“Catastrophe” in the making

Zadar unhappy with proposed regulations

The vice mayor of Zadar has described the new Croatian airport regulations as a “catastrophe”. Speaking to the “Slobodna Dalmacija” newspapers, Dražen Grgurović says, “It is a real catastrophe, not only for the airport but for Zadar and the county. We will seek help from the Government and if they don’t listen we will go to Brussels ourselves and fight for our rights”.

Under the new regulations, which will be in force the day Croatia becomes part of the European Union (if the law is passed), Zadar Airport will loose its status as an international airport and will no longer be able to handle traffic coming from non-Schengen countries, which includes the United Kingdom and Ireland. Zadar Airport, which was on the brink of financial collapse only a few years ago, has improved dramatically with the arrival of the low cost Ryanair which primarily transports holiday makers from the UK on services to Zadar. The airport is going through a renaissance this year as it expects to handle some 200.000 passengers and is Croatia’s biggest airport improver.

“This is a question of survival for us. If these plans go ahead it would be best for the Government to close our roads and ports as well. Why would such an insignificant little town and its insignificant people need them? We don’t need anything”, the vice mayor comments sarcastically.

Due to its large passenger increase, Zadar’s terminal is being extended to a total of 7.500 square metres. The airport parking is also being expanded while plans are being put into place to extend the airport’s runway.