03 April 2019 - The Government of Serbia has recently adopted the Decision on Introducing Scheduled Air Services declared to be of public interest, including the service Niš - Tivat – Niš, at the initiative of the southern and eastern Serbian district. The primary goal of this Decision is more efficient traffic connection with European cities, which is expected to result in faster economic development of the region.
The best bidder to carry out scheduled air services will be required to base an aircraft in Niš with the capacity to seat at least 125 passengers. The jet cannot be older than twenty years, and the operating carrier must also have another aircraft stationed in Serbia for back-up purposes. Under the tender conditions, a group of carriers may submit a joint bid. The deadline for the submission of bids has been set for May 6 at midday, so the carrier which will service the Niš – Tivat – Niš route will be announced after the bidding process.
As announced by the Ministry of Traffic, Construction, and Infrastructure of Serbia, the decision to introduce scheduled air services of public interest is in line with the Serbian regulations, harmonized with the regulations of the European Union.
As stated, the need for launching air services of public interest arises from the fact that there is no developed high-speed rail or road infrastructure as an alternative to linking this region to EU and the neighbouring countries with an average travel period of fewer than three hours.
The town of Niš is the administrative and regional centre of Southeast Serbia and the traffic hub which, in addition to being the intersection of the road and railroad Corridor 10, also has an international airport that accepted more than 350,000 passengers last year.
Air Service Niš – Tivat – Niš will be operated three times per week between May and October 2019.
