Serbia invites bids for subsidised flights from city airport in Nis

Aerodrom Nikola Tesla ad Beograd

03/04/2019 11:27

BELGRADE, April 3 (Reuters) - The Serbian infrastructure
ministry has invited air carriers to bid for subsidised flights
to 12 international destinations from the Konstantin Veliki
airport in the southern city of Nis, an invitation letter said.
    The letter, obtained by Reuters on Wednesday sets May 6 as
the deadline for submitting bids, and the final decision would
be made public 25 days later. 
    "The decision on the contract award shall be made by ...
most economically advantageous tender criterion," it said,
without specifying further. 
    In a statement on Tuesday, Zorana Bojic, the infrastructure
minister said the government allocated 600 million dinars ($5.74
million) to subsidise air carriers flying "in the public
interest" from Serbia's second biggest airport.     
    The flights set to last until 2023 would link Nis, Serbia's
second biggest city, twice per 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 would also subsidise flights from Nis to
Montenegro's Adriatic resort of Tivat three times a week during
the summer season, she said.
    "This will influence the development of the Nis airport
which is expected to serve 380,000 passengers this year and half
a million (passengers) next year," the statement quoted
Mihajlovic as saying.
    Currently, Ryanair  RYA.I , Swiss International Air Lines
 SWIN.UL  and Wizz Air  WIZZ.L  are flying to 10 destinations
from Nis airport which served 350,000 passengers last year. 
    In August the government took over the management of the
Konstantin Veliki (Constantine the Great) airport from the Nis
city hall arguing the move would bolster investments. 
    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 = 104.5800 Serbian dinars)

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