February 12, 2021 - The upcoming Split Ferry Port reconstruction and expansion is the first significant investment in 150 years. 

At the end of January, the Split Port Authority signed a contract for expert supervision and a contractor to reconstruct and extend Prince Domagoj Coast in the Split City Port. The works are expected to start on February 19, reports Slobodna Dalmacija.

As was announced earlier, at the beginning of December 2020, the community of bidders "Pomgrad inženjering" and "Građevno Zec" was selected, with a bid of HRK 30,556,248.91.

Two applications were also received for expert supervision, and the community of bidders "Kozina projekt" and "Terestrika" was selected, with a bid of HRK 834,187.50. "Oslonac" from Split demanded HRK 550,000 for its services. They were initially evaluated as the most favorable, but because they hired an expert with no experience in supervising higher-value projects, they lost points, and another was selected.

At the beginning of December, when signing the grant agreement for this project, Director Vice Mihanović announced the start of works at the end of 2020 and their completion within nine months.

However, as Slobodna Dalmacija has learned from the Port Authority, the public procurement procedure is such that the contract was signed only on January 26. The works will begin on February 19. They will be completed in 280 calendar days from the contractor's introduction, or about nine months. Thus, putting the new coast into operation is expected at the end of 2021.

The project does not envisage the road closure, and Mihanović has previously stated that, if that happens, the works will be interrupted during the season.

This project was financed through the "Renaissance on the Croatian Coast" project launched by the Ministry of the Sea last year. The estimated value is HRK 42.6 million, of which HRK 36 million was financed from the Cohesion Fund and the remaining amount from the state budget.

The reconstruction and expansion project is the first major investment on Prince Domagoj Coast after 150 years when it was created by pouring surplus material from the railway's excavation. Reconstruction is planned in its entire length in two phases, from the Lazaret shore to St. Peter's Pier and from St. Peter's Pier to St. Duje's Pier. 

The upgrade will enable the functioning of the operational shore for mooring and unmooring catamarans by separating the operational coast into the part for mooring, loading, and unloading, and the supply of ships from the part that serves for pedestrian communication. The green belt will separate part of the operating area used by cars and trucks to board ferries.

Currently, the coast is about four meters wide, and the plan is to expand to nine and a half meters towards the sea, with a total length of 260 meters. It will be paved with stone and equipped with utilities, lighting, supply cabinets for ships, additional green areas, and decorative floor panels that will visually separate the part for mooring, boarding, disembarking, and supplying ships from the part used for pedestrian communication. The project also ensures accessibility for people with disabilities.

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November 30, 2020 - Drive-in COVID-19 testing begins at Split Ferry Port this morning. A closer look into opening day.

Drive-in COVID-10 testing has begun at the Split Ferry Port on the external berth for cruisers.

Dalmatinski Portal reported that on opening morning, there were no significant crowds (yet). Cars enter from the east where they form a row and wait in line. A pedestrian passage is provided for walk-ins on the north side. Ferry port workers are on hand to assist with instructions.

Citizens started arriving at 7 am, and even before the testing began, over 20 cars were waiting in line. By the way, there are two queues for testing, one where you come by car, the other where citizens can come on foot.

The new testing center is open from 7 am to 1 pm, the Split-Dalmatia County Civil Protection Headquarters announced on Sunday. 

Drive-in COVID-19 testing is available to patients who have ordered tests exclusively online with a referral.

Testing from Križine Hospital has been transferred to the Split Ferry Port, so there will be no testing at Križine as of Monday, T.portal added.

Slobodna Dalamacija reports that many Split residents continued coming to Križine for testing, even though they were informed not to.

"Everyone who has been referred through their family doctors must go to the City Port for testing. But many did not listen and came to NZJZ where a huge crowd was created," said Željka Karin, director of NZJZ.

Sources: Dalmatinski Portal, Dalmacija Danas, T.portal 

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August 29, 2020 - During the last weekend in August, the number of passengers at Split Airport decreased significantly, and on Saturday and Sunday, 150 planes should land at Resnik, bringing 20,000 passengers.

Mate Melvan from Split Airport says that in August, the traffic will be at the level of 40% from the same month last year, but that, given the situation around the coronavirus and the measures taken by individual countries, they are extremely satisfied with the results, reports Dalmatinski Portal. 

"We expect to be at 550,000 passengers in the first eight months of this year, which are excellent results when we take into account that we had 30,000 passengers in April, May, and June," said Melvan.

As for the forecast for September, some carriers have already canceled the planned flights, and 30 carriers from 50 destinations should fly to Split.

"It is very difficult to predict what will happen in September due to the measures adopted by the Civil Protection Headquarters. However, we can say that we have a large number of flights in the announcement, but it all depends on how much the recommendations of other countries to come to Croatia will affect the decision of passengers to decide to travel," added Melvan.

That this year's season is slowly coming to an end can also be seen at the Split Ferry Port. This is the first weekend in which there are no extra lines to the islands, and it is expected that about 40,000 passengers and 10,000 vehicles will pass through the ferry port this weekend. 

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August 23, 2020 - A total of 83,000 passengers will pass through Split's Ferry Port and Resnik Airport this weekend, while the total number of passengers who arrived at Split Airport will reach more than half a million passengers since the beginning of the year.

Slobodna Dalmacija reports that Jelena Ivulic from Jadrolinija said that 55,000 passengers and 13,500 vehicles in both directions would pass through their ferry port on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

"There are more people leaving the island this weekend than coming. However, despite the fact that the season is somewhat slowing down, there is still great interest in Brac, which is why an extra ferry line will sail across Supetar this morning," she added.

No less active is the Split Resnik Airport, where 150 aircraft will land and take off this weekend, taking 28,000 passengers. Among them are about 20 private planes.

"August this year is at 40 percent of last year's traffic, and we expect that we will have 250 thousand passengers by the end of the month. It is interesting that in the first seven months of this year, we had 277 thousand passengers, and only in August, 250 thousand passengers. Thus, the total number of passengers since the beginning of the year is more than half a million passengers. Indeed, August has lifted our declining traffic," said Mate Melvan of Split Airport.

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August 8, 2020 - We are in the midst of another peak summer weekend in Croatia, with big crowds forming at the Split Ferry Port and in Supetar on Brac.

Index.hr reports that summer congestion has been reported at the Split Ferry Port on Saturday, and even bigger crowds were created on Brac.

Namely, cars can be seen waiting in a long column to board the ferry to Brac, but also in Supetar on Brac for the ferry to Split, where a kilometer-long column has been formed. Due to the large crowds, extra lines were also introduced.

"Traffic has increased since yesterday. As for this weekend, we expect 70 thousand passengers and 16 thousand vehicles. Yesterday we had two extra lines to Supetar, as for today we had one at 11:30 and we will have another one at 13:30. For now, two extra lines. We are at 70 percent of the traffic compared to the same period last year," said Jelena Ivulic of Jadrolinija.

There are also traffic jams on the roads to the sea and vice versa.

Traffic has increased on important roads: A1 Zagreb-Split-Ploce and A6 Rijeka-Zagreb motorways, A2 Zagreb-Macelj and A3 Bregana-Lipovac, A7 GP Rupa-Diracje junction, Rijeka and Zagreb bypass, Adriatic highway (DC8) at tourist entrances centers along the coast, especially in the area of ​​Zadar, Sibenik, Trogir, Split, Stobrec, Podstrana, Omis, Makarska, the Istrian Y, the Krk Bridge and at border crossings.

There are also occasional traffic jams, driving on certain sections of motorways - near rest areas and at the entrances or exits of motorways, on the approaches to tourist centers along the coast, border crossings and on sections of roads on which due to works driving with temporary regulation.

Due to the wind, on the Adriatic Highway (DC8) between Senj and Sv. Marija Magdalena, traffic is prohibited for double-decker buses, vehicles with caravans and motorcycles (Group I vehicles).

Strong wind also slows down traffic on the part of the A1 motorway from the Sveti Rok tunnel to the Bozici viaduct (driving at a speed limit of 60 km/h) and in places on the A6 Rijeka-Zagreb motorway between Kikovica and the Tuhobic tunnel.

Today, HAK expects the same number of vehicles in both directions, towards the sea and inland, and will drive as on previous Saturdays with frequent traffic jams and delays. The longest columns in both directions are expected at the Lucko toll on the A1 / A6 motorway, at the entrance in the direction of the sea from 4 am to 3 pm, and at the exit towards Zagreb from 9 am to 6 pm.

Significant crowds during the weekend, and especially on Saturday, are expected at the border crossings with Slovenia (Macelj, Bregana, Kastel, Plovanija and Rupa) and Bosnia and Herzegovina (Stara Gradiska, Slavonski Samac, Slavonski Brod, Maljevac and Jasenovac).

At the Trakoscan toll station on the A2 Zagreb-Macelj motorway, on Saturday afternoon, columns are expected at the exit towards the Macelj border crossing, which could last until night hours, which is why vehicles may turn off at the Krapina junction.

On Sunday, August 9, and Monday, August 10, there will be increased traffic all day on all road routes, mainly in the inland direction. Crowds are expected again at Lucko (exit from the A1 / A6 motorway), Istrian Y, Krk bridge, as well as on the A2 Zagreb-Macelj motorway (Trakoscan toll) and A4 Zagreb-Gorican, and on the A3 Bregana-Lipovac (Zagreb-east toll) ).

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July 25, 2020 - At the Split Airport and Ferry Port this weekend, which is the fourth weekend in July, excellent results are expected, which are significantly better than what we had hoped for in early June.

Slobodna Dalmacija reports that after a great last weekend, about 50,000 passengers and 12,000 vehicles are expected at the ferry port by Monday, while 135 aircraft with about 25,000 passengers are expected at the airport this weekend. The upcoming weekend is the peak of the season, and passenger numbers are slowly but surely growing.

"Last weekend was really good, a larger number of passengers extended to Monday and Tuesday, we only had a little calm on Wednesday. But already this Friday morning, the crowds started.

We are approaching 50 percent of last year's season, last weekend we had extra lines, if everything goes according to plan it will be the same this weekend," confirmed Jelena Ivulic, head of the Jadrolinija agency in Split, emphasizing that the most sought after destination is still Supetar, but that there are crowds for Hvar, Vis, and Solta.

Registrations are mostly foreign, mostly Germans, but there are also Austrians, Czechs, Slovaks, and Poles.

Pero Bilas, assistant director of Split Airport, says that, given the situation, they are very satisfied with the current results.

"This weekend we expect 135 aircraft, of which 105 are commercial and 30 are in a business arrangement. We anticipate about 25,000 passengers in the two days ahead. We operate with 35 different airlines, we are connected to about sixty European destinations, and the Germans are in the lead.

Passengers from eight German destinations come to us, but Split is loved and despite the pandemic, young people come from Scandinavia, Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium... We no longer make comparisons with last season, but if we compare with the previous month when we had 27 thousand passengers in the whole month, and now we will achieve that in one weekend, then it is clear that we are doing a good job," concludes Bilas.

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July 19, 2020 - This weekend, 60,000 passengers from many destinations are expected to arrive at the Split Airport and city port, which is 30 and 45 percent of traffic, respectively, compared to the same weekend last year.

Net.hr reports that Jelena Ivulic from Jadrolinija in Split said that 40,000 passengers with ten thousand vehicles will enter the city port across the three weekend days, that they are at 45 percent compared to the same weekend last year and that their numbers are increasing. The interest of passengers to go to and from islands is not waning, so this weekend they organized 12 regular lines to Brac. As an announcement of a good weekend, on Friday, there were two extraordinary lines for Supetar.

"This weekend, we will still have three regular lines to Vis, two to Vela Luka, six to Stari Grad, and the same number to Solta. We also offer three state catamaran lines for Hvar, and as of Friday, two more commercial lines. In any case, we are rising as far as traffic is concerned," Ivulic said.

As for the airport, 20,000 passengers are expected on Saturday and Sunday, who will land or take off in 135 planes. The head of the Reception and Dispatch Service at Split Airport, Mate Melvan, says that among those planes that will touchdown at the Resnik runway, 35 are private. All these planes come and go to a total of fifty European destinations.

Melvan said that their turnover this weekend is 30 percent compared to last year, but in total, they expect that July will have an average of 20 to 25 percent of 2019.

"The first weekend in July we had ten thousand, the second weekend 15 thousand, and now this third weekend, we already have 20 thousand passengers. You can see the growth trend because our traffic is increasing every weekend. We can see that the number of passengers is rising from the data that we had 26,150 passengers in the whole of June, and only in these two weekend days we will have 20 thousand," claims Melvan.

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July 13, 2020 - The Split Airport and Ferry Port recorded around 45,000 passengers last weekend, which is this year's record for weekend tourist traffic.

"Saturday and Sunday until midnight at Split Airport, we will have 125 landings and as many takeoffs of commercial and private aircraft, which will carry about 15,000 passengers on arrival and departure, which in the circumstances of the coronavirus epidemic is the biggest traffic during one weekend this year," said Mate Melvan, Head of the Reception and Dispatch Service at Split Airport, on Sunday for Slobodna Dalmacija.

That’s about 25 percent of the turnover achieved compared to the second weekend in July last year, but given the epidemiological circumstances, that’s a positive trend, he estimated. Recall, in the first six months of this year, Split Airport generated only 10 percent of traffic compared to last year's first half of the year, he added.

"In July this year, 30 airlines flying on 45 international routes have been hired at Split Airport so far," Melvan said.

He expects that the number of airlines and the number of passengers at Split Airport will increase by the end of July.

"We believe that by the end of July about 150,000 passengers will be passing through our Airport, which is about one-fifth of last year's total traffic in July, but given the circumstances, we are satisfied with this kind of traffic. In fact, we can say that we have a ‘new normal season’ in epidemiological circumstances,"  Melvan pointed out.

He reminded us that at Split Airport, it is obligatory to wear protective masks, as well as to practice social distance and use hand sanitizer. He points out that guests who come to Split Airport are disciplined and adhere to these epidemiological measures.

The head of Jadrolinija in Split, Jelena Ivulic, said that about 30,000 passengers and 7,000 vehicles would run through Split's Ferry Port last weekend, which is about 40 percent of the traffic compared to last year's second weekend in July, but a record in this year's weekend traffic.

"Guests from Slovenia and Germany have the most traffic through Split's Ferry Port this weekend, and most travel to the island of Brac, so on Saturday we had to introduce two extraordinary ferry lines to Supetar on Brac," Ivulic said on Sunday.

She also assessed that, given the epidemiological circumstances, the traffic in Split's Ferry Port is satisfactory.

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January 10, 2020 - The Split Ferry Port registered a record annual turnover of 5.6 million passengers and 827,000 vehicles in 2019, the Port Authority of Split announced.

"The total traffic of 5,616,000 passengers at the Split Ferry Port in 2019 is up four percent from a year earlier and is a record annual turnover," said Vjekoslav Grgic of the Port Authority of Split. 

Splitski Dnevnik reports that a new record was also achieved in the number of vehicles at the Split Ferry Port, totaling 827,000 vehicles in 2019, which is three percent higher than a year earlier.

"Throughout 2020, we expect a further increase in passenger and vehicle traffic of about three percent compared to last year's traffic," Grgic said.

He noted that despite the heavy traffic, there is no delay in the entry and departure of ships, which is extremely important for tourists.

Furthermore, Split Airport ended the year with a total of 3,301,930 passengers. Ex Yu Aviation reports that Split Airport had more passengers than Zagreb Airport, which is Croatia’s busiest, from August until the end of November, which is the longest it has held such a lead. 

"Almost half of our annual traffic is achieved during July and August. During the four summer months we have the most passenger traffic in the country. We are extremely seasonal in character but when looking at it on an annual level, we are in second place,” said General Manager Luksa Novak about how extreme seasonality may prevent Split Airport from overtaking Zagreb annually. 

Recall, Split Airport also opened a new terminal in 2019, which is larger by an additional 34,500 square meters, and totals 46,000 square meters, with a peak load of up to 2,500 passengers per hour. There are 32 counters to register passengers and 10 self-check-in counters,  and an upgraded baggage handling system. There is also a newly built bus terminal of almost 3,000 square meters, with 50 parking spaces for buses and 900 parking spaces for cars.

By value, the Split Airport project was ranked among the most significant on the national level and next to the airport terminals in Zagreb and Dubrovnik by its complexity and structure.

Executed on a total surface of nearly 80,000 square meters, the Split Airport project brought improvements to airport infrastructure, building capacity, increases passenger and employee safety, improves the quality of service, and creates conditions following Schengen criteria, as well as those of international and domestic traffic.

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November 25, 2019 - Sixteen months ago, at a Government session in Split, a decision was made to implement the Split Suburban Railway Project, connecting the Split ferry port with the Split Airport with an intermodal terminal at the new central station in Kopilica.

Splitski Dnevnik reports that the project is worth around 150 million euro and is estimated to be completed in 2027. For its realization, it is necessary to reconstruct 18 kilometers of the existing railway line from the Split ferry port to Kastel Stari and to construct about 10 kilometers of the new railway line from Kastel Stari to the airport. It is precisely on these ten kilometers of the new railway that the project seriously begins.

The people of Kastela have been offered three options. All three envisage using part of the existing railway line, and then a new railway line to the airport would be built either from Kastel Kambelovac or Kastel Stari. The City of Kastela, however, was not in favor of the first, cheapest option, costing 300 million euro.

This project envisaged that the new line would depart from Radun, via Crkva Gospe od Stomorije, to the airport. Mayor Denis Ivanovic explains Kastela’s refusal of the route by the fact that buildings would be damaged and it would pass through the fields, as well as through the protected sanctuary of Crkva Gospe od Stomorije. Kastela demanded that part of the railway line be buried underground, below the highway, but this would significantly increase the cost of the project.

However, a new proposal for Croatian Railways has now been crystallized, according to which trains should run on an overhead line that runs parallel to the high-speed Split-Trogir road, mostly on pillars.

This was confirmed by the Vice President of the Croatian Chamber of Economy in charge of construction, Mirjana Cagalj.

"We are currently in the process of determining that railway route. So far, a dozen variants have been released, accepted by all but Kastela. Some made objections and some didn't respond. However, the last option by the HZ Infrastruktura designers is excellent, and we all have a feeling that this will be the variant that will be accepted.

For now, it has been sent to the Ministry of Transport and forwarded to the designers of Ernst & Young who should return this as a conclusion to all other variants, whether it is good or not,” said Cagalj, adding that this variant is not the cheapest option, but it is not as expensive as building a tunnel.

"This variant is a little more expensive than the ground railway, but it also has the advantage that for its construction, we do not have to resolve property and legal relations, expropriation, or the consent of neighbors, so we avoid the potential of delaying the project indefinitely," said Cagalj, who added that the new section would go through the body of the expressway.

"So, in that part, there is room for foundations and pillars above the road. Visually, if done well it can be great, there are many such examples in the world, and with several descending platforms, so that all the people of Kastela can use the rail to get to work, school, or the doctor."

“The cost of land is lower and the construction is more expensive, so a price will be conceived after that, and the construction deadlines are shorter in this project. We all have hopes that this will be the option that will suit Kastela as well.”

Ernst & Young consultants should evaluate the cost-effectiveness of this solution within 15 days and include it in a study that has already been completed, followed by a revised spatial plan.

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