Zagreb airport operator hoping for better trends in 2022

(Photo credit: Josip Škof)

ZAGREB, 13 Jan (Hina) – Međunarodna Zračna Luka Zagreb (MZLZ), the operator of Franjo Tuđman Airport, is hoping for better business trends in 2022 following the increase in turnover last year, but that will depend on the global situation which is still strongly affected by the coronavirus pandemic, the company told Hina.

Some of the flights scheduled for the second half of January and partly for February have been cancelled, but most of them will be on sale again already in February, the company said in response to Hina’s query about business operations and expectations for this year.

MZLZ is in continued contact with air carriers across the world to assess market conditions, understand their needs and inform them of the situation at Zagreb. It also maintains regular communication and discusses the consequences of the COVID-19 crisis with the Ministry of Sea, Transport and Infrastructure as the representative of the concessionaire. Under the Concession Agreement, deferment of the payment of the concession fee has been approved to ensure business continuity, it said.

In December 2021, Zagreb was connected with 51 destinations by 19 air carriers. According to the company’s statistics, Franjo Tuđman Airport served 179,500 passengers last month, about 15,000 more than in the previous month and 138,000 more than in December 2020.

The most successful months in 2021 were August (194,900 passengers), September (191,000), October (182,800) and December, and each of these months saw over 100,000 passengers more than at the same time in 2020.

Compared with 2020, the number of flights increased by around 8,000 to 29,605, and the volume of cargo increased from 9,848 tonnes to 10,781 tonnes. 

The number of business aviation and charter flights also increased.

However, the increases were still well below the results of the record-breaking year 2019. For example, the number of passengers in 2021 was 50 per cent lower than in 2019.

Although the airport’s operations were strongly affected the pandemic, the company pointed out that for the entire duration of the crisis there had been no lay-offs.

MZLZ employs about 680 workers in all its affiliates and cooperates with many partners, hoping that these figures will be maintained.

Considering the considerable decline in revenues, MZLZ met the conditions to use the government job retention scheme from March 2020 to August 2021 and secured a loan through the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to maintain cash flow.

MZLZ plans to open new destinations and increase the number of flights on existing routes in 2022.