Croatia - New York flight talks in progress


The Croatian Ministry for Tourism has announced that talks concerning the introduction of nonstop flights to the United States are ongoing. Minister Gari Cappelli said on Friday, "We are in serious negotiations over the introduction of year-long flights from Croatia to New York, most likely from Zagreb and Dubrovnik, even from Split". Mr Cappelli noted that the Croatian embassy in Washington has taken upon itself to seek out potential operators and that talks regarding the introduction of flights should continue over the summer during his official visit to the States. According to the Minister, all signs are pointing towards the introduction of seasonal flights during the high season in 2018 and year-long services in 2019.

Late last year, Zagreb Airport confirmed it was close to securing services to New York, which, if launched, would mark the resumption of flights between the two countries after 22 years. However, it is unclear whether the talks are being coordinated with the Croatian embassy in the US and the Ministry for Tourism. Last year, the embassy said it had resumed discussions with various stakeholders in order to explore all possibilities for the establishment of direct services to Croatia. "We will do all we can to spearhead and facilitate this effort, and achieve direct flights as soon as it is economically possible", the embassy noted. For its part, Dubrovnik Airport recently said there was no progress in the establishment of transatlantic flights nor are there any indications that services to New York could commence soon.

It has been speculated that both European leisure carriers and US-based airlines have been approached to launch services between New York and Zagreb. In a statement, Star Alliance-member United said, "We have not announced anything about this market [Croatia], but we’re always looking for new opportunities", while Delta and American Airlines said they have no plans to launch operations to Zagreb. The last time Croatia had scheduled flights to the United States was during the summer of 1991, when Pan Am maintained four weekly nonstop roundtrips from New York to Zagreb with its Airbus A310 aircraft. Prior to that, JAT Yugoslav Airlines operated services from Zagreb to New York, Chicago and Los Angeles.

Comments

  1. Anonymous09:05

    Didn't the CEO of DBV say that there won't be any flights from New York to Dubrovnik? So how can the talk be taking place still.

    I would rather believe the CEO of an airport than a politician.

    As for ZAG and SPU good luck.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:38

      Well if you read the article it makes sense. DBV said there won't be any flights this year while the minister is talking about potential seasonal flights in 2018.

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:09

    Vrti se stara ploca...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:15

      Kroatovanje...Pre neki dan neko rece uskoro ce biti novih vesti a ako ista i bude (sto je vrlo diskutabilno) nece poceti jos minimum za sledecih 15-16 meseci. Ovo je samo bezuspesan pokusaj odgovora na liniju BEG-JFK i nista drugo.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:00

      Ne zaboravi da se radi o američkoj kompaniji na liniji, a ne sa ishitrenim nabavljanjem širokotrupca od strane Croatie i uvođenjem linije za SAD. Takva linija imala bi minimalni utjecaj na liniju JU500/501 iz razloga što se radi o potpuno drugom tipu putnika, a uz to sumnjam da se veliki broj putnika koristi Air Serbiom i leti ZAG-BEG-JFK kada znamo vrijeme konekcije i minimalnu razliku u cijeni ukoliko letiš preko AMS, VIE, CDG, FRA, MUC...

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:32

    Would be interesting to see how much these flights would bring in new tourists. Average rate of growth for the US market is 18-19% over the past 5-6 year period. And US travelers do like direct flights..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:56

      An avg. rate of growth of just 9% would put it at 482.000 in 2020 and 742.000 at 2025.
      Dont see how Croatia can get over 1 million US visitors within 8-9 years with no flights, probably to both DBV and ZAG

      Delete
  4. Anonymous09:39

    So it will be interesting to see if Zagreb manages to secure US flights this year separate from the government.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous09:41

    People were saying how United would start flying to ZAG. Although their response is interesting. They are not actually denying that they would start flights.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:14

      I think UA is waiting for more B773s to be delivered and to be station at EWR before they launch ZAG. Makes no sense to send the B763.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:15

      Makes more sense to send the B763, it's easier to fill

      Delete
    3. Anonymous12:52

      The B773s will be based on the west coast to replace the B744 in SFO.
      EWR (and other UA bases) will get more B789 and will free up slowly further B763.
      The B763 with low capital costs is the right aircraft for new markets in Europe (incl. leasure).

      Delete
    4. Anonymous21:08

      UA 763 is the wrong aircraft with only 135 economy seats.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous21:40

      no, it has also 49 Eco Plus seats

      Delete
    6. Anonymous22:03

      Delta has a 763 version with 29 E+ and 171 E

      Delete
  6. Anonymous09:42

    2018 seasonal and 2019 year round? :( I was hoping for flights this year.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous09:52

    Go Croatia a big bravo !

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:10

      Not sure how much yet another round of jatovanje is worth cheering.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous15:44

      Big bravo? Have you read the news. Nothing to write home about.

      A big fail, actually. Same Old tired stories from Croatia.

      Delete
  8. Anonymous09:52

    Blah blah blah... From 2017 we have shifted to 2018. And then it will be 2019. but at least we have a new glass building.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous09:53

    Ja sam gotovo 100% siguran da ce DELTA uvesti sezonski Zagreb-JFK i da ce jedan niz godina operirati samo sezonski. Pa nekako ne vjerujem da ce ici year round prije 2020, ali vidjet cemo.
    Moguce da i United poveze ZAG s EWR, jer je tamo njihova baza iz koje imaju dalje letove po citavom SAD-u, i to je isto dosta vjerojatno. Mada bih meni bilo draze da se ide za JFK, nego za EWR, ali dobro, pozdravljam svaku novo uvedenu destinaciju.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Gotovo si 100% siguran? Koliko je to onda? 98% 93%

      Delete
    2. Official statement from Delta this week:

      "Thanks for checking on this. Delta is not planning to launch flights between New York and Zagreb".

      Of course anything is possible.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous15:26

      Koliko znam DELTA ima najveci broj letova ka Europi iz JFK. Sve ostale kompanije feed-aju samo velike Europske hubove poput LHR, FRA, CDG, dok je DELTA sezonski prisutna primjerice u PRG i VCE itd...
      A smatram da im u prilog ide i prodaja LHR slotova, pa je vjerojatno tu pao nekakav dogovor.
      Sve u svemu vidjet cemo. Tako se nasiroko pisalo da Emirates nema u planu letjeti za ijednu destinaciju u EX-YU, i odjednom sok svi sokova - uvedu year round za ZAG.

      Mada ne bi trebalo iznenaditi ako umjesto DELTA-e dode United... American cisto sumnjam.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous16:27

      A zasto bi DL pre dosao u ZAG nego, na primer u VIE ili BUD? Cak i OTP ima vise smisla imajuci u vidu da je trziste znatno vece a privreda Bukuresta znatno veca od privrede Zagreba.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous16:46

      Tako je i Emirates demantirao.

      I što je Emirates došao prije OTP, SOF, BEG?

      Delete
    6. Anonymous17:47

      Bicete iznenadjeni.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous17:49

      Anonymous 4:27, mogu li ja tebe pitati po kojoj logici onda BEG ima letove za New York, s obzirom da razlozi koje si naveo vrijede još više za BEG/Srbiju?

      Delete
    8. Anonymous17:58

      Anonymous 5:47, ako misliš da će Emirates ove godine uvesti letove za BEG, moram te razočarati

      Delete
    9. Anonymous18:03

      Bićeš ti neprijatno iznenadjen ali strpi se još do zvanične objave vrlo uskoro :)

      Delete
    10. Anonymous18:05

      Launching flights is one thing, making them work is another. Just because EK announced flights doesn't mean it will do well. Just look at their result in BUD, not as great as they hoped it would be.

      Delete
    11. Anonymous18:05

      Hahaha, može, čekam ;)

      Zašto bih bio neugodno iznenađen kad je ZAG već dobio Emirates?

      Delete
    12. Anonymous18:06

      * razočaran

      Delete
    13. Anonymous18:07

      Nevjerojatno koliko vas drži ogorčenost prema Zagrebu radi letova Emiratesa!

      Delete
    14. Anonymous18:09

      Not more than you were bitter about EY taking over JU.

      Delete
    15. Anonymous18:10

      Uopšte nisam ogorčen. Samo ti kažem da će Emirati početi letove i za Beograd ove godine. Podnet je zahtev za dnevne letove od oktobra. Tebi se to ne dopada i možeš slobodno da ismrjavaš. Uostalom isto su tako ljufi ismejavali da će početi da lete za Zagreb.

      Delete
    16. Anonymous18:15

      A od kud tebi da ce Emirates krenuti letjeti za BEG?

      Delete
    17. Anonymous18:17

      Meni se to ne dopada? Says who? Ja ću letjeti iz ZAG, a bilo bi mi drago da BEG dobije letove jer ih i zaslužuje.

      Delete
    18. Anonymous18:19

      EK je podneo zahtev direktoratu.

      Delete
    19. Anonymous18:19

      Predpostavljam da će ti letovi biti sa A380? :)��

      Delete
    20. Anonymous18:20

      Ne

      Delete
    21. Anonymous19:08

      Svakako lijep uspjeh za BEG i Srbiju!

      Delete
    22. Anonymous19:17

      "Uopšte nisam ogorčen. Samo ti kažem da će Emirati početi letove i za Beograd ove godine. Podnet je zahtev za dnevne letove od oktobra."
      Da li neko moze da potvrdi ovo?

      Delete
    23. Aэrologic20:02

      I can confirm it.

      Delete
    24. Emirates su već pregovarali sa Beogradom i nekim drugim gradovima u regiji i na kraju se odlučili za Zagreb. Tako da su te priče o Emirates u Beogradu sad ponovo, čisti nonsense. A za Hrvate kao putnike Emirates nit nije, nego je za turiste,dijasporu i transfere za zap Europu.
      A što se tiče uspjeha, nema razloga da i direktni letovi za Ameriku ne bidu totalni hit,s obzirom na rastuću popularnost Hrvatske kao destinacije u Americi. Da ne spominjemo dijasporu od 1,2 milijuna. A kakav Bukurešt, pobogu??? Zagreb je gospodarski jači od Bukurešta, čak ako se i ne uzme turizam u obzir. Ovaj članak inače govori o diplomatskoj aktivnosti kao pomoći ostvarenju tih letova, koji su neminovni. A ne znam zašto se sad odjednom neki ljudi iz Beograda toliko uzbuđuju oko svake nove najave leta za Zagreb. Ako ste toliko sigurni u sebe da vam je ovo same old, same old...preskočite članak slobodno, ima nas dovoljno koje ovo zanima. Uostalom, Zagreb uopće nije u istoj ligi sa Beogradom, ne? Nikakva konkurencija, Beograd se ipak natječe sa Budimpeštom, Sofijom, Athenom i tako to, što vas briga za tamo neki mali,beznačajni Zagreb...hahaha!!!

      Delete
    25. Anonymous20:29

      Caka je u tome što su za Zagreb postojale i neke glasine da EK dolazi, to čak i nije bio baš toliki grom iz vedra neba

      Delete
    26. Anonymous21:07

      Aэrologic is the below post correct that they will announce it tomorrow?

      Delete
    27. Aэrologic21:28

      I don't know when they will announce it, this is second hand info. Zagreb only started earlier because of the summer season in Croatia and will most probably turn seasonal. JU might suspend AUH once EK starts.

      Delete
    28. Anonymous21:45

      JU to suspend AUH? It sounds more realistic flydubai to suspend DXB if EK comes to BEG

      Delete
    29. Aэrologic21:53

      As i said MIGHT. It is an option since the route is still loosing money. Just a hint: Qatar is starting BEG daily from 29 Sept. with their premium product or just days before Emirates is supposed to commence flights.

      Delete
    30. Aэrologic21:55

      In what concerns FZ they're leaving anyway.

      Delete
    31. thanks for the info Aэrologic. Lets wait and see what happens, but there were a number of people who mentioned that JU has being doing great in AUH recently. I know LF does not translate into profit, but still connection wise it would not be great to have only one daily flights to AUH.

      Delete
    32. Anonymous23:02

      For Michael:

      'Bucharest surpasses Madrid, Berlin for GDP per capita. The region Bucharest-Ilfov is the most developed region in Romania, with a GDP per capita of 131% of the European average.'

      http://www.romania-insider.com/bucharest-surpasses-madrid-berlin-for-gdp-per-capita/

      Delete
    33. Anonymous23:04

      Maybe EK will do a triangular DXB-BUD-BEG rotation? BUD's performance is abysmal, BEG cannot support a daily 773 capacity... but the two together could turn out OK. EK have done these kind of flights in the past.... MLA, LCA come to mind...

      Delete
    34. Anonymous23:12

      same goes for ZAG outside of June-September period

      Delete
    35. Anonymous23:34

      @Michael
      BEG u konkurenciji s BUD i ATH? Ne budi smijesan.
      BEG i SOF si jesu konkurencija, ali BUD i ATH ih debelo debelo sisaju.
      Uostalom za par godina ZAG s novim terminalom i rastom putnika nece puno zaostajati za BEG i SOF, ali tesko da ce postati lider EX-YU bez jake nacionalne kompanije.

      Uostalom zasto Emirates ne bi bio za Hrvate kad imaju povoljne cijene za istocnu aziju, pacifik + Australija i NZ? Ionako dosta ljudi putuju za tu regiju, neki poslovno, neki turisticki. Ali svakao da ce u vecem broju biti stranaca nego hrvata u takvim letovima.

      Delete
    36. Anonymous23:58

      ZAG will be lucky if it comes close to 4 million by 2022.

      Delete
    37. Anonymous02:34

      Zagreb will be lucky if EK sticks around more than one season.

      Delete
    38. Anonymous @ 11:02 PM Yes,yes...I read that Romanian propaganda. However I also read information which isn't utterly ridiculous, like offical Romania gdp per capita numbers (nominal and ppp), the IMF report, The World Bank report...etc. And the situation is like this. In nomonal gdp per capita, Bucharest is even behind Croatia. In ppp gdp per capita it is approx the same as Croatia with just over $22,000. Croatia is $22,400. But compared to Zagreb it is way behind, since the last info which I found from 2 years ago puts Zagreb at $33,000. Since then we got out of recession, so I can't say for sure, but It's fair to assume that atm Zagreb is above $33,000. So there.

      Delete
    39. Anonymous @11:34PM Ma znam, stari...bio sam sarkastičan. Malo karikature na temu ovih što pišu takve bedastoće o Zagrebu.

      Delete
  10. Anonymous09:55

    OT: Concession call for BEG published!

    http://tangosix.rs/2017/12/02/poslednja-vest-vlada-srbije-objavila-poziv-na-25-ogodisnju-koncesiju-aerodroma-nikola-tesla/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:12

      So the French and the Turks are out. My guess is that it will boil down to the Chinese or the Arabs. I prefer the former.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:28

      How about Fraport ? Why radius limit is set to 450 km and not to 500 ? If the first excludes French and Turks, the latter would do the same with Fraport

      Delete
    3. Anonymous13:00

      How far is LJU from BEG? Maybe it's more than 500 km.

      Given the country's economic ties I have a feeling it will go to the Chinese like most large national projects.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous19:17

      It will go to Arabs. They want some synergy with JU.

      Delete
    5. AirCEO21:25

      Govt has options:

      1: Get ideas from bidders and then cancel RFP just like Telekom. Use best of ideas to keep running and expanding the airport (less likely).

      2: Proceed with Vinci concession (more likely). In case of EY pullout use initial fee to pay out Etihad's 49%.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous00:00

      The only reason they are giving the concession now is because SNS feels the power fading away and they want to get the money from it.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous01:55

      They talked about concession for three years.

      Delete
  11. Anonymous10:09

    Well I do hope flights eventually start. I was hoping for this summer.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous10:20

    I speculated this months ago from internal sources. Next OU will expand in the Balkans and feed this service via the new designer ZAG terminal. Very exciting times ahead for all although I suspect that this is not going to benefit JU or BEG

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:41

      It will be difficult for OU to attract passengers by next year, by then JU will slowly cement itself in the US market, but we'll see, things in aviation can change over night

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:41

      It will be difficult for OU to attract passengers by next year, by then JU will slowly cement itself in the US market, but we'll see, things in aviation can change over night

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:55

      Not sure that JU will be there for the long haul, poor loads, 3 flights a week, competing against the behemoth UA, an equity partner that probably won't be there .... we thought JU had cemented IST obviously not

      Delete
    4. Anonymous11:17

      JU will compete against UA where exactly? In Athens? In Munich? The last time I checked they didn't fly or intended to fly anywhere in the region.

      As for JU's New York rote, it will go to five weekly in summer, it's not going anywhere just like EY isn't.

      If anyone is going anywhere then it's OU and it's ever failing business plans. I think it's more worrying that OU sold its LHR slots than JU leaving IST.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous11:25

      I wouldn't be surprised if JU make an announcement of cessation of flights to JFK next week with this speculation as they won't be able to compete. As for EY they will also be announcing shortly of their disinvestment in a number of airlines. Standby anon 11.17 for updates.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous11:27

      You can always dream

      Delete
    7. Anonymous11:30

      Dreaming? Commercial reality my friend

      Delete
    8. Anonymous11:33

      You are dreaming that United will start flying to Zagreb and Air Serbia will end flights to JFK and announce it next week. Not much room for reality on your side my friend.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous11:36

      Yeah, JFK is about to be suspended, that's why it's already increased to four weekly in spring and then five weekly in summer.

      JU might have failed in IST but the January financial performance was well over the estimated one. JU is not doing as badly as you want it to be.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous12:19

      So why Air Serbia cancelled 12 flights to IST in FEB out of 28 ?

      Delete
    11. Anonymous12:59

      I don't get the point of your comment last Anonymous. Air Serbia is leaving IST so it's not shocking that there were cancellations in February.

      Delete
    12. Anonymous14:46

      Anon at 10.55am... the last time I looked, OU doesn't fly to JFK; it pulled out of IST long before JU and other European carriers did; and, is selling LHR slots - something which very few airlines have done AND it has an equity partner, something which OU doesn't have and is unlikely to have any time soon ..... If i were you, I would be much more concerned with OU's fate than that of JU...

      Delete
    13. Anonymous14:51

      Dane should be leaving soon so a professional manager will be brought to the airline. Imagine how difficult it will be for them cope with reality then!

      Delete
    14. Anonymous16:32

      Isn't he the first airline guy that they have ever had ? So you probably mean someone like his predecessors, yeah ?

      Delete
    15. Anonymous18:03

      What do you mean by him being an airline guy? He didn't come from the aviation industry.

      He did work in Ansett Australia many, many years ago but his position wasn't a high one.

      Delete
  13. Anonymous10:29

    Well, this is terrible. Every year the same - maybe next year! I was thinking that something would happen this season, but again - nothing...

    ReplyDelete
  14. I'd like to hear an unexpected good news
    concerning flights to U.S., as Emirates did, instead of stirred re-stirred announcements!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous17:54

    From United's statement it seems like they might be the one.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Anonymous18:22

    T -12 and counting .....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous18:31

      Is it related to US flights?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous19:46

      Ahahahahaha, stop trolling, please, people might believe you :D

      Delete
    3. Anonymous19:49

      T-12 is related to Emirates and BEG. The announcement is tomorrow!

      Delete
    4. Anonymous19:51

      If he says T12 it would actually mean 12 days to go.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous19:55

      No, it's tomorrow at 12!

      Delete
    6. Anonymous12:09

      Yeah really nailed that one. What a troll.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous13:14

      And nothing happened...

      Delete
    8. Anonymous05:31

      T -10 and counting.....

      Delete
  17. Anonymous21:57

    Maybe croatia airlines can buy an 747 or 380 for the JFK route

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

EX-YU Aviation News does not tolerate insults, excessive swearing, racist, homophobic or any other chauvinist remarks or provocative posts with the intention of creating further arguments. A full list of comment guidelines can be found here. Thank you for your cooperation.