Croatia’s airports handle more passengers in July despite fewer flights

Zadar Airport

ZAGREB, 9 September 2026 – Croatia’s airports handled more than 2.35 million passengers in July 2026, according to new data from the Croatian Bureau of Statistics, although the number of aircraft movements fell compared with the same month last year.

A total of 2.355 million passenger movements was recorded at Croatian airports during July, an increase of 1.7% compared with July 2025, when 2.315 million passengers were recorded.

Split remains busiest

Split Airport recorded the highest passenger traffic in July, handling 767,000 passengers. This was nevertheless a 2.1% decrease compared with July last year.

Dubrovnik Airport followed with 557,000 passengers, representing an increase of 3.5% year on year.

At Zagreb Airport, passenger traffic stood at 465,000, a marginal decline of 0.4% compared with July 2025.

The figures highlight the continued importance of Croatia’s coastal airports during the peak summer travel period, with Split and Dubrovnik together accounting for more than half of all passenger traffic recorded at Croatian airports in July.

UK and Poland among key markets

Germany remained the largest source of international passenger traffic, with 380,000 passengers travelling between Croatian airports and airports in Germany. That was 2.5% more than in July 2025.

The United Kingdom followed with 376,000 passengers, up 5.9% year on year.

One of the strongest increases was recorded in traffic with Poland, which reached 192,000 passengers, an increase of 25.4% compared with July last year.

Fewer aircraft movements

Despite the rise in passenger numbers, the number of aircraft landings and take-offs declined.

Croatian airports recorded 20,991 aircraft movements in July, down 4.1% from the 21,892 recorded in July 2025.

Air cargo traffic also decreased. A total of 836 tonnes of cargo was handled during the month, 7.7% less than the 906 tonnes recorded a year earlier.

Passenger numbers up in first seven months

Looking at the period from January to July 2026, Croatian airports recorded 7.894 million passenger movements, an increase of 2.6% compared with the same period in 2025.

During the same seven-month period, there were 79,000 aircraft landings and take-offs, down 3.3% year on year.

Air cargo traffic showed a sharper decline, falling 13.1% to 5,000 tonnes.

The latest figures therefore show a mixed picture for Croatia’s aviation sector in 2026: passenger numbers continue to grow, while aircraft movements and cargo volumes remain below last year’s levels.