Split Saint Jerome Airport (Croatian: Zračna luka Sveti Jeronim Split; IATA: SPU, ICAO: LDSP), also known as Split Airport (Croatian: Zračna luka Split), is the international airport serving the city of Split, Croatia. It is located 19 km (12 mi) from Split, on the west side of Kaštela Bay, in the town of Kaštela, and extending into the adjacent town of Trogir. It is named after Saint Jerome, the patron saint of Split-Dalmatia County.^[4]

Quick Facts Split Saint Jerome Airport Zračna luka Sveti Jeronim Split, Summary ...

Split Saint Jerome Airport Zračna luka Sveti Jeronim Split
IATA: SPU ICAO: LDSP
Summary
Airport type	Public
Owner	Split Airport Ltd.
Serves	Split/Kaštela/Trogir
Location	Kaštela, Croatia
Hub for	Croatia Airlines
Focus city for	easyJet Volotea Wizz Air
Elevation AMSL	78 ft / 24 m
Coordinates	43°32′20″N 016°17′53″E
Website	www.split-airport.hr/index.php?lang=en
Map
SPU Location of the airport in Croatia
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 05/23 2,550 8,366 Asphalt
Statistics (2023)
Passengers 3,358,902 15.48%
Statistics from Split Airport site[1] General information from Split Airport site[2] Source: Croatian Aeronautical Information Publication[3]

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In 2019, the airport was the second busiest in Croatia after Zagreb Airport, handling 3.3 million passengers.^[5] The airport was the busiest in Croatia in 2021 handling 1.57 million passengers, surpassing Zagreb Airport for the first time. It is a major destination for leisure flights during the European summer holiday season and an important seasonal base for Croatia Airlines that offers flights to European cities such as Athens, Frankfurt, London and Paris.

The first grass airfield was located in Sinj and the first commercial route was opened in 1931 by the Yugoslav airline Aeroput. It linked Zagreb with Belgrade through Rijeka, Split and Sarajevo, and maintained this route until the start of the Second World War.^[6][7] These flights connected Split either by its Divulje seaplane station, or by the Sinj airfield.^[6]

In the sixties, the airport was relocated from Sinj to Resnik. The new airport complex, designed by architect Darko Stipevski (Tehnika, Zagreb), was opened on 25 November 1966. The apron had dimensions of only 200 x 112 m and 6 parking positions with a planned capacity of 150,000 passengers. In 1968, passenger numbers already stood at 150,737 and in 1969 at 235,000. In 1967, the apron was extended for the first time to accommodate 10 aircraft.^[8]

A new, larger terminal building designed by architect Branko Gruica (Projektant, Mostar) was constructed and opened in 1979 to accommodate traffic for the 8th Mediterranean Games held in Split in September of that year.^[9] The largest pre-war passenger numbers were achieved in 1987, totalling 1,151,580 passengers and 7,873 landings.^[8]

In 1991, the passenger figures dropped to nearly zero, as the war in the former Yugoslavia broke out. In the years that followed, most of the traffic were NATO and UN cargo planes, such as the C-5 Galaxy, MD-11, Boeing 747 and C-130 Hercules. After 1995, the civilian traffic figures began rising again, and eventually surpassed the 1987 level in 2008.^[8]

In 2005, the terminal got a major facelift by architect Ivan Vulić (VV-Projekt, Split) adding one more gate, the glass façade, as well as the award-winning Airport entrance structure consisting of steel/fabric "trees" illuminated by multi-colour LEDs.^[10][11]

The new apron designed by Ivan Vulić, Ivan Radeljak and Mate Žaja was constructed in 2011 with a capacity slightly over the old one but with better security conditions.^[12] The cost of this investment was €13 million leading to 34,000 m²  of new parking space for aircraft as well as space for future administrative works below the apron.^[13] The lower level houses warehouses, workshops, offices and other objects that will support the new 34,500 m², HRK 455 million terminal building that is being built next to it.^[14][15] New apron features an unusual sound barrier on the south side which can be closed when an aircraft is close by and opened in all other times to allow for fairly unobstructed view of the Adriatic sea from the terminal building.

The airport's busiest time are the months of June, July and August due to a large influx of tourists for the European summer holiday period. Weekends are the busiest part of the week with more than 200 flights and some 50,000 passengers.^[16]

On the grounds of the airport there are some 1000 olive trees.^{[citation needed]}

Due to significant increase in passengers numbers, especially during the summer months, an expansion project was completed in summer of 2019, adding more than three times the floor space of the original terminal building and increasing the capacity to 5 million passengers per year. Original terminal has been refurbished and is still being used for some international departures, while check in, all domestic departures as well as both international and domestic arrivals including baggage claim is located in the new areas.

As a part of the expansion project, an enclosed bridge was built over the state road D409, taking passengers to the newly built parking lot, bus terminal and rental car facilities.

The decision not to include any jet bridges in the new expansion has been justified because of limited apron space as well as the fact that majority of the airlines at the airport are low-cost carriers.

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Split Airport: