Croatian airports in 2009

Osijek Airport – biggest improver in 2009

The majority of Croatian airports ended the year of the global financial crisis mostly unscathed with small passenger losses. One of the worst months for all airports in Croatia was December 2009 when airports such as Zagreb, Dubrovnik, Pula and Zadar recorded a traffic decrease of more than 10% when compared to December 2008 while the number of passengers handled on behalf of Rijeka Airport decreased by 69%.

Overall in 2009, Zagreb Airport handled 2.056.388 passengers, a decrease of 5.7%. Both Split and Dubrovnik also saw passenger numbers decreasing between 5 and 7%. Both airports handled over 1 million passengers. The worst performer of the year was Pula whose traffic decreased by 20.8%. The airport handled 302.448 passengers, compared to 381.680 in 2008. This is despite the fact that aircraft movement at the airport did not decrease by a large margin.

Zadar and Osijek have survived the year with a major increase in traffic and passengers, showing that the 2 airports were not following the trends of others in the country. Passenger numbers at Zadar increased by 34.9%. The airport handled 195.163 passengers. The airport also recorded an increase in aircraft operations of up to 124.1%, mostly thanks to the arrival of the low cost Ryanair. The most successful airport of the year, when compared to 2008, is Osijek which saw passenger numbers increase by 37.8%. Meanwhile, Rijeka, which is having financial problems, managed to report growth of less than half a percent.

The following table displays the passenger change that airports in Croatia had in 2009, compared to last year.

Airport	Passengers 2008	Passengers 2009	Change (%)
Zagreb	2.179.756	2.056.388	-5.7
Dubrovnik	1.177.510	1.109.934	-5.7
Pula	381.680	302.448	-20.8
Split	1.171.179	1.080.121	-7.8
Zadar	144.708	195.163	+34.9
Osijek	14.883	20.503	+37.8
Rijeka	109.706	110.208	+0.5