Brač Airport is expecting the busiest season yet.
One year after the launch of the newly extended runway at Brač Airport, 2018 should see twice as many passengers as last year. And with 47,000 air passengers expected just on the basis of the already signed contracts and flight announcements, Brač will have the best year in the history of the airport, reports Slobodna Dalmacija on March 27, 2018.
Everything will be put into motion as early as next week when national carrier “Croatia Airlines” will be the first to travel to the Dalmatian island this season. Croatia Airlines will continue to fly to Brač each Tuesday and Saturday through October, and from May, the airport will also receive aircraft from several European metropolises.
“From Zagreb, we will fly with the 86-seat Dash aircraft, and for the first time since May, the ’Adria Airways’ line from Ljubljana to Brač will be introduced. The 80-seat ‘bombardier’ jet plane will fly on a scheduled flight, and what is particularly important is that this airline has flights going over Ljubljana to Brač directly from Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam. They offer a visit to Brač with a transfer to Ljubljana, which can be very important for many European guests as they can shorten their way to the island,” said Tonči Peović, director of the Brač Airport.
In their best years of work, Brač Airport had about 37,000 passengers, but in the years without investment and inadequate infrastructure, traffic declined significantly – and in some years, completely disappeared.
However, the market interest for arriving to the island directly by plane is increasing, which is accompanied by tourist trends for shorter vacations and the desire of guests to spend less time on the voyage, especially when the islands are concerned.
Travelers will be able to fly to Brač this summer for the first time with Swiss company “Skyworks”, which will operate on Saturday from June on a plane with 60 seats, just as Luxembourg will be connected to Brač every week.
The world’s largest tour operator, TUI, strengthened all of its routes to Brač and will fly from Brussels, Rotterdam and Deauville because the heavy passenger traffic at Split Airport has required some of the companies to look for alternative opportunities for travel to central Dalmatia. Luckily, Brač Airport has shown to be an excellent solution. During the peak season, there will also be lines from Italy to Brač two times a week.
“This is a huge step forward this year regarding the number of passengers because apart from the announced lines, Brač has a lot of small private aircraft that needs to be serviced and there will be a lot of work. But this is a sweet concern because now, with a 1760-meter runway, we have entered the category of airports up to 1800 meters long that can accommodate up to 150 aircraft. In the second phase of works, we plan to extend the track to 2400 meters by 2020, so Boeing 737s will be able to land on Brač,” says Peović, announcing the hot summer at Brač Airport where 17 workers are employed so far.
In any case, compared to last year’s 23,000 passengers, this year at Brač Airport could mean a significant step in the air traffic of island tourism.
Translated from Slobodna Dalmacija
