Zagreb braces for low cost airlines

Busier times ahead for Zagreb Airport

The CEO of Zagreb’s Pleso Airport, Tonči Peović, is in talks with Ryanair and easyJet who have expressed their wish to commence services from Zagreb. Both airlines operate flights to various Croatian cities but so far have avoided Zagreb for several reasons, including high handling costs and the government’s protectionist Croatia Airlines policy. “We have made some savings and realised that we could make our prices cheaper by up to 10%. In addition to the basic price list, we also offer additional incentives for companies that have never flown from Zagreb or are increasing traffic to Zagreb”, Peović told the “Vjesnik” newspaper. He also mentioned that the airport has slashed handling prices for international flights by up to 50%. Interestingly, none of the incentives apply to Croatia Airlines.

Joining Wizz Air and Germanwings as the only 2 low cost airlines operating out of Zagreb, Norwegian Air Shuttle will commence services from Copenhagen this summer. easyJet is likely to open flights to 6 destinations from Zagreb during the 2010/2011 winter season.

Peović said that low cost airlines, on average, account for 35% of the total turnover at European airports, and only 18% at Zagreb. “We plan to increase this figure to at least 30%. These low-budget companies are exactly what our airports need”, Peović says.