Belgrade Airport

I use Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport from time-to-time. I am pleased about the new minibus service that takes passengers to major hotels in the city (Hyatt Continental and Slavia). Duty Free shopping has improved but is still not up to the standards of its counterparts in Prague and Budapest a new fashion store Serbian souvenir store and expanded duty free store are currently on offer to passengers. However ground and immigration staff still need to improve on customer service and must give away their old mentality of having coffee breaks every hour. Despite the improvements I will only award it with 3 stars.

I used Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport for the first time since my last visit in 2004. The arrival hall and the whole airside area haven't changed much but the new departure terminal (which is actually an extension to the old building) is nice. I have never had a problem with Serbian immigration and also this time it was totally painless and fast. What I did not like were the illegal cab drivers lurking around the arrival hall and the bus stop outside I had a hard time getting rid of them while waiting for the Jat bus; this seems to be a problem only on the lower level when you exit customs if you walk one floor up to the main taxi line things seem much improved; I think the airport management should definitely do something to solve the cab mafia issue permanently.

Airport is looking better now after reconstruction but smoking should be restricted on smoking areas signs "NO SMOKING" should be more visible. Airport staff need to learn more about service and polite passenger handling especially passport control stuff. Area is missing some quality restaurants and more tax free shops. Time table for bus connections to the town Belgrade and other major cities should be available on web site as well as at information desk.

After experiencing a 6-hour delay here recently on a flight to LHR with British Airways (incoming flight forced to turn back en route due to technical fault followed by a changeover to a different machine) I have mixed experiences of Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport. The recent renovation has clearly worked wonders at least compared with previous reviews; the seats are reasonably comfortable food and drink is available to an adequate extent and the air is even fairly breathable compared with the rest of Serbia (at least until you get within 100 metres of one of the designated smoking areas); on the other hand the thoroughly intimidating security and passport control staff will make you feel guilty for having even the slightest scrap of local currency left on you by the time you're airside and if you do suffer an extensive delay then you can expect to endure the Serbian concept of "information" - i.e. repeatedly extending the ETA of the incoming plane then claiming that the estimated departure is in fact the time "at which more information will be provided" said information turning out to be that... more information will be provided in an hour's time. By the end of it all I felt not only thoroughly drained but thoroughly sorry for the BA representative an efficient young man who was clearly only trying to do his best in an all-encompassing fug of misinformation and customer anger. Nevertheless I can't help thinking that better complimentary food/drink could have been provided than at the optimistically named "Boeing" café where a dry sandwich swiftly imported from landside and a soft drink were supposed to sustain us for a quarter of a day. Needless to say obtaining a Serbian beer at BA's expense was out of the question despite the fact that the decidedly passable local brew actually cost less than the Coca-Cola the overworked chef-cum-waiter had been authorised to dole out en masse. Still as extensive delays go one of the more uneventful I've experienced - which I think serves as roundabout praise for the new airport!

The airport is now almost up-to-date in both arrival and departure hall. Looks spacious and modern. Note - if you wish to exchange money there is place to do this in the arrival hall - you must take the escalator up to departure hall. JAT airport bus leaves to city centre every hour - ie 20.00 21.00.

Newly remodeled international terminal is functional and being used for the past 3 weeks and it looks great. It is clean spacious and has modern monitors placed above check in lines and elsewhere. There are quite a few souvenir shops past the passport control to choose from with some interesting Serbian souvenirs. Prices are higher than in the city but affordable for tourists and that is to be expected of any airport shop. Everyone I dealt with was professional and I am glad to see the improvements. The air plane museum is a worthwhile stop only about 500m from the airport and while the building is showing its age it does house some rare planes to be seen.

Travelled through late summer; apparently under construction - but did not see any kind of activity. Picked the wrong taxi driver to city - bad guy of course despite wearing an official looking badge. One week later I arrived from Montenegro and went straight to the curb outside and picked a taxi which was unloading passengers - no problem (just make sure they blue sign on the roof with a 4 digit no). Flying out of Belgrade the change office quoted a very bad price for the rest of my dinars so I chose to keep them. Few options for shopping duty free - saw several closed of shops some still displaying articles!

The international terminal is still in construction so the old domestic terminal is used. Everything went smooth both arrival and departure. No hassle. Extra plus for sufficient smokers sections. Tax free shops with very few articles.

I was in Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport 15 and 18th of Oct. I saw no improvement made highlighted by the others in the report. Sad looking airport poor service at the business lounge custom officials that try hard to get "something" out of you. The only highlight is the air museum 500m away from the airport. If you are a aircraft freak especially Soviet models that's will be a heaven for you. Otherwise the best thing about Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport is flight out of it.

Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport is currently modernising but it is reasonably good at the moment new airlines like Tunisair Snowflake and Uzbekistan Airways have opened up routes to there. It is supposed to turn into the logistic centre for the Balkans and it is the largest airport in the Balkans (ex. Athens).