Split Saint Jerome Airport — Split, Croatia

Split Airport, identified by SPU, sits across Kastela Bay from the Dalmatian coastal city it serves, a short ferry or drive from a historic core built directly into the walls of a retired Roman emperor's retirement palace. Passenger volumes at SPU swing dramatically with the seasons, since summer floods the airport with charter and low-cost flights carrying travelers toward the beaches, sailing routes, and nightlife of islands like Hvar and Brac, while winter traffic drops to a fraction of that level. Diocletian's Palace, still inhabited and threaded with shops, cafes, and residences nearly seventeen centuries after its construction, anchors Split's UNESCO World Heritage old town and remains the primary draw for most visitors landing at the airport. Ferry terminals nearby extend SPU's reach across the Adriatic island chain, making the airport a launching point for multi-island itineraries as much as a single-city destination in its own right.