Dobardžić: Airports must be expanded

While they claim that Montenegro is in for a record tourist season, the Government has not yet decided whether Montenegrin airports will be put under concession.

Prime Minister Dritan Abazović told Television Vijesti that they expect the issue to be finally resolved after the political situation stabilizes.

The President of the Board of Directors of Airports of Montenegro, Eldin Dobardžić, claims that he will be ready to welcome tourists, and there are already noticeably more passengers at the airports.

"I believe that this season will really be a record-breaking one," Dobardžić told Televizija Vijesti.

And two Montenegrin airports will welcome the announced record season without a decision on their fate. Abazović also confirmed this for TV Vijesti.

"We expect that, after the political situation stabilizes, that issue will also be finally resolved. There are several models on the table: the first is for the state to implement the investment itself, the second is to issue a concession with much more favorable conditions for the state, while the third, which I personally authored, is to issue a concession for one airport and let the state manage the other." , Abazovic said.

Dobardžić reminds that in the case of giving under concession, it is necessary to fulfill arrears.

"What remains is for the founder, i.e. the Government, in a formal and legal sense, to pay a certain amount of money to the International Financial Corporation, which conducted the first tender, to pay something over 500, and to formally end the process of the concession that started in 2019. If you ask me if in perspective, we should work on expanding the capacity of the Podgorica airport, I think yes. We will discuss this when the line is drawn after the summer season," said the President of the Board of Directors of the Airport of Montenegro.

Although there are already noticeable crowds at the airports, so you have to get to Podgorica earlier than usual, Dobardžić says that with more than 900 workers and better equipment, they are ambitiously entering the upcoming season.

"I responsibly consider that if there is no extraordinary case, we have a sufficient number of workers to carry out this season in the best possible way. From January 1 to April 23, we served about 423 thousand passengers at both airports, over 300 thousand in Podgorica, Tivat's 78 thousand. All in all - both Tivat's and Podgorica's airports are at over 16 percent compared to the record year 2019. We can expect to end 2023 with 2,4 or 2,5 million passengers," said Dobardžić.

During this season, Montenegrin airports will be connected to several destinations, so the number of routes in Podgorica will be up to 40, and in Tivat up to 38.