Zadar is best known to travellers for its Roman ruins, the sea organ on the waterfront and as a budget-airline gateway to Dalmatia. Now it's getting a serious piece of aviation infrastructure: a brand-new €12.34 million air traffic control centre, to be built right by Zadar Airport in the municipality of Zemunik Donji.
The project moved from talk to reality this month, when Zadar County Prefect Josip Bilaver confirmed that a building permit has been issued, funding is locked in and the tender to pick a construction firm is already running. Croatia Control — the national air navigation service — published the construction tender on 2 October, with applications from interested contractors due by 2 November. If all goes to plan, a contract will start on 15 March 2027 and the build itself should take around 18 months.
So what's actually going up? A multipurpose complex with an air traffic control tower, operational and administrative buildings, and a training centre for air traffic controllers. That last part matters: it means controllers could be trained on site in Zadar rather than elsewhere, and the whole setup is meant to drag the region's air traffic management up to modern standards.
Why should a holidaymaker care? Zadar Airport is one of the busiest gateways on the Croatian coast in summer, handling a steady flow of international and domestic flights to Dalmatia. More capacity and modernised traffic control at a fast-growing coastal airport generally means smoother operations in the July and August crunch, when delays ripple across the Adriatic. The county also expects the project to create skilled local jobs and strengthen Zadar's role in Croatia's wider aviation network — a sign the region is banking on continued tourism and connectivity growth rather than a plateau.
Bilaver was keen to stress this isn't another paper project. "This is not an announcement or a promise," he said, pointing to the issued permit and secured funding. The next milestone is simply naming the contractor and breaking ground.
For anyone flying into Dalmatia over the next couple of years, nothing changes day to day — construction happens alongside a working airport. But by late 2028, the airport that gets you to Zadar's old town, Plitvice Lakes or the islands of Dugi Otok and Kornati should be backed by some of the most modern air traffic infrastructure in the country.
