Belgrade’s “Nikola Tesla” airport transported about 1.9 million passengers in 2020, which is a drop of 69.1 percent compared to the previous year, reports the EX-YU Aviation portal. That was the weakest result for the capital of Serbia since 2003, considering that the number of commercial flights was 52.2 percent lower than last year.
“This situation is the result of strict travel restrictions that have been established around the world due to the fight against the spread of COVID-19,” said the operator of the airport “Nikola Tesla”, the company Vance (VINCI).
This January, Belgrade Airport has a total of 1,428 scheduled inbound and outbound commercial flights, down 66 percent from the same month last year.
Unlike in January 2020, several airlines temporarily suspended operations in Belgrade, including LOT Polish Airlines, Alitalia, Aegean, TAROM, Air France and Transavia, while Etihad and Mahan Air completely stopped offering services.
On the other hand, Montenegro Airlines, which was the third largest carrier at the airport in terms of the number of flights operated in January last year, is awaiting restructuring.
Despite the current crisis in the aviation sector, VINCI reiterated that it will continue with the multimillion expansion of Belgrade Airport.
“VINCI Airports continues to modernize and expand with great strides to make this platform a future sustainable hub in Eastern Europe. By signing a 25-year concession agreement with the Serbian government, VINCI Airports is committed to transforming the airport into a reference hub in Southeast Europe: opening new routes, improving passenger traffic, strengthening Serbian tourism and implementing environmental policy,” it is added in the statement, Nova Ekonomija reports.
