Ryanair scolds “ridiculous” Zagreb Airport fee hike
Low cost carrier Ryanair has criticised Zagreb Airport for increasing airline fees, branding the development as “ridiculous”. In a press release, the company’s Director for Marketing, Communications and Digital, Dara Brady, said, “Efficient operations and competitive airport charges provide the foundation from which Ryanair can deliver long-term traffic growth and increased connectivity. After the busiest April on record, Ryanair calls on Zagreb Airport to revoke its recent decision to increase airport charges by a ridiculous 12.4% which came into effect in April 2023. These increases only punish passengers and will have a detrimental impact on Zagreb and Croatia’s connectivity, tourism, traffic, jobs, and overall post-Covid recovery”.
Zagreb Airport increased its passengers service fee for airlines last month, meaning carriers have to fork out additional funds per passenger carried. Fees for departing international passengers have grown from 17.50 euros to 19.67 euros, the charge for departing domestic passengers has increased from 7.50 euros to 8.43 euros, while the fee for transfer passengers has grown by fifty eurocents from four euros to 4.50 euros. The additional charges will be passed onto passengers through increased ticket prices. The airport previously said the 12.4% hike in fees is in line with inflation growth. Ryanair anticipates handling 1.2 million passengers on its Zagreb flights this year.
This summer, Ryanair is operating its busiest schedule out of the Croatian capital since opening its base in the city in 2021. Although the airline has added only seasonal services to Kos this summer, and discontinued flights to Dortmund, it has grown frequencies on existing routes. Furthermore, last summer, the airline was forced to cancel numerous flights due to operational reasons. Ryanair will operate over 168 weekly flights from the Croatian capital this summer, representing a 20% increase on 2022. “This new schedule is underpinned by Ryanair’s commitment to Zagreb, basing three aircraft at Zagreb Airport, a $300 million investment and supporting over 900 jobs including ninety direct jobs as well as carrying over 330.580 passengers to/from Zagreb Airport (between January and April 2023), 33% of all passengers at Zagreb Airport in the same period, further driving the airport’s traffic recovery and record growth post-Covid”, Mr Brady concluded.
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