ZAGREB, December 20, 2018 - The MZLZ (Zagreb International Airport) company, which operates Zagreb Airport, is going to refinance its existing loan under more favourable conditions, so the Croatian government authorised Transport and Infrastructure Minister Oleg Butković to sign a contract with the concession-holder whereby Zagreb is greenlighting the refinancing.

The MZLZ, that is the concession-holder, cannot amend or in any way change the financing agreement or conclude a new financing agreement without the government's prior approval, Minister Butković said.

The prerequisites have been created for the refinancing of the current loan and that will enable the further stabilisation of the project as well as pave the way for further investments in the enlargement of the existing passenger terminal.

Under the concession agreement, the state, which awarded this concession to the MZLZ, was entitled to 33% of any profit coming from the refinancing.

Thus, the state can count on 7 million euro and, according to Butković, an instalment of four million euro will be paid into the state budget upon the transfer of the borrowed money. The remaining three million euro, which will also be paid into the state budget, is to be used for upgrading the terminal and other airport facilities.

MZLZ Jsc is a company registered in Croatia with six shareholders: Aeroports de Paris Management – 20.77% Bouygues Batiment International – 20.77%, Fond Marguerite – 20.77%, IFC – 17.58%, TAV Airports – 15.0% and Viadukt d.d. – 5.11%.

The airport is owned by the Croatian government (55%), the City of Zagreb (35%), Zagreb County, and the Town of Velika Gorica, each with 5%.

More news on the Zagreb airport can be found in our Travel section.

On December 10, 2018, Ex Yu Aviation spoke with Wizz Air CEO Jozsef Varadi about why the Hungarian low-cost airline has such a limited presence in Croatia.

Citing seasonality and high costs, Varadi said: “Unfortunately, if you look at the Croatian coastline it is a very seasonal business. It is intact for a few months and then sort of dies out for the rest of the year. Zagreb Airport is quite in a similar situation as Belgrade Airport in terms of costs, so I think it is a high-priced airport environment with fluctuating demand. Should the costs come down, I think they would attract us".

Varadi added, however, that overpriced airports are a problem throughout the region. 

"For whatever reason, it is still kind of an inherited issue in the region to price airports very high and this is not the recipe for success. The recipe for success is taking down airport costs. As a result, you are attracting a lot more capacity into the airport and that capacity will stimulate the marketplace and you will recoup that investment through volume. I think there is still a lot of legacy thinking with regards to airport management and airport costs. If you look even at some of the privatized airports, not in the former Yugoslavia, but for example in Tirana, it is a privatized airport but we have the same issue in Tirana. To some extent, Skopje is a privatized airport and the development of Skopje is not aided because of the airport, it is more aided by the government's intervention. I think those strategies have to be thought through. But clearly, you have millions of examples in mainland Europe what recipes to follow if you really want drive your aviation and airline industry and, I think, in the former Yugoslavia it revolves around airport costs and the airport operating environment," Varadi added.

Wizz Air does fly limited services to Split from London, Warsaw, and Katowice, and over the years, they have even operated some other services to Dubrovnik and Zagreb. Recall, Wizz Air first began operations in Croatia in 2009 with a service between Zagreb and Dortmund, though it did not last - and the service between London and Dubrovnik was terminated in 2012.

This winter, only Eurowings will continue operations to the capital, as the airport’s chargers are much higher than many major airports in Europe. Recall, Zagreb Airport upped their fees after the new passenger terminal was built in 2017. What used to be 2 euro for each international passenger is now 17 euro. 

You can read the full story on Ex Yu Aviation.

To learn more about Croatian airports, follow TCN's dedicated page. 

ZAGREB, November 19, 2018 - Croatian airports received 8.99 million passengers in the first nine months of 2018, an increase of 10.4% over the same period in 2017, figures from the National Bureau of Statistics (DZS) show.

In September alone, the number of passengers recorded was 1.43 million, or 9.7% more than in the same month last year.

Of the total number of passengers recorded in all nine airports in September, the largest number used Split Airport (453,000 passengers, +8.1%), followed by Dubrovnik Airport (383,000, +10.5%) and Zagreb Airport (343,000, +4.4%).

Pula Airport received 123,000 passengers (+23%) and Zadar Airport 90,000 (+14.6%).

Rijeka Airport recorded 27,000 passengers (+16.6%), Osijek Airport received 7,000 (+20.5%), Brač registered 6,600 passengers (+49%), while the smallest airport, Mali Lošinj, saw a 15.5% increase in the number of passengers to 440.

Passengers mostly came from Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Sweden and the Netherlands and passengers from all countries but Sweden saw an increase in their numbers.

The airports registered 15,466 flight operations (+14.9%) in September. They handled 1,218 tonnes of cargo (-2.9%) in September and 9,119 tonnes (33.1%) in the January-September period.

The increase in the number of passengers using Croatian airports is first and foremost a consequence of the record-breaking tourist season.

For more on flights to Croatia, click here.

ZAGREB, November 2, 2018 - Croatian airports received 7.56 million passengers in the first eight months of 2018, an increase of 10.5% over the same period in 2017, figures from the National Bureau of Statistics (DZS) show.

In August alone, the number of passengers recorded was 1.8 million, or 7.6% more than in the same month last year.

Of the total number of passengers recorded in all nine airports in August, the largest number used Split Airport (625,000 passengers, +5.8%), followed by Dubrovnik Airport (479,000, +9.2%) and Zagreb Airport (372,000, +7.2%).

Pula Airport received 161,000 passengers (+16.9%) and Zadar Airport 115,000 (-4.3%), the only airport to register a fall in the number of passengers compared to August 2017.

Rijeka Airport recorded 40,000 passengers (+18.4%), Osijek Airport received 9,500 (+33.2%), Brač registered slightly over 6,000 passengers (+4.2%), while the smallest airport, Mali Lošinj, saw a 24% increase in the number of passengers to 1,079.

Passengers mostly came from Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Spain, and only the UK passengers saw a decline in their numbers, while the number of visitors from the other four countries increased.

The airports registered 19,271 flight operations (+5.1%) in August and 88,654 (+6.5%) in the first eight months of the year. They handled 1,017 tonnes of cargo (+1.1%) in August and 7,900 tonnes (41%) in the January-August period.

It is not difficult to explain the increase in the numbers. With the tourism breaking records this year, it is only understandable that the number of passengers at airports is also increasing. The trend is expected to continue in the future as well.

To read more about Croatian airports and their services, click here.

The new terminal was opened just last spring, but a strong growth in the number of passengers necessitates an increase in capacity.

ZAGREB, September 20, 2018 - In the first seven months of 2018, Croatia's nine airports recorded nearly six million passengers, up 11.5% on the year, including nearly two million in July alone (+7.4%), according to the national statistical office.

ZAGREB, August 14, 2018 - A total of 1.4 million passengers passed through Croatian airports in June 2018, up 11.9% on the year, and Split Airport registered the highest turnover (471,962 passengers), up 17.6% on the year.

ZAGREB, July 16, 2018 - A total of 1.044 million passengers passed through Croatian airports in May, an increase of 16.3% from May 2017, while the number of passengers in the first five months of this year was 2.469 million, up 14.5%, the national statistical office has reported.

ZAGREB, May 21, 2018 - More than 50,400 vessels entered Croatian seaports in the first three months of 2018, 3.3% less on the year, according to data from the national statistical office (DZS). The number of passengers in seaports fell by 0.5% to close to 2.8 million.

ZAGREB, May 10, 2018 - Croatia's parliament on Thursday adopted the Air Passenger Data Transfer and Processing Act with the aim to prevent, investigate and prosecute terrorism and other grave crimes.