Zagreb Airport denies Ryanair favouritism
Zagreb Airport has refuted claims made by Croatia Airlines that it is playing favourites with low cost carrier Ryanair by offering it better terms and conditions, which will result in the budget carrier stationing two aircraft in the city this September. The two sides are set to hold talks on the matter together with the Ministry of Sea, Transport and Infrastructure next week. In a statement, Zagreb Airport said, “From the very beginning of the concession period, more precisely since 2013, Zagreb Airport has been in constant communication with various airlines around the world in order to assess market conditions, understand the needs of airlines, expand the destination network, as well as increase traffic and passenger numbers in Zagreb. The Covid-19 pandemic has had an extremely negative impact on air transport on a global scale, and Zagreb Airport is no exception. The airport ended 2020 with a 73% decline in passenger numbers compared to 2019, which was reflected in total revenue as well. Different scenarios for dealing with the problem caused by "force majeure", were implemented at the very beginning of the pandemic in March 2020”.
Some of the measures Zagreb Airport rolled out was the suspension of aircraft parking fees during the months there was barely any traffic. In the summer of 2020, the airport introduced a recovery incentive model, which provided free landing to airlines that met the criteria prescribed in the incentive model, which lasted until the second half of 2020. Furthermore, all aircraft parking fees were subsequently reduced during the winter of 2020 as well. Zagreb Airport launched its growth incentive model at the end of 2020 in order to encourage airlines to launch new routes. The incentive model was presented to the Airport User Committee and the Civil Aviation Agency. Following their approval, it was published on Zagreb Airport’s official website. “The traffic growth incentive model is designed to reduce the cannibalisation of existing routes (and airlines operating on these routes), while providing maximum market flexibility and ensuring increased traffic in Zagreb”, the airport said.
Zagreb Airport noted that its incentive scheme is available to all carriers, which includes Croatia Airlines. “Zagreb Airport is subject to strict regulations defined by the European Commission and the Croatian Civil Aviation Agency. All incentive programs implemented by the incentive model are transparent and non-discriminatory and can be used by all airlines under equal conditions. We welcome the initiative by the Ministry for Sea, Transport and Infrastructure to support efforts to increase traffic at Zagreb Airport, which will be discussed at a meeting scheduled for the next week”, the airport concluded.
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