Montenegro’s Ministry of Transport has asked the International Air Transport Association (IATA) for expert and methodological support in preparing the project brief for a master plan covering Podgorica and Tivat airports, the ministry said. Transport Minister Radoš Zečević sent the request to IATA Director General Saadija Zahidi in a letter on 5 November 2026. The government has placed the airports’ long-term development among its strategic infrastructure priorities.
The planned master plan is intended to set out long-term development directions, infrastructure needs and implementation stages for both international airports. The ministry is working to establish the conditions for defining that project brief, including the scope of the work, before a procedure begins to select the company or expert consortium that will draw up the plan.
The ministry asked IATA for guidance on the plan’s methodological structure and level of detail, its key elements and the scope of the project brief. It also sought advice on capacity assessments and other analyses to include. The brief should align with standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization and the applicable European regulatory framework.
Recommendations were also requested on requirements the master plan should meet to provide a credible basis for later applications for international financing. The intended sequence is to define the assignment before selecting its preparer, using international professional standards and the European regulatory framework as a basis for the work.
Seasonal traffic and Tivat constraints
Zečević put current annual throughput across Montenegro’s airport system at slightly more than 3 million passengers. Passenger traffic is continuing to grow, while demand is strongly seasonal, with a short and intense summer peak that puts both airports under substantial operational pressure.
Tivat airport faces severe spatial constraints and is immediately adjacent to a protected natural area. Zečević described those conditions as making a rigorous, long-term and internationally comparable planning framework “not only desirable but necessary”.
The minister said the request to IATA concerns “exclusively institutional and methodological support” through consultation, exchanges of expert views and recommendations during the preparatory phase. It does not cover the selection of the company or consortium that will produce the master plan.
That selection will take place in a separate procedure under domestic legislation and Montenegro’s obligations in the European integration process. Zečević said it would be conducted according to the highest standards of transparency, competitiveness and expertise.
Zečević also initiated a meeting with Zahidi to discuss further cooperation and possible forms of expert support directly. The ministry is ready to continue communication and the dialogue through other appropriate institutional channels. Its approach to IATA begins work on international expert cooperation for a long-term development document covering Montenegro’s aviation infrastructure.
