Today, on the occasion of tomorrow’s International Day of Air Traffic Controllers, the Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure Tomislav Momirovic visited the works on the construction of a new tower at the “Nikola Tesla” airport, in which, as he specified, 22.5 million euros will be invested thanks to which, in a few months, the standards in the air sector will be moved to the pride not only of SMATSA and the air sector, but also of the whole of Serbia.
“After many decades, we are investing in a new control tower, where SMATSA and the Government of Serbia are investing 17.5 million euros and an additional five million euros in state-of-the-art equipment. This will be the pride not only of SMATSA and the air sector, but of the whole of Serbia,” said Momirovic, who visited the works on the tower on the occasion of the International Day of Air Traffic Controllers, which is marked on October 20.
The Minister reminded that Serbia is in a large investment cycle and added that everyone knows how to design and build more than 1,200 kilometers of highways, to build the fastest railway in Eastern Europe.
“But somehow it remains neglected to have huge investments with our partners from Vinci in the ‘Nikola Tesla’ airport, to reconstruct the airport in Nis, which will be three times bigger than the existing one. Additional funds have been invested in the airport ‘Ponikve’, investments are planned in the airport ‘Morava’ so that the air sector with SMATSA, the Directorate of Civil Aviation, Air Serbia and airports will completely move the standards in the coming years,” stated Momirovic.
According to him, 17.443 million euros have been allocated for the construction of the most modern facility in Europe, and the completion of construction works is expected by the end of 2021, followed by handover of works, technical inspection of the constructed facility and obtaining a use permit.
The first two months of next year are scheduled to be used to install devices and systems to provide air traffic control services and the necessary integration with other systems. The investment value of the operational segment of the project is around 4.9 million euros.
Momirovic congratulated the employees on tomorrow’s International Air Traffic Controllers’ Day and reminded them how demanding the work they do is, especially if we take into account the intensity of air traffic over Serbia, which sometimes flies 3,500 planes a day.
“That is exactly why the Republic of Serbia will always be with the controllers who perform their work in very difficult and stressful circumstances,” said Momirovic.
SMATSA Director Predrag Jovanovic emphasized that after 60 years, the “Nikola Tesla” Airport and Flight Control will get a new 75-meter-high tower, with 120 square meters of operating room at the top, where the most modern equipment will be installed.
The existing tower was built in 1962 and today it is inadequate because it does not meet the requirements of the users.
“Given the lack of space and the impossibility of modernization and installation of additional technical equipment and systems in the tower dome, the construction of a new control tower will create conditions for uninterrupted and quality provision of flight control services,” said Jovanovic, Politika reports.
