Split aims for three million passengers in 2018


Split Airport anticipates handling three million passengers in 2018, with the construction of its new terminal building progressing on schedule. General Manager, Lukša Novak, noted, "It took us ten years to grow from one million to two million travellers. Before the war, the airport was handling around a million passengers per year. However, it took us just three years to increase our figures from two million travellers to 2.8 million. In 2018 we will handle three million passengers". He added, "The increase is being fuelled by the growth in tourism, as well as Croatia's entry into the European Union. Security issues in other holiday hotspots have also aided the figures. Over the past five years we have been recording double digit growth".


Next year is expected to be the last Split Airport faces capacity constraints with 30% of work on its new passenger terminal already completed. "An investment of this magnitude is undertaken once every thirty years. The last time we expanded the terminal was in 2005 but the facility itself was built for the 1979 Mediterranean Games in Split. In any case, this is a complex investment taking place over an area of almost 80.000 square metres, with the terminal taking up 35.000 square metres. Upon completion in 2019, the entire terminal complex will spread over 48.000 square metres, which is comparable to our counterparts in Zagreb and Dubrovnik. It will satisfy our needs for the next twenty years, with some minor modifications inside the building", Mr Novak said.


The new terminal building will feature thirty check-in desks, six gates, a new automated baggage sorting facility and five carousels, while the gallery will boast restaurants, an observation deck and the business class lounge. The main floor will be circular in shape with natural sunlight coming in from glass sections of the roof. The overhaul of the existing terminal building will commence once the new one is completed and opened. The old terminal will be joined with the new facility to form a single unit (as pictured in the first photo) and will be used by non-schengen zone passengers. Furthermore, Split Airport plans to overhaul its runway, build a parallel taxiway and expand the apron in 2019, which should reduce congestion. A new car park and bus terminal, which have the capacity to accommodate 900 vehicles over an area of 35.500 square metres, have already been completed, while an enclosed pedestrian overbridge linking the area with the terminal building over the state road is currently under construction. Furthermore, the new terminal building is already taking shape. The entire investment is estimated to be worth some 59.7 million euros.

Rendering of Split Airport's new terminal

Split Airport registered a record 2.782.033 passengers during the January - November period, an increase of 23.1% on last year. It has cemented its position as the third busiest airport in the former Yugoslavia and was ahead of its counterpart in Zagreb for several months during 2017. However, Mr Novak noted that Split has no ambitions to surpass Zagreb Airport's traffic figures and become the country's busiest. To the contrary, the airport won't encourage airlines to operate night flights once it opens for 24-hour use next year, nor will it seek transatlantic services. "We want to be an effective regional airport. We need to work to stimulate traffic in the winter months", the General Manager said. A number of carriers have so far scheduled new seasonal flights to Croatia's second largest city for next year including SAS Scandinavian Airlines, airBaltic, Thomas Cook Airlines, Volotea, Smartwings and Jet2.

Comments

  1. Anonymous09:04

    Well done

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous09:07

    "The airport won't encourage airlines to operate night flights once it opens for 24-hour use next year, nor will it seek transatlantic services".

    I just don't get why? Why would you limit yourself in such a way if you are doing really well?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:11

      My thoughts too, especially since it could handle more traffic if it operator 24 hours and could surely attract TATL flights. If it did that, it would be handling more passengers than Zagreb.

      Delete
    2. It’s probably not worth the hassle and could actually be an inconvenience when you look at how much ramp space a regular wide body would take up.... maybe they know that any translantic service would want to operate during the times when the airport is at its busiest. The way the ramp is set up they could lose parking positions for 2-3 aircraft and when you consider the longer turn around time they could lose up to 6 aircraft movements to accomodate a trans Atlantic A330 so they could actually lose money on it. If ramp space was not an issue than I’m sure they would be considering it.

      The night flight comment... here I think he is just making sure he keeps his neighbours (the people of Kaštela and Trogir) from freaking out.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:49

      A niti ce obeshrabrivat.
      Citaj, tko hoce letjeti nocu neka leti. Ali, neka ne ocekuje posebne pogodnosti

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:19

      Kladim se kako cemo vidjat te letove koje ne zele u vrijeme u koje ih n3ce ohrabrivat

      Delete
    5. Anonymous12:04

      Well, widebodies simply cannot fit and there are many residential areas surrounding the airport so it makes sense they don't want planes landing in the middle of the night.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous13:06

      Pa ce tako imati 24satno radno vrijeme, dodatne troskove bez ikakve koristi?
      Dajte me ne nasmijavajte.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous19:29

      USS ima 2.500 metara znači da većina širokotrupaca ne može sletjeti.

      24 satno dežurstvo im nameće država. Ono se može napraviti sa minimalnim osobljem i "bez motiviranja prijevoznika" ili uz motivaciju može angažirati bitno više osoblja, a noćni rad u Hrvatskoj košta bitno više nego dnevni. Neisplativo! Stoga mora, ali "neće motivirati".

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:07

    He is right.They should focus on year-round flights.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:10

      That should be number 1 priority.

      Delete
    2. Alen Šćuric Purger19:31

      Absolutely!

      Delete
  4. Anonymous09:09

    New terminal seems to be progressing nicely.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:04

      Yes, I wrote the same below, didn't see your comment. It's going quicker than I expected.

      Delete
  5. Anonymous09:15

    Excellent progress so far, no doubt it will handle 3 million pax in 2018. They should definitely attract more carriers to fly there year round (if OU survives, they should do something about it, base a plane in Split). I'm surprised they are not interested in TATL flights, I'm sure it would work during the season.

    Anyway, good luck in 2018!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous09:22

    That's impressive considering ZAG handked 3 million two weeks ago. Well done.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous09:23

    I still would not congratulate this ceo. He was incompetent to start work on new terminal for 5 years and it was constantly delayrf.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:52

      Vlaska su ti to posla.
      Trebalo mu je 5 godina i na tomu mu treba cestitati, nije lako s vlajima

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:19

      The new terminal can't come soon enough.

      Delete
    3. Don’t know much about the ceo but I think most of the delays were due to land issues and buying private land. Don’t know how much you can blame him for this.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous11:27

      Why are there no airbridges?

      Delete
    5. Only 6 gates!? 1-2 for domestic and only 4-5 for international are too less

      Delete
    6. Anonymous12:19

      We already have too much pax in SPU. If other airports want to maximize this the local community is not interested in going above sustainable limits. Let them all fly to ZAD or SJJ.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous19:54

      But all the gates of the existing terminal will continue to be used - so in the end it will be some 15 gates at SPU, that should be enough.

      Air bridges are simply not needed, nor wanted. Boarding is 10 metres from the gate door - and always both doors of the aircraft front and back are used - if air bridges would be used boarding and deboarding both take 5 mins more meaning turn around times of min. 45 instead of 35 mins - that is something a congested airport/apron really doesn't need.

      Delete
  8. Anonymous09:36

    I think 3.1 million is realistic in 2018.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous09:42

    Bravo Hrvatska!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous09:51

    It has been a great year for all Croatia airports and 2018 should be the same.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:04

      2018 will be another record year!

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:01

      Yep amazing year for Croatian airports all round.

      Delete
  11. Anonymous10:17

    Congrats, Split! Keep up the good work!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous10:17

    Sooner or later it will become the busiest in Croatia. It will never have too many passengers during the winter but the volume of traffic during the summer will be enough to secure number 1 position.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:31

      Ajd molim te, pokusaj mi pojasniti vaznost toga biti br.1?

      Sta su ti kompleksi maloga.....

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:34

      If it's not so important, why are you so angry at the mention it will likely overtake ZAG? I am proud of my home airport. Still a lot of work to do but it is on the right track.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous12:21

      It is foolish to go for large numbers in a small city like Split is. I live in Trogir and it is horrible to witness all those planes flying in and out during summer. Obviously our voice needs to be heard much louder.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous13:08

      Zive od turizma a smeta im aerodrom??????

      Vlaska posla

      Delete
    5. Anonymous19:36

      Not if Zagreb will allow LCC expansion in next two years.

      And it will have to do so earlier or later.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous19:58

      It's not like planes only started flying above Trogir a while ago!

      Most who complain knew they bought land/property in the landing zone of an international airport (for affordable money) - no matter how many years ago!

      Delete
    7. Anonymous19:59

      Few hundred metres more would be needed indeed

      Delete
    8. Anonymous20:01

      *sorry last comment was misplaced

      Delete
  13. Anonymous11:00

    I am certain Split has potential to get seasonal TATL flights. Skyservice used to fly from Toronto to Split a decade ago (or even more). It would be a shame if they don't pursue this.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:09

      Don't remember those. From Toronto?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:18

      Yes

      Delete
    3. Anonymous11:26

      Maybe if Air Transat stops ZAG flights (because of AC Rouge), they could try with Split instead!

      Delete
    4. Anonymous13:59

      If SPU would have the RWY of DBV we could discuss about that.
      So long get real..

      Delete
    5. Anonymous19:38

      Split has 2.500 meter runway. Most of long-haul planes can not take of from it. Not even A330.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous19:47

      Will they expand the runway eventually?

      Delete
    7. Anonymous20:00

      Few hundred metres more would be needed indeed

      Delete
    8. Anonymous00:46

      European A330s could because they would be much lighter than the transatlantic ones.

      Delete
  14. Anonymous11:02

    Imagine how much they would be handling if they let in Ryanair. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad they are not but if they did they would already have over 3 million passengers.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:36

      Yes letting in Ryanair or Wizz would boost numbers well beyond 5 million in the next 2 years. BUT they will and cannot do it, as they are limited with the infrastructure.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous19:41

      And that would cut their incomes. If they give discounts to Ryanair all other will want same discounts. And without those huge discounts Ryanair will never come.

      Delete
  15. Anonymous11:03

    Construction on the new terminal looks to be going well. When is it planned to open?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:06

      June 2019.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:19

      Thanks, can't wait.

      Delete
  16. Anonymous11:04

    And with this news from last week
    http://www.exyuaviation.com/2017/12/dubrovnik-airport-starts-115-million.html

    Great to see number 2 and 3 developing nicely.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:20

      Pretty much all of Croatia's airports have renovated and upgraded.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:27

      Rijeka still to come

      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.

      http://www.exyuaviation.com/2017/11/rijeka-in-talks-to-become-airline-base.html

      Delete
    3. Anonymous14:06

      Yesterday RJK had 2 747-400F freighters (Atlas and Kalitta Air)

      Delete
  17. Anonymous11:35

    Good for SPU but I think DBV has more potential.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:39

      Can't agree on that, and I live in Dubrovnik. Split airport has a far larger catchment area and that's a fact. Split, also, needs more hotels, unlike Dubrovnik which is overcrowded during summer months.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:24

      I certainly would not want either Split or Trogir to become like Dubrovnik. We don't want these cities to become empty shells used only for tourism. We want to live in our cities and for that tourism needs to be limited and regulated reducing the number of pax at SPU.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous20:06

      Last Anon, that doesn't make sense and it would hurt the regional and national economy.

      Plus: Where in the world are whole cities limited in such a way?

      Delete
    4. Anonymous20:09

      Last Anon, overcrowded cities like Barcelona or Venice are trying to limit the capacities, number of hotels,...
      Besides, regarding Croatia, tourism share in GDP is almost 20%, which is too much!

      Delete
    5. Anonymous20:16

      But that is both in relation to mass tourism from cruise ships and cannot be compared to air travel where you get in average no more than 180 tourists from a new arrival - compsred to more than 5,000 passengers from a cruiser who of course overcrowd a city immediately as they all come at once and not slowly/gradually like from airplanes.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous20:25

      Anon 8:16, cruise ships are not the main problem, I live in Dubrovnik and the city is simply overcrowded even after the ships leave.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous23:17

      It is not 20% of GDP, but 18,9%. In GDP 1,1% is a lot!

      Delete
  18. Anonymous12:12

    This is horrible news for the local community! Luckily there are ways to limit this megalomania and remain within sustainable limits which have been surpassed already. Why don't all those excess flights go to ZAD instead of creating a chaos in Trogir and surrounding areas? Obviously the taxes are too low, perhaps the local politicians should push for an increase of those.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous20:18

      Oh gosh the same Trogir guy again - like a broken record...

      Delete
  19. Anonymous14:38

    Today on OU450 ZAG-AMS were around 156 pax
    OU451 was also completely full, maybe a few empty seats

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous16:18

      it's not really surprising it's a day before New Year's eve,

      Delete
  20. Anonymous15:00

    They should build a new airport but in some uninhabited area near Split. This location is inconvenient not only because of very limited possibilities of future development, but also because of the fact that it's basically in the middle of an inhabited area. It's hard for me to even imagine how irritating is for most locals around the airport to witness the dense traffic during summer. Airports like Split shouldn't be built anywhere near the city, as they become zoos during the season. And this is just the beginning, Split might even be handling 6-7 million passengers by 2025, which would mean at least 40 000 (!!!) passengers in a single day during summer. The new airport should have at least 25 gates with many opportunities to expand to be able to accommodate all the future traffic.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous16:38

      A ko je kriv da se ne misli sa glavom?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous17:43

      Gluposti.
      Graditi novi aerodrom pored onog koji jos ima prostora.....uber glulost.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous19:57

      Cuj njega, tko je kriv?
      Pa prvoborci, tko drugi.

      Taj aerodrom je napravljen u neko drugo vrijeme.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous20:24

      The airport is well situated close to the city but not inside of it, next to the national 4 lane road and close to the tourist areas/rivieras.
      Only thing they really need to build now is a parallel taxiway and there are no unsolvable land issues there.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous13:59

      Nedostatak rulnuce j3 glavni ogranicavajuci faktor glede kapaciteta.
      No, za ocekivati je, po zavrsetku expanzije terminala da i to na red dodje.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous12:10

      I expect ZAD will grow rapidly in the coming years and that will limit the need for expansion at SPU. A realistic target at SPU should be up to 3.5 million pax with a more even distribution throughout the year. I expect that peaks in summer months will not grow and might even start to decline as ZAD takes those excess numbers in the coming years.

      Delete

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.