Helicopters to land in all municipalities in Serbia - Construction of heliports to aid tourism, health care, economy

The Civial Aviation Directorate of Serbia has recently launched an initiative to open a registered heliport in each municipality in our country.

Djordje Brdarski, head of the Airport Division of the Directorate, says to eKapija that no municipality in Serbia has so far been entered into the registry of heliports, adding that the initiative came as a result of the work on the Air Traffic Law (2010). The intention is to carry out an action to provide as many municipalities in Serbia as possible with a registered landing area for helicopters.

According to a notice sent out by the Directorate to the addresses of over 130 local self-governments, municipalities are exempted from fees for the construction and registration of heliports, and their only obligation is to choose the location where a landing area for helicopters can be built.

- It is up to municipalities to choose the location that will suit their needs, after which the Directorate's inspectors will come to the site, perform an analysis, determine if the area is safe and whether it meets the requirements that should be met by a heliport. The costs of registration and equipping will be borne by the Directorate, and the only fees that may be charged to a municipality are those for land development works aimed at stabilizing and adapting the terrain.

As people at the Directorate suggested to municipalities, the location for the future heliport should be a flat area, paved or covered with grass, and its dimensions should be 25x25 meters. It will also be possible to use selected locations for other purposes, but there must be an adequate level of control when the area serves as a heliport.

Brdarski stresses that there will be no major construction works upon the selection of the location. If decided so by inspectors, the area will be registered as safe and marked as a landing place, wind direction indicators will be installed, and municipal officials will receive guidance on how to maintain the area in the future.

There are no estimates regarding how much it would cost to equip one such landing area, but Brdarski point out that costs should be small because the required equipment is not expensive.

- Later maintenance costs, if any, should also be minimum.

Multiple benefits

The total amount that the Directorate will have to set aside for the project implementation is still unknown as well, and it will depend on the number of municipalities that apply. Brdarski underlines that municipalities that obtain an official heliport will be able to use it for the purposes of tourism, health care, economy, and many of them have already recognized multiple benefits of such initiative.

The municipality of Zagubica has already determined the location and expects representatives of the Directorate to come to the site and do the required assessment. Zagubica Mayor Dragi Damjanovic reveals to eKapija that they have chosen a sports field in the vicinity of the center of Zagubica for the location of the future heliport, adding that they have joined the initiative because they have recognized the importance of a heliport in case of emergencies or natural disasters.

Vesna Ceponjar from the Majdanpek Development Directorate explains to eKapija that they are interested in getting a heliport because the municipal road infrastructure is very poor, adding that they have listed 7 potential locations, 6 of which are in the city center.

People in the municipality of Backi Petrovac believe that a heliport will contribute to the improvement of tourism, primarily because they plan to open an aqua park in this municipality in spring. Branislav Kevenski, assistant to the mayor, says that there are two potential locations for the construction of a heliport - one in the vicinity of the aqua park, and the other on the fairground near the city center.

Aside from Zagubica, Majdanpek and Backi Petrovac, the Directorate's invitation has so far been answered by another 15 municipalities. According to the words of Brdarski, there is no deadline until which municipalities should decide whether to join the project, but the notice delivered to municipalities reads that they should do that as soon as possible so that teams of the Directorate could organize themselves on time, thus accelerating the whole process. Implementation of the project will start as soon as the weather allows, and Brdarski stresses that everything depends on municipalities and their applications.

Shortage of heliports

So far, no municipality in Serbia has been entered into the Civil Aviation Directorate's registry of heliports, which currently includes only 8 heliports: Sevojno, Zlatar, Sokolac, Sjenica, Karajukica Bunari, Zabrezje, Ignjevaca, and Mokra Gora. These are heliports registered at the request of either companies or private persons.

Ivana Bezarevic