PHOTOS: Belgrade Airport construction update

NEWS FLASH


Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport’s expansion project is continuing to advance with the bulk of the work taking place on the new central processor building and the expansion of the A gates area, with an additional floor under construction.

The central processor, currently under development, will stretch over 15.000 square metres and includes the construction of a viaduct for pedestrians and cars, as well as the expansion of the smaller short-term car park which will be located in front of the terminal. The new central processor will enable the airport to boast 100 check-in desks, up to 1.200 square metres of additional retail space and an expanded arrivals area. The project will also allow for faster access and more efficient traffic flow. “The complete reconfiguration, upgrade and improvement of the access road system will enable faster entry and more efficient traffic flow and will increase capacity for short-term and long-term parking. Parking lots will be equipped with a LED lighting system and chargers for electric vehicles. There will also be “Premium parking spaces” available and additional parking spaces for passengers with reduced mobility. This will significantly improve the quality of service, comfort, and accessibility. The works are being undertaken in phases, and we expect for landside contact car parks and access roads to be completed before the next summer season in 2023”, Belgrade Airport’s General Manager, Francois Berisot, said. He added, “The reconstruction and extension phases will bring a brand-new commercial plaza in the central terminal building and additional space for the introduction of various content. This will materialise in the course of 2023”.

Central processor, access road and car parks














Asphalt is being layered on the final segment of the airport’s new 3.500-metre-long inserted runway. Simultaneously, a new lighting system for the inserted runway, which will replace the existing one during its reconstruction, is currently taking place. “Regarding the inserted runway, final works are in progress, and it is expected to be completed at the end of 2022 and put into operation in Q1 of 2023, while reconstruction of the existing runway is to be completed by the end of 2023. Once that is done, the inserted runway will remain in use as a parallel taxiway, and it will contribute to the increase of airport operational capacities”, Mr Berisot explained.

Work is continuing inside the terminal buildings as well, with gates A5 to A10 currently under reconstruction. A new floor is being added above these gates. In addition, work is also taking place at the C5 and C6 gates, which includes the construction of pier that will connect them to the new floor.

A gates 

C gates




Other projects are also ongoing, including the construction of the helicopter hangar, the expansion of the de-icing platform and improvements inside the terminal buildings.





Comments

  1. Anonymous11:40

    Looks good

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous23:33

      Well I just came back to Toronto..and let me tell you it is whole bunch of construction going that you can't tell yet how's going to look..but I'm sure it's going to be up to date with rest of the airport's...can't wait when it's finished

      Delete
  2. Anonymous12:42

    So proud on my Belgrade!

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  3. Anonymous13:33

    Airport terminals are highly utilized interiors where the materials experience a lot of cyclic loading, i.e. one moment they're loaded, the next one not, and so on constantly, forever - which makes them deform quickly. Therefore, you need heavy duty materials, especially for floors, doors and such items. Unless of course you're willing to accept that your terminal will look like a cheap shed after a few months, which BEG management seems to be ok with, sadly.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous15:32

    Looks fantastic yet it's a pity that the airport is not connected to the city by a metro or train link, why don't they create a direct and fast train called BEG Express similar to what they do in Paris with the CDG Express ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous16:14

      Because BEG is not CDG and, when it comes to trains, Serbia is two centuries behind France.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous23:44

      France didn't have train link to airport two centuries ago.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous07:48

      Because they are ..... Existing train tracks to Novi Sad, ZG are only ~3km away.

      Delete
    4. First thing they should sort are airport taxis. Full of half-criminal guys bothering people as soon as they step out from the arrivals.

      I had mates coming from UK who paid RSD 7.0k for a drive to Crowne Plaza.

      And before everyone jumps on me with voucher kiosks. Yes, they exist, but not many people arriving to Belgrade know about this.
      Not to mention that taxi drivers don't want to accept a voucher once they hear that I am going to Zemun, which costs RSD 1.4k and rather wait for someone that goes to New Belgrade or downtown which costs RSD 2.5k.

      19803 is number of Pink taxi, they arrive in 3 mins and pick you up in front of control tower --> best solution, based on my 10+ last experiences when arriving to BEG.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous11:43

      I mean, taxi drivers in every country are awful and want to rip off everyone anyone they can. It's common sense to investigate which transportation to use before actually arriving in a certain country.

      Delete
    6. True, but I prefer regulation over relying on common sense :)

      Delete
    7. Uber/bolt is solution

      Delete
  5. Anonymous15:48

    Sorry a bit off topic, I have soon a transfer flight in BEG to INI. Does anyone know what the process is for those flight now that the security is not done anymore at the gate? and what about the passport control? Thanks for your help

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous15:51

      When you arrive in Belgrade, you go through passport control, pick up your luggage and then go up to departures, drop off your luggage at check in desk and then proceed to gate A11 on the ground floor of terminal 1. Security check is at the gate, there is no passport control as it is domestic flight.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous15:59

      Thanks a lot for the explanations!

      Delete
  6. Anonymous16:55

    It has a 2000s kinda tired look but still okay. Terminal in LJU looks more modern imo.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous17:08

      You haven't been there to know what it looks like.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous19:25

      take it easy mate.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous22:52

      Yes, at least 1 proper airport hotel. Definitely.

      Delete
  7. It looks nice, but it would be better if the airport was better connected by highway and railway to the center of Belgrade.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Totally agree... For this kind of airport, a proper railway system is needed.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous17:49

      I would definitely add at least 1 proper airport hotel. Come on, man. A city of 1.6 million, so many transfers and visits with no hotel. Air Serbia could've collaborated with ibis or Novotel or Best Western to open a hotel.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous19:00

      I also think that the key thing that is missing here is rapit transit plan from BEG to downtown. Current system is terrible, and seems there is no plan for one either. I dont even see that an airport station was planned for the future Belgrade subway system. My personal experience at BEG arrivals was quite shocking. Several years ago, when arrived, first thing that welcomed you was a terrible smell in the airport (nicotine-like smell) that reminded me at Santa Clara airport (that airport terminal smelled like kerosene). In last few years, and this summer, the biggest issue for me was disorganized space due to renovations and what awaits you while exiting. A narrow corridor with extremely uneven concrete surface, causing most passengers’ luggage wheals to break of fall off. The corridor is filled with heavy smokers waiting for arriving passengers, as well as lots of random hustlers offering arriving passengers presumably illegal taxi transport. If you are lucky enough to pass through that safely and escape all that, next step is the taxi stop. In my case, every single cab driver refused service to me, after seeing that i had the airport authority’s issued taxi voucher (guaranteeing the official cab fare) so i had to walk further looking for alternatives. The airport shuttle bus to Slavija is very small and has no space for luggage at all, seems to be good only for people with little or no luggage. The airport bus to Zeleni Venac (dntwn) is just a regular local bus line originating at airport station, takes very long time to get you downtown, was truly overcrowded, made every local stop taking the route tru local villages, and offers some of the worst sights you can imagine in Europe (riding it, you will see lots of garbage piles along the road, several makeshift homeless shelters falling apart etc). For anyone arriving from any other country, a truly horrifying experience.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous19:43

      As for rail transport transport to the city, this is the best that we could expect for the time being: (just before half way down)
      https://www.skyscrapercity.com/threads/%D0%91%D0%95%D0%9E%D0%93%D0%A0%D0%90%D0%94-%D0%90%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B4%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%BC-%D0%9D%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%B0-%D0%A2%D0%B5%D1%81%D0%BB%D0%B0-belgrade-nikola-tesla-airport-beg-lybe.1542570/page-570

      Delete
    5. Anonymous19:59

      anon 19:00 +1

      Delete
    6. Anonymous21:11

      Anon@19:43.
      Good idea for immediate implementation.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous21:59

      Also, just do add to my horrifying experience, that i dont understand how Belgrade does not even have express bus lines that i have noticed (the ones that have bus stops about every 10 or 20 blocks, like is the case everywhere else) and why a local bus line is operated from airport and downtown on the metro’s transit system, or how a private operator also does not have service to the airport from downtown with regular semi-coaches ajdusted to have extra space for lots of luggage, like is the case in other cities that dont have the subway/rapid lines built yet. It is a must for such a line to exist, in my opinion, with a mandatory stop over at the city main raiway and bus stations (which are absolutely a must, i think, but i am not sure that these were even included/part of the priority plan for the future Belgrade subway system either). I will not write this time about my other, comparable, also horrifying experience, at Belgrade main bus station BAS, where i was also suffocating from extreme amounts of cigarette smoke, due to everyone smoking everywhere in Serbia, where after approching a station employee to complain about smokers being allowed into the station, he just responded to me: “smoking is allowed” while holding a cigarette himself and smoking on job while answering me. Will leave that story alone.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous22:08

      The airport does have an express bus line from the airport to the city with a stop at the bus station. It's called A1 and leaves every 20 minutes. Ticket costs 3 euros.

      Sounds like you are a bit uptight.

      Delete
    9. Definitely add at least 1 proper airport hotel. Totally agree.

      Delete
    10. JATBEGMEL00:21

      Public transportion between the city and the airport is horrendous. Line number 72 leaves Zeleni venac every roughly 35-50 minutes (if one of the busses hasn't broken down like was the case today for example). Zeleni venac which is run down with broken tiles, cars parked on the footpath between the shops and bus stops, cables hanging dangerously from the ceiling because free electricity for the homeles and who ever else, with a makeshift cardboard box market on 3 fronts selling Turkish cotton socks, underwear, pyjamas etc, homeless people, alcoholics and drug addicts that occasionally fight with each other, and migrants, especially those from Burundi drinking beer all day in those kafanas. What a pleasant welcome to Afgha....Belgrade. The bus is often full with barely standing room. The city GSP couldn't organise anything better even if you drew them an idea with coloured crayons so I don't see that changing anytime soon. A bus line for example to Novi Beograd train station (where the new central bus station will sometime this century be completed) could link you easily to many parts of the city and onto the Serbia Rail network, but hey, thought has to be put into it and thinking is hard. But then again, good public transportation links with the city would take away victims, pardon clients from the illegal taxis which work openly in front of police so thats not good.

      @22,08

      A1 never stopped at the central bus station. It stopped near by at the now former train station but hasn't for a couple years now. A1 travels from Slavija Square via Fontana (Novi Beograd) before arriving at the airport. A1 isn't always every 20 minutes. First departure is at 06,30am from Slavija so not useful for those traveling before 10am (missing the entire morning departure wave of JU) while the last departure is at 7pm (missing the entire evening arrival wave of JU).

      Delete
    11. Anonymous02:30

      The lack of rail or metro and an airport hotel are both a huge problem in Beograd if it already has regional ambitions.

      Delete
    12. Anonymous11:47

      Anonymous19:00
      Well, that's all a bit dramatic. It's nowhere near as awful as you make it to be. Wherever there are renovations, of course it will be slightly inconvenient, but still better than a lot of fully functioning airports.

      Delete
    13. Its not only beg problem. Was in bordeaux 2y ago. Bus no1 is same story as beg no72.... one hour for aprox 10km. But ticket cost 1e...

      Delete
  8. Anonymous19:36

    Arrived from IST on 12 oct at gate C12. Escalator to upper floor not functional, in the long "C" corridor out of 3 moving escalators only one was working. 1/4 of the floor covering removed and already damaged. Really shameful for whoever is accepting this quality of works.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. True, very anoying walk out from arrival point

      Delete
  9. Mogli su da samo malo produze tunele sa gejtovima i srede unutra, ovako je aerodrom postao nakaza i prilicno nefunkcionalan, narocito na dolasku.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous12:04

    You could fix the bathroom on arrivals hall the state of it is awful

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous03:57

    Did they decide on what to do with the old traffic control tower?

    ReplyDelete

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