Zagreb overtakes pre-Covid traffic, Frankfurt remains busiest route
Zagreb Airport saw its busiest November on record, handling 253.666 passengers, representing an increase of 8.9% on the pre-pandemic 2019. It marks the first time since February 2020 that the airport has registered an improved result compared to 2019. The number of aircraft movements during the penultimate month of the year stood at 3.408, up 1.9% on three years ago. During the January – November period, Zagreb Airport welcomed 2.876.869 travellers through its doors, which is still down 10.2% on 2019. The airport is on course to reach its planned target of three million travellers this year and will likely handle approximately 90% of its pre-pandemic passenger levels.
Generating the growth in November was Ryanair’s strong performance, solid loads on Croatia Airlines, as well as Qatar Airways’ wide-body operations. With Croatia advancing into the semi-final of the FIFA World Cup in Doha, the airport is set to see more charters to the Gulf state in the coming days, as well as additional wide-body operations. Compared to its original plan, Qatar Airways has now extended the use of its Boeing 777-300ER aircraft to the Croatian capital. It will be utilised on December 12 and December 14, while the Airbus A320 is currently scheduled for December 13, Croatia plays its semi-final match on December 13. Further equipment changes remain possible.
During the first seven months of the year, up until which data has so far been processed, Frankfurt retained its position as the busiest route to and from the Croatian capital. A total of 145.272 passengers were handled between the two cities by Croatia Airlines and Lufthansa. It was followed by Amsterdam, maintained by Croatia Airlines and KLM. Istanbul was the busiest route operated by a single carrier, with Turkish Airlines handling 97.152 travellers. Dubrovnik was the busiest domestic service, ahead of Split, while London Stansted was Ryanair’s most popular route out of Zagreb.
English