– Efforts to enable night flights at Tivat airport have been going on for decades (since the end of the 1980s). The development of navigation procedures approaches this goal, however, there are a number of challenges in this regard. In this regard, it is necessary to solve a large number of issues that can be divided into two large groups, namely: the design of instrumental navigation procedures that could be used in night conditions and the fulfillment of prerequisites in terms of infrastructure at the airport itself – stated from the Airport Montenegro.
The consultant hired in 2019 is the French company Navblue (a company from the Airbus group). They have so far completed the design of three navigation procedures, one runway approach and two departure navigation procedures. The procedures that would lead to approval by the Civil Aviation Agency are complex in themselves.
– Preliminary projections point to investment needs of the order of tens of millions of euros – said the company that recently elected a new executive director, Vladan Drašković.
Airports were also asked whether there are estimates of how much the number of flights, passengers and revenue would increase by introducing night flights to Tivat.
– The airports of Montenegro are intensively working on the assessment of income and expenses in several scenarios, including ideal business conditions. Nevertheless, considering the extreme “hits” that the aviation industry has faced in the last two years, and bearing in mind the total suspension of traffic during the corona virus pandemic, then the war in Ukraine and the latest series of strikes by aviation employees in Europe and beyond, and none of these circumstances could have been planned, it is clear that a serious assessment can only be made after the stabilization of the air traffic market. Estimates are made based on the announcements we receive from airlines for the entire aviation season. Those circumstances have changed and differed significantly from 2019 to today, which is why it is important to realistically look at the picture in stable and more certain conditions on the market – explained the Airport.
When asked who would finance the introduction of night flights at Tivat airport, they said that the financing of such projects is usually done by the airport operator from its own funds or credit lines.
Without analysis on the extension of working hours
Podgorica Airport is open for traffic from 6 a.m. to 11:30 p.m., and the state company did not conduct analyzes or consider a possible extension of working hours and the impact of extending the airport’s working hours on business. Dan clearly sent questions to the Airports regarding working hours and asked if they were considering extending working hours, whether they had done analysis regarding extending working hours and the impact on revenue/expenditure, number of flights/passengers, and what they needed to do. is done in order to extend the working hours of airports.
– The openness of Podgorica Airport and Tivat Airport is regulated by the Law on Air Traffic and is published in the usual way in air traffic – in the Official Gazette of Montenegro and the Collection of Aviation Information (AIP). The opening hours of the airport are defined by the order of the competent ministry (Ministry of Capital Investments), and it is adopted at the proposal of the airport operator (Airports of Montenegro). The airport’s opening for traffic changes in accordance with the winter and summer IATA seasons. For example. during the current summer season (last week of March to last week of October), working hours at Podgorica Airport are from 5:15 a.m. to midnight, while the airport is open for traffic from 6 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. The working hours of Tivat Airport in the summer aviation season are: until September 10: 6:30 a.m. – 7:30 p.m. From September 11 to September 30: 6:30 a.m. – 7 p.m. From October 1: 7 – 18. The working hours of Tivat Airport in the winter aviation season are from 7 to 16:30. Daily conditions are defined as the time from 30 minutes before sunrise to 30 minutes after sunset. Those times for each individual day of the year are defined and published in the Compendium of Aviation Information. For example. for October 4, that time is 18:52, which means that the opening time can be extended by 52 minutes, if there is a need for it – the Airport of Montenegro clarified, eKapija writes.
