Low-cost airline companies moving to smaller airports – Flights from Nis to Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Turkey to come soon

Starting this fall, passengers will be able to fly from the Nis airport to Milan for EUR 19.99 (RSD 2,466), whereas the prices of tickets for Bratislava start at 2,444. By the end of the year, people in Serbia will be able to fly directly to Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Slovakia at affordable prices. Unofficially, Pegasus, interested in flights to Istanbul, should arrive to Nis, as should Easyjet with its lines to England.

Although it seems that there’s something going on in the sky over Serbia, Petar Vojinovic, editor of the aviation portal Tangosix, says for eKapija that the arrival of these companies has been expected.

- Intensifying the flights from Nis is fully expected. Serbia is a promising country in that area of the market and it was simply waited for Nis, as the only airport suitable for this kind of flights, to change its business model so that it suited the low-cost carrier (LCC) airline companies. Once that happened, the flights started being announced which the laymen might interpret as a “rush”, but it has all been expected – explain Vojinovic.

The low-cost companies cite the price of the airline services, which is only 3 euros and is all-encompassing, comprising of airline tax of 1 euro, landing costs of 0.75 euro and 1.25 euros for receiving and ground handling of aircraft, as the most important reason for choosing Nis. Other important reasons include: the location, excellent weather conditions and large passenger potential.

In 2015 and the first half of 2016, the Nis Constantine the Great Airport recorded an increase in the number of passengers relative to 2014. The total number of passengers in 2014 was 1,335, in 2015 it was 36,258, whereas in the first five months of 2016 it was 26,380.

- The increase in the number of passengers and the widening of the airports operations contributes significantly to the development of a region’s economy, but also to the development of tourism as a tertiary sector of the economy tied to the transport – the Nis Constantine the Great Airport states and announces the development of passenger and cargo transport and of a logistics center.

Eight low-cost companies fly from the Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport.

- The Belgrade airport is always interested in widening the network of airports to which it flies directly. Using incentives like discounts on airport services in introducing new lines, we expect to attract new clients and increase the number of passengers – says the Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport for eKapija.

This enterprise decided to stimulate the development of other airports too, so on June 22, they announced that they would help the technical projects on Morava in Ladjevci near Kraljevo with EUR 300,000, in order to create the conditions for establishing regular civilian airline traffic at that airport in record time.

The Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure has confirmed to us that Morava is the one closest to establishing civilian flights.

- We have already received confirmation of the increasing interest, that is, of multiplying the realization of flights and the opening of new destinations from the Nis airport. We expect the same, and even more, for Morava, whose significance will additionally grow once the Belgrade-Cacak section of Corridor 11 has been finished, which is expected for the end of this year or the beginning of next one. The negotiations between the Ministry of Defense and the civilian operator about the airport are in progress – says the Ministry.

There has been talk earlier about Batajnica’s opening for civilian traffic and low-cost airline companies.

- The Air Transport Law envisions the possibility of operation of mixed military-civilian airports, but that’s on the Ministry of Defense to decide, as they are the ones who will sign the contract with the civilian operator. The Ministry of Defense has so far not shown interest in that direction when it comes to the Batajnica airport – explains the Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure.

Low-cost or state-owned companies?

In talking about the advantages of low-cost companies, Petar Vojinovic, editor of Tangosix, says that they include cheaper tickets and a dramatic democratization of travel.

- As in all airline companies, low prices are never guaranteed, but LCCs still have a way of using their business models to make traveling more affordable, especially relative to large state-owned companies – explains Vojinovic.

However, as he explains, state-owned and larger private companies not operating in line with the LCC model still have their advantages regarding other passenger classes.

- Unlike LCCs, state-owned and larger private companies, for example, land in capitals and locations which they actually advertise, provide better service and cabin experience and bigger passenger support.

“Large” airline companies are by no means a thing of the past as a business model, but they face many more challenges than LCCs.

Marija Kambic

Ministarstvo građevinarstva, saobraćaja i infrastrukture Republike Srbije

Aerodrom Konstantin Veliki Niš

A.D. Aerodrom Nikola Tesla Beograd

Aerodrom Morava Kraljevo

Ministarstvo odbrane Republike Srbije

Nis airport

Petar Vojinovic

low cost airline companies

low cost carrier

LCC

Morava airport

Ladjevci airport

Batajnica airport

low cost flights