Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport

Belgrade isn’t at the top of most spotters’ lists – unjustly so. At the largest airport in the Western Balkans, you can see the complete Air Serbia fleet in a single day, from turboprop to A330, plus guests from the Gulf region, Turkey and China, along with Wizz Air and the usual low-cost airlines. And if you need a break between two arrival waves, you can walk over to the aviation museum, which stands right on the airport grounds and shows over 200 aircraft.

From Dojno Polje to Surčin

Aviation in Belgrade begins in 1927. On March 25, Dojno Polje Airport opened in the area of today’s New Belgrade, and the same year the airline Aeroput was founded in the city – the ancestor of today’s Air Serbia. After the Second World War, traffic grew quickly, the city grew as well, and the old site at the edge of the Sava plain soon became too small.

The solution lay farther west at Surčin. On April 28, 1962, the new airport opened there with a 3,000-meter runway, a parallel taxiway and aprons for sixteen aircraft at the time. It became the home and maintenance base of JAT Yugoslav Airlines, Yugoslavia’s state airline. The maintenance company JAT Tehnika is still based at the airport today. Today’s Terminal 2 was added in 1979, and in 2006 the airport was named after the inventor Nikola Tesla, who was born in Smiljan.

Under VINCI: growth and a new main runway

In January 2018, the Serbian government awarded the airport to VINCI Airports by concession, and in December 2018 the French group took over operations. The term was originally 25 years and was extended in 2024; it now runs until 2044. The state remains the owner of the infrastructure, while VINCI operates and expands it.

And quite a lot has been expanded. A new control tower entered service in 2022, and a new section of the central terminal building in April 2023. The most important project for spotters was the runway. In June 2023, a roughly 3,500-meter replacement runway entered service between the old runway and the parallel taxiway so that the main runway from 1962 could be completely renewed. In November 2024, traffic returned to the renovated main runway with new concrete, LED lighting and four high-speed exits. It wasn’t an expansion to two independently usable runways: the replacement runway sits too close to the main runway and has served as a taxiway and reserve ever since, so Belgrade remains essentially a single-runway airport. At the end of August 2024, the completion of the expansion program was officially celebrated, which also includes an enlarged terminal with additional gates and parking positions.

Traffic has recovered strongly since the pandemic. In 2023 the airport counted around 7.9 million passengers, in 2024 around 8.4 million and in 2025 around 8.9 million – more than ever before.

The runways in a northwest–southeast direction

The main and replacement runways run parallel from northwest to southeast. The quickest way to see how terminals, aprons and the museum sit relative to the runways is a look at an aerial photo or the airport chart.

Air traffic control decides in which direction aircraft take off and land – depending on wind, traffic and construction work. So check live in a flight tracker where the aircraft are currently approaching and touching down. The article on flight tracking with ADS-B explains how.

Runway direction in use: 12 or 30?

In Belgrade, too, aircraft take off and land into the wind. When it blows from the northwest, movements run in direction 30: aircraft come in from the southeast and take off to the northwest. With wind from the southeast the picture flips, and direction 12 is in use. In the Pannonian plain around Belgrade, the Košava, a strong, gusty wind from the southeast, often blows in the winter months – on such days you should expect runway direction 12.

For your planning, that means: first clarify the runway direction in use, then pick your position. You’ll find the basics in the article Understanding the runway direction at airports.

Air Serbia: the hub in red, blue and white

Belgrade is the home hub of Air Serbia. The airline emerged from Jat Airways in 2013, at the time with a 49 percent stake held by Etihad Airways. The first flight under the new name went to Abu Dhabi in October 2013. Since then, the Serbian state has gradually bought back Etihad’s shares and is now the sole owner.

The fleet is rewarding for spotters because it is so mixed. On short- and medium-haul routes, the Airbus A319 and the A320 fly, on regional and thinner routes the Embraer 195 and the ATR 72-600. On long-haul, the Airbus A330-200 is the flagship: Air Serbia has flown it nonstop to New York-JFK since 2016, and Chicago was added later. The make-up of the fleet changes – according to fleet information, the A319s are slated for retirement. So look at a current fleet list before your visit.

You can recognize the aircraft by the double-headed eagle in red and blue on the tail and by the YU registration, a prefix Serbia took over from Yugoslav times. Many aircraft carry the names of famous personalities. You’ll find more on prefixes and the system in the article Understanding aircraft registrations.

Who else lands in Belgrade

Besides Air Serbia, Wizz Air has a base in Belgrade, and you regularly see its Airbuses here. The airport also serves routes of European network and low-cost airlines, connects the city with Istanbul Airport – for example via Turkish Airlines – and with the Gulf region, including Doha, the hub of Qatar Airways, and Dubai.

A special feature for widebody fans is the connections to China: Belgrade is linked with Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, among others by Air Serbia, China Southern and Hainan Airlines; in January 2025, Air Serbia landed nonstop in Shanghai-Pudong for the first time. In addition, air taxi and business travel providers are based at the airport, and their business jets on the apron offer an extra subject.

The aviation museum at the airport

For many visitors, the real highlight isn’t on the apron but next to it. The Belgrade Aviation Museum (Muzej vazduhoplovstva) was founded in 1957 as the Yugoslav Aviation Museum and moved into its current building right at the airport in Surčin on May 21, 1989. The building by the architect Ivan Štraus, with its glass, mushroom-like dome, is impossible to miss even from the access road.

According to the museum, the collection includes over 200 aircraft, more than 130 engines, over 20,000 technical books and more than 200,000 photos. Some pieces are unique:

• A Fiat G.50, the only known surviving example of this Italian fighter.
• A Supermarine Spitfire and a Hawker Hurricane from the Second World War.
• A Sud Aviation Caravelle in JAT colors – a piece of Belgrade airline history.
• Wreckage of a Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk and an F-16 that were shot down in 1999 during the NATO air strikes on Yugoslavia.

Some of the aircraft stand outdoors around the building. We couldn’t reliably verify opening hours, admission or the condition of the outdoor exhibition – ask the museum directly before your visit. If you’re interested in aviation museums in the region, it’s also worth a look at the Prague-Kbely Aviation Museum or the Polish Aviation Museum in Kraków.

Spotting in Belgrade: what you should know

Unlike Munich or Düsseldorf, Belgrade has no officially designated visitors’ hill or observation deck known as a classic spotter spot. That doesn’t mean you won’t see anything – but you have to look for your position more carefully and follow the conditions on site. Check before your trip which areas are publicly accessible, and find out about the local rules.

A relaxed way to get the fleet in front of your lens anyway: you can see many Air Serbia aircraft at airports in German-speaking countries as well, for example in Frankfurt, Munich, Düsseldorf, Berlin or Vienna. In Belgrade itself, the whole range comes together – from turboprop to A330.

Getting there and daily rhythm

The airport lies west of the city near Surčin and is connected to downtown and the Belgrade ring road via the A3 motorway. By public transport, you reach it via several bus lines: line 72 to Zeleni Venac, line 600 to Beograd Centar station and the paid minibus A1 to Slavija. In addition, there are night services and more lines to surrounding districts. Since lines and fares can change, check the current situation shortly before your trip.

As at any hub, flights come in waves. Air Serbia’s connecting flights converge at certain times of day, with quieter periods in between. Exactly when the peaks fall changes with every schedule. A look at the arrivals and departures boards shows you the best time windows – and the quiet phases are perfect for a side trip to the museum. If you want to plan the trip on a budget, the tips in the article Planning spotting trips on a budget will help.

Belgrade in comparison

In Southeast Europe, Belgrade is one of the more important hubs but stands in the shadow of Istanbul and Vienna. Compared with its neighbors, it is much larger than Zagreb Airport or Ljubljana Airport and plays more in the league of Budapest or Sofia. What sets Belgrade apart is its own network airline with long-haul – there is hardly anything like it elsewhere in the region.

If you’re planning a Balkan tour, you can combine Belgrade well with Zagreb and Budapest. In Zagreb you meet Croatia Airlines as a Star Alliance member, and in Budapest Wizz Air is at home. That way you get a fairly complete picture of aviation in the region in just a few days.

Conclusion

Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport is not a mass-traffic operation, but a place with a profile. Air Serbia brings a colorful mix of A330, Airbus narrowbodies, Embraer and ATR, while Wizz Air and international guests complete the picture. The main runway is freshly renovated, and with VINCI as operator it has grown noticeably in recent years.

What tips the scales for a trip is often the aviation museum next door. Fiat G.50, Spitfire, Caravelle in JAT colors and the wreckage of the F-117 make it one of the most exciting aviation museums in Southeast Europe. If you clarify runway direction, schedule and the local rules beforehand, you get a lot out of a day in Surčin.