Croatia's Civil Aviation Agency (HACZ) announced on August 31, 2026 that the new Ordinance on Aircraft Flight (Pravilnik o letenju zrakoplova), published in Narodne novine as number 93/2026 on August 24, 2026, enters into force on September 1, 2026. The binding ministerial ordinance rewrites Croatia's national rules of the air and aligns them with the Standardised European Rules of the Air (SERA, Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 923/2012).
For flight operations managers and chief pilots, the practical consequence is immediate. From September 1, 2026, Croatian air operator certificate (AOC) holders, foreign carriers operating into Croatian airspace, and general-aviation, glider, parachute and aerodrome operators must apply updated provisions across VFR visibility minima, radio and transponder carriage, uncontrolled-aerodrome operations, glider rules and Class U airspace. Operations manuals, VFR procedures, equipment configurations and training programmes all require revision.
The ordinance succeeds Croatia's prior rules-of-the-air instruments, NN 32/2018 and NN 10/2021, which the CCAA's e-Savjetovanja consultation notice had identified for replacement. The public consultation on the draft closed on January 29, 2026.
What does the new ordinance change?
The new Pravilnik (NN 93/2026) consolidates Croatia's rules of the air into a single binding instrument and pulls them into line with SERA, Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 923/2012, the EU-wide standardised rules of the air that themselves implement ICAO Annex 2. Where the prior national texts diverged from or lagged the EU benchmark, the new ordinance closes the gap.
The published text specifically clarifies eight operational areas that practitioners should re-read against their own procedures:
- glider flight rules
- Class U airspace and flight-restricted areas, including dangerous areas
- flying at uncontrolled aerodromes
- flying at registered landing surfaces
- VFR flights, including visibility conditions
- radio equipment and transponder carriage
- activities near aerodromes
- commander responsibilities during training and checks
Who must comply, and by when?
The ordinance applies to every aircraft operating in Croatian airspace under Croatian jurisdiction. The materially exposed operators are:
- Croatian AOC holders, including Croatia Airlines, charter and air-taxi operators;
- foreign carriers operating scheduled, charter or technical-landing flights into Zagreb, Split, Dubrovnik and other Croatian aerodromes;
- general-aviation operators, including those flying complex motor-powered aircraft and balloons;
- glider and parachute operators, and the aerodrome operators that support them.
The compliance deadline is unusually tight. The ordinance enters into force on September 1, 2026, the day after the CCAA's August 31 announcement. The announcement states no transition period, so the new provisions apply to every flight conducted in Croatian airspace from that date.
What should operators update before September 1, 2026?
Because the ordinance aligns national rules with SERA, the heaviest revision work falls on areas where Croatian practice previously differed from the EU standard. Flight operations departments should, at minimum:
- revise VFR procedures and visibility minima to match the clarified Class G and Class U rules;
- confirm radio and transponder carriage and configuration against the new equipment provisions;
- update uncontrolled-aerodrome arrival, departure and circuit procedures;
- align glider, parachute and specialised operations manuals with the clarified rules;
- refresh training and checking programmes, including commander responsibilities during training.
For foreign carriers whose operations already follow SERA, the day-to-day impact is limited, but dispatch and flight operations teams should still brief crews on the Croatian-specific clarifications, particularly for VFR sectors, glider activity and uncontrolled aerodromes along the Adriatic coast.
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| August 24, 2026 | Ordinance published in Narodne novine (NN 93/2026) |
| August 31, 2026 | CCAA announces the published ordinance |
| September 1, 2026 | Ordinance enters into force; new rules apply to all flights in Croatian airspace |
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What to do next: verify whether your operation falls within the eight clarified areas, check your operations manual and VFR procedures against NN 93/2026, brief flight crews and dispatch on the Croatian-specific changes before September 1, 2026, and confirm transponder and radio configurations. Continuous, per-jurisdiction real-time monitoring surfaces a change like this the moment it publishes in the official gazette, which is how this ordinance was caught before it took effect.
