Niš Constantine the Great Airport

Niš Constantine the Great Airport (Serbian: Аеродром Константин Велики Ниш/Aerodrom Konstantin Veliki Niš) (IATA: INI, ICAO: LYNI), located 4 km (2.5 mi) northwest of downtown Niš in the suburbs of Medoševac and Popovac. It is the second-largest and second-busiest airport in Serbia, after Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport.[1]

For other uses, see Constantine (disambiguation).

Niš Constantine the Great Airport

Аеродром Константин Велики Ниш

Aerodrom Konstantin Veliki Niš
Summary
Airport typeInternational
OperatorJP Airports of Serbia
ServesNiš
LocationMedoševac and Popovac, Serbia
Hub forAir Serbia
Elevation AMSL650 ft / 198 m
Coordinates43°20′14″N 021°51′13″E
Websitenis-airport.com
Map
INI
Location in Serbia
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
11R/29L 2,500 8,202 Asphalt
11L/29R 1,700 5,577 Grass
Statistics (2019)
Passengers422,255 20%
Aircraft movements1,967 39%
Cargo volume1,180 tons 71.5%
Sources: Serbian AIP at Eurocontrol[1]
Official website[2][3]
JP Airports of Serbia
Native name
ЈП Аеродроми Србије
State-owned enterprise
IndustryConsumer services
Founded25 April 1990 (1990-04-25) (JP Airport Niš)
18 October 2019 (2019-10-18) (JP Airports of Serbia)
Headquarters
Vazduhoplovaca 24, Niš
,
Serbia
Area served
Serbia
Key people
Dušan Knežević (Director)
ServicesAirport operations
Revenue €2.68 million (2017)[4]
€0.41 million (2017)[4]
Total assets €6.05 million (2017)[5]
Total equity €2.69 million (2017)[5]
OwnerGovernment of Serbia (100.00%)
Number of employees
115 (2017)
Websitenis-airport.com/ 
Footnotes / references
Business ID: 07343914
Tax ID: 101531405 [6]

History

Early years

The first airfield serving the city of Niš was established in 1910, near the village of Donje Međurovo. In the 1930s, then-national airline company Aeroput used the airport for civil service. In 1935, Aeroput included a stop in Niš in its, back then domestic, route linking Belgrade with Skopje.[7]

Following World War II, the airport was used as a military base. Among other units, it was a base for the 63rd Paratroop Brigade and 119th Aviation Brigade. A portion of the airport is still used by the Serbian Air Force and Air Defence. In 1952, at the site of today's airport, the first concrete runway, measuring 1,500 m (4,921 ft), was built and used for military flights. In order to maintain the pace with the development of military as well as civil aircraft, in 1972 the length of the runway was extended to 2,200 m (7,218 ft) to accommodate larger contemporary commercial aircraft.[8]

In the 1970s, the airport was used for occasional service to the Adriatic coast. By the 1980s, this occasional service led the local authorities to recognize the needs of the people living in Niš as well as Southern and Eastern Serbia and took into account the economic development of the city. The association of economic and political entities prepared detailed terms and in 1986 made a decision on establishing the entity "Airport Niš".[8]

The terminal building as well as the ancillary support facilities were built and opened to service in 1986. This project also included the asphalt coated runway and built-in system of lights that provided visual descent guidance during runway approaches at night. The interesting fact is that the development of air traffic in Niš was not initiated just by JAT Yugoslav Airlines, but also by Slovenian company Inex-Adria Airways (Adria Airways nowadays), although both were domestic airlines back then.

The Breakup of Yugoslavia at the beginning of 1990s brought to the sharp decrease in travelling to the Adriatic Sea, Ljubljana and Zagreb, once the busiest routes from Niš. This was followed by United Nations sanctions imposed on Serbia and Montenegro included a ban on international air travel. In these circumstances the volume of traffic reached its lowest point with the only route being to Tivat Airport during the summer period. In 1998, the traffic volume increased owing to the heavy air traffic from Pristina International Airport which was out of use because of numerous foggy days during which the traffic was successfully carried out from Niš. The airport was heavily damaged during the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia.

The airport was reopened in 2003 with the financial assistance from government of Norway. Damage sustained during the bombing was repaired, including the building of a new control tower and renewal of the terminal building.

In 2004, Jat Airways and Montenegro Airlines resumed flights from Niš to Zurich, Paris, and Tivat. In 2010, Wind Jet connected the airport with Forlì, Italy while Montenegro Airlines linked it with Podgorica on a daily basis. The route to Podgorica was discontinued in 2013 because of low passenger numbers. For more than two years (2014-2015) there were only charter flights to and from Niš.

Recent developments

The expansion in traffic began in 2015 when low-cost airline Wizz Air launched flights to Basel and Malmö. Shortly after, Ryanair followed the suit by announcing flights to Berlin. In 2016, both Wizzair and Ryanair announced more flights from Niš, respectively Wizzair to Dortmund, Eindhoven, Memmingen and Ryanair to Weeze, Bergamo and Bratislava. Shortly after the launch of these flights Niš experienced triple-digit growth in passenger traffic, exceeding the previous record figure. On October 2016, Turkish Cargo, the airline for the transport of cargo which is a part of Turkish Airlines commenced scheduled cargo service between Niš and Istanbul.[9] In November 2016, Swiss International Air Lines announced flights to Zurich, operated by the Airbus 320. In December 2016, Swiss got direct competition when Germania Flug announced flights to Zurich, starting June 2017 operated by the Airbus 319.

In December 2016, it was announced that Constantine the Great Airport airport began overhaul of its terminal by expanding check-in and boarding space, as well as building a new exterior and fixing the roof. The project is being funded jointly by the Government of Serbia and local authorities. Furthermore, the Serbia and Montenegro Air Traffic Services Agency (SMATSA) plans to start construction of a new control tower next year and will invest a million euros in an instrument landing system (ILS), which provides guidance to aircraft approaching and landing on a runway during low ceilings or reduced visibility due to fog, rain or snow.[10]

In January 2018, the Government of Serbia granted a 25-year concession of the Serbian largest Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport to the French airport operator Vinci Airports for a sum of 501 million euros.[11] As part of the deal, other three Serbian civil airports (Niš Constantine the Great Airport, Ponikve Airport and Morava Airport) are restricted when it comes to annual passenger flow expansion; they are allowed to increase to a maximum of 1 million passengers over the next 12 years.[12]

Plans exist for Niš Constantine the Great Airport to be linked to twelve more European cities, after Government of Serbia publish document about lines of public interests. Companies with the best offers will be granted 5 million euros. Twelve destinations of public interest are Frankfurt, Rome, Hannover, Ljubljana, Bologna, Budapest, Göteborg, Friedrichshafen, Karlsruhe, Salzburg, Nuremberg, Tivat.[13]

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Niš Airport:

AirlinesDestinations
Air Serbia Bologna, Friedrichshafen, Gothenburg, Hahn, Hannover, Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden, Ljubljana, Nuremberg, Rome–Fiumicino, Salzburg
Seasonal: Tivat
Ryanair Bergamo, Berlin–Brandenburg (begins 25 October 2020), Berlin–Schönefeld (ends 22 October 2020), Bratislava, Malta
Wizz Air Basel/Mulhouse, Dortmund, Memmingen, Malmö, Vienna[14]

Cargo
AirlinesDestinations
Turkish Cargo Istanbul–Atatürk[15]

Statistics
Terminal interior (prior to overhaul)
Check-in area
Duty Free Shop at Niš Airport
Year Passengers Change Aircraft movements Change Cargo (t) Change
2004 19,040 927% 284 13% 147
2005 26,787 41% 315 11% 452 207%
2006 35,518 33% 382 12% 112 75%
2007 30,453 14% 456 19% 448 300%
2008 22,870 24% 353 23% 163 64%
2009 17,159 25% 349 1% 390 139%
2010 23,627 38% 558 60% 1,554 298%
2011 25,112 6% 591 6% 705 66%
2012 27,426 9% 781 32% 322 54%
2013 21,700 21% 497 36% 343 10%
2014 1,335 93% 271 45% 285 19%
2015 36,200 2,611% 526 94% 553 91%
2016 124,917 345% 722 37% 1,967 355%
2017 331,582 165.4% 1,477 104.6% 2,537 29.3%
2018 351,582 6.0% 1,417 4% 688 74.5%
2019 422,255 20,0% 1,967 39.0% 1,180 71.5%
2020 (Jan. - Feb.) 78,772 61% 388 99% 56077 14%
Source: [16][17]

Emergency Response Centre

In 2009, the Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations established a joint emergency response centre at the airport. In 2011, a Russian Mil Mi-26 and Beriev Be-200 were dispatched to this centre for aerial firefighting duties.[18] The centre was completed and put into operation in 2012.[19]

Bus
Airport bus (old type)

There are two bus lines that connects airport to most of the Niš suburbs - line 34A (Airport-Central Bus Station-Central Railway station-Airport) and 34B (Airport-Central Railway station-Central Bus Station-Airport). One single ticket costs 60 dinars (0,51 euro) and can be purchased in bus. Buses are available every 30 minutes.[20]

Taxi

Taxi service is available at any time for any city destination and more.

Rent a car

There are eight rent a car agencies available at the airport.[21]

gollark: ħ→,i.
gollark: But CTCP is fun and cool!
gollark: Oh, yes, that.
gollark: What is what?
gollark: Don't fear it, much.

See also

References
  1. "EAD Basic - Error Page". www.ead.eurocontrol.int.
  2. Niš Constantine the Great Airport. "Official website" (in Serbian). Retrieved 4 May 2007.
  3. "Statistics - Nis Constantine the Great Airport".
  4. "БИЛАНС СТАЊА (2017) - JP Aerodrom Niš". apr.gov.rs (in Serbian). Retrieved 29 September 2018.
  5. "БИЛАНС СТАЊА (2017) - JP Aerodrom Niš". apr.gov.rs (in Serbian). Retrieved 29 September 2018.
  6. "Основни подаци о привредном друштву". apr.gov.rs (in Serbian). Serbian Business Registers Agency. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  7. Drustvo za Vazdusni Saobracaj A D – Aeroput (1927-1948) at europeanairlines.no
  8. "History - Nis Constantine the Great Airport".
  9. "Serbia: Turkish Cargo make Nis airport its regional center - Transport - ANSAMed.it". www.ansamed.info.
  10. "EX-YU Aviation News".
  11. "Pala odluka: Kome će "Nikola Tesla"". b92.net (in Serbian). Tanjug. 5 January 2018. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
  12. Miladinović, Z. (17 January 2018). "Najava novog "gušenja"". danas.rs (in Serbian). Retrieved 26 January 2018.
  13. "Vlada odlučila: Od 1. jula 12 PSO linija na "Konstantinu Velikom"; Knežević: Sledeće godine očekujemo više od pola miliona putnika". tangosix.rs.
  14. "Wizz Air delays Belgrade resumption". www.exyuaviation.com. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  15. https://www.visokogradnja.rs/kargo-loader_en.html
  16. http://nis-airport.com/en/traffic-figures/ Airport traffic figures
  17. Niš, Fly From. "FLY FROM NIŠ: Wizz Air bez zamerki, rukovodstvo aerodroma očekuje nove linije".
  18. "Russian water bomber, helicopter land in airport in south". B92. 30 August 2011. Archived from the original on 5 November 2012. Retrieved 30 August 2011.
  19. "Serbia and Russia launch joint emergency center". B92. 25 April 2012. Retrieved 31 July 2013.
  20. http://www.jgpnis.com/red-voznje/
  21. "Rent a Car". Niš Constantine the Great Airport. Retrieved 11 August 2019.

Media related to Niš Constantine the Great Airport at Wikimedia Commons

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.