Zagreb Airport is set to see continued capacity growth this year despite there currently being no new scheduled services announced to the Croatian capital, although this remains highly likely to change as the year progresses. The increase will be driven primarily by Croatia Airlines, supported by the earlier resumption of several seasonal routes, frequency increases on selected services and the ongoing transition to an all-A220 fleet, which includes the replacement of smaller-capacity aircraft on some routes. Ryanair’s frequency increases on a number of services will also contribute, albeit to a lesser extent. However, given the carrier’s consistently high load factors, it is expected to have a proportionally greater impact on passenger growth at Zagreb Airport than some other airlines.

During the first six months of the year, capacity growth at Zagreb Airport is projected to reach 5.9%, representing an additional 169.769 seats. This figure does not include T’way Air’s Seoul service. The carrier has confirmed to EX-YU Aviation News that it plans to restore the seasonal route this year but has yet to finalise its schedule. It noted, “At the moment, we are planning to resume the service this year, however, the sales schedule has not yet been finalised and is subject to change”.

During the peak travel months of June, July and August, growth is expected to be more modest. Excluding T’way Air, seat capacity during this period is projected to increase by 4.3%, or approximately 78.000 seats. These figures remain subject to change at this early stage, as airlines are still finalising their summer season schedules.

Among carriers without a base at Zagreb Airport, Turkish Airlines will add the most capacity during the first half of the year, positioning itself as the second-fastest growing airline in the Croatian capital, behind Croatia Airlines but ahead of Ryanair. The carrier has scheduled an additional 16.224 seats on its Zagreb services year-on-year. Other notable increases include Iberia, which will add approximately 11.000 seats during the first half of the year.

The largest capacity reduction at Zagreb Airport over the six-month period comes from Qatar Airways, which has cut frequencies due to an ongoing narrow-body fleet shortage and will shed close to 14.000 seats. This is followed by British Airways, which has transitioned its Zagreb service to a seasonal summer-only operation.

The busiest unserved routes from Zagreb in Europe currently include the likes of Geneva, Lisbon, Porto, Riga, Vilnius, Krakow, Tallinn, Hannover and Nice.