Transport and Infrastructure Minister Oleg Butkovic and Zadar Airport Director Josip Klismanic on Monday signed an agreement for works at the airport worth over €16 million and co-financed under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan.

The project refers to the electrification and ecologisation of aircraft handling.

The NRRP, the minister said, “opened the door to the financing of new and unique projects at the European level. A grant of about €10 million is a big step for Zadar Airport because at the global level airports are no longer receiving European financing.”

This Zadar Airport project is a continuation of the policy of reducing harmful effects on the environment and making its business greener, Butkovic said, adding that this airport is one of the most promising in Croatia.

“The project will ensure charging from renewables for the increasing number of passengers and planes landing in Zadar,” said Klismanic, adding that “this is the only project at the European Union level in which grants pertain to air transport.”

In five years, Zadar Airport has doubled its turnover, he said.

“The announcements of trends in the years ahead commit us to better and greener passenger handling,” Klismanic said, adding that a tender for the reconstruction of the terminal will be repeated by the end of the year.

This season, more than a million passengers have passed through Zadar Airport, said Zadar County head Bozidar Longin. “Transatlantic flights will come to Zadar too after the landing strip is renovated, which will ensure economic growth for our region and restore Zadar’s position as a crossroads.”