Croatia’s commercial airports are expected to see forty new routes launched this coming summer season, however, the country’s busiest, in Zagreb, has only one new scheduled service at this point. According to the “Croatian Aviation” portal, seven out of eight airports in the country will add new operations to their portfolio with Osijek being the only exception. The airport in Zagreb currently has just one new route, a seasonal summer service to Kos, to be introduced by Ryanair. However, the budget carrier will discontinue its flights between the Croatian capital and Dortmund at the end of next month. “Airlines make numerous changes to their schedule and network in order to adapt to passenger demand and certain changes that have occurred as a result of the pandemic. At the same time, route cancellations or changes in the number of frequencies are an internal and commercial decision made by the airline”, Zagreb Airport said.

The slowed network growth at Zagreb Airport coincides with its plan to raise its passenger service charge for airlines on April 1. On the other hand, Zadar Airport is to see the biggest number of new scheduled routes in Croatia, with a total of seven, spearheaded again by Ryanair, although the budget carrier will also discontinue a select number of services. Zadar Airport handled over a million passengers for the first time last year and is expected to both replicate and build on that success this year as well. In contrast, Rijeka Airport will see the introduction of one new route by Ryanair from Bergamo but the delayed resumption of the budget airline’s summer flights to the coastal city is expected to result in the airport handling similar or lower number of passengers to that of last year.

Croatia is expected to see solid growth in traffic over the next decade and a half, according to revised IATA forecasts. During 2022, the country regained 94% of its pre-pandemic 2019 traffic. That year, the country’s traffic share in Southeast Europe stood at 4.2%, with the figure expected to rise to 4.5% by 2040 according to IATA. The trade association expects for the Croatian market to see passenger numbers rise 10.4% up until 2040, although this is lower than that of Romania, with 13% growth, and Cyprus, where passenger numbers are expected to rise 16.6%. Overall, this summer Ryanair will be introducing the largest number of new routes to Croatia.