June 5 (SeeNews) - France's Vinci Airports is investing 5 billion dinars ($48 million/42 million euro) in an expansion of a terminal building at Belgrade Nikola Tesla airport and an upgrade of its aprons, the Serbian unit of Vinci Airports has said.
The company is extending the Pier C terminal building and upgrading aprons, while preparations for the construction of a new runway started a few days ago, Belgrade Airport, the Serbian subsidiary of Vinci Airports, said in a statement.
The project is part of a 730 million euro project for modernisation of Nikola Tesla international airport launched by Vinci Airports in July 2019.
"We expect the major works to be executed over the next three years. These include terminal expansion, new, inserted runway and additional taxiways construction, additional aircraft parking positions, a new de-/anti-icing pad, additional car parking spaces, as well as new access roads," the CEO of Belgrade Airport, Francois Berisot, said.
The upgrades will allow Vinci to increase the number of passengers handled annually in Belgrade to 15 million at the end of its 25-year concession period from 6.2 million passengers in 2019, Berisot said.
The next stages of the project will include the construction of a combined heat and power (CHP) plant, a photovoltaic plant, as well as solid waste and wastewater treatment facilities, which will limit the environmental impact of the airport, the company noted.
Vinci Airports officially took over the management of Belgrade airport in December. In March 2018, the French company signed a 25-year concession contract with Serbia covering the airport’s financing, operation, maintenance, expansion and modernisation.
(1 euro = 118.678 dinars)