Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport
Belgrade · Serbia · Europe/Belgrade
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Airport HistoryEst. 1962
Belgrade's main airport moved from the city center to the Surčin plateau in 1962, opened by Yugoslav President Josip Broz Tito, and grew into the hub of JAT Yugoslav Airlines and, later, Air Serbia. It endured years of stagnation during the 1990s Yugoslav wars and international sanctions before recovering, and in 2018 a 25-year operating concession was granted to French firm Vinci Airports. In 2006 the airport was renamed after Serbian-American inventor Nikola Tesla, a naming choice tied to national heritage that Serbia treats as a point of pride.
JAT Yugoslav Airlines begins operations, later becoming the dominant carrier and hub airline at Belgrade's airport.
After construction beginning in 1958, the new airport at the Surčin plateau opens on April 28, 1962, officially inaugurated by President Josip Broz Tito, featuring a 3,000-meter runway meeting international standards.
A second terminal opens to handle growing passenger numbers, with capacity for roughly 5 million passengers annually.
International sanctions during the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s, compounded by the 1999 NATO bombing campaign against Serbia, sharply curtail international air traffic; normal operations do not fully resume until 2001.
The airport, previously known simply as Belgrade Airport, is renamed Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport in honor of the Serbian-American inventor.
JAT Airways is restructured and rebranded as Air Serbia (with Etihad Airways taking a minority stake), reestablishing Belgrade as the carrier's principal hub.
France's Vinci Airports formally takes over operation of the airport on December 21, 2018, under a 25-year concession (worth €501 million) granted by the Serbian government in January 2018; the concession was later extended to run through 2044.
The airport handles a record 8.37 million passengers in 2024, growing further to about 8.91 million in 2025, cementing its position as Serbia's largest and busiest airport.
General encyclopedic sources (Wikipedia, Serbia.com, airport-technology.com). The 2006 renaming to 'Nikola Tesla' reflects Serbian national heritage around Tesla and is presented here as an administrative/naming fact rather than a political statement. Specific claims of direct runway damage during the 1999 NATO bombing could not be independently confirmed and are not asserted; only the broader disruption to Serbian air traffic during that period is stated.