Croatia Airlines’ CEO, Jasmin Bajić, has said that Zagreb Airport’s plan to reopen its old terminal for low cost carriers is an effort to retain Ryanair’s operations. According to the CEO, this move comes as incentives offered to Ryanair when it opened its base in the Croatian capital three years ago expire in the coming period. Speaking to the “Lider Media” portal, Mr Bajić said, “Zagreb Airport’s concessionaire is now trying, in order to keep Ryanair under favourable conditions, to launch an initiative to turn the old terminal into a low cost one. It is common for capital cities to have such solutions at secondary rather than main airports. For us it would be, for example, Rijeka. However, we want to give up our main airport to a low cost carrier under more favourable terms. On the other hand, Split also has Ryanair, but under the same conditions as other airlines”.

Mr. Bajić noted that if Croatia Airlines had received the same incentives that were given to Ryanair when it opened its base, the flag carrier would have been profitable. “There is no issue for there to be competition if it is operating under the same conditions. However, this is often not the case. In Zagreb, Ryanair is using big incentives for new routes. However, they are set to expire soon, so the conditions should be different. Of course, if it doesn’t replace those routes with new ones. The fact is that under the same benefits as Ryanair, Croatia Airlines would, for example, in 2019, have registered a ten-million-euro profit rather than a ten-million-euro loss, which shows how big these benefits can be. Unfortunately, that’s how it works, and Zagreb Airport is not an isolated case”, Mr Bajić said

Zagreb Airport’s old terminal building, which has been closed for passenger use since March 28, 2017, could get a new lease on life with the government considering reopening the facility to cater for low cost carriers. Ryanair is Zagreb’s second largest airline based on available seat capacity. According to the Croatian government, an analysis has been launched into the building’s reopening. The state is willing to extend the concession of Zagreb Airport to its operator, the Zagreb Airport International Company (ZAIC), by three years and nine months if the consortium running the airport returns the old terminal into a functioning state. Zagreb Airport’s existing concession runs until 2042. The process is still in its early stages but informal talks between the competent authorities and the European Commission have taken place. The Croatian Ministry for Sea, Transport and Infrastructure is aiming to reopen the terminal for commercial use in 2026. The ZAIC consortium has made no public comment on the matter so far.