Belgrade Airport

On 22 March 2018, VINCI Airports signed a 25-year concession contract with the Government of Serbia covering Belgrade Nikola Tesla airport financing operations, maintenance, extension and reconstruction with an investment plan of more than €730 million over the course of the concession period.

Belgrade Airport is an international airport and the largest and the busiest airport in Serbia, situated 18 km west of downtown Belgrade.

In 2024, more than 8.36M passengers were welcomed at Belgrade Airport. 

The project goals

• Improved infrastructure, capacity, commercial offers, comfort, customer experience and service quality
• Increase of passengers to 15 million by the end of concession
• Introducing sustainable and environment friendly business operations, in line with VINCI’s worldwide practice
• Belgrade airport as the hub for Southeast Europe – driving economic and touristic development of Serbia connecting it further to the rest of the world

Major works

The majority of the construction works were completed in 2023 and have increased airport capacity, comfort and overall experience for passengers and all users. Major works include:

• Modernization and extension of the passenger terminal with 40.000m² expansion
• 12 new gates
• First deep reconstruction of the main runway after more than 60 years (2024) and new, second, 3.5km runway with additional taxiways which will remain in use
• 11 additional aircraft parking stands
• New de-icing pad
• New car parks and access roads
• 9.000m² expansion and redesigned commercial area with a mix of local flavours and international brands

Innovations introduced

• Centralized security centralization of security control instead of waiting in front of gates enabling open space boarding gate concept
• 2nd floor (roof corridor) – separation of the departing and arriving passengers by levels
• Travellators to ease and speed up the passenger’s movement

Ahead of summer season 2024 capacity has been increased at key points of passenger flows, such as flight check-in counters, passport and security controls, the baggage management system has been improved, and a new, main duty-free store, three times larger than the previous one, has been opened. Increased capacity 2019 vs 2024:

• Terminal m2:  54,315 vs  93,651 – +39,300 m2
• No of gates: 19 vs 31 – +12
• Aircraft parking stands: 27 vs 38 – +11
• Parking spaces: 1,239 vs 2,880 – +1,641
• Check in counters: 61 vs 90 – +29
• Passport control counters: 20 vs 29 – +9
• Commercial area m2: 4,996 vs close to 9,000 (in progress) – +4,000 m2

Environment

Thanks to commitment to VINCI Airports’s global policy which aims for net zero CO2 emissions by 2050, sustainable operations and the construction of new eco – friendly facilities, the airport has reduced its CO2 emissions by 23% since 2019, increased its waste recycling rate to 70%, and is effectively treating sanitary wastewater generated at the airport. These initiatives make Belgrade Airport unique in Serbia. The airport has ACI Airport Carbon Accreditation Level 3 certificate.

New heating plant

• State-of-the-art tri-generation technology and a total heat capacity of 44 MW
• It minimizes environmental impact by using less polluting energy sources and transiting from heavy fuels to natural gas.
• The expected reduction of CO2 is about 25%, corresponding to reduction of emissions of 3,000 tons of carbon dioxide.

1MWp solar power plant

• Photovoltaic solar system with 3,000 modules is located on a surface area of 15,900 m2
• Electricity for airport complex from renewable sources, approx. 1,130,000 kWh of green electricity per year (comparable to the annual consumption of 430 households)
• The expected reduction of CO2 is about 10%

LED lightning

• Introduced in the terminal and new parking areas
• 140 LED lighting poles installed using solar energy, not requiring conventional electrical power from the grid
• According to initial projections, solar lighting will reduce the emission of harmful gases by 67,600 kg per year.

Solid waste sorting plants

• Two facilities intended for the separation of waste generated in the wider airport complex and aircraft waste.
• Increased rate of recycled waste from 5% in 2019 to 70% in 2023, aligning with VINCI Group’s goal of zero waste to landfill by 2030.

Routes:

• 72 in 2019 vs 116 in 2024
• New 83 routes compared to 2019
• New 46 destinations compared to 2019