November 30, 2019 - A handful of carriers are contributing to the airline exodus at Zagreb Airport, and so far, only 69,739 passengers have been added compared to 2018. Should the capital city airport be worried?
Despite the recent announcements that airlines are pulling out of Zagreb Airport, and that its performance this year is a bit worse than the competitors on the coast, the capital city airport sees no reason to worry.
“Since the beginning of the concession in 2013, Zagreb Airport has recorded excellent operational and financial results. We have registered passenger growth of around 46%. While Zagreb Airport handled 2.300.231 travelers in 2013, we welcomed 3.336.310 passengers five years later. This year we are also seeing an increase in our numbers. In 2013 the number of airlines serving the Croatian capital stood at 20, while today it amounts to 33. The number of destinations on offer has also grown from 34 to 52," Zagreb Airport said for Ex Yu Aviation News.
Recall, TCN announced that a handful of airlines are contributing to the airline departure at Zagreb Airport. Like Eurowings, for example, which has terminated its two routes to Zagreb from Berlin and Dusseldorf. Furthermore, Swiss Air and Czech Airlines have canceled their seasonal services next summer from Zurich and Prague.
Ex Yu Aviation adds that we must not forget that Korean Air ultimately ended up discontinuing its service between Seoul and Zagreb in the winter, though their seasonal service will return from April 1, 2020.
“We expect successful operations and passenger growth to continue in the future. We also believe that travelers will recognize our efforts and reward us for our high quality of service,” the airport added.
The high-fees at Zagreb Airport are also a factor. After opening the new passenger terminal in 2017, the fee per each international passenger jumped from two euro to a total of seventeen euro. It also increased its fees by half a euro per domestic passenger to seven and a half euro.
Recall, Eurowings has cited high fees at Zagreb as a deterrent for introducing new routes and will cut the two routes mentioned above. It will only be serving Cologne and Stuttgart from Zagreb.
Eurowings previously said that the fees in Zagreb are “significantly higher than most major European airports, making it less appealing for low-cost carriers."
Ryanair and Wizz Air do not serve Zagreb at all.
“It [Zagreb] is a high-priced airport environment with fluctuating demand. Should the costs come down, we think they would attract us,” Wizz Air said when considering resuming operations to the capital.
EasyJet left the airport in 2014, also citing high fees.
From January - October this year, Zagreb Airport welcomed 2,957,109 travelers, which is up 2.4% and is just under the European average. Overall, 69,739 passengers were added compared to 2018.
Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said that Minister for Sea Transport and Infrastructure, Oleg Butković, will discuss the airport’s operations with Zagreb Airport’s concessionaire.
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