Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport

Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport (), or Belgrade Airport () , is an international airport serving Belgrade, Serbia. It is the largest and the busiest airport in Serbia, situated west of downtown Belgrade near the suburb of Surčin, surrounded by fertile lowlands. It is operated by Vinci Airports (subsidiary of the French conglomerate Vinci) and is named after Serbian-American inventor Nikola Tesla (1856–1943).

The flag carrier and the largest airline of Serbia, Air Serbia, uses Belgrade Nikola Tesla as its hub. It is also one of the many operating bases for low-cost airline Wizz Air. The air taxi services Air Pink, Eagle Express and Prince Aviation also call the airport their home.

History

First airfields

The first airfield in Belgrade was inaugurated in 1910 in the neighbourhood of Banjica and was initially used by aviation pioneers such as Simon, Maslenikov, Vidmar and Čermak. Two years later a wooden hangar was built for the Serbian Air Force, which was at the time engaged in the First Balkan War against Turkey. In 1914, the Banjica airfield was the base for the Serbian Air Force squadron and the Balloon Company. After the end of the First World War, the Banjica airfield was used for airmail traffic and included the routes Novi Sad–Belgrade–Niš–Skopje and Belgrade–Sarajevo–Mostar.

In 1911 another airfield was inaugurated in Belgrade, in the lower city of the Kalemegdan Fortress at the location of today's Belgrade Planetarium. The same year airmail service began operating from the airport. The Pančevo airport was also used by the Royal Yugoslav Air Force academy. After World War II, the airport was used by the Yugoslav Air Force before it became the airfield of the Utva Aviation Industry after its relocation from Zemun to Pančevo.

Besides Aeroput, Air France, Deutsche Luft Hansa, KLM, Imperial Airways, LOT Polish Airlines and airlines from Italy, Austria, Hungary and Romania also used the airport until the outbreak of the Second World War. Belgrade gained further prominence when Imperial Airways introduced inter-continental routes through Belgrade, when London was linked with India through the airport. Belgrade was linked with Paris and Breslau because CIDNA and Deutsche Luft Hansa, respectively, included Belgrade on its routes to Istanbul. By 1931, Belgrade became a major air hub being linked with regular flights with international destinations such as London, Madrid, Venice, Brussels, Berlin, Cologne, Warsaw, Prague, Vienna, Graz, Klagenfurt, Budapest, Bucharest, Sofia, Varna, Thessaloniki, Athens, Istanbul, and also intercontinental links with Cairo, Karachi and India.

Airport in Surčin

thumb|Belgrade Airport in 1968

The new location for the airport was on the Surčin plateau, from Belgrade's city centre.

The airport stagnated during the 1990s after the outbreak of the Yugoslav wars and the United Nations sanctions imposed on the Serbia and Montenegro. The sanctions also included a ban on air travel. The airport had minimal passenger movement, and many facilities were in need of reparation.

With a change in government and international sentiment, normal air traffic resumed in 2001. A few years later the airport's terminal 2 underwent a major reconstruction. The runway was upgraded to CAT IIIb in 2005, as part of a large renovation project. CAT IIIb is an Instrument Landing System (ILS), giving aircraft the security of landing during fog and storms. In 2006, the airport was renamed to Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport. Nikola Tesla was a Serbian-American inventor and scientist, generally considered one of the world's most famous inventors. The construction of the new air traffic control centre was completed in 2010. In 2011 Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport shares (AERO) began trading on the Belgrade Stock Exchange (BELEX).

2012–2018

In 2012, construction work on the modernization and expansion of the airport began. It was carried out on the expansion and reconstruction of the A-gate and C-gate departure and transit areas. As a result, an extra was added. Jetways at the A and C gates were also replaced.

Also, there were plans for the construction of a new control tower as the current air control tower was built in 1962. Future expansion of current terminals should see additional added, with terminal 2 obtaining an additional 4 jetways.

2018–present

In January 2018, the Government of Serbia granted a 25-year concession of the Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport to the French airport operator Vinci Airports for a sum of 501 million euros. On 21 December 2018, Vinci formally took over the airport. In 2018, the airport had a sizeable increase in revenue and net income, due to Vinci Airports transaction. On 24 April 2024, Serbian finance minister Siniša Mali announced that the concession of Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport had been extended by 18 months in order to minimize the influence of COVID-19 Pandemic. The concession is to last until 1 July 2044.

Terminals

thumb|Terminal exterior

thumb|[[Air traffic control tower]]The airport's two terminals have a combined area of , with Terminal 2 being larger of the two, the two terminals are connected by a hallway. The airport has 90 check-in counters and 32 gates (of which 24 are equipped with jetways). Gates A1-A10 and C1-C14 are equipped with jetways, gates A7a, A7b and C10a-C10e use buses, while gate A11 is used for domestic flights to Niš.

Terminal 1

Terminal 1 (T1) was the original and only terminal when the airport was built. The terminal handled domestic flights during the time of Yugoslavia and Serbia and Montenegro, and subsequently has come to be used for international flights, mostly by low-cost and charter airlines. The terminal went through a major renovation in 2016 and 2017 when the interior was overhauled.

Terminal 2

Terminal 2 (T2) was constructed in 1979 for the airport's growing passenger numbers. The terminal has a capacity of 5 million passengers. The terminal contains airline offices, transfer desks and various retail shops. The terminal went through two major renovations: from 2004 through 2006, with the arrivals and departures areas of the terminal completely reconstructed, and another one in 2012 and 2013 when there were works on expansion and overhaul of the C platform. While not officially confirmed, it is believed that the overhauled T1 will be used by foreign carriers, while Air Serbia and Etihad Airways Partners would gain exclusive use of Terminal 2.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights as of March 2026:

center|thumb|646x646px|Belgrade Airport passenger destinations

Cargo

The following cargo airlines served the airport on a regular basis: