BELGRADE (Reuters) - The Serbian infrastructure ministry has invited air carriers to bid for subsidized flights to 12 international destinations from the Konstantin Veliki airport in the southern city of Nis, an invitation letter said.
The letter, obtained by Reuters on Wednesday sets May 6 as the deadline for submitting bids, and the final decision would be made public 25 days later.
"The decision on the contract award shall be made by ... most economically advantageous tender criterion," it said, without specifying further.
In a statement on Tuesday, Zorana Bojic, the infrastructure minister said the government allocated 600 million dinars ($5.74 million) to subsidize air carriers flying "in the public interest" from Serbia's second biggest airport.
The flights set to last until 2023 would link Nis, Serbia's second biggest city, twice per week with Nuremberg, Hannover, Friedrichshafen, Frankfurt and Karlsruhe in Germany, Gothenburg in Sweden, Bologna and Rome in Italy, Salzburg in Austria, Budapest in Hungary and Ljubljana in Slovenia.
The government would also subsidize flights from Nis to Montenegro's Adriatic resort of Tivat three times a week during the summer season, she said.
"This will influence the development of the Nis airport which is expected to serve 380,000 passengers this year and half a million (passengers) next year," the statement quoted Mihajlovic as saying.
Currently, Ryanair, Swiss International Air Lines and Wizz Air are flying to 10 destinations from Nis airport which served 350,000 passengers last year.
In August the government took over the management of the Konstantin Veliki (Constantine the Great) airport from the Nis city hall arguing the move would bolster investments.
Last year, Serbia agreed a deal for Europe's biggest construction and concession firm Vinci to operate the airport in Belgrade for 25 years.