September opening for Morava Airport

Morava Airport

Serbia’s newest airport, based in Kraljevo, will see its first passenger aircraft land in late September, the Serbian Defence Minister Dragan Šutanovac announced yesterday. Work is ongoing on the construction of the civilian part of the airport. The other part, known as Ladjevci, is a military air base and was mostly destroyed in 1999. Minister Šutanovac said that the construction of Morava Airport is one of the top infrastructure priorities of the year, stating that aircraft with a capacity to carry 100 passengers will be able to land there. He also noted that the airport will have a lot of potential since some 2 million people live within a 70 kilometre radius. Furthermore, many Bosniaks living in the area often travel to Turkey and use Priština Airport instead. The Minister says that the idea is to get passengers to use Morava Airport. Serbia’s Prime Minister is set to discuss about future investments into the airport with his Turkish counterpart on a visit to the country today. Meanwhile, the Serbian Minister for Public Administration and Local Self-Government talked up Morava Airport’s cargo potential, since a lot of industry is located in the area.

The price tag of the project amounts to 22.2 million Euros, not including the control tower equipment which will be provided by the Serbia and Montenegro Air Traffic Services Agency. Construction of the airport’s terminal building will begin in April and will be partly financed by the government and partly by Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport.