April 13, 2023 – The Osijek airport is one of the smaller of nine airports in Croatia. With the eastern part of the country seriously underserved, hopes are that it will increase capacities soon.
As Poslovni writes, passenger interest is increasing in Adriatic airports, which are being renovated and prepared to receive an increasing number of passengers on long-haul flights, such as Pula, which wants to connect with North America, but continental airports are also working to improve their capacities.
Osijek Airport is starting a project to build a passenger terminal. A tender worth EUR 9.29 million without VAT has been published for a “turnkey” package, which includes the creation of design and technical documentation and building permits, as well as the execution of works. According to the tender documentation, the project will reconstruct the existing building with an emphasis on ensuring the conditions that must be met due to entry into the Schengen area, as well as arranging and upgrading the exterior of the building. For the reconstruction, Osijek Airport obtained building permits for the completed project back in 2015, but in the meantime it was abandoned and now it is necessary to adapt the project to new needs, in order to meet the criteria for the entry of passengers into Croatia from countries that are not in the Schengen area.
At the moment, such a connection has been re-established with London, because since June, Ryanair is back with flights to Osijek airport, twice a week, starting from June 2. Of international flights, Osijek airport also has a Croatia Airlines connection to Munich in this year’s summer flight schedule.
The existing airport building was built in 1977 and renovated in 2007, and it was extended with permits issued in 2015, but these spaces were never put into operation, which is why the activities are now being restarted. The deadline for submitting offers for this project expires on May 9, and when the most acceptable offer is chosen and the contract is concluded, the estimated deadline for the completion of construction will be 14 months, with the fact that the period of issuing administrative acts for construction will not be counted in the deadline for execution.
Osijek airport is one of the smaller airports of nine in Croatia, and according to the recently published data of the Croatian Bureau of Statistics, it recorded a strong increase in traffic in the first two months, in January 1163 (a growth of 76%), and in February 993 (+159%), and there are announcements that growth will be more apparent in the summer months, mostly due to the line with London, which will be open by the end of October. In total, more than 15 thousand passengers passed through this airport in 2022, compared to 10.9 thousand a year earlier, and only Mali Lošinj and Brač airports have less traffic than Osijek.
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