After Split and Pula recorded their best September yet, Croatia’s capital city follows suit.
Zagreb Airport showed no signs of slowing down after the busy summer season and continued to record stellar results in September. Namely, Zagreb Airport handled 345,770 passengers last month, which is a 4.5% increase from September last year, reports Ex Yu Aviation on October 5, 2018.
It’s no surprise, however, that Croatia’s capital city airport did so well last month. Recall, Korean Air launched their brand new route between Seoul and Zagreb on September 1st, which quickly became one of the most booked destinations for the airline.
Over 2.5 million passengers traveled through Zagreb Airport in the first three quarters of 2018, which is up 8.6% from 2017. This is an additional 203,310 passengers from last year. The airport is also preparing to welcome 3.4 million passengers this year.
But that’s not all.
Zagreb Airport recently announced their plans for expansion, as they hope to welcome 5 million passengers through its doors by 2026. Even though 300 million euro new terminal building already has the capacity to handle this amount, the airport must work on updating their facilities as the existing equipment is sufficient for 3.5 million passengers per year. The upgrade includes adding a fourth baggage carousel and 15 additional check-in counters, Ex Yu Aviation announced.
“These developments will help us reach full capacity of serving five million travelers per year, in line with our concession agreement,” the Zagreb Airport International Company said. The estimated costs are worth 15 million euro.
“It is the concessionaire’s duty to invest in the expansion of the airport as soon as it reaches a certain number of passengers. Soon we expect to start work on a new building that will house car rental agencies, that will be located near the terminal. Furthermore, we plan to build a new apron capable of handling wide-body aircraft from airlines such as Air Canada and Emirates, because such jets can’t be effectively served at the existing apron. This means we will then have to invest in new jet-bridges for larger aircraft. Following this, we intend to commence work on the overhaul of the old passenger terminal,” added Jacque Feron, Zagreb Airport’s General Manager.
The expansion will begin no later than the end of March in the year the airport should handle its five millionth passenger, which should be in about 8 years.
City authorities also hope to use European Union funds for a rail link between the city and the airport, though no deadline has been given for the project yet.
