Strong start for Zagreb

Zagreb Airport records passenger growth

Zagreb Airport welcomed 139.397 passengers in the first month of the year, registering growth of 5.5% compared to 2012. Croatia’s busiest airport recorded a strong start to the year despite the fact that the number of operated flights increased by only thirteen, from 1.392 in 2012 to 1.405 last month, or an increase of 0.9%. However, unlike January last year, the airport is now served by SkyWork Airlines, Qatar Airways and British Airways. Throughout January Zagreb Airport experienced weather problems with heavy snow and fog diverting flights to alternative airports several times over the course of the month. In 2012 Zagreb Airport handled a record 2.342.309 passengers, a figure it is looking to surpass this year.

During 2013 the construction of Zagreb Airport’s new terminal is set to begin. The consortium overseeing the construction and management of the new terminal recently announced plans to take out a 120 million euro loan from the European Investment Bank. The money is essential in order to secure the finances needed for construction of the multi million euro project to begin. The price tag of the project’s first phase will amount to 236 million euros, while the entire project is estimated to cost up to 324 million euros.

Meanwhile, passengers travelling from Doha to Zagreb via Budapest on Wednesday had to make an emergency landing in the Iranian capital Tehran after their aircraft faced a technical problem and lost an engine. The Airbus A321, with 158 passengers onboard, touched down at Imam Khomeini International Airport at around 10.00 local time on Wednesday, after which all passengers and crew members safely disembarked the jet. The aircraft was greeted by emergency vehicles, including fire trucks. Qatar Airways dispatched another plane a few hours later to pick up the stranded passengers.