Rijeka Airport prepares for busy year

New destinations and new airlines from Rijeka

Rijeka Airport, which last year struggled for passengers, has turned its fortunes around in 2011 and has announced that several new airlines will begin flights to the city in 2012. Rijeka Airport has so far this year handled 78.754 passengers, an increase of 28% compared to 2011, and is certain that next year it will see even greater growth.

Europe’s biggest low cost airline Ryanair has announced that it will begin flights from Oslo and either Frankfurt or Brussels to Rijeka next year which will accompany its existing seasonal flights from London Stansted and Stockholm. However, Ryan might have some competition on its hands as the airport’s management is in talks with British Airways to commence flights from London to the seaside city next summer. Condor has already announced its plans to inaugurate flights from Frankfurt to Rijeka. Meanwhile, the national carrier, Croatia Airlines, is finalising its plans for Rijeka for the upcoming summer season. During this year, the carrier operated flights to London Heathrow. New additions are expected in the coming year.

Additionally, the airport is in talks with SkyWork Airlines to commence flights from Bern while negotiations are also underway with the Spanish low cost airline Vueling to launch seasonal flights from either Madrid or Barcelona. During the week, talks were held in Belgrade between Rijeka Airport officials and local authorities from Niš for summer flights between the two cities to be launched in 2012.