Lošinj Airport has announced a multi million euro upgrade, which will include the construction of a new terminal building and the extension of its runway. Work on the much-delayed project is expected to begin next year and completed by the summer of 2018. It includes the lengthening of the runway from the current 900 to 1.800 metres, which will enable it to cater for larger aircraft with the capacity to seat up to 180 passengers. The project has been labelled of strategic importance for Croatia and is valued at 35 million euros. The airport’s expansion will be carried out under a public-private partnership, with Jadranka, a local operator of several hotels and villas, and the municipality of Mali Lošinj as the principal stakeholders.
The Croatian Minister for Tourism, Anton Kliman, says the government has finalised all necessary producers related to the project. "There are only a few technical details to be resolved in order for the project to be presented to cabinet and for a contract to be signed with the Jadranka group", Mr Kliman said. He added, "The Lošinj Airport project will significantly increase capacity for tourist arrivals and give a new perspective for the future development of the town of Mali Lošinj, the islands of Lošinj and Cres, and the Croatian tourism industry in this part of the Adriatic". Upon completion, the airport aims to attract flights primarily from the United Kingdom and Scandinavia.
Lošinj Airport, opened in 1985 for general aviation purposes, has no scheduled flights. However, during the first seven months of the year it handled 3.892 passengers, primarily as a result of European Coastal Airlines, which operated services from the airport until the carrier was grounded by regulators two weeks ago. The expansion plan is the latest in a string of airport projects currently taking place in the country.
Current airport projects
Zagreb Airport
The construction of Zagreb Airport's new passenger terminal is in its final months with work expected to be completed next month and the opening scheduled for March 2017. At approximately 65.000 square metres, the new terminal building is currently the largest construction site in the country. Work has been ongoing for three years.
The multi million euro expansion of Dubrovnik Airport is in full swing, with construction of the new Terminal C building to be completed on schedule next month, while the official opening is slated for March 2017. The new terminal will stretch over 24.181 square metres, according to the project outline. Furthermore, it will feature an additional two air bridges. The new facility is located next to the existing Terminal B building. Once all work is completed, the two will be combined into a single functioning unit. The new terminal is part of a major 274 million euro expansion, which includes the construction of new storage facilities, access roads, a car park and the lengthening of the runway and taxiways. The airport plans to begin work on expanding its apron and taxiways later this year, while the overhaul of the runway is scheduled for next winter. The entire expansion project is to be completed in 2019 and is largely financed through EU structural funds.
Split Airport
Following three years of constant delays, the construction of Split Airport's much needed new passenger terminal will begin this autumn. The new terminal will stretch over 34.500 square metres and increase the airport’s capacity to 3.5 million passengers per year. Furthermore, the car park and bus area will be expanded by 35.500 square metres. The project is valued at 59.3 million euros and is estimated to take just over two years to complete. A contractor is expected to be announced next week.
Brač Airport
Brač Airport has embarked on a six million euro extension of its 1.440-metre runway. The island airport aims to handle larger aircraft by adding a further 320 metres to the runway. Work is scheduled to last throughout the summer. It currently caters for aircraft up to 100 seats and hopes to handle Fokkers, Airbus A319s and new Bombardier C-series jets once the lengthening of the runway is completed.
Pula Airport
Pula Airport upgraded its passenger terminal this year, investing some 600.000 euros of its own funds in refurbishing the building. The work was carried out during the winter season and completed in late March. International departures have been adapted to Schengen standards, becoming the only airport in Croatia that is currently fully prepared for Schengen travel. Pula Airport plans to build a new 36.000 square metre passenger terminal in the near future as part of its new development masterplan.
Wow those are all great projects. Congrats Croatia on investing in your airport infrastructure
ReplyDeleteThe major problem for places like Lošinj and Brač is that they can only have traffic during the summer making major expansions unnecessary really.
ReplyDeleteSure it is a problem. And no-one expects these two airports to ever become commercially profitable on its own. But the wider range and effects need to be taken into account. Which is the boost of the tourist industries in the areas and general development of the island infrastractures. In a long term perspective this might well be the right step.
Delete@AnonymousAugust 26, 2016 at 10:10 AM
DeleteGood point, I was always again small airports on small islands as thy're hardly worth a wile, but if they bring benefit to the whole community they're relatively cheap to maintain, then why not.
It's interesting that most of these expansions happened without concession partners.
ReplyDeleteShows that you don't need to sell everything to get something done. Who built all these airports? It wasn't foreigners. The obsession with foreigners having to come to build something is inherent to the entire ex-yu region.
DeleteYeah but most of these projects are being financed by foreign money - EU funds :)
DeleteJust like most of the big project through out Europe.
DeleteQuite a different strategy from the Greeks who put up all their airports for concession.
DeleteNot true. Just Dubrovnik was financed by EU funds. Brač will be financed by hotel company owned by Mr. Andabak (Croatian businessman) who is in same time owner of Brač airport. As we can see Lošinj would be also financed by hotel company.
DeleteAnd that is OK. Private money, private interest, private risk. If that brings benefit to local community nice! If not, it is privet investment.
@AnonymousAugust 26, 2016 at 12:50 PM
DeleteAfter EU spent billions on these airports???
You're totally clueless how the EU works and where they money is going or coming from. You could say you're totally ignorant of the subject.
These are all great projects, each in its own way.
DeleteAs for concession, it is not the same as privatization. With concession, the government holds on to the ownership and sets up criteria the foreign investor needs to follow as well as the master plan which needs to be executed by the end of the period of concession (certain shorter periods and results can be added as well). So, the private investors cannot do whatever they want in the case of concession and there is no need to be so skeptical about the arrangement per se. What's more important is to make sure the government gets a good deal.
Two weeks to go till elections in Croatia so doubt this development will happen but would be nice.
ReplyDeleteHas anyone ever used this airport?
ReplyDeleteIt must be a beautiful view when landing at Brac or Losinj.
DeleteDidnt OS have flights to Brac?
They did. These flights are now operated by CSA during the summer. Also Croatia Airlines flies from Zagreb there during the summer but the airport is empty during the winter.
DeleteCheck out Brac - site is uptodate: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bra%C4%8D_Airport
DeleteOS - or better VO - also used to fly to Mali Losinj (long time ago), no idea what aircraft they used - Dash 8-300 or Dash 7-102? Anyway, they now have no a/c that can land in LSJ.
Wikipedia is not airport site what is wrong with you?
DeleteChill down, also regarding your tone.
DeleteOf course I was not referring to the official airport website - but rather to a site that clearly indicates all current 2016 seasonal connections to Brac. Reason is that someone before said there are (only?) flights to 2 destinations, Zagreb and Vienna - whereas there are 8 different routes.
Adria and Croatia did fly to Lošinj (till 1991).
DeleteCroatia and CSA have regular routes today and in past there was Austrian with several routes.
Good news. The airport is at a very beautiful location. Nice approach.
ReplyDeleteIndeed. It is beautifully situated. But so are SPU, DBV, BWK - and partially ZAD, RJK :)
DeleteDo we have a date for Zagreb Airport's opening?
ReplyDeleteFirst week of March 2017 I'm pretty sure
DeleteGanz geil, obergeilll ��
ReplyDeleteCroatia invested in road infrastructure and now they are doing the same with airports. Smart move.
ReplyDeleteThat's why they are the most indebted ex-YU country.
DeleteThat's why its GDP per capita is twice that of most other ex-Yu countries.
DeleteSince we're already OT with GDPs:
Deletetheir GDP was higher than the rest even before they started investing in their infrastructure.
So, in summary, Anon 10:12 your Argument is not an Argument.
There is Slovenia and the rest in Ex Yu. Belgrade and Zagreb are talking about USA and China flights, but the only people in the only country who can fly like normal people in Europe and by that the only airport who can have US flights (both tourists and civil people in the country) is Slovenia. It is a little bit funny that those to "gigants" "kills" each other who will have US flights first (like to small children fight for chocolate) while nobody has a good economy standard and their people cant pay tickets and stay in NYC except politicari and ministri and Slovenia is standing on the other side without saying anything hehe. Realistic Slovenia is the only country when It comes to Intercontinental flights in the region, my friend in Croatia said the salary in the country is 450 euros and things are expensive and you cant fly to US with that salary. Potential flights between ZAG and JFK would depend on tourists, but why do you think all those people would use non stop flights? The ticket price is the most important.
DeleteBelgrade already has flights to the US.
DeleteAnd Zagreb has flights to Canada. Apparently it's not Slovenia when it comes to intercontinental flights.
DeleteDotle se Slovenci pogadjaju oko cene piva kod mene u lokalu. Neki zaista umisljaju da GDP odslikava bogatstvo ljudi u jednoj zemlji. Uzmimo nedavni zemljotres u Italiji nijedna od srusenih zgrada nije imala celicnu armaturu ljudi nemaju novca da osiguraju svoju imovinu sa tim poboljsanjem, a u Apeninima uvek drma. Dzaba im clanstvo u G7 kada nemaju novca
Deleteza svoj dom.
Anonymous 1:15 PM by your writing and attitude I think you're a little mean, why is that?
DeleteAnonymous 1:15 PM is sad that Croatia's investments in infrastructure ensures that it will continue to have much higher GDP per capita compared with most ex-Yu countries.
DeleteI cant understand why but he seems to be upset about it.
Sorry I meant to write Anonymous 12:24 PM.
DeleteDragi ljubomoran Slovencic, malo se bolje informiraj o placama u Hrvatskoj i ne lupe aj gluposti. Tvoj prijatelj nema pojma, ali mislim da si ti sve izmislio. Pitam se, pitatm se, buduci da je dezelica tolko bogata, kako to da nemate te silne letove? I inace vam Lj malo nudi, kako to? Ako ne kuzis, koristi google translator.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteLOL
DeleteLjubljana is not connected with 99% of Europe, and he want flights from LJU to USA? LOL LOL.
And for your information average pay in Croatia is about 770 €.
My mum works in some average restoraunt (as assistant chef) out of Zagreb centrum, and she have pay about 800€. And pay in Slovenia is not nothing much higher.
Yo man, in Serbia, you're lucky if you have 300€ for that job, mut that's unrealistic too :D :D :D
DeleteBudimo realni, Slovenija je najbogatija država bivše Jugoslavije, možda nije idealna, ali je najdalje odmakla u odnosu na druge države i može nam u određenim biti pokazatelj kako ići naprijed (suradnja sa susjedima, povlačenje sredstava iz EU, zaštita okoliša, privlačenje investicija). Prosječna plaća je 1004 eura što je ipak dosta više u odnosu na 747 eura (Hrvatska), BDP per capita 31.872 dolara u odnosu na 21.169 dolara (Hrvatska).
DeleteNisam ja ni rekao da nemaju veće plaće, ali ovako se postavljati je zbilja jadno, to samo pokazuje njegov malograđanski mentalitet, pa makar imao ne znam ni ja kakvu plaću.
DeleteDrugo, činjenica jest da Ljubljana nije povezana s velikim djelom Europe, a kamoli tek da ima neki interkontitentalni let, a misli da LJU ima više potencijala za interkontinentalne letove od ZAG i BEG. Pa za takve izjave zbilja moraš biti neškolovan.
Timtam, rekao si da im plaće nisu puno veće, tebi, dakle, 300 eura razlike nije puno? Budimo realni, svi mi možemo sanjati o isplativosti interkontinentalnih letova, ali u Hrvatskoj oni mogu funkcionirati samo ljeti, u Srbiji već postoji let za New York, u Sloveniji postoje čarter letovi ljeti iz Japana (kao i u Hrvatskoj). Slovenija je mala država, a Ljubljanu (osim veličine) ograničava i blizina drugih zračnih luka u susjedstvu, nikako njihova kupovna moć.
DeleteAko su u prošlosti bile isplative year round interkontinentali letovi iz Zagreba, sigurno mogu biti i u sadašnjosti.
DeleteSamim time što iz godine u godinu gotovo eksponencionalno raste broj turista u Zagrebu, blizina Ljubljane, ali i mogućnost većeg broja tranzitnih putnika ukoliko se OU razvije u boljem svjetlu u suradnji s većim kompanijama.
Što će od toga biti ne znam, ali smatram da kupovna moć i nije toliko presudna za interkontinentalne letove ukoliko za iste postoji interesa. Evo Luxembourg, država koja ima više stanovnika od Ljubljane, najveću kupovnu moć u Europi, ali nema baš puno letova po Europi, a kamoli tek nešto interkontinentalno.
Sve je stvar tržišta. Da je stvar u kupovnoj moći onda bi Slovenija bila najprometnija država u EX-YU što se tiče zračnog prometa, a zapravo ju čak i šišaju države poput Kosova, Makedonije, vjerujem čak i Albanije čije se plaće ne mogu ni usporediti sa slovenskim ili hrvatskim.
Koji aerodroma u blizini? Venecija koja samo ljeti ima letove do USA, Zagreb koji ljeti ima samo letove do Toronta? A od Ljubljane do Beča nemaš puno manje nego što ima od Zagreba do Beča (jer se ide preko Maribora, ne preko Ljubljane kad se putuje iz Zagreba).
@AnonymousAugust 26, 2016 at 9:33 AM
DeleteAnd the rail infrastructure, actually massive funds are spent on rail infrastructure these days, around $300 million is spent on improving and new Rail infrastructure every year since 2012.
Istina je da je u Hrvatskoj prosjećna bruto plača niža za 230 EUR nego u Sloveniji. No, zato je Hrvatska bitno veća, dakle ima daleko više ljudi koji primaju više od 1.000 EUR nego cijela Slovenija. Jasno je da ona žena koji radi na blagajni za 600 EUR neće putovati, ali zato ima na toliko stanovištva jako mnogo koji imaju i više od 1.500 EUR plače. Uz to broj turista je ogroman. Govorimo o 15 milijuna turista, spram Slovenskih 2,5 milijuna turista.
DeleteI zato je potencijal Hrvatske za bilo kakvih letovima daleko veći nego Slovenija. I zato Zagreb ima 2,5 puta više putnika, a Hrvatska 8 puta više zrakoplovnih putnika nego Slovenija. O broju linija da i ne govorimo.
Nije ti palo na pamet zašto iz Slovenije ima toliko malo linija i letova? Nije ti palo na pamet da prvo treba letjeti za destinacije po Europi, nego prema SAD-u?
@anonimni 1:15 PM
Deletezato jer radim u Saudijskoj Arabiji, moja placa ne ulazi u HR prosijek....e sad, po svojim putovanjima u bilo koju od drzava u kojoj sam radio...a i u samim tim drzavama nisam imao prilike sresti nijednog Slovenca. Ali sam, uz puno Hrvata, sreo puno drzavljana Srbiji i BiH.....nase place koje zaradjujemo po ovim drzavama....vjeruj mi, ne zelis znati koliko puta su vece od slovenskog prosijeka....zato, nemoj meni pricati tko ima dovoljnu plateznu moc za letjeti pristojno.
They have been talking about this project since 2014 so I hope they finally build it.
ReplyDeleteLošinj and Cres are not islands to be overrun by noise from landing and departing airplanes. Lošinj has already seen major degradation of its environment by luxurious hotels and inlux of tourists. There are limits to how many people little towns can swallow and Lošinj has reached its limits years ago. Lošinj has no sand beeches streching for miles, so all those people can be absorbed... Cres is even wilder and has many small peble beeches, accessible only via sea. There is already an airport on Krk, with very good connections to both, Cres and Lošinj and it is already barely afloat. Increasing Lošinj airport by such extent will only bring devastation to nature and another big airport, which will have traffic only duriing 2 months in summer.
ReplyDeleteAgree completely.
DeleteOh no! Rijeka airport (with limited routes on offer) has not a good connection to Mali/Veli Losinj. Roads are mediocre, you depend on a ferry which doesnt run every 20 mins, ferry takes time, trip average i'd say 2h30mins to 4h, depending on ferry (if you immediately fit on ferry in summer and dont have to wait longer). This is without any traffic jams! Had there been a connection to VIE area, i'd surely have taken a flight. I was even checking if I could fly into SPU and then from SPU airport connect to ECA.
DeleteRegarding beaches, I think most people coming to Croatia for beach holidays know well that there is only a handful of sand beaches - however it is the natural, extremely clean pebble and rock beaches that make the coast and swimming + snorkeling there so attractive - the water is absolutely clear and azurblue, there is no dirt/dust from sand when you go in so that you can't see anything. And in contrast to Turkey or Spain you have a specific charme.
And yes, of course, it is not overcrowded yet on some parts of the HR coast, but no matter if you want it or not - judging by the numbers steadily rising - there will be more and more tourists coming and wanting to come to Croatia in the next years and decades. It is better for everyone if you don't need to be stuck on the road - which I know is also very annoying for the locals in summer.
look, both, Lošinj, and specialy Cres are not for everybody. So your argument is invalid, since if you are not willing to spend 1 hr from Krk airport to the Lošinj (and half of that time to Cres), you shouldn't bother coming at all. If Croatia thinks, that bringing bilions of turists will automatically bring better life to everybody, think again. Ask locals in Venice, Barcelona and other hot turist spots.
DeleteCroatiaAviationNews.com
ReplyDeleteSo when there were articles about Kraljevo Airport you were fine with it?
DeleteDon't bother. The guy is just jealous.
DeleteYes it is CroatiaAviationNews.com if you dont like it you don't have to read it
DeleteQ1: What does Kraljevo have to do with a post of a URL that does not work?
DeleteQ2: Why jealousy?
Q2: Why is the link to that website not working?
OT: QR increased daily rotation on ZAG to A321 during winter schedule: http://www.routesonline.com/news/38/airlineroute/268584/qatar-airways-w16-operation-changes-as-of-27aug16/
ReplyDeletegood news.
DeleteWow! Excellent news!
DeleteNever gonna happen. Why would they fly empty planes over the winter to Zagreb?
DeleteI guess they will upgrade next year from 10 flights pw to 14 pw, and maybe for 2 years introduce wide-body aircraft like A330 or B787.
DeleteIt is already in GDS (A321 duribg winter). And ZAG goes double daily year round from next summer.
DeleteWhat do you people think, which airport in Croatia needs the most urgent attention besides Split?
ReplyDeleteBesides Split most are in good shape.
DeleteSplit is definitely a must, and probably will still be the most crowded during the summer months even after the expansion
DeleteI think we all immediately agree on this one.
DeleteI have no idea why that project does not have the utmost level of priority and attention in the country - oh well yeah I get it, it's about something outside of Zagreb. Thus minor importance.
Yes, you are absolutely true. And that is why ALL the airport in Croatia was financed by Republic of Croatia (Dubrovnik, Brač, Zadar, Rijeka, Osijek), and now will be financed also Split, but Zagreb was give to concession because there was no money in budget for it. There is for everybody else but Zagreb.
DeleteI hope that with these expansions Losinj and Brac will be able to lure some LCC.
ReplyDeleteBrac maybe... Losinj not so sure.
DeleteWell with this at least I hope they give up on plans to build an airport on Rab.
ReplyDeleteWhat airport on Rab?
Deletehttp://www.exyuaviation.com/2015/12/ex-yus-future-airports-dream-and-reality.html
DeleteDoesn't mean that Rab Airport won't be built.
1800 meters seems a perfect fit for private aircraft, the ones golfers use for example. The airport main focus I believe will be to cater for this. There are plans to have a major gulf course and resort built on the island with the aim to have a leg of the PGA tour eventually played there.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.croatiaweek.com/ernie-els-designed-golf-course-resorts-new-airport-to-attract-jet-set-to-losinj-island/
Neither this nor Pula Airport new terminal will become a reality. Many projects were put forward this summer because managements were supposed to be reelected but the Croatian ministry of transport cancelled that plan unril new government is formed.
ReplyDeleteAll the airport development in Croatia is pretty impressive. I think Split and Dubrovnik now have to work on attracting some airlines on a year long basis.
ReplyDeleteWell done to Croatia for developing its airport infrastructure. It was in need of an upgrade. These are great project. 2017/18 will be great years for Croatian airports.
DeleteVery good and smart investments for the future and the development of the country
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteOT:
ReplyDeleteAdria Airways has 2 aircraft grounded. A319 in FRA (engine problem) and CRJ200 in LJU (lightning strike and broken tail).
This can not be good for JP.
Source:
http://sierra5.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2639&Itemid=1
Best regards,
Haplek
How many commercial airports does Croatia have?
ReplyDelete9
DeleteZagreb, Split, Dubrovnik, Zadar, Pula, Rijeka, Osijek, Bol and Lošinj.
Delete$35M for 3,000 passengers a year. Wow! What's the payback period for that? What a waste of money.
ReplyDeleteSo, you've never heard of a word "potential"?
DeleteI think 4:20PM is just trolling
DeleteDid Pula really need any overhaul?
ReplyDeleteNot really. It is still way down on its best performance of 670 000, once that number is reached airport should look to build a new terminal. I presume they are thinking of building new terminal if they can get EU funding.
DeleteYou can not any more. Vidjela žaba da se konj potkiva pa i ona digla nogu.
DeleteBice zanimljivo hoceli SPU posle ekspanzije se pribliziti znatno ZAG.
ReplyDeleteINN-NS
OT - A huge 'thunder' just took off over new Belgrade, ULS cargo A310 operating for THY.
ReplyDeleteCargo A330 form Madrid i A310 from Helsinki in same day.
Delete