Zagreb terminal dream to become reality

Bush and De Gaulle want Pleso

Zagreb Airport and the Croatian Government will, in March, award an infrastructure contract for the concession to build a new airport terminal. The Zagreb Airport terminal project is part of an investment program announced in September 2010, although the idea of building a new terminal is over a decade old. Aéroports de Paris or ADP (Paris Airports), the airport authority that owns and manages 14 civil airports and airfields in Paris, and the Houston Airport System, which runs Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport, have expressed interest in bidding for the Zagreb Airport contract. Some 190 million Euros is expected to be invested in the long awaited new terminal.

Recently a delegation from Houston Airport System toured Zagreb, visiting the American Embassy in Croatia in a bid to secure government support. The Americans are a firm favourite to win the concession. According to current plans, the new terminal should spread over 65.600 square metres and should be 5 times the size of the current terminal. However, construction is not set to begin until August next year as the terminal will have to be designed on paper first, tenders for construction companies will have to be launched and land ownership issues will have to be resolved. The new terminal is planned to be built in 3 phases, with the first set to be completed in 2014. The current terminal will undergo a smaller expansion and face lift to accommodate the rising number of passengers until the new terminal is completed.