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After a break of several months, the network of domestic PSO flights in Croatia is being re-established.
Although the reason for this is the announcement by Osijek Airport about the return of domestic flights from July 20th, it is a much more important national topic - the continuation Public service obligation program (PSO) by which the state ensures air connectivity to parts of Croatia where the market alone cannot maintain regular lines.
From July 20th, a private carrier Trade Air will reconnect Osijek sa Zagreb, Pula, Rijeka, Zadar, Split and Dubrovnik, ending an almost four-month period without most domestic routes from eastern Croatia. Ticket sales through the carrier's and Osijek Airport agency's websites began on July 2 at 12:00.
But this story goes beyond the local significance of Osijek Airport.
The problem is not with the carriers, but with the delay in the new PSO tender.
The current four-year program for performing PSO flights, which began in 2022, expired at the end of March 2026. Since the competent Ministry of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure did not conduct and conclude the tender procedure for the new four-year cycle on time, part of the domestic airline network was left without operations, which caused warnings in expert circles for months about the threat to the continuity of the lines.
In order to bridge the months-long interruption and enable traffic during the peak summer season, a solution has been reached to restart flights, while a comprehensive and long-term solution for a new multi-year cycle is still awaited.
In this interlude of administrative gridlock, Trade Air was the most affected, as a private carrier was forced to completely suspend its domestic routes and temporarily suspend traffic on the network it maintains through the PSO program. At the same time, the national carrier Croatia Airlines continued to operate its key domestic PSO routes, thus preventing a complete traffic cut-off of the south of the country.
This means that in the east of Croatia, it was not about a drop in demand or a business decision by airline companies, but only about a procedural delay in the preparation and implementation of the new state program.
What exactly is PSO?
Programme Public Service Obligation (PSO) or public service obligation allows EU member states to subsidize air routes that are not commercially viable, but are crucial for economic development, territorial connectivity and population mobility. In Croatia, this model maintains a network of domestic routes connecting the continental part of the country with the coast, and regional airports with each other and with Zagreb.
In the previous four-year period, the state financed a total of 12 domestic routes through PSO, which were jointly operated by Croatia Airlines and Trade Air. The total value of the program amounted to around 78,7 million euros over four years. Of this amount, around 54 million euros related to Croatia Airlines routes, while around 24 million euros were intended for the regional network operated by Trade Air.
Tourism and regional development depend on continuity
The months-long interruption has shown how dependent individual Croatian regions and their economies are on the PSO program. For Osijek Airport, domestic subsidized routes are the primary source of traffic, so their disappearance had a direct negative impact on the number of passengers and the accessibility of eastern Croatia.
In many parts of the country, it is a fundamental infrastructure that enables year-round accessibility of destinations, the development of business tourism and more balanced regional development. That is why the news of the return of domestic flights from Osijek should be viewed as a necessary continuation of the functioning of the national air connectivity system, and not just as local information from one airport.
