Air Serbia sole bidder for subsidised flights from Nis airport

Aerodrom Nikola Tesla ad Beograd

07/05/2019 16:21

BELGRADE, May 7 (Reuters) - Serbia's flagship airline Air
Serbia was the sole bidder for subsidised flights to 12
international destinations from Konstantin Veliki airport in the
southern city of Nis, the infrastructure ministry said on
Tuesday. 
    In a statement, the ministry said Air Serbia, 49 percent
owned by United Arab Emirates airline Etihad Airways, made the
only valid offer, although other companies expressed interest. 
    The Serbian government holds the remainder of shares in Air
Serbia. 
    "The signing of the contract with the representatives of Air
Serbia will be organised in the coming days," the statement
said, without giving other details. 
    Last month, the government said it had allocated 600 million
Serbian dinars ($5.7 million) to subsidise airline flying "in
the public interest" from Serbia's second biggest airport,
around 220 kilometres south of Belgrade.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N21L2LR
    The flights set to last until 2023 will link Nis, Serbia's
second biggest city, twice a week with Nuremberg, Hannover,
Friedrichshafen, Frankfurt and Karlsruhe in Germany, Gothenburg
in Sweden, Bologna and Rome in Italy, Salzburg in Austria,
Budapest in Hungary and Ljubljana in Slovenia. 
    The government will also subsidise flights from Nis to
Montenegro's Adriatic resort of Tivat three times a week during
the summer season. 
    Ryanair  RYA.I , Swiss International Air Lines  SWIN.UL  and
Wizz Air  WIZZ.L  fly to 10 destinations from
government-operated Nis airport, which served 350,000 passengers
last year.
    Last year, Serbia agreed a deal for Europe's biggest
construction and concession firm Vinci  SGEF.PA  to operate the
airport in Belgrade  AERO.BEL  for 25 years.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1X550L
    ($1 = 105.3500 Serbian dinars)

 (Reporting by Aleksandar Vasovic; Editing by Mark Potter)
 ((aleksandar.vasovic@thomsonreuters.com; +381113044930;))