The three fastest growing airports in the country accounted for 80% of Croatia’s passenger growth so far this year, when compared to 2023. Zagreb Airport aims to handle over four million passengers this year, while its counterpart in Dubrovnik some 3.2 million. Zagreb Airport’s CEO, Huseyin Bahadir Bedir, previously said, “We started the year off on a positive note by welcoming our new airline partner Pegasus Airlines. This summer, Croatia Airlines introduced three new routes from Zagreb, to Berlin, Stockholm, and Tirana. Ryanair expanded its network with five new destinations. Our new long-haul partner T’Way Air commenced flights from Seoul in May, with services running three times per week until late October”. He added, “If all goes to plan, we expect that this year, for the first time in the airport’s history, we will handle over four million passengers”.

Croatia’s fastest growing airports, Q1 – Q3 2024

Ryanair was Croatia’s largest carrier during the January – October period with 3.691.262 seats on the market, additional an extra 1.326.893 seats on last year. It was also the country’s fastest growing airline as it based a fourth aircraft in both Zagreb and Zadar, and two jets in Dubrovnik. “Ryanair is the only major European airline to significantly grow traffic post-Covid, particularly in Croatia, where Ryanair will increase traffic to four million annual passengers. As the fastest-growing airline in Europe and Croatia, Ryanair is best positioned to support Croatia’s post-Covid recovery and growth”, the budget carrier’s Chief Commercial Officer, Jason McGuinness, said.

Croatia’s fastest growing airlines by capacity, Q1 – Q3 2024