“Air Serbia” transported the millionth passenger in 2024 – announced expansion of the fleet and benefits for passengers

Passengers’ satisfaction is confirmed by the changes introduced by “Menzies Aviation” in less than two months, taking over the ground handling of “Air Serbia” at “Nikola Tesla” airport.

Passengers at the airport pointed out in the RTS survey that they see progress and better organization, as well as the fact, as they say, that check-in is faster and that there are more open gates.

“Every month, you can see a significant difference in the appearance of the airport, in the services provided at the airport,” states one of the interlocutors in the survey.

Belgrade Airport on electric drive

Menzies Aviation is the leading global partner in services at more than 250 airports in 60 countries, and “Nikola Tesla” airport is the first in the region where “Air Serbia” planes are dispatched to flights using electric powered vehicles.

The use of specialized vehicles, rather than old tractors – for moving planes and transporting luggage – affects the reduction of carbon in domestic air traffic.

Gavrilo Kandikyan, director of traffic at “Menzis Aviation”, told RTS that their equipment does not use solid fuels, it works on electricity – from the latest generation tractors for pushing aircraft, to elevators for loading and unloading luggage and tractors for hauling luggage.

“It is, let’s say, innovative in this area and the Menzies policy that we strive for until 2033 is to be totally independent of solid fuels and to have zero carbon consumption,” Kandikyan points out.

Air Serbia: No crowds, delays and lost luggage

The national airline confirms that everything is going according to expectations – there are no crowds, lost luggage, or flight delays.

Cooperation with “Menzies Aviation” should contribute to improving the level of service for “Air Serbia”, as well as providing a better experience to passengers.

Another “ATR” plane will contribute to this – the eighth in the national carrier’s fleet that will fly in regional traffic, while new routes will be announced from autumn.

The General Director of “Air Serbia”, Jirži Marek, states that they are waiting for the arrival of wide-body aircraft.

“It all depends on the maintenance process, because when it is finished, the planes should arrive. I expect it to be at the end of July or the beginning of August, only after that we will be able to announce when the flights to Shanghai, Miami will start – I believe that be November or December,” emphasizes Marek.

Summer season – exam and challenge

The exam for new partners will be the upcoming holidays, as well as the summer season.

“The key business indicators are much better than they were before, and by that I mean the regularity and number of left-over luggage, which was definitely a pain last summer, but also the passenger experience, which is, let’s say, number one. That is our priority for the coming summer season and that’s why we came here,” says Gavrilo Kandikyan, director of traffic at “Menzis Aviation”.

During the summer, biometric automatic passport reading should work at ten gates – as another novelty, which will speed up passport control.

In the first three months, Nikola Tesla Airport served 1.6 million passengers, which is 22.5 percent more than in the first quarter of 2023.

If this trend continues, by the end of the year it is expected that the number of passengers from the previous year will be exceeded, which is slightly less than eight million.