The Croatian government has yet to launch tender procedures for the renewal of Public Service Obligation (PSO) flight contracts, despite the current four-year agreement with Croatia Airlines and Trade Air expiring in late March. PSOs enable the allocation of European funds to support unprofitable, primarily domestic routes that are considered vital for the economic development of the regions they serve.
Under European Union rules, a call for tender for a new PSO period, along with the required information notice published in the Official Journal of the European Union, must be issued at least six months prior to the intended start date of the new concession.
Trade Air has not placed tickets on sale beyond March 28. Four years ago, the carrier was forced to suspend its domestic operations due to a similar delay in the government’s launch of the tender process. Croatia Airlines, on the other hand, continued operating most of its domestic services at the time and was later retroactively compensated for the associated costs.
Routes which are currently compensated and maintained as PSO are: Dubrovnik – Zagreb – Dubrovnik, Split – Zagreb – Split, Zagreb – Zadar – Pula – Zadar – Zagreb, Zagreb – Brač – Zagreb, Osijek – Dubrovnik – Osijek, Osijek – Split – Osijek, Osijek – Zagreb – Osijek, Rijeka – Split – Dubrovnik – Split – Rijeka, Osijek – Pula – Split – Pula – Osijek, Rijeka – Zadar – Rijeka and Osijek – Zadar – Osijek. There have been calls to reform the list of PSO routes, with Rijeka Airport arguing that its limited inclusion in the current scheme undermines regional connectivity and limits its potential to develop year-round air services.
According to data published by the EU, the current PSO contracts in Croatia are approximately valued at just over sixteen million euros per year in total, with Croatia Airlines receiving some 14.7 million euros. The exact amount varies annually, depending on the number of passengers carried. The highest compensation per passenger is recorded on Trade Air’s Rijeka – Zadar service, at 1.350 euros, followed by the Osijek – Zagreb route at 1.000 euros per passenger. However, due to relatively low traffic volumes on these services, the overall annual compensation remains modest. In contrast, the highest total annual compensation is allocated to the Zagreb – Dubrovnik route, amounting to over six million euros per year, reflecting the significantly higher passenger throughput on the service.
