Croatia lifts air borders for Schengen zone countries

Croatia's airports dropped internal border controls on Sunday for passengers travelling to or from the borderless Schengen Zone, potentially sparking an increase in its tourism sector. 

The Balkan country famed for its Adriatic Sea tourism officially joined the zone on 1 January 2023 but didn't lift its air borders until Sunday in order to align the date with summer flight schedules.

Planes departing to or arriving from the area will now be treated as domestic flights. 

“The regime of entry into Croatia at airports will now be the same as it has been in force since 1 January on roads, railway crossings, and seaports,” Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said when announcing the news last Wednesday.

"Practically all flights to Croatia from Schengen countries and vice versa become domestic flights, without any document control," Plenković added.

The country's largest airport in the capital Zagreb has made significant investments in updating its terminals, making more space for waiting areas and setting up additional kiosks to register passengers from non-Schengen countries.

The Schengen area is the world's largest free travel zone. It comprises 27 countries, including 22 EU states, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. Just under 2 million people live in one country inside the zone and work in another.

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