The geographical coverage is not due to some recent developments, it is rather an inheritance from the former state of Yugoslavia and civil and military contingence planning. Nevertheless, this presents a solid base upon which we improve and upgrade regularly.

Most of the commercial transport, especially carriage of passengers and cargo is done through 8 international airports - located in Zagreb, Split, Dubrovnik, Pula, Zadar, Rijeka, Osijek and on the island of Brač. All of these airports, except from Brač, are owned by the Republic of Croatia (55% share, the rest is divided between regional and local authorities, usually a 25-20% split).

The smaller airports are primarily used for private operations, training and sports activities.

One of the main goals this airport network achieves is ensuring the connectivity of all regions in Croatia and thus free movement of its citizens. Even though there is a highly developed and modern highway network, the specific shape of the country hinders that factor somewhat, especially when looking into connections between the eastern and southern regions in particular. Aviation is the quickest and most efficient solution in such cases.

Apart from that, tourism is a major economic driver and is the biggest reason for the significant increase in traffic and for recent developments in airport infrastructure aimed at dealing with the increased demand and designed to improve user experience.

Currently there is in an investment cycle in the Croatian airport network worth approximately 500 million EUR in three similar yet very different projects on the financing and implementation side. The concessionaire of Zagreb airport invested over 200 million EUR in the first phase of the project of the new passenger terminal (opened in March 2017). Dubrovnik airport is investing approximately 250 million EUR in the modernisation of the whole airport (multiphase project, some major phases already finished) where almost 70% of the investment is secured through EU funds. Furthermore, Split airport is investing 60 million EUR in its new passenger terminal to be opened in summer 2019.

The whole network generated over 11 million passengers in 2018 and the share of the three above mentioned airports in that is approximately 85%, thus explaining the main investment focus.

However, there are constant investments in other airports too, but tailored more to their financial capability and operational needs. These tend to be projects geared towards improving safety and security standards. There are also plans to develop other airports. Due to increasing congestion on the major airports during peak months and the configuration of the network, possibilities are being explored for developing alternative or overflow solutions, although this will need to wait for further growth of traffic volumes to support the sustainability of such large investments.

The needs of each particular locality and its inhabitants are a significant factor when planning for future development of an airport. The availability of all modes of transport and connections to Zagreb as the capital and main hub, or a number of destinations in Europe and the rest of the world, is of paramount importance. This also links to the national PSO system, as applicable, thus recognising the needs of all stakeholders in the value chain.

The development of additional or improved capacity at any of the airports in the Croatian network, raises significant operational challenges. On average, the Croatian airport network generates traffic growth of around 10% per year. For example, traffic at Split airport has actually grown 100% since 2013, from 1.5 million to over 3 million passengers in 2018. High seasonality is certainly the biggest challenge to tackle. The number of passengers during high season increases 15-20 fold compared to low season. The number of carriers during peak season is around 100, while during low season it falls to a couple of dozen carriers, with most of them flying into Zagreb. This is most evident at the coastal airports, with Split and Dubrovnik having to accommodate most of the surging demand during peak periods. In contrast, this seasonality effect is least present in Zagreb, which maintains year-round operations at significant levels.