Croatian Airports Enter the Business Season with Optimism

Most Croatian airports are looking at their operations in 2016 with optimism, expecting an increase in passenger numbers and new destinations, as well as the completion of a series of construction works that should provide them with additional impetus.

Pula Airport expects over 400,000 passengers in 2016, representing a 10 percent increase compared to last year, as well as the introduction of several new destinations and operators, and the continuation of a positive trend in financial results.  Among the new destinations from Pula, they announce the introduction of a route to Hamburg and Paris by EasyJet, a route by Germanwings to Stuttgart, Finnair to Helsinki, Express Airways to Bremen, and Thomson Airways to East Midlands. In addition, they emphasize that several carriers on existing routes will extend or introduce additional flights this year. For example, Aer Lingus will increase flights from Dublin, Jet2.com from Manchester, Siberia from Moscow, while Norwegian will extend flights from London in two months, as reported by Pula Airport. They also remind that by mid-March, the works on the third phase of adapting the passenger terminal for the Schengen traffic regime should be completed, and they expect that this year the Development Plan for Pula Airport, funded by European Union funds, will be presented.

Zadar Airport also plans to increase passenger numbers in 2016, aiming to surpass a record traffic of 495,000 passengers by 20 to 30 thousand. This would mark the first time it exceeds half a million passengers, aided by cooperation with new operators.  Alongside the existing 9 major operators with 20 or more flights and another 5 smaller ones, Zadar has arranged cooperation with 4 additional larger operators. These include Luxair, Lot, We travel, and HOP, which will operate this season to Luxembourg, about 10 Finnish cities, and Warsaw.  Among the new routes, Ryanair has also announced a new route to Berlin, in addition to 12 existing ones, as stated by Zadar Airport. They add that the renovation of the runway, worth nearly 9 million kuna, is underway and should be completed during February.

Dubrovnik Airport is also planning a series of updates, with an expected increase in passenger numbers in 2016 by 3.5 percent. This airport announces a new carrier, FlyNiki, which will open routes to Vienna, and Transavia Airlines with routes to Amsterdam and Munich. Among existing carriers, AirBerlin is opening new routes to existing destinations Berlin and Düsseldorf, Monarch Airlines is increasing operations on flights to London, and Aegean Airlines to Athens. Volotea will introduce a route to Venice this year in addition to Bordeaux, EasyJet will open a route to Bristol, and Jet2.com to Leeds Bradford. Dubrovnik Airport emphasizes that the construction of the terminal building for the passenger terminal should be completed by the end of the year, and that works on the “air side” of the airport should begin in spring.

The International Airport Zagreb (MZL) also plans to increase passenger numbers and destinations, as well as new companies in 2016. They emphasize that in MZLZ in 2015, a total of 26 airlines operated, and that 2.58 million passengers passed through the airport, which is an increase of 6.45 percent compared to 2014.

Split Airport had 1.93 million passengers last year, which is an increase of 11.6 percent compared to the previous year, and they expect the continuation of a positive trend this year.