Montenegrin airports will serve two and a half million passengers this year, which is an impressive figure. If we compare this with the figures from last year, when there were 2,184,000 passengers, there is a definite increase. Another figure is unquestionable, and that is 54 percent of those coming to Montenegro are arriving by plane, which tells enough about the importance of this segment to our country.
Danilo Orlandić does not hide the pleasure regarding his business. In an interview with CdM, he says that this is going to be a record year according to all parameters."From January 1st to June 17th this year, 737,005 passengers went through our two airports, which is 110,000 more than in the same period last year. There were 434,817 passengers at Podgorica Airport, while in Tivat there were 302,180. We had 104,520 passengers at Tivat Airport during the 17 days in June. Impressive," he says. To show that the figures speak for themselves, Orlandić cites data related to just one day earlier this month.
"The actuality of passenger traffic at our airports is best shown by the data that there were 45 airplanes at Tivat Airport in only one day recently. If you add that one plane needs to be multiplied by two flight arrival and departure operations, we come to the estimation that the planes were taking off and landing every 20 to 25 minutes. This was last year's average in the season, so it's clear what numbers we are talking about this year. It is almost the same situation at Podgorica airport," Orlandić proudly pointed out.
He continued that a number of the world's most significant airlines land in Podgorica and Tivat, among others: Turkish Airlines, Aeroflot, Ryanair, Wizzair, EasyJet, Alitalia, Austrian, Lot, Eurowings and many others.
Lufthansa is coming
Negotiations with a number of different airlines are currently ongoing since Montenegro needs to be more accessible to a greater number of the European and world's citizens.
But much is still planned. One of their goals is to bring one of the most prestigious airline companies of the world - Lufthansa.
"It's one of the strategic goals. In addition, we plan to strengthen our relationship with Scandinavia, as this is a very important market for the whole country," he said.
Iran and China in focus
Orlandić announces another important strategic goal.
"With our strategic partners, we are trying to significantly increase the number of guests from the markets of Iran and China. This can bring a large number of tourists especially in the period outside of the summer season," emphasizes the director.
Connecting to the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Romania
He announces connections from Montenegro to Romania, the Czech Republic and Slovakia but also the Baltic countries.
"At the conferences we participated in, we started discussions with their airline companies. Montenegro today has a very high-quality network of airline connections. Only in the last two years, we have thirty new lines. This is the country's success because the Airports are just one of the links in the chain," he says, adding that the link between Montenegro and Poland is important, which is, in many respects, a significant market.
More than 3.1 million euros Invested
To make everything work as it should, Orlandić notes the importance of constructing new airport capacities which will be expanded in Tivat and Podgorica, which will significantly facilitate traffic to passengers. When it comes to investments, he notes that since he arrived at the headquarters of the Airports of Montenegro, more than 3.1 million euros were invested in the infrastructure. New elevators, electric escalators, safety equipment, and explosion-proofing equipment are just part of the investments. He especially highlights the equipment for the recognition of the explosion materials to be installed at Tivat Airport, which will be the third airport in Europe with this type of equipment and thus it will comply with strict EU standards. Orlandić does not have a dilemma - good connections mean a greater number of guests coming to see our country. He says that we have to work together in coordination in order to attract more tourists, stressing the great support of the prime minister and the ministry when it comes to realizing the planned goals.
Number for information
He announced the launch of a new, special number next week, for basic information and complaints from the passengers that did not exist at the airports so far.
"We do this in cooperation with Telekom. There will be trained staff who will be available to the passengers to provide them with the relevant information at any given moment," Orlandić concluded.
Text by Miras Dusevic, on June 24th 2018, read more at CdM
