Split Airport in July: First Significant Decline After Years of Growth
770,152 passengers passed through the terminal, nearly 17,000 fewer than in the same month last year, marking the first major deviation from the upward trend.
770,152 passengers passed through the terminal, nearly 17,000 fewer than in the same month last year, marking the first major deviation from the upward trend.
In the midst of the summer season, Split Airport has faced its first significant decline in passenger numbers after years of uninterrupted growth. As reported by the portal DalmacijaDanas, 770,152 people passed through the passenger terminal in July, which is nearly 17,000 fewer compared to July 2025, when 786,945 passengers were recorded.
This year's result is also weaker than that of July 2024. The number of flights remained at a high level, but the lower passenger count points to poorer aircraft occupancy in both directions. Increasingly, the question arises as to whether Split Airport, given its infrastructural constraints, has reached its maximum organic growth.
Despite the decline in July, Split Airport welcomed its second millionth passenger of the year by the end of that month. From January to the end of July, a total of 2,099,324 passengers passed through the terminal, which is only about 8,000 fewer than in the same period last year.
By the end of the year, there is still a possibility that Split Airport could make up the shortfall and set a new annual record, but this year's data indicate that growth is no longer as strong as in previous seasons.
The news of the decline in passenger numbers comes at a time when southern Croatia is grappling with serious traffic difficulties. Just two days earlier, on August 1, the Karasovići border crossing experienced a complete traffic collapse. Dubrovački dnevnik reports that the situation was so dramatic that locals commented it was "good that no one died." Although today, August 3, the situation at Karasovići is considerably calmer, litter and exhaustion remain along the road, and the question that repeats every summer hangs in the air: how much longer can the south of Croatia endure this kind of traffic?
