Croatia’s nine commercial airports are on course to handle a joint total of over eleven million passengers in 2019 following last year's 10.5 million. Despite a continent-wide slowdown, the Croatian market recorded the seventh largest increase in traveller numbers within the European Union so far this year, behind Austria, Latvia, Portugal, Finland, Hungary and Malta, but ahead of the remaining 21-member states, as well as above average European growth. During the January - August period, Croatian airports welcomed 8.285.615 passengers through their doors, up 8.7%. Dubrovnik added the most travellers when compared to last year, with an additional 240.016 passengers handled. Overall, the Croatian market processed an additional 667.729 travellers.
Croatian airports passenger numbers, JAN - AUG
| Airport | PAX | Change (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Split | 2.497.427 | ▲ 6.5 |
| Zagreb | 2.276.373 | ▲ 2.4 |
| Dubrovnik | 2.099.022 | ▲ 12.9 |
| Pula | 604.191 | ▲ 12.2 |
| Zadar | 594.314 | ▲ 33.1 |
| Rijeka | 150.583 | ▲ 11.3 |
| Osijek | 37.580 | ▼ 34.7 |
| Brač | 20.749 | ▼ 7.7 |
| Lošinj | 5.376 | ▼ 4.5 |
Split Airport continued to hold its position as the country’s busiest. Its General Manager, Lukša Novak, conceded that extreme seasonality may prevent it from overtaking Croatia's main hub in Zagreb on an annual level, but added it was not an impossible task. "Almost half of our annual traffic is achieved during July and August. During the four summer months we have the most passenger traffic in the country. We are extremely seasonal in character but when looking at it on an annual level, we are in second place”, Mr Novak previously said. Zadar Airport continued to post impressive growth on the back of Ryanair's major summer expansion from the coastal city. Apart from the eight new routes introduced by the budget airline, the airport has also seen easyJet double its capacity, while Laudamotion, Transavia, Condor, Air Serbia and Iberia launched new services to the Croatian city.
Osijek Airport’s performance has been hit by Wizz Air’s suspension of its year-round Basel service in mid-June. The route had an 80% average cabin load factor last year, while the budget carrier aims for a 94% load factor. The Prefect of the Osijek-Baranja County, Ivan Anušić, said, “We have held talks with Chinese investors over Osijek Airport. This autumn we will submit a Letter of Intent to the Croatian government. We are yet to define whether the Chinese will take Osijek Airport under a concession, turn it into a distribution centre or do something different”. The airport is currently served seasonally by Croatia Airlines and Eurowings, while Trade Air maintains year-round domestic Public Service Obligation flights, which are up for review at the end of this year.
“We have held talks with Chinese investors over Osijek Airport. This autumn we will submit a Letter of Intent to the Croatian government."
ReplyDeleteHope this doesn't end up like with Maribor.
Sounds ominous.
DeleteCongratulations
ReplyDeleteZAG needs to wake up. This winter will be brutal for them while OSI is just depressing.
ReplyDeleteBrutal in which way?
DeleteBrutal in the sense that they didn't secure that many flights which will boost their numbers. I don't see how in November they can grow by more than 1% or 2%.
Delete...or February for that matter.
There will be an extra flight to BRU by OU. :D
DeleteI think it will be closer to 12 million actually.
ReplyDeleteCroatia got over 10 million pax now , including September .So I would agree with your statement.
DeleteCongrats, Split! Keep up the good work!
ReplyDeleteSooner 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.
DeleteWell one day when they expand their capacities maybe Ryanair can move its seasonal base there and keep a few destinations throughout the year. I am sure they could have one or two.
DeleteIf any low cost airline should open a base in Split it is Easy Jet. They are already Split's number 1 airline and operate to over a dozen destinations from Split.
DeleteSplit is Croatia's most successful airport. Biggest profit, biggest revenue, busiest during the summer.
DeleteDBV is better managed.
DeleteThe problem SPU is facing is capacity. Yes, it's nice they have a new terminal but it means nothing until they expand aprons and taxiways. The reason they don't want widebodies there is because it takes up too much space and unables them to handle several smaller narrowbodies.
DeleteLast Anon is correct, especially since Dubrovnik is smaller it's success is far more impressive. They are the best managed airport in Croatia.
DeleteVery impressive
ReplyDeleteThe growth and the majority of passengers are generated on the coast. The only two inland airports are Zagreb and Osijek.
ReplyDeleteCroatian coast is growing and growing each year with impressive double digits.
DeleteGood work overall but it's unfortunate that smaller airports are struggling.
ReplyDeleteIf Mostar wakes up and offers cheap flights lfrom next year, it could hurt Split.
ReplyDeletelol yeah I'm sure its really going to hurt them.
DeleteI think he meant that people going to Medjugorje would not go via Split anymore, they would go direct to Mostar.
DeleteYes but that's a couple of thousand passengers. It would barely impact SPU's numbers.
DeleteZadar investment of 70 million + 3200 meters runaway + Ryanair and more and more passengers = few thousands from Split
DeleteBrač investment in runaway = few thousands from Split
Dubrovnik 225 million investment + Peljašac bridge + highway = few thousands from Split
Mostar LCC, more Medjugorje passengers = few thousands from Split
And several times few thousands is?
Several times few thousand = 6,5% growth for SPU operating at peak limits.
DeleteStill those 3 airports will steal at least 100-200.000 Split passengers in near future. Especially Dubrovnik and Zadar.
DeleteAs a member of the local community I would appreciate if those airports would take over 1 million pax during summer season.
DeleteWhy no growth at Brac?
ReplyDeleteBecause Adria and Luxair did not fly like last summer and there were no new routes.
DeleteOne of the issues with Brac is that pilots need special training to land there. At Luxair, they only had 2 pilots with this sort of certification so it was difficult for them to maintain this route. Loads were very good.
DeleteInteresting. Didn't realise there were special conditions for landing at BWK.
DeleteHave they started the runway/terminal epansion at Brac?
DeleteLast anon: very good question
DeletePrelast anon: quick explanation - that is because of approach runway 04 via Golden Horn/Bol. Approach is extremely scenic and pretty but you land right on top of a big cliff. Just in front of that cliff there are often heavy downwind and crosswinds plus generally prone to bura and landings can get really turbulent. It is very easy you descend too low but theres little margin for error as there is a mountain ridge below the start of the runway.
As very interesting. Thank you for the info. Didn't know about that.
Deletewhen will eurowings start flights to brac?
Delete@Anonymous at 09:58
DeleteThank you for taking the time to write the reply.
It's very informative and the reason I regularly read hundreds of silly comments (particularly the "Bravo [insert country name here]") to see if there a golden nugget like yours today.
Thank you!
Seems Silver Air had fewer passengers this year which impacted Losinj :D
ReplyDeleteThose flights are crazy expensive.
DeleteThose flights are there pretty much just for hotel guests. That's why tickets are 350 euros.
DeleteRegardless of the price I'm happy to see those Losinj flights have not been cancelled and that they get some traffic this summer, even with very small aircraft.
DeleteFor a relatively small country it is impressive that all 9 airports have commercial flights.
ReplyDelete7 of which are coastal. No surprise really.
DeleteHonestly I am surprised that Dubrovnik is behind Split. Dubrovnik being such a beautiful city I would expect them to have more tourists then Split and they also have more winter traffic then SPU.
ReplyDeleteDubrovnik is a much smaller city and it's catchment area is smaller.
DeleteOh I see
DeleteDBV could attract some passengers from Bosnia and parts of Montenegro if they bothered to do some marketing beyond the tourist markets.
DeleteAgree with last anon.
DeleteLol Dubrovnik is the no.1 city in Croatia, and their numbers of pax will be going up and up as time progresses. Take a look at Americans, they only have flights to Dubrovnik not just in Croatia but in all EXYU
DeleteDubrovnik is not the number 1 city in size and DBV is not the number 1 airport by size in Cro. Americans also have a choice of nonstop flight from New York to BEG. It's not like they only fly on US carriers or stay at US hotel brands.
DeleteZAG selected quality over quantity (prestige over passengers).
ReplyDeleteAnd what did they achieve with that?
DeleteI guess they are happy with just 2% more passengers.
DeleteKL, AF, A3, LY, BA, LH, EK, KE, TS, AC, QR, TK, IB, SU
Delete:)
Yes and with all those, growth is minimal. Also I must ask what is prestigious about Air Transat? You do realise Air Transat charges passengers $9.99 on its flights to Zagreb for a blanket.
DeleteYes I am sure your average Croat is thrilled by all this prestige and luxury especially when he has to pay €300 to fly anywhere in Europe.
DeleteAlso how many of those you listed actually fly the whole year?
Almost everyone fly the whole year in ZAG.
DeleteA3 doesn't
DeleteEK doesn't
TS doesn't
AC doesn't
LY doesn't
So 9/14 do
Your elementary math is great, congrats!
DeleteThank you Anon 10.11
Delete@An.9.38
DeleteI don't like to be rude but your "prestige" is BS. ZAG is disaster in any sense. In the old building and old management at least toilets were clean My last 3 times in ZAG they were stinking and full of sh.., literally. That much about the prestige. And about "selection" : the only thing they selected is to protect the biggest disgrace of Croatia in terms of aviation - Croatia Airlines
Please no hard feelings. Prestige is only sarcasam, there is nothing more let about ZAG to say
DeleteWell ZAG should have at least 6 million passengers per year. It is one of 9 international airports in a country of 4 million citizens in close density.
Delete3,5 million is way to low. They should open up for LCC. I guess 10 million is realistic.
What's with ex-YU and toilets... first SJJ then BEG and now ZAG. Maybe it's time to bring baba sera back. :D
DeleteThat is so not true about toilets. Zagreb airport is really very clean.
DeleteWhy would Pozdrav iz Rijeke lie?
DeleteMaybe because I 'm "hater" LOL
DeleteAnonymous18 September 2019 at 11:40
DeleteWhy would 6 million people travel to Zagreb and not directly to Dalmatia or Istria? 10 million? Don't make me laugh.
Great year for Croatian airports all round.
ReplyDeleteHuh? You think it was a great year for OSI?
DeleteThe overall majority of airports are performing well to offset Osijek's decline.
DeleteWould be great if a European LCC stated flights within Croatia. Numbers would skyrocket.
ReplyDeleteNot going to happen. Croatian domestic ops. are subsidised. I.e they are not profitable.
DeleteCroatia needs to reduce seasonality.
ReplyDeleteFor winter DBV for example sees respectable traffic.
DeleteI think that generally seasonality has been decreased but a lot of work left to do still.
DeleteSplit is reducing its seasonality a lot. May and September are almost as busy as the peak summer months.
DeleteAll ex-Yu airports need to reduce seasonality.
DeleteThey can't without transfer passengers.
DeleteIn this case BEG is in the best position from all ex-Yu airports as the most passengers use that airport for transfer traffic.
DeleteOf course but that's because Air Serbia is the only ex-YU airline that's doing something. No month has 200.000 passengers which is a big success for BEG. If OU did its job then ZAG would be doing much better.
DeleteLosinj needs to lengthen the runway if they want more pax
ReplyDeleteZadar is doing extremely well. 8 new Ryan routes and all those new airlines have obviously resulted in bigger passenger numbers. Well done.
ReplyDeleteIts nice to see Rijeka as a positive surprise last and this summer, finally, after many years of disappointments.
ReplyDeleteIt was a very promising airport years ago when Easy Jet started flights there.
Delete^ True. Thankfully things have slowly improved this year after so much wasted potential.
DeleteDoes RJK pay to any other airline except JU to fly there?
DeleteCan Split stay number 1 airport until the end of the year?
ReplyDeleteSplit overtaking Zagreb would be a massive achievement but I'm not sure they will be able to make it to be honest. Zagreb will also grow and has significant winter traffic.
DeleteZagreb will grow this year max 1.5 - 2% - even that is questionable.
DeleteFrom the other side if SPU managed to improve results in last 3 months of the year we might expect SPU to overtake Zagreb
That is almost three air passengers per citizen.
ReplyDeleteLooking good
ReplyDeleteReally sad about Osijek. I don't think Chinese will save it.
ReplyDeleteThey should have lowered their fees and attracted Ryan, Wizz, easyjet. Might have woken up Zagreb in the process as well.
DeleteAny predictions for next year?
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to predict. The global economy is quite volatile at the moment.
DeleteWe need a proper LCC to base planes in ZAG.
ReplyDeleteWould be great if someone in Croatia setup a low cost carrier.
DeleteImpressive. Could we expect 20 million passenger by 2025?
ReplyDeleteYes! :)
DeleteSplit Airport looks great on the photo.
ReplyDeleteIt is impressive to see that 3 of Croatia's largest airports all have new infrastructure.
Delete4 not 3. Zadar also build brand new terminal end extension of it.
DeleteIt could actually come close to 12 million.
ReplyDeleteCroatia can do something to improve its air travels per tourist ratio.
ReplyDeleteIn 2018 Croatia had 20 m tourists but only 10.6m air passengers
Greece had 30 m tourists and 63 million passengers.
Spain got 83 million tourists and 264m ait travelers (okay theyre a very strong economy beyond tourism)
Bulgaria got 13m tourists and 12.6m air travelers (they do have ski resorts that Croatia does not, but their coastline is way behind and its shorter).
Montenegro got around 2.5 million foreign tourists and roughly the same number of air travelers.
Croatia is favorite for those who come by car and spend very little. The country wasted huge money to build motorways to bring those, whilst airports remained neglected for decades all until few years ago. Air travelers bring much more money than those who come by car and bring virtuallyeverything with themselves to Croatian coast.
Bulgaria is at least 6 more hours driving than Croatia, Greece 10. And to there most of them have to leave EU. That is why most of tourist have to fly there. To Croatia they don't have to.
DeleteThat's a pretty lame excuse and we all know it. Better off people would simply fly to Croatia if they were going there just like they fly to Athens, Mykonos, Naples or whatever.
DeleteFor someone who lives in Sweden, north Germany, Benelux, France... Croatia is not so close.
Mind your own business and stop looking into the pockets of our tourists. People arriving by car spend more as they pay for the highway, for the fuel, they also travel more going around instead locking themselves into the hotel.
DeleteHello guys I am from Greece and me and my wife whenever we can we get some pre Christmas holidays because we have a restaurant and we must work in Christmas season. This year we decided to come to Zagreb for six days and booked just two days ago. From December 5 to December 10. The price was 251 euro return. What I am saying is that coming from a country with lots of LCC carriers, this price may be a little bit expensive. And if the price is right Croatia could have more winter tourists. Anyway I believe we will have a blast of a holiday and of course we will visit Ljubljana for one day.
DeleteHaving too many visitors is not a blessing. There has to be the right number, otherwise you get crowds and nobody enjoys it. Have yourself great holidays!
DeleteI think what he meant is that air fares to Croatia in winter are uncompetitive compared to other European markets. I tend to agree as there are only little direct flights in winter except overpriced S.A. monopoly routes.
DeleteHaving said that, prices in summer are also not low either considering Croatia is often a short flight from Germany, Austria, Benelux, UK compared to Turkey, Greece, Canaries etc.
Affordable air tickets you can get in average for April and October.
Osijek does not make much sense with Belgrade and Tuzla around the corner .
ReplyDeleteWizzair already left and Eurowings will also consider joining its operations with the one (or two) to Belgrade .
Which second destination ?
DeleteDusseldorf
DeleteFantastic result, Dubrovnik added 240k passengers during months 1-8 of 2019 compared to same period last year, more than any other airport in the region (excluding BEG 281k). What makes Dubrovnik result even more spectacular is they actualy added more passengers than bigger airports SPU and ZAG. Stellar perfomance for DBV, looking forward to more good news in 2020!
ReplyDeleteAll combined still much less than Budapest. Just to put things into perspective to see how much work still needs to be done.
ReplyDeleteBudapest is just a small fraction of London Heathrow. LHR is much smaller than Atlanta ATL. So what?
DeleteNonsense. Why not take into account the population of Hungary in comparison to the population of Croatia? What is the ration of pax number per capita?
Delete