With Croatia’s main airports booming, expansion is also taking place at the smaller airport on the island of Brac, reports Aerocroatia on June 28, 2016.
It is Croatia’s youngest airport, dating back to 1993, and one with plenty of tourism potential, but the tiny airport high above the coastal resort of Bol on the island of Brac was under threat of closure recently, with all but a trickle of seasonal traffic keeping it alive, before new management and a new strategy seems to have revived its fortunes. According to Aerocroatia:
“Brač Airport has embarked on a six million euro extension of its 1.440-metre runway. The island airport aims to handle larger aircraft by adding a further 320 metres to the runway. Work is scheduled to last throughout the summer. Opened in 1993, Brač Airport is Croatia’s youngest commercial airport but has struggled to maintain year-long flights. In 2015, it handled 8.809 passengers. It currently caters for aircraft up to 100 seats and hopes to handle Fokkers, Airbus A319s and new Bombardier C-series jets once the lengthening of the runway is completed.”
This good news mirrors the rise of Bol as a destination in recent years. Huge investment in the hotels have resulted in Bluesun becoming one of the best hotel names on the Dalmatian coast, and the company’s owners are to be congratulated on their efforts to lift tourism in Bol. In addition to the hotels, they also have an interest in the airport, as well as one of the most popular wine stories on the Adriatic, the Stina wine brand which combines modern winemaking with Dalmatian traditions in its winery on the Bol waterfront inside the oldest wine cooperative in Dalmatia, dating back to 1903.
Bol is increasingly outward looking in its marketing, and the recent addition of the first WTA Bol Open was an unqualified success, and a great boost to tennis in Croatia in general. The tournament, which will be repeated next year, will be all the richer for improved air connection possibilities to the island.
