Zadar Airport unveils €70 million expansion


Zadar Airport will initiate a seventy million euro expansion and overhaul of its facilities in order to enable it to handle long haul flights. It will become the latest airport in the country, following Zagreb, Dubrovnik and Split, to carry out major upgrades. They include the overhaul of the runway and its extension by 700 metres, as well as the expansion of the terminal building and apron. The Croatian government will assist with the financing. "This airport is of great significance and this is a project of strategic importance. Zadar Airport already handles close to 700.000 passengers per year and will mark its fiftieth anniversary in 2019", the Croatian Minister for Sea, Transport and Infrastructure, Oleg Butković, said.

Zadar Airport's General Manager, Josip Klišmanić, noted that necessary project documentation will be obtained during 2019 in order for work on the project to commence as soon as possible. No firm timeframe has been given as to when construction work could be completed. Zadar Airport has been attempting to secure long haul flights from China for several years but in 2017 conceded it would have to lengthen its runway by 700 metres in order for the service to materialise. Zadar Airport has one main terminal building and a general and business aviation terminal. The facilities at the main terminal include international and domestic arrivals, five gates, nine check-in counters, and two self propelled conveyer belts.

Zadar Airport anticipates strong growth this year with Ryanair to launch eight new routes from the city despite the closure of its base. Furthermore, easyJet will introduce two new routes, while Iberia Express, Air Serbia, Transavia, Laudamotion and Condor will all commence seasonal flights to Zadar this summer. A total of sixteen airlines will maintain 51 scheduled flights to 31 destinations in sixteen European countries. As a result, the airport expects to welcome an additional 100.000 passengers this year. In 2018 it handled a record 603.819 travellers through its doors. Ryanair accounts for the bulk of the airport's annual traffic with a passenger share of 60%.




Comments

  1. Anonymous09:05

    Zadar Airport is a gem and quiet achiever making solid ground. Well done Zadar Airport.

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    Replies
    1. Im happy they opened Eindhoven Zadar

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  2. Anonymous09:07

    Zadar is becoming more and more interesting.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:23

      I like Zadar, they are quite proactive. They were the first or one of the first to have a (seasonal) LCC base.

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  3. Anonymous09:08

    Bravo Hrvatska!

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  4. Anonymous09:11

    Extension of the runway and expansion of the apron is really needed.

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  5. Anonymous09:11

    I'm not sure they will be able to find all of the funding for this project if they plan to do it at a quick pace.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:14

      Same. In my opinion they should have given the airport up for concession.

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    2. Anonymous09:14

      For this year I think only the expansion of the apron is planned.

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    3. Anonymous09:18

      They can always take out a loan.

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    4. Anonymous09:24

      It says the government will assist.

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  6. Anonymous09:13

    Woooow! Croatia fails to surprise. This is very good news indeed for the region. I just counted that there will be SIXTEEN new routes this summer.
    Zadar might become a gamechanger in the region, too.
    ¡Bravo!

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  7. Anonymous09:18

    If they extend the runway it could attract various airlines not just one from China. I think it is in the airport's interest to do this ASAP.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:24

      +1

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    2. Anonymous09:29

      Zadar is a good alternative to Split given the fact that the airport there is packed during peak summer months and not willing to handle wide body aircrafts.

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    3. Anonymous15:58

      Yes, and there will be Pula, ZAD and Dubrovnik for widebody ops along the coast. Very good planned.

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  8. Anonymous09:38

    Finally understood that they need to lengthen runway. Hallelujah.

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  9. Anonymous09:39

    But didn't Zadar handle widebodies in the past? I have a memory of an Il96 landing in Zadar a couple of years ago, so how come they can't handle an A330?

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:41

      It is true that an Il86 (not 96) landed in Zadar but it was from the Russian government and not fully loaded. So it could use the runway. Zadar's runway is only 2500m, and can't handle A330 or any larger wide body that requires minimum runway length of 2800m.

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    2. Anonymous09:45

      Didn't know that. Thanks for the explanation.

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  10. Anonymous09:45

    Go Zadar!

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  11. Anonymous09:50

    it has plenty of room to expand.

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  12. Anonymous09:55

    Zadar will have a great year! Congrats!

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:07

      yes no doubt about it

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  13. Anonymous09:57

    I am so happy for Zadar! Hopefully they will go up to a million passengers soon.

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  14. Anonymous10:08

    The way that Ryanair drop airports from their schedules would make me very worried about investing in extra capacity based on Ryanair's promises of flights.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:56

      Indeed - Ryanair move capacity in and out of airports like people change underwear. The minute that a certain airport doesn't lower their charges, or do whatever else they ask for, they'll cancel flights.

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    2. Anonymous12:58

      Thankfully Zadar hasn't based its entire traffic just on Ryanair.

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    3. Anonymous16:01

      Right, and more and more legacies are coming :)

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  15. Anonymous10:10

    Maybe they could surpass Pula, this year, who knows.

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  16. Anonymous10:11

    "Zadar Airport anticipates strong growth this year with Ryanair to launch eight new routes from the city despite the closure of its base"

    Did I miss anything here? Since when is ZAD no longer a FR (seasonal) base?

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:13

      As of this summer.

      "The airline will no longer have an aircraft stationed in the city. "Ryanair is currently in discussions with the Minister and the Croatian National Tourist Board to deliver traffic growth of c. 50% and introduce up to eight new routes to Zadar in summer 2019. These routes will operate from other Ryanair bases as its seasonal Zadar base will not reopen in summer 2019", the company said."

      https://www.exyuaviation.com/2018/11/ryanair-in-talks-over-zagreb-and-split.html

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    2. Anonymous13:21

      Thanks a lot, it seems that other coastal towns are affected too.
      They launched a base in BOJ and it lasted barely 1 season. They are currently focusing on France, Southend and other richer places, similar to W6.
      Hopefully, they resume ZAD soon.

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  17. Anonymous11:06

    Minister should be informed that the passenger number for last year was closer to 600,000 than 700,000.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:51

      Yes it was 603,819

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  18. Anonymous11:06

    Finally some positive changes at ZAD.

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  19. Anonymous11:08

    Realistically Zadar should handle 1 million pax annually given its potential to take a large number of pax away from SPU. Its position is excellent, has two runways, everything is in place to stimulate growth. I expect ZAD will be next bright star in Croatia this and next year.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:12

      It is with no doubt that ZAD has potential for at least 1 mill pax but realistically SPU won't shrink because ZAD grows.

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    2. Anonymous16:03

      +1

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  20. Anonymous11:12

    Let‘s see if PUY or ZAD will have more PAX at the end of the year...

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:33

      What are the statistics for ZAD so far this year?

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    2. Anonymous11:51

      2419 passengers in January. +21,86%

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    3. Anonymous11:54

      Thanks, and Pula?

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    4. Anonymous11:55

      967 pax down 34%

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    5. Anonymous11:56

      wow what happened??

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    6. Anonymous12:27

      Handball championships last year?

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    7. Anonymous12:30

      It was not held in Pula.

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    8. Anonymous12:53

      But it was held in Porec which is next to Pula and Pula airport was used.

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    9. Anonymous12:57

      Numbers at ZAD will skyrocket in 2019 with all these new Ryan routes.

      Delete
  21. Anonymous11:54

    Nice to see that even the medium sized airports in Croatia are showing some muscle

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  22. Anonymous12:05

    It would be nice if they showed some renders or plans.

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  23. Anonymous12:29

    Zadar has been doing great lately. This would the cherry on the cake.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:54

      Yes, good for ZAD, step by step they are developing in the right direction.

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  24. Anonymous12:56

    This is outstanding news for Zadar and Croatia in general.

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  25. Anonymous16:12

    So ZAD will be able to operate with wide-body plane and SPU not?

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous16:40

      SPU does not care of wide-bodies, they're just nuisance. There is life without wide-bodies as well.

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    2. Anonymous16:47

      DBV does not think so

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    3. Anonymous17:05

      DBV has their own policy. Not everyone has the same goals.

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    4. Anonymous17:18

      Sure, as well as ZAD and ZAG. It seems they know something SPU does not

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    5. Anonymous18:10

      Seems they're all lagging behind SPU in terms of the growth of the pax. So perhaps they're trying too much

      Delete

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