The first flight at Niš Airport near Trupale Forest was carried out on May 1st, 1935, when the first Serbian national flag carrier Aeroput flew on the route Belgrade – NIŠ – Skopje – Bitola – Thessaloniki.
“Aeroput” ended his operations from Niš on Belgrade – Niš route. After that, the flights were suspended due to the outbreak of the Second World War.
After the end of Second World War at its present location in 1952 was built the concrete runway.
The new national flag carrier Yugoslav Airlines (JAT) establishes regular air traffic from Niš, where he continued to carry passengers so where it left off “Aeroput” 1939. Together with Pan Adria flying to Dubrovnik, Tivat and Split.
In the period from 1972 to 1985 the local leaders of the city of Niš decide to start a enterprise for air transport Airport Niš. In the period from 1985 to 1986, works on the construction of a passenger terminal, a runway, a platform and a technical block were carried out, and after that, with a lot of difficulty, it was officially opened for air traffic.
Niš Airport was officialy open for air traffic on 12th October 1986 with magnificent air show and the presence of tens of thousands of Niš citizens , landing the first jet JAT aircraft, type B737-300 (registration mark YU-ANI), on the route from Belgrade with the goverment officials. The first passenger flight was realized that evening with plane type DC-9 on the Belgrade – Niš – Belgrade route.
Another Yugoslav airline, Inex-adria, in 1987, established flights from our airport that flew parallel with JAT. Until 1990, Inex-adria from our airport was flying to several domestic and foreign destinations, such as Ljubljana, Zagreb, Split, London and Zurich.
From our airport JAT flew to 10 destinations across Europe, except during the sanctions, to Belgrade, Tivat, Zurich, Ljubljana, London, Zagreb, Dubrovnik, and to Düsseldorf and Stuttgart via Belgrade and Hamburg via Zagreb. The largest Yugoslav charter carrier Aviogenex from Niš Airport flew to Tivat, Dubrovnik and Zurich.
Due to the reconstruction of the runway at the Sofia airport in Bulgaria, German and Austrian national flag carriers, Lufthansa and Austrian Airlines, flew from our airport to Frankfurt, Munich and Vienna for a few months.
During the 78 days of the NATO aggression against FR Yugoslavia, our airport was not spared the attack by the aggressor. Runway was hit 57 times, while the other maneuvering areas and passenger terminal significantly damaged.
The Norwegian Government and the City of Niš found a way to air transportation with our airport again comes to life, and thanks to a donation from Norway runway was reconstructed and expanded, we built a new control tower and repaired the damage to the other facilities, and a passenger terminal was added. On October 12, 2003, the Niš Airport was reopened for air traffic by landing of JAT aircraft, type B737-300, on the route from Belgrade.
Together with Jat Airways (former Yugoslav Airlines (JAT)) Montenegro Airlines flew from our airport to Zurich until 2006 and to Tivat in 2009. On the other hand, Jat Airways flew to Zurich, Tivat, Heraklion, Bodrum and Antalya.
British tour operators in cooperation with British airline Thomson from flew from London to our Airport during the winter season where British tourists were skiing at Kopaonik ski resort.
The charter carrier Freebird Airlnes from our airport during the summer season establishes flights to Antalya. In the Air.net project, the Italian airline Mistral Air flew to Trieste.
The charter carrier Freebird Airlnes from our airport during the summer season establishes flights to Antalya. In the Air.net project, the Italian airline Mistral Air flew to Trieste.
The largest low-cost airline from Ireland, Ryanair, at the end of 2016, establishes its first flights from our airport to Berlin, Milan (Bergamo Airport), Bratislava and Düsseldorf (Weeze Airport). During this year, Wizz Air introduces new routes to Dortmund, Eindhoven and Memmingen.
After 8 years, but for the first time, the Swiss national air carrier SWISS establishes flights to Zurich, and a few months later, another Swiss airline Germania Flug also establishes to this destination. Germania Flug flew to Zurich until the end of the summer season. During this year, there were also expanded and modernized counters for passenger registration and the roof and facade of the passenger terminal were repaired. Ryanair has introduced a new route to Stockholm at the end of the year.
