Croatia is about to make a serious jump in airport digitalization. Hrvatski Telekom has confirmed a €5.6 million investment to build dedicated private 5G networks at the country’s three key airports: Zagreb, Zadar, and Pula.

This marks the creation of Croatia’s first true smart airports, and what makes the move even more notable is that it comes with strong support from the European Commission. Only four airport infrastructure projects across the entire EU have ever been co-financed under the CEF Digital programme, and Croatia now joins that shortlist. For a country of its size, that is a major signal of confidence from Brussels.

A Rare Win Under the CEF Digital Programme

The project, named NextGen 5G Airports, was selected under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) Digital subprogramme in the “5G Large Scale Pilots – 5G and Edge for Smart Communities – Works” call. In practical terms, this is one of the toughest categories to get into because the EU is very selective when funding large-scale 5G deployments tied to public infrastructure. Out of 28 competing proposals from various EU states, the Croatian application stood out. Even more impressively, across the first three rounds of CEF Digital funding, there were 128 total approved projects, and only three involved airports. Now Croatia becomes the fourth. The total approved amount for the project is €5.6 million, with €3.09 million coming from EU grants. The remaining 25% will be financed by Hrvatski Telekom and its consortium partners. The consortium includes the airports of Zagreb, Zadar, and Pula, alongside infrastructure company Markoja and the University of Zagreb’s Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences, which will add research expertise and testing capabilities to the rollout.

What Private 5G Actually Brings to an Airport

If the phrase “private 5G network” sounds like a buzzword, it’s worth unpacking what it means in a practical airport context. Unlike public 5G, which shares capacity among millions of users, a private 5G network is entirely dedicated to one location and its operations. It offers much higher reliability and consistency, which is exactly what airports need. Everything at an airport today is connected: ground handling vehicles, baggage systems, check-in counters, security cameras, runway sensors, airside staff communication tools, and emergency response systems. Private 5G gives this ecosystem a secure, stable, and low-latency network that can support thousands of devices simultaneously without congestion issues. The biggest advantage is customization. Each airline operating at the airport can have its own tailored network slice. A ground handler can have priority connectivity during peak aircraft turnaround windows. Maintenance teams can use real-time diagnostics tools powered by edge computing. Security teams can run advanced camera analytics without delays. And because Hrvatski Telekom will manage the network end-to-end, airports get a guaranteed service level rather than juggling multiple networks with inconsistent performance. This is why private 5G is becoming the backbone of next-gen smart airports, and Croatia is now stepping into that space with a very modern approach.

How This Positions Croatia in the Aviation Tech Landscape

Many European airports are experimenting with 5G, but few are deploying it at this scale. Germany, Finland, and Spain have run pilot projects in Munich, Helsinki, and Madrid, often testing narrow use cases such as autonomous vehicles or digital twins. However, Croatia is going for full private 5G deployment across three airports simultaneously, which is a bold move compared with countries rolling out one-off pilot zones. Reports from GSMA Intelligence, Eurocontrol, and the OECD predict that airports will be among the fastest adopters of private 5G in the next five years. The reasons are simple: operational efficiency, predictive maintenance, and the need for secure networks capable of handling thousands of IoT devices. With this investment, Croatia positions itself alongside early adopters such as South Korea’s Incheon Airport, Changi Airport in Singapore, and select Nordic airports that already use 5G for automated processes and advanced analytics. While those markets are larger and more mature, Croatia now has an infrastructure foundation that aligns with global aviation tech trends rather than trailing behind them.

Conclusion

Croatia’s move puts it ahead of many larger markets that are still stuck in pilot mode. Compared with players like Deutsche Telekom or Telefónica, which are rolling out airport 5G in Germany and Spain, Hrvatski Telekom is taking a more targeted, infrastructure-focused approach—starting small but going deep. That often proves more successful than broad national experiments that drag on for years.

While Scandinavian airports are testing private networks for automation, and UK airports are dabbling in small pilot zones, Croatia is doing something more decisive: committing to full-site deployment at multiple airports at once. And that’s where the industry trend is heading—end-to-end, dedicated 5G that supports everything from ground operations to passenger services.

With reliable sources such as GSMA, OECD digitalisation reports, and EC CEF documentation pointing to a rapid rise in aviation digital infrastructure demand, Croatia’s timing is strong. The country isn’t just catching up—it’s positioning itself for the next phase of European airport modernization.