RUSSIA: Novaport Interested In Operating Belgrade Airport

The Serbian government is offering a 25-year concession deal for Nikola Tesla Airport.

Novaport, a Russian airport operator, has expressed interest in acquiring 100% in Serbia's Belgrade Airport.

The company has submitted a bid for the tender, Board chairman Roman Trotsenko said.

If it wins, Novaport is prepared to invest $250 million into the facility's development.

The airport, which serves Serbia's capital city, could be used as a connection hub for Russian tourists traveling to destinations in Central, Western and Eastern Europe, Trotsenko said: “Russians have always had warm feelings for Belgrade, and we expect the Russian tourist traffic to the city to continue growing.”

Also bidding for the deal is Russian airport operator Airports of Regions, which operates airports in Russia's cities of Yekaterinburg, Samara, Nizhny Novgorod, Rostov, and Saratov.

Fraport AG of Germany, a partner in the Northern Capital Gateway consortium which runs St. Petersburg's Pulkovo airport, is another bidder. The results of the tender are expected to be announced in two weeks.

The winner of the 25-year deal will run Belgrade airport jointly with its current operator, Nikola Tesla Aerodrome Belgrade. The partners will share the concession rights, financing and management of the facility.

According to Russian Aviation Insider's sources, Serbia is indeed quite popular with Russian tourists. It shared the 12th position with Montenegro among the most popular charter destinations in 2015. The two countries served over 113,000 Russian passengers that yeat.

Belgrade airport handled 4.925 million passengers in 2016, up 3% on 2015.

Novaport has been actively buying new airport assets across Russia. Last year it acquired a stake in Mineralnye Vody and added Kemerovo and Kaliningrad to its portfolio, which now comprises 12 airports. The company is also participating in the project to renovate Irkutsk airport.

RUSSIA: AZUR Air To Fly To Goa,From Eight Russian Cities

Russian airline company “AZUR Air” has planned an ambitious program of flights to Goa, the popular Indian resort, from eight Russian cities - Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Kazan, Samara, Rostov-on-Don, Nizhny Novgorod, Ufa.

Airline “AZUR Air” in the winter season has significantly expanded its destination network by adding a number of departures from the Russian regions to the Indian resort. So, the flights to the International Airport Dabolim (Goa) from Ufa, Samara, Rostov-on-Don and Nizhny Novgorod will be absolutely new directions in the schedule of flights.

Today, October 18, the flight program begins from Ekaterinburg to Goa, since October 20 - from Ufa, since October 21 - from Kazan, October 24 - from Rostov-on-Don, October 25 – from Samara, October 27 - from Nizhny Novgorod and St Petersburg. The average flight frequency on each of these directions – is every ten days. Flights will be performed by Boeing 757-200 airplanes with a capacity of 238 passenger seats.

In addition, on October 15 a new winter program of flights was launched from Moscow Domodedovo airport to Dabolim International Airport. The flights will be implemented 3 times a week. The entire program of flights to the Indian resort Goa will be performed till the end of March within the framework of the winter schedule.

Michael Kritskii, CEO of “AZUR Air” said: “in the winter season the company significantly expands its route network. A priority for us is - to open new routes not only from Moscow but from regional airports also. Thus, we provide to our passengers from regions the opportunity to optimally plan their holiday, to depart from the nearest airports to them and not waste time in connecting flights".

It is noted, that in the last autumn-winter season the airline passenger traffic of “AZUR Air” to the Indian resort amounted 73.5 thousand people.

The airline company “AZUR Air” is a young Russian brand on the air passenger transportation market and one of the major charter airlines companies in the country. The first flight under this brand was in December 2014. “AZUR Air” performs flights on international routes, ensuring the needs of the largest Russian tour operators. Today, in the rating of the Russian airlines companies the “AZUR Air” is the eighth best by number of passengers and the fifth - by passenger traffic. The aircraft fleet consists of fifteen aircraft, including nine Boeing 757-200 and six Boeing 767-300. “AZUR Air” flies from thirty Russian cities on twenty-nine international tourist routs.