Zagreb Airport's old terminal building, which has been closed for passenger use since March 28, 2017, could get a new lease on life with the government considering reopening the facility to cater for low cost carriers. Ryanair is Zagreb’s second largest airline based on available seat capacity. According to the Croatian government, an analysis has been launched into the building’s reopening. The state is willing to extend the concession of Zagreb Airport to its operator, the Zagreb Airport International Company (ZAIC), by three years and nine months if the consortium running the airport returns the old terminal into a functioning state. Zagreb Airport’s existing concession runs until 2042.
The process is still in its early stages but informal talks between the competent authorities and the European Commission have taken place. The Croatian Ministry for Sea, Transport and Infrastructure is aiming to reopen the terminal for commercial use in 2026. The ZAIC consortium had previously planned to use the old terminal for freight storage and administrative offices, and in doing so develop the airport’s cargo traffic. However, this initiative never materialised. The old terminal building previously reopened its doors to the general public in 2019 for an all-night concert and for several one-off events in the proceeding years.
The use of a low cost terminal would enable the airport to offer lower handling fees to airlines. In the past, several carriers have said Zagreb Airport’s fees act as a deterrent for expansion. Eurowings stated, “Zagreb Airport's charges are higher than most major European airports, making it less appealing for low cost carriers", while Wizz Air noted, “It is a high-priced airport environment with fluctuating demand. Should the costs come down, they would attract us". However, Ryanair made use of an incentive scheme to open a base at the airport and become its second largest carrier.
This is not fair play, regarding legacy carriers
ReplyDeleteThe question is why was it allowed that a part of critical infrastructure is GIVEN away?
DeleteThe airport Zagreb had more than 20mio€ at the time the concession was given to a company which head less money on their accounts to start with. Nobody ever asked any questions...
With the state as guarantor building of a new building would not have been a problem... And perhaps they would have done it properly; fueling ports on the tarmac, sorting facility underground, etc.
DeleteNo a bad idea at all
ReplyDeleteAko naprave kako spada onda super
DeleteHow many gates does the old terminal have?
ReplyDeleteAt least 12 with A320 type size aircraft
DeletePretty good
Delete15 actually.
DeleteBut this is bizarre. How on earth could handling costs be lower on an old and long disused terminal that obviously needs some makeup, when you have fully functional new terminal used successfully by LCCs that needs to repay itself.
ReplyDeleteOld terminal is fully functional and looks more than enough for LCC.
DeleteIf you move LCC to old terminal,means more parking space will open on new terminal apron for legacy's. Also,there are always some of the airbridges blocked because of Ryanair who does not use them. Problem will be bigger in next years when Ryanair base more planes in ZAG. But also,in the mean time, new terminal will need expansion as well
I dont see a problem here. Same thing is in BCN, where LCC use the old terminal as well as in LIS, where they use different terminal.
DeleteThe old terminal isn't fully functional and would need some upgrades. Parts of the old terminal have completely deteriorated. Also they would have to make changes due to schengen/non schengen.
Deletedoes ryanair fly to zagreb from non-eu nations?
DeleteTo Podgorica only.
DeleteIt flies from the UK. But there are other LCCs that fly from non EU like Pegasus. And I don't know whether the likes of T' Way would also use the old terminal.
DeleteStarting up the old terminal would make sense only in case if the new one is at full capacity. Otherwise it just increases costs. Also the difference in services and handling between legacy and LCC is becoming ever smaller.
DeleteGreat news, Franjo Tudman airport just like the rest of Croatia is on tremendous demand.
ReplyDeleteCroatia along with Greece leads the rest of Europe in air traffic increase with 20% above the 2019 results!
https://www.eurocontrol.int/update/eurocontrol-aviation-network-update
I would say Albania is the one who leeds it but okay.
Deleteanon 10;42 would be wrong. increase in albania seems big in relation to the small amount it had before. Croatia and Greece have a large increase but already had higher demand.
Deleteand Zagreb airport makes more money for each flight.
@ 11:51 in 2023 Zagreb, Split, Dubrovnik and Zadar had 10.7 milion all together ...TIA 7.2 on its own! I would agree with @10:42 on this...
Delete^ Tirana is also the only proper international airport in Albania. People flying there have no other choice than to fly to TIA.
DeleteYou have just listed 5 in Croatia, all with direct flights on their own plus there's Pula too.
Why is this so hard to comprehend?
Could this be a way to avoid expanding the current building which they are obligated when they hit certain number or passengers?
ReplyDeleteNo, when number of pax hits 5mil,they have obligation to expand new terminal anyway.
DeleteThey LL keep it under that number..
DeleteLaw of diminishing returns. Even if it reaches that number that is the point of resistance for further growth.
Bravo Hrvatska!
ReplyDeleteGood idea
ReplyDeleteI still can't believe that this terminal, which was more or less the same since the 1960s was used all the way until 2017.
ReplyDeleteYes, new building was long overdue.
Deletesmart and expected move.
ReplyDeleteThey would have to have some bus between the two terminals for passengers. They are not close at all.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely
DeleteThey have this now as the planes often park in front of the old terminal and the passengers then need to be bused to the new and the only operational one. This happened to me twice this year alone. The 12 gates at the new terminal are simply not enough.
DeleteIf the old terminal became operational again, there would be no need for buses between the two terminals since the passengers arriving at the old terminal would be processed through it.
Problem with ZAG is that many flights leave at the same time and then there are long periods of quiet. Airport should stimulate airlines to add flights during the quieter times.
DeleteThey do have a problem of rush hours. Almost missed a plane to Thessaloniki regardles of getting on time to the airport..
DeleteAbout time they do something with that terminal
ReplyDeleteShould have turned it into an aviation museum :)
ReplyDeleteBut why is the government behind this and what does the European Commission have to do with it?
ReplyDeleteI also don't get what the EC has to do with it.
DeleteMaybe the concession extension has to be approved.
DeleteEU countries are not independent, the EU runs the show, everything needs to be approved by them
DeleteDo passenger planes still park in front of the old terminal?
ReplyDeleteYes from time to time
DeleteI saw JU ATR there a few days ago.
DeleteZagreb Airport is short of staff. They will have trouble maintaining service if the old terminal became functional again.
ReplyDeleteIs that why there are so many delays lately?
DeleteWeather
DeleteFlew into Zagreb a month ago. Took an hour to get my bag. A few other flights arrived at the same time. That’s a staffing problem if it takes that long to get the bags off the flight and on to the carousel.
DeleteThey should split it....new terminal EU, old terminal outside of EU. Makes more sense than LCC and Full service airlines.
ReplyDeleteIt does not make any sense because what are transfer passengers going to do? How is a passenger on a OU flight from Skopje going to make it onto their connection to Munich or Brussels?
DeleteThe terminals are too far apart. Transferring passengers could only be done by bus. They never considered in having a multi terminal airport. The old terminal was suppose to be used for cargo operations. Now years later they want to use it as a terminal again.
DeleteI don't think old terminal could handle A330 from Air Transat or T'Way
DeleteWhy not? It used to handle Malaysia Airlines B777, or JAT DC10s while at the same time having many other flights.
DeleteRyanair would not care about transferring passengers to OU. It is all about self transfer.
DeleteWon't be cheap to get it up and running again.
ReplyDeleteDoubt this will materialise but let's see.
ReplyDeleteI really hope this doesn’t happen, they don’t need two terminals and also the two hours I spent in the Lisbon low cost terminal were two of the worst in my whole life.
ReplyDeleteFinally! I've been wondering why this hasn't already been done, for years now.
ReplyDeleteThere is not enough staff to operate new terminal at the moment. And they do nothing to keep people on jobs. Every day people are quitting because of poor salaries. Panic mode is activated.
ReplyDeleteVery impressed with professional and timely coverage of Croatian aviation events in the recent days. Exclusive news and relevant information surpassing other regional portals. Keep up the good job ExYu Aviation!
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteWhy should Ryanair pay for the gold plated terminal that they never wanted and they make passengers walk up stairs for that Ryanair feel even if a jet bridge is available. There is nothing wrong with the old terminal. It just needs some basic overhaul. The new terminal was too much.
DeleteTotalno glupa odluka. Ovime će drastično povećati troškove jer će morati zaposliti skoro pa duplo novih ljudi koji će hendlati stari terminal. Tu su još i dodatni troškovi režija, održavanja... Ako novi terminal nije u stanju sam hendlati 5 ili 6 mil putnika, onda se negdje gadno pogriješilo.
ReplyDelete