Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport registered its busiest year on record in 2019 by handling 6.159.000 passengers through its doors, an improvement of 9.2%. The airport added almost 518.000 travellers during the year and saw off 70.365 commercial aircraft movements, up 4.3%. Notable passenger growth was recorded during the fourth quarter, with numbers increasing 15.6%. In a statement, airport operator VINCI said, “Belgrade is becoming one of the region’s most dynamic airports, with passenger traffic up 9.2% in 2019. This good performance reflects, among other things, the opening of thirteen new international routes. In 2020, Air Serbia will continue to diversify its network, either alone or as part of codeshare agreements”. Belgrade Airport is expected to have VINCI noted that Belgrade Airport will undergo a major infrastructure overhaul through extension and renovation in 2020, which will in turn transform it into “the future airport hub of Eastern Europe”. The airport’s Detailed Regulation Plan is currently on display at the Secretariat for Urban Planning and Construction of the City of Belgrade until February 10, along with a report on the project’s environmental impact. The plan foresees the expansion and reconstruction of the integrated terminal buildings as well as the overhaul of the existing control tower and its repurposing once construction of the new control tower is completed. The plan also involves the development of a new 3.500 meter inserted runway, which will be built parallel to the existing runway and used during the latter’s reconstruction. Once the overhaul of the existing runway is completed the inserted version will be used as a taxiway, as well as for take offs and landings when required.
Under VINCI’s plan, the existing apron will be expanded, and a new 55.000 square meter apron will be built. The deicing platform will be expanded by another 6.200 square meters. Landside, a new car park, with a capacity for 2.400 vehicles, will be built and new curbside/sidewalk infrastructure and facilities for departures/arrivals handling will be developed. Other projects include road work around the airport, encompassing some 3.500 meters, a new rainwater drainage system, marking and static signage, lighting, a new heliport and CCTV camera systems. Furthermore, construction of auxiliary building facilities and other infrastructure works such as waste water and solid waste treatment plants, a heating plant, a meteorological station and a solar panel plant, among others, will be builtranked among the top ninety busiest on the continent in 2019.
