Zagreb – New York from May 2011

From Zagreb to New York in 2011
Tonči Peović, the director of Zagreb Airport, has confirmed that flights between Zagreb and New York will commence in 2011. Peović said that the service will be inaugurated in mid May, although he did not wish to disclose the name of the airline that will be operating the flights. At an end of year press conference, Peović said that flights to New York will operate twice per week. The airline will be exempt from paying landing and handling fees in the first year, with the fees being progressively introduced within the next five years. Peović believes that, with the establishment of the direct US service, Zagreb will become a transit point in the region, which will in turn attract many new airlines and passengers. Rumours suggest that the merged United-Continental airline (simply known as United) will operate the flights, although such claims have not been confirmed.

Peović revealed that in 2011 the construction of Zagreb’s new terminal will begin, however, the current terminal will also be expanded in order to cope with the number of passengers until the new terminal is open. “Next year is our last chance to start the construction of the new terminal because our competition isn’t resting, especially Belgrade and its airport. The entire terminal project is estimated at some 180 million Euros and as a result Zagreb Airport will become a regional leader”, Peović said. The airport reported a growth in profit, a small passenger increase and the arrival of several low cost airlines in 2010. Last week, the airport opened a new lounge for passengers flying business class.

Comments

  1. Merry Christmas and happy New Year Zagreb Airport!

    It is nice to see Peovic a man of action and not just words. He did a lot while at the head of Dubrovnik airport and it looks like he will get that infamous terminal finally under construction at Zagreb.

    It is also great to see that he recognises the urgency of building this terminal and I can't wait to see the plans.

    Also, it will be interesting to see passenger figures from NY. I imagine the summer will see decent numbers but if we have full loads then it will be a good result considering all the competition.

    Also, equipment?????

    I'm guessing 767 initially.

    The other question is how will Belgrade now react?

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  2. Doot09:58

    awesome.

    Too bad they're not starting a bit earlier. I'd take their first flight this year.

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  3. Jimmy Wang09:58

    Mr. Peović,
    If the news is real my best compliments to you and your development policy concerning Zagreb Airport.
    The New Terminal will be absolutely necessary soon.
    The flight Zagreb-New York is a very good marketing move and it will benefit all the ex-Yu Area.

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  4. ANONYMOUS10:35

    There is virtually no chance it is United-Continental, as I'd be very surprised if United was operating it from JFK. Continental would operate the flights from their hub at Newark (EWR).

    Delta is the most likely airline to operate this route.

    What is NOT interesting is how Belgrade 'reacts' - what are they 'reacting' to exactly?

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  5. Anonymous10:45

    Voila!
    ZAG is the only airport in the region that has potential for JFK flighfts!

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  6. 'What is NOT interesting is how Belgrade 'reacts' - what are they 'reacting' to exactly?'

    It is no secret that both Belgrade and Zagreb are competing to become a ‘regional hub’, I know that they may be small fish in the scheme of things when you consider all of Europe but there has been an unofficial race going on between the two, first back to North America. I just feel that Belgrade also wants Trans Atlantic flights. Will they feel that they may have missed the boat on this one and that they need to catch up?

    So it will be interesting to see what Belgrade does, if anything regarding this in the coming weeks.

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  7. Anonymous11:53

    Good news however I will believe it when I see that bookings are open.
    I do not see why any airline in the world would not want its name all over the media before it launches the route. I think at this point the CEO of Zagreb Airport just hopes that some airline will finally agree to operate the route- before summer that is.
    Secondly, let's say that United does launch the route or God forbid (for the sake of the Croatian passengers) US Airways does, they will need a lot of passengers from the region. Unfortunately Croatian Airlines is in no position to do that properly since all they have done is downsize their already meager Balkan coverage.
    If the CEO of Zagreb really wants to defeat Belgrade then he should have pushed for the Belgrade-Zagreb flights as I doubt that any Serb would take a bus or drive to Zagreb in order to fly to New York when he can do that really cheaply via Germany, The Netherlands, France, Poland, Ukraine...

    Connecting traffic-wise, Ljubljana has a much greater chance of sustaining these flights as Adria has a much greater and better coverage of the region.

    Let's not forget, I doubt that Lufhansa's buddy United would enter the Zagreb market and take some of the passengers from them and OU. Zagreb is already a Star dominated market expoloited by Austrian and lufthansa. If Delta was to launch it then I don't know how well they would perform, just look at much bigger O&D markets such as Bucharest, Budapest and Kiev as they have all failed to make a decent profit.

    On the other hand Belgrade C terminal is going to be expanded REALLY SOON, I know that from the top managment of the airport. From the discussion they are going to be expanding the facilities for transit passengers.
    Belgrade Airport is working hard on actually making the airport better, they are not all words and no action. Maybe it's time for Zagreb to do the same.

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  8. Anonymous12:16

    Peovic seems a unique character in that he is far to proactive to be running a state owned Croatian company. Most Cro CEO's are still firmly stuck in the 1970's.

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  9. FAA - Serbia??? Serbia need category 1 from FAA to establish direct flights with USA.

    Zagreb-New York is only fantasy without any chance for sucess. Who will be travel with this route?? From Balkan nobody because there is a lot connection flights from all over Europe..Zagreb is not an option for them.

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  10. Anonymous12:41

    Category one is not an issue for Serbia anymore, it's all a matter of time. It was announced on the 100 years of aviation in Serbia.
    So please, check your facts before speaking.

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  11. Yeah, matter of time :-)..How long and who said that?? Please, check the facts before you write more stupid things...FAA audit start 3-4 months after CAA invite them..after audit you have six months for elimination bad "findings". Final decision is a year after audit..so Serbia has to wait at least and in the best case 2012.

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  12. Anonymous12:54

    Well after 20 years 2 years is really not that long. Sorry to dissappoint you.

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  13. Anonymous12:59

    I want to add that it was said by the Americans during the opening of the new ATC centre at the Belgrade Airport

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  14. 2 years if audit will start now!. As far as I know there wasn't any audit in 2010.

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  15. Anonymous13:30

    Of course there wasn't, the Serbian law system needed to brought up to date with the modern standards. The US representative said that very soon Serbia should be placed in the Category 1.
    Anyway the fact that Serbia was in the second group was a political thing.

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  16. Ops, Airworthiness and Licensing is FAA interest only. It has nothing to do with politics...aviation safety has nothing to do with politics also.
    This is not political conditions and political issue. Israel has "cat 2" also. Is it also "political thing if we know how good are political realations between USA and Israel?

    Croatian CAA invite FAA in December 2009. Audit was in May 2010. Good results was confirmed by FAA inspectors at the end of November 2010. Officialy, cat 1 will be announce January 2011. Without CAT 1 no one can establish direct flight and code share from Croatia to USA.

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  17. Anonymous14:25

    travel to New York, im talking whole former yugoslavia.Business passenger will travel through germany, scandinavia. Please i think those plans are good when the countries have a better standard in economy. Of course people in Both Belgrade and Zagreb have enough money, but look arround all the villages, its far away from a true. /philswe

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  18. Anonymous18:37

    Well I guess that time will tell if this is true of just a publicity stunt.
    Like someone mentioned above, without the airline announced chances are slim. Plus, when are they planning on selling the tickets? A day before the flight?

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  19. Anonymous21:30

    Nowdays it is all up to marketing and real situation seems irrelevant...we'll see!
    It is not going to be easy at all as someone mentioned STAR alliance is strongly present, other things are also connections to regional markets, also timing of arr/dep as well as price of ticket. Before line start-up it is important to perform realistic study with all possibilities included...not just talking. That will works for each new city-pair not just Zag or Beg...

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  20. Anonymous21:34

    To make a long-haul route profitable you need 3 ingredients:

    good yields (lots of business pax)
    frequencies (at least 5 flights per week)
    and connecting flights to cover neighbouring countries

    None of above taking place in ZAG. Born to die.

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  21. Anonymous22:36

    With United/Continental it will likely be a 757.

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  22. Anonymous22:40

    If Israel is Cat 2 and there are direct flights from EWR to Israel, then why does Serbia need Cat 1 to get direct flights?

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  23. I don't think 757 has enough range. It's more likely they'll use CO's B767-200.

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  24. Twice a week flight shouldn't be that difficult to fill-up. I fly every summer and regardless which route I take, I encounter numerous passengers flying to ex YU. Add tourists and business travel to this and it shouldn't be really hard to sell cca 300 seats each week. If JAT used to be able to get enough passengers to LAX, ORD, YYZ, YUL and JFK, what makes you think that UA/CO can't get enough to ZAG? Regardless, whether it's BEG or ZAG that gets the flight to North America first, I am very happy about this. As a passanger, I rather fly to ZAG and take a rental car or bus to SJJ, BEG or LJU than taking an additional flight from the overcrowded FRA, LHR or CDG.

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  25. AirKoryoTU-20400:38

    Two weekly Boeing 757-200 via the Manchester-U.K or maybe even France would be my guess with UA/CO Flights would be from Newark. Delta axed Bucharest which is a much larger market, and America is starting Budapest. US Airways wouldn't start anything like this out of NY, also US already serve the Balkans via Athens from Philidelphia.

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  26. frequentflyer01:08

    Well done ZAG! Now, we have to see the plan put into action.

    The frequency seems about right (ideally, 3-weekly should be seen as the minimum), but this is all dependent on getting Business passengers, and possibly tour charters booking block seats. And don't forget this is a 'summer only' route.

    I don't think this will be from JFK, but theres nothing wrong with EWR (and in some instances is more reliable to get to, and plane departures).

    The biggest catch is the flow on pax out of ZAG, are the flights timed to match OUs afternoon or evening waves (providing connections to SJJ, SPU, DBV, PUY/ZAD, TGD, SKP)? And this is where those flights to BEG need to be in operation.

    Finally, is OU codesharing on the route? This will have a significant impact on the success of the route, and when back to Category 1 would allow connecting flights within the USA from whichever airline is operating the routes. If its a *A partner, one of them was going to launch codeshared routes via LHR and CDG a few years ago before Croatia was downsized to Cat.2

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  27. If tour operators get involved than I think there will be no doubt that the flights will be full. Also, these flights will most probably initially serve the Croatian tourism market more than acting as an alternative route to Europe but in time I guess anything could happen.

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  28. Have anyone considered possibility that flights could be operated by an airline registered in the USA, bearing the name "DALMATIAN.HR"?

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  29. Jeebusman11:09

    Congrats to Zagreb. However there are many problems with this. First, it will lose a tremendous amount of money in this. The American airline is guaranteed to be payed for every spot. Which means that the airport ill cover ALL of the losses on each trip.
    Second, the EU and Europe have already designated Belgrade to be a regional hub for air traffic, and in 2-3 years, Belgrade will manage the air traffic for all of the Balkans including Greece and the Adriatic Sea. This has been confirmed.
    Thirdly, Belgrade is planning flights to NYC, Chicago, and Toronto. With excellent connections to Romania, Montenegro, Albania, and Macedonia, almost all passengers from these countries will use Belgrade more frequently than Zagreb. This is because Zagreb's geographic position does not make it a useful regional hub.
    Lastly, JAT is claiming that it will start flights which means cheaper flights. The Ex-Yu region is not looking for the best possible accommodation, but the cheapest flights with decent accommodation. Judging by the way JAT has ben doing this year, I believe that they can manage this feat.

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  30. Jeebusman11:10

    By the way, I would appreciate it f someone could give me a link that would verify this fact that is not from Ex-Yu region. Thanks

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  31. Anonymous11:32

    Interesting insight Jeebusman. I agree with you that these flights won't last long, but I think that Lufthansa will not allow them to. Croatia is in Lufthansa's domain, and it is very well kept by Lufthansa. So I don't think that these flights will last.

    But you also forgot to mention that Belgrade has the most passengers than nay other Ex-Yu airport, and is still a growing destination. I also don't want to be rude, but Belgrade cannot be even compared with Zagreb. The cities themselves are so much more different. I mean, even now as I speak, Croats are leaving to go to Belgrade for New Year's Eve. That's because they prefer Belgrade. I see Croatia for its coast and not its cities.

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  32. Anonymous05:34

    Actually the fact is that both Zagreb and Belgrade will get direct flights from US starting june 2011. US airline is starting this operation. Both Zagreb and Belgrade will have to prove with their pax numbers if any of them is worth becoming a hub but I clearly doubt both have potential for such thing. JFK could never and I mean never work for any route to Balkan region except for summer charter to TIA. Midwest and West cost of US are much more lucrative. Competition from NYC to anywhere in the world is fierce that attacking that market would recieve swift response from big boys.

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  33. AirKoryoTU-20410:32

    @ORDBEG101

    Why no to JFK? I think BEG and ZAG had direct services to JFK once upon a time ;)

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  34. Jeebusman21:03

    @ORDBEG101

    True the big boys might not like that. But what if they do? In Zagreb's case, it cannot work because everyone knows that Lufthansa is taking control over the Croatian market. Lufthansa would prefer Croats going through Germany rather than Zagreb. Also, Zagreb simply cannot compete with Belgrade because Belgrade makes more sense to be a regional hub because of its location. Plus, Belgrade is already a hub for Montenegrins, Macedonians, and majority of Bosnia so they have good reason to start and maintain such flights. I'm sure that Romanians and Bulgarians would also use Belgrade as well...cheaper flights and faster than Western Europe.

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  35. Anonymous21:08

    @AirKoryo

    ZAG never had flights to USA. I think Dubrovnik did.

    And one more thing, Belgrade is predicted to be the largest airport in the Balkans. Stats claim that in 20 years, it will be a center for air traffic once again because of its geographic location.

    And why are we talking about this as if it is going to happen. It most likely will not, and this is just a tactic to scare Belgrade off of starting its own flights. May I also remind everyone that Belgrade's traffic figures and income are far greater than Zagreb and Dubrovnik. They have the capacity to start such flights. Zagreb is expanding itself AND starting these flights??? They need to hire better people for advice.

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  36. First we had JAL flying full 747-400 to Zagreb the past 2 years and just last year Korean Airlines also made 2 flights full of passengers to Zagreb again using 747-400.

    Yes these were charters and yes these were during the summer but they proved that there is a market for such flights.

    I can't wait to see if both JAL and Korean increase the number of charter flight to Zagreb in 2011.

    Does this turn Zagreb into a hub? I don't think so but it will definitely put Zagreb into a better position to become a regional leader.

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  37. AirKoryoTU-20413:09

    Zagreb did have flights to New York around 20-25 years ago I am 99% sure JAT flew from Belgrade to New York via a few spots in Yugoslavia with Zagreb being one of them!

    Also if you have Athens in the Balkans, Belgrade can hardly compare in terms of pax and carriers. But if we are talking just ex-yu diffrent story. I would think these flights will eventuate sooner or later but only small scale 757 2 times per week. Also fligths from Asia to Croatia are just seasonal charters if I am not correct operate 3 or 4 times per season. I seariously doubt that any flights from Asia will be operated on a scheduled basis into Zagreb.

    Also will JAL even operate charters next year to Croatia and Greece next year?

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  38. Jeebusman14:54

    First of all, BEG will reach 3 million pax either this year or next. That makes it one of the largest airports of the Balkans behind Bucharest and Athens. It is rising with a high percentage every year and more airlines are considering launching routes to BEG.

    Second, Belgrade is at the heart of air traffic. That makes in impossible to bypass it as a hub. It will at some point become a regional hub for air traffic including Bulgarian and Romanian airports (and maybe even Budapest).

    Thirdly, BEG is cheaper than ZAG and pax going through the airport rate it higher than ZAG. Its friendlier atmosphere and excellent services, along with its cheap cost, make it a golden goose in the Balkans. It won't be long before JAL, Korea, American and Chinese companies start to see the potential BEG has. A Canadian airline has already said it wants to start flights in 2011, and Chicago has had an eye on BEG for some time now.

    Lastly, BEG is a hub for Macedonians, Montenegrins, and most Bosnians. Once flights to USA/Canada start, I'm almost 98% sure that Bulgarians and Romanians will use BEG for travelling to N.America.

    And one last thing, the EU and Council of Europe have already saids that they will make BEG a regional hub for the Balkans INCLUDING GREECE. I am not sure how ZAG will be able to compete with BEG while it has the backing of most of the region and Europe. And for those die-hard fanatics who think that these flights will remain, ZAG is launching these flights with 1 terminal that is barely functioning while making another terminal. And when ZAG finishes its second terminal, BEG will start its 3rd.

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  39. Anonymous17:18

    ^ First of all how do you know that passengers rate Belgrade higher than ZAG? Did you carry out a study or interview passengers one by one. All your comment are based on fictive facts and statistics which you pull out of nowhere. I’m a Serb too but for goodness sake take a chill pill. Who cares if Zagreb gets flight to NYC? Good for them, they deserve it. BEG will get them one day too probably.

    Second, no airline from Toronto set their sights on BEG. You completely twisted something the CEO of BEG airport said and are claiming something else. He said that in 2011 flights are POSSIBLE out of BEG to Canada and US not that they are happening and not that someone already set their sights.

    Can you send me a source where the Council of Europe and EU made those claims you have said. Also what do you want Zagreb to do? You act as if Belgrade is the leader and every other airport should close their doors in the region and stop trying to attract passengers because Belgrade should take the entire cake. Zagreb should be competitive and try take passengers away from BEG. This is only normal and common practice among other airports in the world which are close by. The only capitulation I have ever seen by an airport is Bratislava which practically closed its doors because of Vienna. It would be as if BEG would give up on US flights just because Zagreb gets them first.

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  40. @ Last Anonymous

    Thank you for telling Jeebusman everything I wanted to say.

    @ Jeebusman

    Can you tell me why are you insulting again? Only few months ago, you claimed here there would be no flights ZAG-North America, or at least BEG is going to get them first.

    When I, personally, gave you list of FACTS which proved you could be wrong, your answer was so rude that your post was erased by administrator.

    Now, when ZAG-North America flights have been announced, people who think different then you do, are "die-hard fanatics".

    Once again, please stop insulting people who don't think BEG is the center of the world. Believe me, I would be 5 times happier if not one but five ex-Yu airports, including BEG, had more flights, and long-haul flights. Can't you be happy, too, that, for the beginning, at least ZAG will probably manage to do that?

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  41. Anonymous03:43

    I am almost certain that you would have the same thoughts as Jeebusman if it was BEG initiating flights to USA.

    I am not standing up for Jeebusman, but don't forget that some kind of competition is a must when talking about Croatia and Serbia. Like Anonymous said, healthy competition is good, but it must have its limits.

    And for goodness sake, this is not even confirmed yet. Just because the Zagreb Airport director said so doesn't mean it will happen. Belgrade Airport said Canada flights were VERY possible, and that flights to USA could/should begin soon...look what happened.

    I guess it is the Balkans :)

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  42. Anonymous03:57

    I just started looking at this blog. Let me say something:

    Zagreb has no chance. That is terribly obvious. These flights will last for a short time, but nevertheless, it is good to see an Ex-Yu airport try to restart flights to North America.

    Jeebusman is right when he claims that Zagreb cannot compete because of its geographic position. It is unfortunately located between Italian cities, Budapest, and Vienna. I am certain that people will choose these airports over Zagreb for numerous reasons. Belgrade will also have a hard time competing, and it too cannot sustain those flights unless they actually get support.

    Also, Zagreb is gonna have to pay for all the empty seats. As most of you know, business class is what counts on these flights, and those are going to be the most empty ones...again, same goes for Belgrade (unless the rich diaspora use the flights or businessmen begin to come)

    I too read something about regionalization, and Belgrade being mentioned, but as far as the airports go, the only thing that Belgrade is planned to have is a regional air traffic controller. All other traffic controls in the region will be terminated and Belgrade will take over. This is part of the Open Air Agreement or something like that. But that is it (for now), nothing about regionalization of airports.

    Please note that Zagreb is a small airport that is planning to start construction of another terminal. Starting flights during that construction is so stupid. Hence, another reason why this is phony. And how come the so-called American airline hasn't yet announced flights? Is it embarassed? And the most important reason why this connection is bound to fail is because Lufthansa is afraid it will lose passengers from Ex-Yu that go through Germany to USA/Canada. So while this is a good idea, it cannot work.

    And all of you who think such flights will commence are retarded. Instead of starting flights across the Atlantic, why don't Serbia and Croatia stop fucking each other and actually do something useful and start flights from Belgrade to the Croatian coastline? thank God Dubrovnik Airline is gonna do it this year. Now all left is Pula and Split (no one really cares for Rijeka or Zadar no offense). Peace Everyone, greetings from Canada, and for the record I'm 100% proud Croat. I hate when people respond to Anonymous, so if referring to me, call me JIM. Thanks.

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  43. Anonymous03:59

    I just started looking at this blog. Let me say something:

    Zagreb has no chance. That is terribly obvious. These flights will last for a short time, but nevertheless, it is good to see an Ex-Yu airport try to restart flights to North America.

    Jeebusman is right when he claims that Zagreb cannot compete because of its geographic position. It is unfortunately located between Italian cities, Budapest, and Vienna. I am certain that people will choose these airports over Zagreb for numerous reasons. Belgrade will also have a hard time competing, and it too cannot sustain those flights unless they actually get support.

    Also, Zagreb is gonna have to pay for all the empty seats. As most of you know, business class is what counts on these flights, and those are going to be the most empty ones...again, same goes for Belgrade (unless the rich diaspora use the flights or businessmen begin to come)

    I too read something about regionalization, and Belgrade being mentioned, but as far as the airports go, the only thing that Belgrade is planned to have is a regional air traffic controller. All other traffic controls in the region will be terminated and Belgrade will take over. This is part of the Open Air Agreement or something like that. But that is it (for now), nothing about regionalization of airports.

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  44. Anonymous03:59

    (continued) Please note that Zagreb is a small airport that is planning to start construction of another terminal. Starting flights during that construction is so stupid. Hence, another reason why this is phony. And how come the so-called American airline hasn't yet announced flights? Is it embarassed? And the most important reason why this connection is bound to fail is because Lufthansa is afraid it will lose passengers from Ex-Yu that go through Germany to USA/Canada. So while this is a good idea, it cannot work.

    And all of you who think such flights will commence are retarded. Instead of starting flights across the Atlantic, why don't Serbia and Croatia stop fucking each other and actually do something useful and start flights from Belgrade to the Croatian coastline? thank God Dubrovnik Airline is gonna do it this year. Now all left is Pula and Split (no one really cares for Rijeka or Zadar no offense). Peace Everyone, greetings from Canada, and for the record I'm 100% proud Croat. I hate when people respond to Anonymous, so if referring to me, call me JIM. Thanks.

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  45. AirKoryoTU-20407:28

    @Jeebusman

    Belgrade bigger than Athens? PLEASE!!! I like Serbia and admire a large Belgarde airport but I don't think Belgrade has been or ever will be the biggest airport in the Balkans! Athens has around 16.2million passengers per year!

    Athens has always been bigger than Belgrade, mainly due to the fact Athens' popualtion is basically 4 times that of Belgrade's. Belgrade currently has no long haul flights but if you consider Dubai as long haul then yes they have one medium to long haul flight operated by a 737-300.

    I'd like to see Belgrade grow but grow to suit demand and needs of the nation, how could Belgrade accomidate such a large number of passengers or freight to be bigger than Athens? The Belgrade terminals and facilites are a 5th of the size of that at LGAV! Belgrade can be compared to Thessaloniki (LGST) in size and operations.

    Finally if Belgrade had such a large market to cater for than such expansion would be needed. But at this stage there is no such demand, I mean look at Jat Airways the only Serbian carrier based at BEG, enough said.

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  46. Anonymous15:06

    Belgrade will probably start the flights before Zagreb.

    But you are all forgetting one very important thing...Croatia is a tourist place, Americans will not go there. Why would they leave Miami Beach and California to go to a place few people have heard of, and spend time looking at places because the sea is too f***ing cold? Belgrade is a metropolis, and a growing one too, and Americans have business interest there. Same goes for the Chinese, and who knows, maybe Belgrade-Beijing will also restart after Belgrade-NYC and Belgrade-Chicago and Belgrade-Toronto?

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  47. At last anonymous,

    More and more United Stats citizens are visiting Croatia every year. Up to the year 2008 there was an increase of some 30 thousand per year to a total of 180 thousand than there was a decrease to 150 thousand due to WFC. I don't have the figures for 2010 yet. Source, The Croatian tourism board.

    Also, the number of foreign visitors to Croatia arriving during the none 'standard' March to October tourism season is also increasing greatly.

    I do not understand why if an island in the Caribbean can have wide body aircraft operating directly from Europe to service its tourist industry then why can Croatian not have the same service from the US?

    Also,

    http://www.croatiantimes.com/news/Business/2011-01-07/16268/Telegraph_lists_Zagreb_among_top_20_destinations_of_2011_

    and

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/8231622/Holiday-destinations-for-2011.html

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  48. AirKoryoTU-20401:14

    @Q400

    Beacause most of these "Islands" in the Caribbean are under the flag and administration of a European nation, i.e. Netherlands, France etc. Or former colonies i.e. Jamica>U.K. I am under the assumption that many more passengers would fly from Paris to Saint Martin than from New York to Zagreb, not to mention the island itself sees around 1,000,000 tourists per year on average.

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  49. Anonymous15:32

    Exactly Q400. Besides Americans are visiting Croatia in increasing numbers, but if you see the number of returning tourists, they are extremely low. Croatia is a one-time all-see destination. It offers rich history but the water is too cold (as in the rest of the Adriatic) and it is increasingly expensive. Americans would rather enjoy Miami Beach or the Golden Coast than travel to Croatia.

    And like Q400 said, Europeans are travelling to their own islands, or other more developed countries that have warm hospitality. The only reason there was a surge in tourism in Croatia was because of the economic crisis, and some Brits couldn't afford to go to Miami so they settled for Croatia.

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  50. Anonymous23:17

    where r we with this?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Here is some new info http://exyuaviation.blogspot.com/2012/07/ex-yu-awaiting-us-flights.html

      Delete

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