Zadar shines

Ryanair – the saviour of Zadar

As reported in previous months, Zadar Airport is one of the rear airports in Croatia, this year, to see an increase in the number of passengers handled. The most responsible for this growth are the low cost Ryanair and Germanwings. The two airlines connect Zadar with 10 European cities. Ryanair operates flights to Zadar from London, Edinburgh, Dublin, Pisa, Frankfurt, Dusseldorf and Stockholm, while Germanwings connects Cologne, Berlin and Stuttgart with the seaside Croatian town. As a result, the Zadar Tourism Board believes that the city will make an outstanding profit this year, a distant dream for other holiday destinations within the country. Just last weekend a total of 73 aircraft and 6.000 passengers were welcomed at the airport.

In July 2009 the airport recorded a 23% passenger rise when compared to 2008. The year 2008 was within itself a record year with the best passenger results recorded since 1986. Only 5 years ago authorities seriously considered shutting down Zadar Airport due to low passenger figures. The remarkable turn around in results is compliments of the world’s largest low cost airline Ryanair and Lufthansa’s low cost offshoot Germanwings. Together the two airlines hold a share of more than 50% of all services from the airport.