Croatia's top airports see record 2016


Croatia's three busiest airports - Zagreb, Split and Dubrovnik - have registered their best performing year to date, securing their positions as the second, third and fourth busiest airports in the former Yugoslavia respectively. Combined, the three welcomed an impressive 7.049.317 travellers through their doors in 2016, up 13% on the year before.

Zagreb Airport handled a record 2.766.087 passengers in 2016, an increase of 6.9% year-on-year. The number of aircraft movements stood at 40.796, up 2.4%. The airport says it is preparing for a "new phase in business operations" in the lead-up to the opening its new terminal in March. During 2017, focus will shift towards attracting new carriers. So far, Monarch Airlines has announced the launch of year-long flights to Zagreb from London Gatwick and Manchester in April, Capital Airlines will commence seasonal services from Beijing in June, and talks are underway for the introduction of flights to New York. Furthermore, Swiss International Air Lines will resume operations between Zurich and Zagreb on a seasonal basis. Croatia Airlines has also announced plans for the introduction of new routes, while new seasonal summer flights launched in 2016 are to be extended throughout the year. On the other hand, the airport also plans to increase its fees as it opens its new terminal.

Split Airport welcomed over two million passengers in a single year for the first time. It handled 2.289.987 travellers in 2016, up 17.1%. A handful of airlines have already announced new services to the city, such as KLM, Aer Lingus, Volotea and Norwegian Air Shuttle, to name a few. Split Airport is finally expected to begin construction of its much-delayed new terminal building this year. Work on the first phase of the project should be completed in the autumn of 2018, while the second phase is expected to be concluded in the summer of 2019. In late December 2016, Split Airport inked an agreement with Kamgrad, Viaduct, and KFK Tehnika to build the new facility. The expansion will increase Split’s annual capacity to 3.5 million passengers, while the terminal should stretch over 34.500 square metres. Furthermore, the car park and bus area will be expanded by 35.500 square metres. The project is valued at 59.3 million euros and work should begin this spring.

Dubrovnik Airport followed in the footsteps of its two busier counterparts and registered growth of 17.7% by handling 1.993.243 passengers. "2016 was by far the most successful in the airport's history and has exceeded all of our expectations", Dubrovnik Airport's General Manager, Frano Luetić, told EX-YU Aviation News. Figures were aided by a stronger winter season thanks to the airport's efforts to attract airlines during the off-season. "The Croatian National Tourist Board (including the regional and city tourist organisations) allow for interested subjects to apply for incentives to operate flights outside of the peak season. Similarly, through incentives which are listed on our webpage, the airport also offers, in a transparent manner, favourable terms to airlines during the winter season. Although there is some progress, we are not satisfied with the loads on existing winter flights, even though we are linked with Frankfurt and Istanbul, both of which offer connections to 275 cities across the world. Therefore, it is up to the tourist board to attract travellers and fill empty seats on existing services", Mr Luetić said.

Meanwhile, the construction of Dubrovnik Airport's multi million euro Terminal C building is nearing completion with the facility expected to open this spring. "The opening of the new C building of our passenger terminal (stretching over 26.000 square metres) is expected in April, however, we hope that it will be in partial use as early as February", Mr Luetić noted. The facility will feature check-in and commercial space stretching over 1.000 square metres, eight security lanes, a departure lounge with commercial and catering facilities, a premium lounge and restaurants.

Comments

  1. Anonymous09:04

    Those are some great figures. 7 million is a very good achievement.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:30

      Very impressive number for Croatian Airports, the 3rd Croatian Airport, Zadar, had also a great increase in 2016

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:53

      Zadar is 4th
      And it wasnt that much actually, only 6,8%

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:04

    2017 shaping up to be a mega year on the Adriatic. SPU and DBV should see another 17-18% increase. Then it is possible that SPU could overtake ZAG already in 2018. Shame DBV was 7k short of 2 mil.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:24

      DBV being 7k short of 2M sounds like a trick not to surpass 2M barrier (to stay away from EU restrictions such as transparency, equal treatment, opening the market for second GH company etc.)

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:50

      If Split would be able to sustain more winter traffic it would easily be Croatia's number one airport.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous20:46

      @AnonymousJanuary 11, 2017 at 9:24 AM

      Impossible, even if Split did grow at 18%, at the earliest Split could overtake Zagreb is in 2019 at 18% growth, but I doubt Split will ever overtake Zagreb, even with modest growth of 8% in 2017 Zagreb will hit 3.0 million pax, and this growth is based mainly on increased load factor and few additional routes, the real growth in 2017 could be 11%, pushing Zagreb to 3.07 million.

      2018, Zagreb could grown by same or slightly greater amount and hit 3,5 million with 2019 most likely hitting 4.0 million.

      If Zagreb can secure EasyJet, Norwegian, Vueling, and few other LCCs year round, with Norwegian and Easy, basing their jets in Zagreb as these two expand in 2018/19, things could indeed start to look quite interesting.

      GermanWings should also be looking to base one jet in Zagreb serving Stuttgart, Berlin, Hamburg, Nuremberg, Bon-Koln and Hannover, things could indeed improve growth considerably.

      Things are quite promising for Zagreb, especially now the Advent is a massive hit, and Snow Queen/King event in early January. Soon every month will be over 200k in Zagreb and four months over 300k this year.

      Here how I see 2017 For Zagreb.

      Jan: 172 000
      Feb: 163 000
      March: 217 000
      April: 225 000
      May: 274 000
      June: 301 000
      July: 344 000
      Aug: 340 000
      Sep: 320 000
      Oct: 284 000
      Nov: 220 000
      Dec: 220 000 (advent effect)

      Total: 3 080 000

      2018 Might develop this way:

      Jan: 187 000
      Feb: 180 000
      March: 237 000
      April: 255 000
      May: 304 000
      June: 327 000
      July: 385 000
      Aug: 380 000
      Sep: 355 000
      Oct: 315 000
      Nov: 245 000
      Dec: 270 000 (advent effect)

      Total: 3 440 000

      and finally 2019 Might develop this way:

      Jan: 205 000
      Feb: 200 000
      March: 267 000
      April: 305 000
      May: 350 000
      June: 364 000
      July: 425 000
      Aug: 420 000
      Sep: 400 000
      Oct: 350 000
      Nov: 274 000
      Dec: 325 000 (advent effect)

      Total: 3 885 000

      Projections based with no LCCs in Zagreb.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous21:23

      You should be lucky if ZAG records a 5% growth in 2017. Just look how weak demand has gotten, even OK cancelled their two weekly flights in February.

      Also don't forget fees are going up and with them the fares as well.

      Delete
    5. What "weak demand" are you talking about? The number of flights either dropped or was a bit higher than last year last few months and the passengers number rose. Enlighten me, please.

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:07

    Wow nice. Anyone care to predict 2017 growth?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:19

      In Croatia ?
      Think it could be even better than 2016.
      Osijek and Brac will definitely more than double their pax, Pula and Zadar above 20%, Split and Dubrovik 18%, only Zagreb around 7-8%

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:47

      Yes I meant Croatia. It should be a good year.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous11:17

      I highly doubt that coastal airports, especially SPU and DBV can achieve similar results in 2017. It is not only the airports creating a bottleneck, but the infrastructure. Bed capacities in these regions increase at a pace of half the growth of visitors, for years. That's why prices rocketed and the same hotel room's price increased from €60 in 2015 to €600 in 2016. Market seems quite saturated with prices already over many Greek and Portuguese destinations. A mild growth is more likely, thanks to the ongoing geopolitical crisis in surrounding leisure destinations. The market would be shrinking in Croatian coasts if the crisis showed signs of resolution.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous15:55

      the expert is speaking..

      Delete
    5. Anonymous16:10

      Anonymus 11:17, room prices increased from 60 euro to 600 in a year? Where exactly???? :-D Puko i ostao ziv :-D

      Delete
    6. Anonymous22:03

      I think coastal airports in Croatia will see good results in 2017, 10-15% growth, i don't think it'll be as good as 2016, but stable growth of 10-15% is possible.

      Split very likely is going to hit 2.55 million pax

      My projections for 2017.

      Zagreb: 3.08 million
      Split: 2.58 million
      Dubrovnik: 2.27 million
      Zadar: 600k
      Pula: 520k
      Rijeka: 175k
      Osijek: 50k
      Brac: 32k

      total; 9300~

      2018, will be see more stable growth for all coastal airport @8-9%, high growth rates beyond these won't be possible, Turkey and Egypt effects will reflect on longer term where more tourist will opt out for EU holiday destinations, but France, Spain and Italy and Greece ,it seems have most benefited from the troubles in the middle east.

      Croatia saw decent growth, but nowhere near as high as Greek, Italian and Spanish numbers.

      In 2017 Croatia is expected to host 17 million tourist, 1.5 million more than it hosted in 2016, but still a lot less than Greece, with 28 million visitors in 2016.

      I think stable 7-8% growth rates for all coastal airports in 2019 is possible but unlikely to yield high %g numbers as 2015, 2016 and probably 2017 will.

      Zagreb numbers will go up fast in 2017, despite some predicting gloom and doom, number of carriers will come to Zagreb in 2017 and in 2018 especially.

      However with the arrival of LCCs, numbers that are seen by some coastal airports won't be possible.

      EasyJet, German Wings, Norwegian Shuttle, Vueling,all must be invited to set up a base in Zagreb to base one aircraft, before 2017, this wasn't possible, for reasons known to few professionals here, something Purger mentioned and Peter too.

      However with new terminal LCCs should be encouraged to come, perhaps even Wizz, despite all its issues.

      Wizz Air could bring additional 300k to Zagreb's number, EasyJet at least 250k, Norwegian - 300k, German Wing - 300k. That is extra 1.1 million in very short space of time. It can be done in 2017/2018. By 2019 Zagreb could hit 5.0 million, if LCCs are allowed in to set up a base.


      Zagreb has capacity of Vilnius and Riga, easily and I think a lot more too, larger city, for one. However, if airport can bring extra LCCs to Zagreb + 30 legacy Carriers, including SAS, Agean, Air Baltic, Finnair, Alitalia, Iberia - year round, TAP, SWiss - year round, Korean, Aer Lingus, FlyBe; Zagreb cold in 2020 hit 5.75 million easily.


      BTW new terminal can easily handle 8 million, expansion could happen in 2021, by adding 52 000sqm section and extended piers left and right, 165m to left pier and 310m to right pier for total of 20 passenger boarding bridges and 10-12 million designed capacity.

      With LCC traffic, Zagreb cold hit 8 million pax by 2025 and 10 million by 2030.

      All Zagreb Airport management needs to do is get 3-4 LCCs and let them build a base @Zagreb.



      Delete
  4. Anonymous09:11

    "Although there is some progress, we are not satisfied with the loads on existing winter flights, even though we are linked with Frankfurt and Istanbul, which both offer connections to 275 cities across the world."

    This is quite interesting. It comes to no surprise then that OU suspended some its year-round routes from DBV a few years ago.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:00

      Well, the population of DBV is 50000 pax, what did they expect?

      Delete
  5. Anonymous09:20

    Oh shame Dubrovnik just missed 2 million :( but great results all round

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous09:25

    Split Airport is going to be a zoo this summer. I travelled there 2 years ago and last year went to Dubrovnik instead purely because of the airport mess on departure in Split, even though I really had a great time in Split. But at the end of my trip waited for 2 hours in the searing sun and heat in a line which was stretching outside of the terminal. I know, first world problems but still. Might go to Pula this year. Will see.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:51

      Purchase a business class seat and jump the queue. This may stop the whining?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:57

      I just wrote of my experience. How am I whining? Even though I might not have had enough to pay for business class, I don't see why I should be subject to standing in the sun on 32C heat waiting to get into the airport. Civilised airports usually don't do that no matter what class you are flying with.

      Delete
    3. I have written about this before but i'll write it again. I purposely booked to fly out of Split in July 2016 and on a Saturday. Turned out to be one of their busiest days. I was looking forward to experiencing the Split Airport zoo literally just to see how bad it got but to my surprise, even though it was packed and they could do with many more amenities and places to sit, it all went quite smooth. My guess is that they got themselves pretty well organised now.

      Best part was when I asked for a fragile sticker for my bag because I packed a few bottles of olive oil and was told by the lady at check in "to te nece pomoc" (that wont help you). I found the honesty and the way she said it pretty amusing. :)

      Anyway, it will be interesting to hear if anyone else has experienced chaotic scenes this past year at the airport.... maybe I just got lucky.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous20:17

      I agree it was a tad more organised last summer compared to 2015! It all seemed to move faster both at check in and security. 2015 was utmost worst experience- but it really depends on week days and times/ how many departures there are during next 2 hours.

      Delete
  7. Anonymous09:26

    Wow- considering a population of 4.2 Mio the three airports did an excellent job. Next year could mean 2.5 Pax per citizen :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous15:39

      Population is not a factor for tourism-driven airports, other than as a fun fact/piece of statistics.

      Delete
    2. Nicky Namey22:15

      The money that is pumped into the Croatian economy by those millions of people is a major benefit.
      Most of those people are not transfer passengers but destination passengers who will probably spending money on hotels, restaurants etc...
      anyway you look at it this is a positive for Croatia.

      Delete
  8. Anonymous09:34

    I really do hope ZAG gets some new airlines. I'm no sure that either the Beijing or the New York flights will actually happen, which leaves us only with Monarch.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:46

      I Still think it might be more sensible to start off with seasonal flights between US and Dubrovnik.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:51

      Does anyone have any more info on those rumoured flights between New York and Zagreb?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:55

      They are not "rumored". Zagreb Airport confirmed that they are in talks with a European airline to operate these flights. Whether they will happen is a different thing all together.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:29

      So far in the comments, people have said they are talking to XL Airways, Thomson Airways and Air France. So I don't know what to believe anymore.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:56

      Zagreb Airport attends many aviation related events up to my knowledge, where airports and airlines meet and discuss business opportunities. In that context, being in talks with an airline doesn't mean too much, they should be practically in talks with dozens of airlines every year. "Being in talks with an airline" could mean something for airports with a lower profile.

      Delete
  9. Anonymous09:48

    Impressive results from all three.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous09:50

    Why other airports are not included: Zadar, Pula, Rijeka... it would be interesting to see numbers for Croatia in general

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:52

      I'm assuming because not all airports have released their results yet.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:56

      Zadar
      487.652 / 520.924
      +6,82%
      +33.272

      Expected in 2017 - above 620k, maybe even 650k

      Pula
      2015 / 2016
      359.426 / 436.121
      +21,33%
      +76.695

      Expected in 2017 - easy above 500k

      Rijeka
      Probably 142k in 2016, an increase of about 3%, at best 10% up in 2017.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:04

      Croatian airports will probably handle over 10 million passengers in 2017.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous19:47

      Seems a bit much..think it will be about 9,5 million. Then 2018 with even modest growth would put that over 10 million.
      3 airports over or closing on 3 million, and 2 more (Zadar and Pula) over 500k an closing on 1 million.

      Delete
  11. Anonymous09:57

    Air Serbia reduces NYC Ops in S17:

    http://www.routesonline.com/news/38/airlineroute/270821/air-serbia-s17-new-york-service-changes/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:18

      Ouch!

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:19

      Actually it operates 5x per week for most of summer.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:46

      Just announced. JU flying x4 times a week summer 2017 BEG - JFK.
      Awaiting the financial JU results for CY16. I'm predicting it won't be pretty.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:59

      Three months is not most of summer.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous11:06

      Three months is the whole summer (June-August, or 22 June-20 September).

      Why not use the plane elsewhere when it is not flying 5 x week?

      Delete
    6. Anonymous11:07

      They likely will.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous11:20

      They likely won't. I guess they're trying to find a solution to the loss-generator, not to extend the problem.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous11:28

      Beginning to think that JUs decision to introduce a wide body and JFK flights was a big financial mistake. I'm thinking that speculation a few weeks ago of CHI, Astana and China flights won't transpire anytime soo. Was it Karachi as well?

      Delete
    9. Anonymous11:35

      lol no there was no Karachi mentioned and the flights to China as announced by the Chinese ambassador and Air Serbia's Board President will be operated by a Chinese airline, not Air Serbia. The only destination Air Serbia said it was thinking is Tehran. That's it.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous11:38

      Supposedly JU should start flying to Kazakhstan, Baku, Tehran and potentially India given that our PM is there now.

      Delete
    11. Anonymous11:42

      Lol @anonymous January 11, 11.38AM
      Finally someone with a sense of humour! :)

      Delete
    12. Whatever might happen in the future regarding Etihad and its European operations, Air Serbia would not be immune to the current pressures facing the organisation. I wouldn't be surprised to see Air Serbia taking a bit of a less aggressive approach to 2017 especially if they did take a financial hit.

      Delete
    13. Aэrologic13:45

      OT - Thank you Air Serbia: OS is increasing its frequencies to ODS and LWO to ten weekly flights, mostly aimed at connections towards North America, current connecting times being about 18 hours. OS will be adding additional 3 red-eye flights (in banks that could be perfectly served from BEG with ATR with early morning arrival to BEG) to both Lvov and Odessa, making for a total of 10 weekly frequencies. In the meantime, LO is increasing LWO to double-daily and ODS to 11 weekly.

      On the other hand, instead of opening new markets, Air Serbia is reducing its North American services down to 3 (THREE) weekly flights all the way until May supposedly due to a lack of demand, while at the same time not even deploying the A330 to TLV, BEY, LHR, SVO, CDG or any other European destination, be it at dump prices.

      Delete
    14. Anonymous14:25

      Having an A330 sit idle on the tarmac is obviously less expensive that flying it to JFK. One can just assume then what money burner these flights are. Onlike LH,OS,AF or BA there is virtually no full fare premium demand to sustain these flights.

      Delete
    15. Anonymous16:49

      There really wasn't any destination where they could send it the rest of the time?

      Delete
    16. Anonymous17:05

      Maybe BEY but only in summer and that's when the plane flies to New York.
      ZRH already has a decent amount of frequencies. Another option in LHR but then again, the schedule is inconvenient.

      Delete
    17. Guys don't forget that OS, who is a much bigger player than JU is, currently flies to JFK only 3 times per week and to EWR 4 times per week. Its a slow season during this time of year.

      Delete
  12. Anonymous09:58

    'The airport says it is preparing for a "new phase in business operations" in the lead-up to the opening its new terminal in March. During 2017, focus will shift towards attracting new carriers.'

    So the first order of business is to raise the fees and taxes? lol
    Brilliant business logic.

    Congrats to other airports on a successful year. Will be interesting to see what kind of growth ZAG manages to achieve, my guess is 5%

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:02

      Well that terminal won't pay itself.

      Delete
    2. Would be interesting to see in time if the new fees apply to the new terminal only. Don't forget that airports worldwide charge for the use of air-bridges so it make sense for Zagreb to start charging more now.

      Having 2 separate functioning terminals will give Zagreb Airport a bit of flexibility in what they can offer to potential operators.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous13:37

      The old terminal will close when the new one opens. All staff is moving to the new terminal which is an indication.

      Delete
    4. Yes, but they are not knocking it down and if needed I'm sure they can hire more staff.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous16:47

      Q400

      I think the French won't let the old terminal stay operational. I could see several airlines stay there just to save up, especially once the new one opens up. I am sad they are increasing the charges yet again. It will make flying more expensive and it's not cheap now.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous20:33

      Didn't they already announce to make it a cargo terminal.
      http://www.exyuaviation.com/2016/06/zagreb-airport-to-adapt-terminal-for.html

      Delete
  13. Anonymous10:02

    It's interesting that Zagreb sustained strong growth in the winter even though Fly Dubai, Swiss and TAP were not flying like the previous winter. Let's see if they keep it up outside of the holiday period.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Zagreb has seen something like a 50% increase in tourism in December!

      Delete
    2. True, however most of the visitors dominatly used bus/car as a means of arrival to ZAG, especially given that one large portion of tourists in December came from Croatia and BiH. I would not be surprised if easyJet's new London route to LJU was also full with visitors who made a circular-type of tour which included Zagreb...
      As for Zagreb and it's touristic product, it's doing a nice job, certainly worth commending. However, more needs to be done in terms of attracting more diverse groups of visitors outside of the summer season. More 4* and 5* hotels, conference facilities, more branded shops in the center of the city...this will all contribute in "building a base" for a higher quality city-break toursim in Zagreb, aside from the "transfer visitors" who pop in for a day-or-two on their way to or back from the Croatian Coast.
      4 more hotels are being built and will be completed by 2018...Another 5* hotel (Adris Group) is rumored to be done at Ban Jelačić Square...we shall see.
      So far, not bad...

      Delete
    3. I think you meant to say; used bus/car as a means of arrival to Zagreb, not ZAG.

      Another point, do you think more branded shops will really help Zagreb in attracting more tourists? I think the opposite, more local shops, locally designed, original products would attract tourists in the city.

      Otherwise I agree with you.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous17:19

      Zagreb needs more 4 and 5 star hotels, so many tourists and yet so little famous hotel brands. I also don't understand why such a mystery around possible shops/restaurants on new terminal?

      Delete
    5. Anonymous19:53

      Looks like the cancellations were wrong moves by Swiss, Flydubai and others, Zagreb's growth accelerated in winter despite cancellations.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous21:00

      Well Kempinski is looking to get a Hotel in Zagreb and Hilton wants to expand their offer with a 5* Hotel, They're looking for viable locations.

      There's a 4* planned @the airport and another by Antunovic. Zagreb needs at least 25 Four Star Hotels and Five 5* Hotels, asp.
      There are around 30-32 hotels in Zagreb in total, Zagreb needs at least 50 Three * hotels as well for total of 80 Hotels and 15000 rooms. There are some 40 hostels in Zagreb and during Advent every single one is booked out over Christmas period with price going up by 300%, to 30-35 Euros per night.

      Delete
    7. Alen Šćuric Purger01:36

      Actually Zagreb has 57 hotels, 48 hostels, 17 Pensions, B&Bs and Mountain houses

      Delete
  14. Anonymous10:19

    Really impressive results, especially for Split and Dubrovnik! Looking forward to this year!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous10:22

    Great improvement!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Anonymous10:26

    It's going to be quite a year in Zagreb with the new terminal and seeing the effects of it on air traffic.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:28

      There are still a few airline I could see flying to ZAG. Aegean, SAS and Alitalia come to mind as the most plausible.

      Delete
    2. Nemjee10:58

      Alitalia is unfortunately falling apart so I doubt they will be launching ZAG anytime soon. Also, I don't see any airlines launching ZAG in March, maybe June or from the winter timetable.

      Delete
  17. Anonymous10:35

    Amazing result and pax numbers. In due course I think ZAG will likely take position 1. Well done Croatia Airports. Cheers to another highly successful 2017!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:57

      It already is number one... number one in Croatia.

      Delete
  18. Anonymous10:47

    Is there a chance of JAL returning to Zagreb? They used to fly there a couple of years ago during the summer with charters.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:56

      Japanese tourism into Europe has collapsed so I doubt they will be coming back.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:20

      Thanks. What about Korean? Will they be back with their charters?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous11:36

      Generally Asian tourism into Europe is down because of terrorist attacks and uncontrolled migration from the Middle East.

      Delete
  19. Anonymous10:50

    Can Zagreb overtake Belgrade?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:52

      It would need an increase of 78% to reach the number BEG had in 2016.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:57

      It can as much as BEG can overtake MXP.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:59

      Not in the next 2-3 years. But the recent development on Etihad's European strategy makes it possible now, after 2020.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous11:01

      So let's say your dreams come true and Air Serbia collapses, you don't think another airline would come in and scoop up passengers? There are a few LCCs which would be more than happy to come.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous11:14

      Ryanair and Wizz Air would step in and BEG would reach 6 million.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous14:44

      Vece sanse da prestigne Beograd ima Split koji vec danas tokom letnjih dana ima jace peak-ove od Beograda, dok Zagreb nije ni blizu tih brojki. Svakako je rec o tri potpuno razlicita aerodroma : Beogradu koji je vec predstavlja mini hub i koji ce beleziti lagani rast u narednom periodu bez obyira na odnose EY-JU, Split kao sve vise top turisticka destinacija kojoj se predvidjaju veliki porasti cim to aerodromska infrastruktura dozvoli i Zagreb koji pledira da postane hub mada je izvesnija uloga srednjeg regionalnog aerodroma sa neizvesnim stopama rasta (tajna je u tajnim aneks-ima koncesionog ugovora i protekcionizma prema OU).

      Sve u svemu, zanimljiv period je pred nama.

      ATCO

      Delete
    7. Anonymous16:03

      Ne vidim kako je moguće da ijedan hrvatski aerodrom prestigne BEG niti je to toliko bitno. Ono što je bitno je da građani Hrvatske i turisti imaju mogućnost povoljnih i kvalitetnih veza do većih europskih gradova i dobrih konekcija, dobra aerodromska infrastruktura i što bolja zarada koja se dalje investira.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous22:11

      Kojih tačno dana je SPU imao veće pikove ove godine od BEG?

      Delete
    9. u svim subotama u srpnju i kolovozu, do 30K pax dnevno...nedjelje su oko 15 do 20K, što je otprilike koliko BEG ima svaki dan...ljeti

      Delete
  20. Anonymous11:03

    Yeah I reckon ZAG will overtake BEG in due course.
    The new terminal looks amazing and I'm thinking that the French consortium are up to something. I think AY will be next

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:08

      You should keep in mind that others won't just be sitting idle for the next years.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:09

      Isn't the new terminal capacity 5 millions?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous11:10

      @11.03 as for Finnair you might be right. A few hears ago they said that there flights to this region depend on Asian demand. So we will see.
      http://www.exyuaviation.com/2015/08/finnair-evaluating-further-ex-yu_26.html

      Delete
    4. Anonymous11:13

      Let's wait and see what happens. If 2017 is an indicator ZAG won't be reducing the difference any time soon.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous22:09

      Kakva nebuloza. Ha ha ha! Al ajde. Neka vam je. :)

      Delete
    6. Nikad neću razumijeti tu opsjednutost sa pretjecanjem beogradskog aerodroma. Glavno da raste, ali zdravo.

      Delete
  21. Pozdrav11:14

    OT: Macedonian Airports (SKP&OHD) 2016:

    1.794.376 pax (+15%)
    number of flights (+9%)

    December (SKP&OHD) pax +6%

    ReplyDelete
  22. Anonymous11:15

    OT Today MGX has only two available aircraft. ASL will fly YM201/0 BEG-TIV-BEG on behalf of MGX with B733. Not clear which aircraft will fly TIV-DME today. Delays are huge.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:33

      What happeened to their fleet?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:46

      I think one of the Fokkers has an engine problem. They have had disrupted flights from beginning of January. Not a single day without delays, cancellations and diversions in Tivat. What is going on?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous11:47

      AOM is stuck at BEG (engine defect) from 01stJAN, AOA is at TGD and hasn't flown since 05thJAN, AOC broke down yesterday, AOD has been returned to lessor.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous11:52

      This is a disaster for YM. Could it be that they can't afford to repair AOM?

      Delete
    5. Anonymous13:24

      Today's MGX delays : TGD-FRA 7 hours, TIV-BEG more than 6 hours, TIV-DME 5 hours at least.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous16:30

      YM102/3 will operate JU

      Delete
  23. Anonymous11:18

    Great years ahead of Zagreb! Zagreb definitely needs a link to Stockholm or Oslo so I do hope Croatia Airlines delivers on this promise and starts them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:19

      Me too. I'm a bit worried thought they are not on sale yet if they actually do want to start those flights (and I am wondering with which planes too).

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:36

      I think eastwards connections would also be good.

      Delete
  24. Anonymous11:37

    Very good news for Zagreb. I think we might see passenger growth of around 10% this year.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:39

      Impossible, very few new destinations and no one announced more frequencies on already existing flights. I am surprised KL is not increasing ZAG.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:17

      All ZAG needs is for a LCC to base an aircraft. Numbers would pick up dramatically. Of course with the hike in fees it won't happen.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous12:50

      Qatar Airways is adding capacity on its route to Zagreb. Most will operate with the A321 this summer.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous13:44

      Yeah and the extra QR seats will bring an additional 0.5% growth. It's not enough.

      Delete
    5. With Emirates and almost certain direct connection to JFK, the Chinese, returning Swiss, increased QR frequencies, Monarch, increased frequencies, longer season and additional destination by Transatlantic...etc. Zagreb Airport will have more than solid growth this year. No worries.

      Delete
  25. Anonymous12:54

    Great news about Dubrovnik Airport's terminal being open already next month. If anyone's passing through take some photos :D

    ReplyDelete
  26. Anonymous13:06

    It's really refreshing to see how these Croatian airports are all investing a lot in infrastructure and are getting a lot of interest from various airlines in return.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Anonymous13:43

    OT

    BEG-WAW on E75 67/88 passengers, LF 76%.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous14:20

      Capacity of LOT E75 is 82 seats.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous15:39

      Thank you for correcting me my friend. The LF is then 82% which is phenomenal given the time of the year.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous17:51

      Nice. A lot of their flights are operated by the E75. If they are doing so well in winter then let's see what happens in summer.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous21:02

      In the summer I assume we will see a mix of Embraer 175 and 190 in addition to more flights.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous22:37

      Just before new year their E90 was about 85% full out of BEG. Their loads seem to be really, really good.

      Delete
  28. It would be nice to have a list of all exyu airports together with PAX.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They will be published during the month.

      Delete
  29. Anonymous15:10

    Bravo Hrvatska!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous17:53

      Bravo Anonimus!

      Delete
    2. Anonymous18:37

      @ last anon

      why must we act like children? the guy is simply happy for Croatia. grow up.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous18:40

      I am happy for him. Why must you be bitter?

      Delete
  30. Anonymous18:00

    If ZAG is well over the 2M mark and has been for some time, then why haven't they opened the market to a second ground handling company ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous18:15

      There's only one handling agent?! Seriously? BEG has three!

      Delete
    2. Anonymous19:31

      How does that work ? Croatia is an EU member country and it is in breach of the regulations it is supposed to adhere to.

      I guess it suits someone to turn a blind eye to this so that they can maintain the monopoly situation and hold airlines to ransom.

      No wonder fees are increasing and no LCCs are flying to ZAG

      Delete
    3. Nemjee22:36

      Don't forget that in 2012 the European Parliament voted against liberalizing the airport handling business. Supposedly they were afraid that salaries would decrease and that the rights of workers would be affected.

      That said I think that there is a rule that each airport (the size of ZAG) must have at least two handling agents.

      Delete
  31. Anonymous18:06

    Svakako ima jos potencijala u SPU i DBV pa je cak moguce da ce prestici ZAG.
    Ne znam sto novi Management iz ZAG ne ponudi nesto zanimljivo CTN a ako oni nece mogu to isto ponuditi U2.
    INN-NS

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous18:28

      Split sigurno sustiže ZAG, a sad hoće li i prestići bez značajnog prometa zimi..kad i kroz zimske mjesece bude +100k onda je Split broj 1

      Delete
  32. Anonymous18:37

    OT: What's with all the Sun Express flights from SAW to BEG... are these charters?

    I see a few today and more tomorrow?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous18:46

      Taking all people stranded by TK over the last few days.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous19:44

      Wouldn't a few A333 or 77W flights be more economical?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous21:40

      There are charters carried out by Corendon Airlines, probably carrying Fenerbahce basketball team fans to Belgrade.

      Delete
    4. If this is correct, then what happened with the pax who were supposed to be on the 8 TK flights that were cancelled?

      Delete
  33. Anonymous18:59

    ČSA cancelling ZAG? Can't find flights in February!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous19:30

      Flights resume on 27.02. February was probably cancelled due to low bookings.

      Delete
  34. Anonymous19:55

    Something that has been missed in ALL of this discussion, is the work undertaken by the various Croatian tourism authorities.

    They are THE ONES who create the demand for people to want to visit the destination. The various airports are the beneficiaries of this effort.

    People don't fly to airports, they fly to destinations. That is the real reason behind the growth of ALL of Croatia as a "want-to-visit-destination - not airports or airlines. They simply facilitate or enable this.

    Their work serves as an example for the rest of the region to stand up and take note.

    Bravo and keep up the good work !!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous20:07

      Truth be told the demand was not so much stimulated by their work as much as by the unrest in Turkey and the rest of the Middle East.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous20:32

      The rest of the region can hardly stand up as when it comes to tourism the Adriatic stands out very much. Croatia has three times more overnight stays by foreign visitors than all the other countries in ex-yu combined. The majority of that is on the coast. It doesnt matter what all the people in the tourism department would do, those results would be impossible without +5000km of coastline and +1000 islands and islets in warm waters. Not to undermine places like Zagreb, Plitvice, Gorski Kotar and so forth but Istria and Dalmatia are currently driving this growth

      Delete
    3. Anonymous20:51

      Vjeruj mi, da sjede skrstenih ruku, ne bi bilo tolko prometa.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous21:12

      Pa vjerujem da rade i da su posvećeni i sve. I da su svake godine sve bolji u svom poslu. Mislim, ovakvi rezultati a Hrvatska nema ni PRIBLIŽNO dovoljno hotela, nema golf igrališta i slabašne sadržaje van prirode, sunca i gastronomije.
      Većina smještaja su apartmani. Samo zbog toga svima ide priznanje

      https://trzistakapitala.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/strukutra-smjestaja.jpg

      Ali oni sve ovo igraju na "easy"
      U bilo kojoj zemlji u okruženju da imaš ne znam kakve ljude koji rade marketing, promociju i da imaš najbolje hotele ne bi ni blizu Hr sa apartmanima. Raditi u turizmu u Srbiji na Kosovu i sl. je "legend difficulty"

      Delete
    5. Nicky Namey22:47

      I have to agree that the tourism officials had done a great job of getting people to come to Croatia.

      They rebranded the whole country from being a former Yugoslav republic which was destroyed during the war to an IN destination for the rich and famous.

      Just look at all the luxury travel magazines and you will see ads for Dubrovnik and Hvar as well as yacht charters. The only problem I see is that they have to get away from the mass tourism since it is getting over crowded and raise prices to weed out those who take up space and don't spend much especially during July and August. It may sound cruel but you don't have families eating sausages by the side of the road to save a few dollars in Aspen, Palm Beach or on Maui. They will reduce the number of people but will soon see the same economic benefit. Just don't let Dubrovnik become another Venice where you can't even walk without bumping into people and limit the number of Cruse ships to one per day not like now when 4 or 5 show up and dump 5000 people into the old town at the same time.

      Delete
    6. @anonymous 8:07 - to a degree this is true. But, Croatia's tourism has been growing steadily all the other years - twice as much as the average growth rate of the european tourism. in the years when euro tourism grew 2 to 3% annually, croatia's tourism grew 4 to 5,5% (2012-2014). In 2011, it grew 8%, when european countries grew 4%...in 2015 and 2016 this was + 9%.
      Croatia is simply "in demand" and has sustainable product where people return more than once, they talk, share and recommend. Something to do with the tourism industry, country branding and all the people working in this line of work... :)

      Delete
  35. Anonymous20:24

    With these news, 2017 is going to get even better:
    Emirates is going to announce in the next few days a direct daily DXB - ZAG service. Apparently, they're expecting a lot of connecting traffic from Australia and the Far East. Aircraft type 777-300, starting from June 1st 2017. Winter uncertain. From sources high up.
    Greetings from the desert. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Obavezno sa povecanjem kapaciteta u 2018. na A388.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous20:48

      Tip se sali, pusti ga, slatko se nasmiji i to je to ;-)

      Delete
    3. Anonymous21:20

      Ja sam bio ozbiljan, a vi tumačite kako hoćete. :)

      Delete
    4. Anonymous21:25

      Proveri ovo pre nego sto pises gluposti

      http://www.exyuaviation.com/2016/11/emirates-no-plans-for-ex-yu-flights.html

      http://www.exyuaviation.com/2016/10/serbia-and-slovenia-strongest-markets.html

      Delete
    5. Anonymous21:37

      Koliko god ovo izgledalo neverovatno zaista ima informacija koje idu prilog ovoj najavi. Jednostavno, zaista ima govorkanja i to ne pojedinačnih, a opet uopšte ne izgleda logično. Sve ovo da Anonymous-a ovde bi previše omalovažavali, ovo on nije sam izmislio.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous21:46

      Before OTP, BEG and SOF? Hmm, I still call this just a rumour. Then again, FZ did stop flying and that is the only reason I am not calling this BS.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous22:07

      Flydubai is going to cut one weekly frequency to Belgrade during April, May and part of June. Reasons unclear.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous22:25

      Operational reasons, there are some issues with fleet availability and some regular maintenance actions.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous08:44

      I've heard the same rumour. EK operated with QF codeshare. Just beautiful. Great news for ZAG and Croatia. They will clean up. Not so great for EY and JU. EY looking for a 2.6b loan to get them out of their financial crisis. Shame!

      Delete
  36. Anonymous08:56

    Daily EK to ZAG would be massive. But can that really happen? Doesn't sound logic.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:03

      It's going to be announced today, probably in the next few hours. Stay tuned.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:33

      Anonymous 9:03, please stop it, you obviously have a lot of spare time. And you're really not funny!

      Delete
    3. The joke's on who now?

      Delete
  37. Anonymous09:49

    Man, it has just been announced. Call me funny now.
    http://www.exyuaviation.com/2017/01/emirates-to-launch-zagreb-service.html

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

EX-YU Aviation News does not tolerate insults, excessive swearing, racist, homophobic or any other chauvinist remarks or provocative posts with the intention of creating further arguments. A full list of comment guidelines can be found here. Thank you for your cooperation.