Rijeka Airport is negotiating for a European airline to open a base in the city in 2019. The Croatian Minister for Sea, Transport and Infrastructure noted that this will be preceded by a 2.6 million euro investment in the airport's infrastructure next year, which will include upgrades to the passenger terminal and apron. Although the carrier in question has not been named, the Minister for Tourism, Gari Cappelli, remarked earlier this year that Eurowings had expressed interest to station an aircraft in the city. "If Rijeka offers agreeable terms, it will become a Eurowings base", the Minister said. Eurowings operated an additional sixty rotations to Rijeka over the summer, resulting in an additional 20.000 passengers on the airline's network out of the city when compared to last year.

The Lufthansa subsidiary noted earlier this month that it has big plans in store for the Croatian market over the next three years. Furthermore, the airline recently upgraded its seasonal summer flights between Cologne and Rijeka to year-round operations, becoming the Croatian city's only nonstop international service during the winter period. “Bookings for the winter months have been improving. As with any new route, it takes time to develop. We are working on diversifying Rijeka’s offer in order for it to become a city-break destination”, the airline’s Network Development Manager, Ivan Oreč, said at a press conference in Zagreb earlier this month. In addition to Cologne, Eurowings also maintains flights from Berlin, Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Hannover and Stuttgart to Rijeka. Currently, the only Croatian airport that serves as a base to a foreign registered airline is Zadar, which is home to Ryanair on a seasonal summer basis.

Rijeka Airport handled 127.132 passengers during the first three quarters of the year, representing a decrease of 5.4% on 2016, making it Croatia's least busiest airport with commercial traffic after Brač. However, it processes the second largest amount of cargo in the country after Zagreb. Over the past several months, the airport has been frequented by numerous Boeing 747 freighter jets which has in turn boosted revenue. According to a report by the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, Rijeka Airport has become a logistical base for Pentagon shipments of arms to the Middle East which has resulted in the surge in cargo flights. Despite the decline in passenger numbers, General Manager, Tomislav Palalić, said the airport expects to handle 300.000 passengers in 2018. So far, both Ryanair and Condor have announced plans to introduce new services from Frankfurt to Rijeka next year.