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Zadar Airport (ZAD): flight delays and compensation

Zadar Airport. As an EU airport, every flight departing from here is covered by EU Regulation 261/2004. Here is what to expect if your flight was delayed or cancelled here, or you were stranded.

By the EU261 Flight Delay editorial team Last reviewed: Reading time: 6 min How we write our guides

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In short: Any flight departing from Zadar Airport that arrives 3 or more hours late, is cancelled less than 14 days before departure, or is overbooked can give €250–600 per passenger. Departures: EU261 with any airline.

Live at Zadar (ZAD) today

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About the airport

Zadar Airport (ZAD) serves Zadar, Croatia. On the routes Eurostat reports, 1,122,572 passengers flew to or from it in 2024, the 178th-highest among the 397 European airports we cover. Its busiest connections were to Vienna, Cologne, Weeze, Wrocław.

Every flight departing from here is covered by EU Regulation 261/2004, whatever the airline. Flights arriving here are covered if they depart from the EU, or if an EU airline operates them from outside the EU.

Busiest routes from Zadar – and what a delay is worth

The 26 busiest routes on Eurostat’s 2024 data, with the compensation for a 3-hour-plus delay or a late cancellation in each direction.

DestinationPassengers 2024DistanceFrom ZADReturn
Vienna VIE85,081456 km€250€250
Cologne CGN77,672972 km€250€250
Weeze NRN67,2251,079 km€250€250
Wrocław WRO62,566787 km€250€250
London STN62,3271,415 km€250£220
Kraków KRK59,544745 km€250€250
Poznań POZ58,800932 km€250€250
Berlin BER57,377929 km€250€250
Memmingen FMM54,557585 km€250€250
Prague PRG49,272673 km€250€250
Hamburg HAM47,6321,130 km€250€250
Milan BGY45,139478 km€250€250
Nuremberg NUE38,108683 km€250€250
Brussels CRL36,8961,083 km€250€250
Warsaw WMI34,6071,008 km€250€250
Milan MXP33,817549 km€250€250
Marseille MRS31,385817 km€250€250
Karlsruhe FKB30,347762 km€250€250
Frankfurt HHN27,968893 km€250€250
Frankfurt FRA26,557836 km€250€250
Gothenburg GOT25,6301,523 km€400€400
Gdańsk GDN22,9841,165 km€250€250
Zagreb ZAG22,597191 km€250€250
Budapest BUD22,498479 km€250€250
Copenhagen CPH21,7481,295 km€250€250
Katowice KTW20,238763 km€250€250

* only with an EU (or UK) airline. Passengers: Eurostat, both directions, routes reported by EU/EEA airports.

Typical delay causes at Zadar Airport

  • Most long delays that earn compensation are not flow delays but airline problems – technical faults, crew shortages and late inbound aircraft – which do not count as extraordinary circumstances.

Airlines you are likely to fly with here

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    What happened?Step 1 of 4

    What happened to your flight?
    Where did you fly from and to?

    With a connection, enter your first departure and your final destination – compensation is based on the total distance.

    How late did you arrive at your final destination?

    What counts is when the aircraft doors opened at your destination – not the departure delay.

    When were you told about the cancellation?
    When did you arrive on the replacement flight?
    Which airline operated the flight?
    When was the flight?

    How many passengers were on the booking?

    1 passenger

    Every passenger gets their own compensation, children too. Infants under 2 without their own seat do not count.

    • Free, no sign-up
    • Fee only if successful (35%)
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    Rather skip the questions? Start a claim with AirHelp straight away

    Local information

    • Ask the airline staff at the gate for the reason for the delay or cancellation and write it down; take a photo of the departure board.
    • From 2 hours’ delay (depending on distance) the airline must give you meals and drinks, and a hotel if you are stuck overnight – keep the receipts if you had to pay yourself.
    • If the airline rejects your claim, complain to the national enforcement body of the country where the flight departed (or arrived, for flights from outside the EU), or go to court.

    Frequently asked questions

    Can I claim compensation for a flight departing from Zadar Airport?

    Yes. ZAD is an EU airport, so every flight departing from it is covered by EU Regulation 261/2004, whatever the airline and wherever it is based.

    Can I claim compensation for a flight arriving at Zadar Airport?

    If the flight departed from an EU airport: yes, with any airline. If it departed from the UK: yes, under UK261, with any airline. If it departed from elsewhere: only if an EU airline operated it.

    How is the length of the delay measured?

    By your arrival time at your final destination – more precisely, the moment the aircraft door opens at the gate. It must be at least 3 hours after the scheduled arrival time.

    Related guides

    Information only, not legal advice. Passenger figures are approximate and based on the airports' published statistics; punctuality figures are from the UK Civil Aviation Authority. We earn a commission when a claim submitted through our partner links is successful.

    Sources

    1. Eurostat – air passenger transport routes between partner airports and main airports (2024) – Eurostat

    We check every rule against the sources above. Spotted an error? Tell us – see our editorial policy.