can make it anywhere with year-round flights then it's BEG.
DeleteGreat news for Vinci and BEG.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to seeing them run the airport. So far for next year we have:
ReplyDelete1. Lufthansa from MUC, 7x.
2. Aeroflot to SVO, 7x.
3. Air France to CDG, 7x.
4. Swiss to ZRH, 7x.
5. Etihad from AUH, 3x.
6. Aegean from ATH, 1x.
7. ASL from CDG, 2x.
8. JU not cutting JFK while the plane is being serviced.
That's around 34 extra frequencies for next summer season. Quite a jump I would say! I hope we see even more charter flights!!!
I think LO will go double daily, they are killing it this winter!
DeleteToo much capacity added in a short period of time, most will fail as there isn't THAT much demand.
Delete- I am secretly hoping for a FZ > EK upgrade.
Delete- Also more U2 routes: BEG-LGW, BEG-NCE/LYS
- Return of TP, although oddly enough, they are pulling out of OTP next month!
- Return of BT - A220 best aircraft to be sent BEG-RIX 4 weekly as a start
- Return of BA
- New routes to Morocco: RBA or RAK
- Leisure flights to Balearic and Canary Islands: PMI, IBZ, LPA, FUE, TCI
- Domestic Serbian flights
- Upper class airlines: SQ or CX
- Return of flights to PEK
- Direct flight to Latin America in cooperation with TK. >> ISL-BEG-GIG
I guess you just woke up and are still not done dreaming.
DeleteHe is saying what he would like, not what will happen.
DeleteNo need of you to be a pain.
Im waiting for direct flight to Australia in cooperation with AA. JFK-BEG-PER-SYD
DeleteWell, there were flights from Yugoslavia to Australia. You neva know, baby.
DeleteBEG can become once again the sole capital in Central and Eastern Europe to become connected to Australia. Even before PRG or WAW who pretend to be hubs.
Forget direct flights to Australia, that is science fiction in 2019. ME 3 has that stitched up already and add TK in after the new airport in Istanbul is completed and they start flying to Australia as well. And you can add KE into the mix as far as ZAG is concerned too. Traveling from Australia to anywhere in Ex-Yu is a simple and affordable one stop proposition today.
DeleteGood choice of concessionaire.
ReplyDeleteTako je. Sve dajmo strancima. Narod neka plaća vojsku i crkvu, a sve ostalo neka vode stranci, jer mi smo stoka koja ne može ništa.
ReplyDeleteImam ja jedan prijedlog. Ajmo u svim ovim našim zabitima koje su nastale od jedne moćne zemlje sve parlamente/skupštine/sabore/sobranja i vlade u koncesiju!!! Lako tuđim koprive mlatit. Narod stvarao 70g a sad si stranci pune đepove
Pa i to se daje u koncesiju ulaskom u EU.. onda politiku kroji Brisel a mi vodimo seosku politiku po srezovima na lokalu. Izgleda da i nismo za vise.
DeleteA i to što kažeš
DeleteWhy was today's flight from BEG to LJU operated with an Aviolet YU-ANI?
ReplyDeleteAre they going to launch charters from there?
Lots of fllight delays today, probably instead of some other airplane?
DeleteMassive snowstorm in Belgrade, everyone is affected. Both flights from MUC cancelled, LO cancelled... but the worst are Qatar and Etihad.
DeleteQR 11.40/ 18.30 A321
EY 12.25/ 18.45 A320
All, literally all flights were delayed but one... :D
Delete...that one is that Alitalia A320. How those Italians did it I have no idea.
Does name Nikola Tesla changes ?
ReplyDeleteOf course not.
Delete