Niš Constantine the Great Airport

Niš Constantine the Great Airport
Аеродром Константин Велики Ниш
Aerodrom Konstantin Veliki Niš
Summary
Airport type International
Operator JP Airport Niš
Serves Niš
Location Medoševac and Popovac, Serbia
Elevation AMSL 650 ft / 198 m
Coordinates 43°20′14″N 021°51′13″E / 43.33722°N 21.85361°E / 43.33722; 21.85361Coordinates: 43°20′14″N 021°51′13″E / 43.33722°N 21.85361°E / 43.33722; 21.85361
Website nis-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 (2017)
Passengers 331,582 Increase 165.4%
Aircraft movements 1,477 Increase 104.6%
Cargo volume 2,543 tons Increase 29.3%
Sources: Serbian AIP at Eurocontrol[1]
Official website[2][3]
JP Airport Niš
Native name
 ЈП Аеродром Ниш
State-owned enterprise
Industry Consumer services
Founded 25 April 1990 (1990-04-25) (Current form)
Headquarters Niš, Serbia
Area served
 Serbia
Key people
 Dušan Knežević (Director)
Services Airport operations
Revenue Increase €2.68 million (2017)[4]
Increase €0.41 million (2017)[4]
Total assets Increase €6.05 million (2017)[5]
Total equity Increase €2.69 million (2017)[5]
Owner Government of Serbia (100.00%)
Number of employees
 115 (2017)
Website www.nis-airport.com Edit this on Wikidata
Footnotes / references
Business ID: 07343914
Tax ID: 101531405 [6]

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]

History

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 route linking Belgrade with Skoplje.[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 Airways, but also by Slovenian company Inex-Adria Airways (Adria Airways nowadays).

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]

Airlines and destinations

Terminal interior (prior to overhaul)
Duty Free Shop at Niš Airport

Passenger

AirlinesDestinations
Ryanair Bergamo, Berlin-Schönefeld, Bratislava, Stockholm–Skavsta, Weeze
Swiss International Air Lines Zürich
Wizz Air Basel/Mulhouse, Dortmund, Malmö (ends 7 January 2019), Memmingen, Vienna (begins 15 November 2018)[13]

Cargo

AirlinesDestinations
Turkish Airlines Cargo Istanbul–Atatürk

Statistics

Year Passengers Change Aircraft movements Change Cargo (t) Change
2004 19,040 Increase 927% 284 Increase 13% 147 Increase
2005 26,787 Increase 41% 315 Increase 11% 452 Increase 207%
2006 35,518 Increase 33% 382 Increase 12% 112 Decrease 75%
2007 30,453 Decrease 14% 456 Increase 19% 448 Increase 300%
2008 22,870 Decrease 24% 353 Decrease 23% 163 Decrease 64%
2009 17,159 Decrease 25% 349 Decrease 1% 390 Increase 139%
2010 23,627 Increase 38% 558 Increase 60% 1,554 Increase 298%
2011 25,112 Increase 6% 591 Increase 6% 705 Decrease 66%
2012 27,426 Increase 9% 781 Increase 32% 322 Decrease 54%
2013 21,700 Decrease 21% 497 Decrease 36% 357 Increase 10%
2014 1,335 Decrease 93% 271 Decrease 45% 288 Decrease 19%
2015 36,200 Increase 2,611% 526 Increase 94% 553 Increase 91%
2016 124,917 Increase 345% 722 Increase 37% 1,967 Increase 355%
2017 331,582 Increase 165.4% 1,477 Increase 104.6% 2,543 Increase 29.3%
2018 (01.01. - 31.03.) 84,894 Increase 28.2%
Source: [14][15]

Emergency Response Center

In 2009, the Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations, established a joint emergency response center at the airport. In 2011 a Russian Mil Mi-26 and Beriev Be-200 were dispatched to the center for aerial firefighting duties.[16] The center was completed and put into operation in 2012.[17]

Bus

There is a bus line that connects airport to most of the Niš suburbs (line 34).

Taxi

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

See also

References

  1. 1 2 EAD Basic
  2. ↑ Niš Constantine the Great Airport. "Official website" (in Serbian). Retrieved 2007-05-04.
  3. ↑ https://nis-airport.com/en/traffic-figures/
  4. 1 2 "БИЛАНС СТАЊА (2017) - JP Aerodrom Niš". apr.gov.rs (in Serbian). Retrieved 29 September 2018.
  5. 1 2 "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. 1 2 http://nis-airport.com/en/history/
  9. ↑ http://www.ansamed.info/ansamed/en/news/sections/transport/2016/11/08/serbia-turkish-cargo-make-nis-airport-its-regional-center_7588637b-6b8e-402c-b478-4ad136c42690.html
  10. ↑ http://www.exyuaviation.com/search/label/Ni%C5%A1
  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. ↑ "WIZZ AIR ANNOUNCES AUSTRIAN BASE IN VIENNA WITH 3 BASED AIRCRAFT AND 17 NEW LOW-FARE ROUTES". wizzair.com. Archived from the original on 9 January 2018. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
  14. ↑ http://nis-airport.com/en/airport-informations/general-informations/traffic-figures/ Airport traffic figures
  15. ↑ http://flyfromnis.blogspot.com.es/2016/01/wizz-air-bez-zamerki-rukovodstvo-aerodroma-ocekuje-nove-linije.html
  16. ↑ "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.
  17. ↑ "Serbia and Russia launch joint emergency center". B92. 25 April 2012. Retrieved 31 July 2013.

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.