Belgrade Airport Expands Rapidly as Service Performance Faces Greater Scrutiny

Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport has continued to expand at a pace well above the European market, supported by major infrastructure investment from VINCI Airports and the growing network of Air Serbia. At the same time, the airport’s increasingly complex operating structure, including Menzies Aviation’s role in ground handling, has placed greater attention on how consistently the different organisations deliver passenger services.

The airport concession, infrastructure and development programme are controlled by VINCI, while Menzies manages a substantial share of passenger, ramp and baggage activities. Air Serbia operates the dominant flight schedule and maintains the primary relationship with its passengers. Border control, security and air-traffic operations add further operational responsibilities.

Traffic and infrastructure indicators show strong expansion, but publicly available data is less comprehensive on baggage reliability, punctuality, passenger queues, assistance for people with reduced mobility and complaint resolution. There is no evidence in the available information of a general operational breakdown, but there is also insufficient airport-wide data to demonstrate that service performance consistently matches the standards of Europe’s leading regional hubs.

Passenger traffic continues to outpace European growth

Belgrade Airport handled a record 8.91 million passengers in 2025, representing growth of 6.5%, while commercial aircraft movements reached approximately 89,500. Growth continued in the first half of 2026. Passenger traffic increased 7.2% to 4.2 million, while commercial movements rose 3.9%. European airport passenger traffic increased by approximately 2.6% during the same period, while airports in Belgrade’s medium-sized category recorded growth of around 3.7%.

The airport therefore expanded at almost twice the rate of its immediate European peer group. Its summer 2026 timetable includes 118 direct destinations, among them six long-haul routes and the restored Belgrade-Toronto service. The expansion has coincided with a major transformation of the airport under VINCI. The French airport operator took over the concession under a 25-year agreement signed in 2018, supported by an investment programme exceeding €730 million.

By March 2026, the airport reported that more than €360 million had been invested, in addition to the €501 million paid when management was transferred. Since the beginning of the concession, passenger traffic has increased by almost 60%, while annual aircraft movements have risen by approximately 36%. The long-term concession target is to increase annual airport capacity toward 15 million passengers.

VINCI has expanded terminal and airfield capacity

The physical development programme has substantially increased the airport’s infrastructure. VINCI expanded the terminal by approximately 40,000 square metres, added 12 gates, increased aircraft stands from 27 to 38 and raised the number of check-in desks from 61 to 90. Passport-control capacity was also expanded. The programme included a new 3.5-kilometre runway and the first major reconstruction of the main runway in more than six decades. Commercial space has expanded toward 9,000 square metres, while new parking and access infrastructure has also been developed.

A further extension on the terminal’s C side is adding three gates, three air bridges and four aircraft positions. The airport has also reported a 23% reduction in carbon emissions since 2019, while recycling has reached 70%. Belgrade Airport holds Level 3 Airport Carbon Accreditation. The scale of these projects has changed the airport’s capacity and commercial position. Belgrade is no longer operating under the same terminal and airfield constraints that existed before the concession. The investment has also supported Air Serbia’s development of Belgrade as a connecting hub rather than solely an origin-and-destination airport serving the Serbian capital.

Passenger awards do not provide a full operational assessment

Passenger experience indicators have not been uniformly negative. Based on surveys conducted in 2023, Belgrade Airport was recognised through the Airports Council International Airport Service Quality programme as the best European airport in the 5 million-15 million passenger category. The airport also received awards for staff, cleanliness and the overall passenger experience. The ASQ programme is based on passenger surveys conducted at airports and covers more than 30 elements of the journey.

Those results, however, relate to 2023 and therefore do not establish operating performance during the substantially busier summer periods of 2025 and 2026. Annual traffic subsequently approached 9 million passengers, while the airport’s ground-handling structure was reorganised. Passenger-experience surveys also measure a different set of indicators from operational statistics. An airport can receive positive assessments for cleanliness and comfort while simultaneously experiencing difficulties involving baggage delivery, aircraft turnaround times or disruption management.

Menzies assumes a larger ground-handling role

Menzies became more closely involved in Belgrade after Air Serbia experienced ground-handling difficulties during its rapid expansion in 2023. When the companies announced their cooperation in October 2023, they acknowledged the problems accompanying Air Serbia’s expansion. Air Serbia’s chief executive apologised to affected passengers, while Menzies was appointed to provide passenger and ramp services from February 2024.

Menzies expected to handle more than 22,000 aircraft turns during its first year. Belgrade Airport subsequently transferred a broader range of handling activities to the company, including baggage, ramp operations, de-icing, passenger services, assistance for passengers with reduced mobility and cargo functions. The involvement of an international third-party handler does not in itself indicate that Belgrade operates below European standards. Third-party ground handling is widespread across the European aviation market. European policy has long encouraged competition in passenger, baggage and ramp handling, while newer European requirements are introducing more direct safety and management-system obligations for ground-handling organisations.

A large international specialist can provide established training systems, technology, equipment procurement capabilities and experience from multiple airports.

The organisational change at Belgrade did not, however, amount to a complete replacement of the workforce. Existing airport handling employees were offered transfers to Menzies, meaning much of the experienced workforce remained while management, contracts and accountability changed. That structure can preserve valuable local expertise, but the transfer of management responsibility cannot by itself resolve staffing shortages, established working practices, equipment limitations or the operational pressures created by Air Serbia’s increasingly concentrated schedule.

Airport-specific handling data remains limited

Publicly available information does not provide sufficient Belgrade-specific data to independently assess Menzies against the best European ground handlers. The disclosed information does not include detailed figures for mishandled baggage per 1,000 passengers, first- and last-bag delivery times, aircraft turnaround performance, staffing levels by shift, equipment availability, employee absence rates, delays attributable to ground handling or response times for passengers requiring special assistance.

The absence of these indicators means Menzies cannot conclusively be classified as either above or below European performance levels. Individual incidents similarly cannot establish a systematic performance trend without comparable frequency and duration data. The same distinction applies to claims that passenger complaints are increasing.

The latest complete official figures from Serbia’s Civil Aviation Directorate do not show an increase in formal passenger complaints. The regulator processed 566 complaints in 2025, fewer than in 2024 despite substantial increases in passenger traffic and flight activity. Of those complaints, 471 cases, or 83%, related to long delays, cancellations or denied boarding. During the year, 2,401 people contacted the directorate, although many communications fell outside its jurisdiction, involved follow-up correspondence or first needed to be submitted to an airline.

These statistics do not establish that passenger dissatisfaction at Belgrade Airport has fallen. The figures cover Serbia’s aviation system rather than Belgrade Airport alone and focus principally on legally defined passenger-rights cases. They do not constitute a comprehensive record of complaints concerning queues, baggage damage, terminal maintenance, staff conduct, toilets, air conditioning, passenger information or assistance services. Complaints sent directly to the airport, Air Serbia or Menzies, as well as comments made through social media, may not enter the regulator’s statistics.

The available evidence therefore demonstrates that an increase in formal complaints has not been established, while concerns about passenger services have become more visible.

Operational incidents have intensified scrutiny

Several incidents have contributed to that scrutiny. In May 2025, a failure involving the checked-baggage security-screening system prevented some bags from being loaded. Air Serbia apologised and arranged subsequent delivery of the affected baggage. In May 2026, a wastewater leak affected the baggage-reclaim area. The airport subsequently said the fault had been repaired and pledged stronger preventive maintenance.

In July, opposition party Serbia Centre called for explanations from VINCI, Menzies and the authorities concerning alleged staffing shortages, problems with baggage-unloading equipment, delays and inadequate equipment for passengers with reduced mobility. Those statements constituted allegations and demands for information rather than independently verified operational findings. Their visibility was nevertheless increased by the limited amount of detailed public performance data available to confirm or challenge them. The incidents do not establish that Belgrade Airport is structurally below European standards. Airports across Europe also face baggage-system failures, maintenance problems, weather-related disruption and staffing shortages.

EUROCONTROL’s 2025 network report recorded European departure punctuality of 70.1% and arrival punctuality of 75.4%, while turnaround and ground-handling delays remained part of the broader European disruption picture. The relevant comparison is therefore the frequency, duration and management of operational problems at Belgrade against comparable airports, rather than an assumption that leading European airports operate without disruption.

Limited disclosure makes peer comparison difficult

Belgrade currently does not publish enough information to support that comparison in detail. There is no regularly available airport-wide figure for departures within 15 minutes of schedule, nor a published breakdown assigning delays among airlines, ground handlers, airport infrastructure, air-traffic control, border control and weather. A monthly baggage-performance report is also not publicly available.

This lack of transparency makes isolated incidents more influential in public perception and limits the ability of passengers, regulators and commercial partners to determine whether operational performance is improving. The issue is particularly significant because Belgrade’s growth has increased the number of organisations that must coordinate around the same passenger journey. The airport’s physical expansion has created additional capacity, but the performance of that capacity depends on how effectively the airline, airport operator, ground handler and public authorities coordinate.

Air Serbia captures the commercial benefits and operational exposure

Air Serbia occupies a central position in this structure. It is the airport’s anchor carrier, the principal architect of its network and its largest source of passengers. In 2025, Air Serbia carried 4.57 million passengers, generated €719.5 million in revenue and reported €45.3 million in pre-tax profit. Its load factor increased by 2.4 percentage points to 77.3%, while its network expanded to 103 scheduled and charter destinations.

Air Serbia’s passenger total represents roughly half of Belgrade Airport’s 8.91 million passengers, although the two sets of figures are based on different reporting systems and are not perfectly interchangeable. Growth continued during the first half of 2026. Air Serbia carried 2,062,488 passengers, almost 57,000 more than in the corresponding period a year earlier, and operated 23,225 flights, more than 1,000 above the previous year’s figure. The carrier expanded its network with destinations including Toronto, Baku, Munich, Alicante and Santorini, reinforcing Belgrade’s role as a connection point between south-east Europe, western Europe and selected long-haul markets.

Hub expansion increases pressure on ground operations

The hub model creates a particular operational challenge. Air Serbia’s schedule concentrates arrivals and departures into waves so passengers can connect between flights. This improves network connectivity and supports aircraft utilisation, but it also creates short periods of intense demand for baggage teams, buses, gates, transfer facilities and border-control points. A staffing or equipment shortage during a quieter period may have limited consequences. The same shortage during a connecting wave can delay multiple flights, separate transfer passengers from their baggage and spread disruption throughout the network.

For Air Serbia, ground handling therefore cannot be treated solely as an external supplier issue. Passengers purchase an Air Serbia ticket and generally hold the airline responsible when baggage fails to arrive, connections are missed or information is inadequate. Menzies may operate baggage systems and VINCI may own the relevant infrastructure, but the principal passenger relationship remains with Air Serbia. The airline therefore receives much of the commercial benefit from Belgrade’s expansion while also facing significant customer and reputational exposure when failures occur elsewhere in the airport system.

Air Serbia also has leverage within that structure. As Menzies’ largest local customer and VINCI’s dominant airline partner, it can seek stronger contractual performance requirements, additional investment in handling equipment, adequate seasonal staffing and transparent reporting on operational root causes. Its financial results indicate a stronger capacity to support resilience alongside network growth. The operational risk is that additional routes and frequencies could increase revenue while placing further pressure on punctuality and customer loyalty if ground-handling capacity does not expand at the same pace.

VINCI’s role extends beyond physical infrastructure

VINCI’s strongest measurable results are currently concentrated in areas where performance can be directly quantified: passenger volumes, gates, terminal space, aircraft stands, runways, parking facilities and commercial areas. These achievements represent substantial development of the airport and compare favourably with the infrastructure expansion taking place elsewhere in south-east Europe.

The concessionaire’s role, however, is broader than that of a property owner. As the airport operator and system integrator, VINCI must provide an environment in which airlines, handlers, maintenance companies and public authorities can coordinate their activities.

This makes operational integration and transparency increasingly important as Belgrade moves toward its longer-term capacity target. VINCI’s performance can already be measured at a European level in traffic development, capital investment and physical capacity. The less-developed area is public operational transparency and the visible integration of service providers.

Menzies cannot currently be reliably classified as either above or below European standards because the airport-specific performance indicators required for that assessment are not publicly disclosed. The incidents and allegations warrant scrutiny, but they do not constitute a substitute for a measurable operating record. Air Serbia remains the strongest commercial component of the system, supported by rising passenger volumes, revenue, profitability and network reach. Its increasing dependence on VINCI and Menzies also creates a growing operational and reputational exposure.

A broader performance dashboard would provide clearer accountability

An EU-level assessment of Belgrade’s service performance would require regular publication of operational indicators across the airport system. Such a dashboard would need to cover departure punctuality, first- and last-bag delivery, mishandled baggage per 1,000 passengers, peak passenger-processing times, assistance response times, complaints per 10,000 passengers and the proportion of complaints resolved within agreed deadlines.

Delay causes would also need to be attributed among airlines, ground handlers, airport infrastructure, weather, border-control functions and air-traffic operations.

The purpose of such reporting would not be to suggest that operational problems should disappear entirely. European airports routinely experience disruption. The value would instead lie in establishing whether performance is improving and identifying which organisation is responsible when targets are missed. Belgrade Airport has already reached a European scale in terms of traffic, connectivity and physical investment. The remaining challenge is to demonstrate, through consistent disclosure and accountability, that VINCI, Menzies and Air Serbia can deliver and measure passenger service as an integrated airport operation.