April the 20th, 2021 - Could a large Croatian ACI marina project see them step up their game, create a significant number of employment opportunities, and attract even more tourists with a new investment? Some individuals in the know believe so.
As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, if everything ended up actually being arranged properly, a Croatian ACI marina project would manage to see 30 airports in operation on the water up and down the Croatian coast, it would be able to create new jobs and employ 56 people, and the investment with a turnover of 65 thousand passengers a year would return in a mere 11 years, at least according to a report from Slobodna Dalmacija.
They calculated that everything in this regard would cost a little more than 11 million euros, of which the largest part, about 10 million of that sum, would be spent on the purchase of the necessary aircraft, while the rest would be spent on developing and maintaining the proper infrastructure. To this, they'd need to add a little more than a million euros for working capital, launching an investment and of course for the first installment of the lease.
''We're of the opinion that in addition to the existing structure of Croatian ACI marina users, this type of transport should also be offered to the general market. Therefore, it would not only operate within a closed system, ie exclusively within the scope of/for the users of Croatian ACI marinas, but with an open market approach,'' suggest engineers Delic and Cvek, who also listed fourteen different airports across the Republic of Croatia and abroad with which there could be connections (Ancona, Pescara, Mostar, Vienna, Venice, Graz…).
According to what Slobodna Dalmacija learned from the President of the Management Board, Kristijan Pavic, the idea is still very much alive and remains current, and that there is more life in it than the mere putting together of a business plan.
''It goes without saying that the coronavirus pandemic has done its thing, so we're still in the preparatory stags. The document you've mentioned is just a database that has been updated. After that, a whole series of analyses and studies were made, taking into account the pandemic, and the realistic hopes that the situation would improve. KPMG also did its own study, in which the idea of using Croatian ACI marinas as a kind of hub, airports on the water, from all possible aspects, was considered,'' revealed Pavic.
He also added that in a month or two he will be able to say something more on this topic, but for now the majority of lips are sealed.
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