Eurowings plans Croatia expansion


Lufthansa's low cost subsidiary Eurowings will continue to expand its operations from Croatia next year after boosting services to the country by 55% this summer. The airline's Network Development and Airport Relations Manager, Ivan Oreč, says Eurowings will carry some 900.000 passengers on flights to and from Croatia, as well as add eleven new routes to the country during 2017. "As was the case in recent years, we continue to have a high growth rate in Croatia and this will be maintained in the future. We plan to extend our cooperation with the Croatian Tourist Board and airports across the country", Mr Oreč said. He added that Croatia is one of the top ten markets for the low cost airline, noting that it continues to show strong growth.

However, Eurowings cited high costs at a number of airports in Croatia, particularly Zagreb, as a deterrent. "Charges at certain Croatian airports are still quite high. As a result, we are very cautious when it comes to future investments. However, we anticipate for the continued support of the Croatian Ministry for Tourism, as well as local communities, in order for us to grow at the same pace in the coming years", the company's Network Development and Airport Relations Manager said. He noted that charges at Zagreb Airport are significantly higher than most major European airports, making it less appealing for low cost carriers. Croatia's busiest airport hiked its fees following the opening of its new passenger terminal last month by two euros per each international passenger for a total of seventeen euros. Similarly, it increased its fees by half a euro per every domestic passenger to seven and a half euros.

Eurowings has said it has high expectations of its eleven new routes to the country, particularly its year-long service between Munich and Split. The Croatian government has previously noted it is in talks with the Lufthansa subsidiary to open a base in Rijeka next year. "If Rijeka offers agreeable conditions, it will become a Eurowings base", the Croatian Minister for Tourism, Gari Cappelli, said. Furthermore, the airline is considering introducing additional new routes to Osijek and has expressed interest in launching flights to the island of Brač next year. Eurowings is the only foreign carrier to maintain operations to all of Croatia's main airports - Zagreb, Split, Dubrovnik, Pula, Zadar, Osijek and Rijeka.

Comments

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous09:04

    They should just buy Croatia Airlines.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:10

      Why would they? They can just keep adding routes and eventually base a few plans in Zagreb. Much easier then dealing with takeover talks, unions, bureaucracy...

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    2. Anonymous09:16

      Why? It's cheaper to have them go bankrupt. OU has little value for them.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:26

      True but by buying OU they would no longer be simply serving P2P traffic. They would also get access to transfer passengers.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:28

      That would be an absolute disaster for Croatia Airlines. They have only recently started to expand outside of the Lufthansa bubble and are becoming less and less of a LH feeder airline. If they were to be bought by Eurowings they would just serve German cities.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:28

      You are kidding right? OU's network is minimal, not to mention that EW already serves SKP and the Croatian coast. They are taking their own transfers.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous09:33

      @9.28 Don't be dramatic. People were saying how JU would become an Etihad feeder and it flies to more cities in the Middle East and all over Europe then Jat did.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous09:36

      That's completely different because the company comes from the east and does not have a major network in Europe. Two incomparable cases.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous10:09

      The only difference is that JU and EY are on different continents which is not the case with EW and OU.
      Also, LH Group already has a hub in the region and that's VIE.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous14:15

      Why all eastern neighbors are concerned with how OU is doing?

      Shouldn't you be worried about AS staying afloat now that Etihad is pulling the plug ?

      Or is is just a case of "Pride goeth before the fall" ???

      Leave OU alone, for so many years I can hear you predicting fall of OU, yet OU is still just as strong and expanding. So chill.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous14:16

      Same way you are always concerned with Serbian taxpayers, Air Serbia and Etihad. You two were born for each other.

      Delete
    11. Anonymous22:14

      We are concerned because today's topic has to do with Croatia and indirectly with its national carrier?

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:05

    Every time I read about such news I think of OU and how much market/business they are losing. I fear after the coast EW will focus on ZAG which will be the end of OU.

    Basically the biggest players in tourism will be easyJet and Eurowings. Is OU planning on doing something about it?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:14

      I agree completely. And what's worse, Croatia Airlines had a long time to prepare before any of these airlines came along but I guess didn't look at the long term perspective.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous13:54

      Of course Eurowings and easy jet are the biggest players when they only fly to Croatia for 6 months a year during the busiest period from the most popular markets. OU is tied down to flying year round, with much higher cost per passenger and has to serve the entire country with a fleet of 14 planes.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous17:13

      Could Eurowings apply for domestic flights as well, as an EU carrier?

      Delete
    4. Anonymous17:32

      Yes as an EU cartier it can operate domestic flights.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous18:28

      I don't think another player will start domestic flights. These are not all that ptofitable. That's why they are operated as PSO.

      Delete
  4. Anonymous09:06

    They are not the first to complain of high fees. Wizz and Ryanair have also mentioned this about Croatian airports. I think that's the reason why easy jet is not basing a plane in Spit even though they have so many routes.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:13

      That's why I think it is realistic for Rijeka to become their base, same way Zadar became a Ryan base - lower costs.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:17

      What's more worrying to me is the statement about Zagreb Airport and the high fees now that the terminal is open.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:18

      Well the French care about profit which is why they will focus on cargo, not passengers.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:20

      They can and should also focus on cargo but they have a long way to go. Cargo traffic in ZAG is relatively low.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:27

      They hope this will change when the old terminal is converted into a dedicated cargo facility. What worries me is that it seems they are not too interested in bringing lowcost carriers, unlike LJU or BEG. They should have both in my opinion.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous09:32

      I agree. They should work to have an LCC base a plane in ZAG. Numbers would sky rocket then. And I don't think it would have such a massive impact on Croatia Airlines.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous09:42

      I would like to hear what ZAG's strategy and policy is concerning LCCs. With the new terminal and pricing there is no longer any chance of seeing some lower end LCCs like Ryanair and Wizz Air.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous10:01

      Anonymus 9:42, we've heard that many times, they are concentrating on flag carriers right now, to have a sustainable growth (whatever that means) and they are protecting OU from LCC. In the future they plan to work on inviting LCC too. Again, whatever that means.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous10:08

      I think LJU is the best lowcost alternative for ZAG. The two cities are not too far apart and LJU has already attracted Wizz Air and Transavia.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous10:43

      It is obvious that there's a fight among the LCCs for Croatian market. U2 and FR seems to be the leaders on the coast (if you exclude domestic flights by OU) but 4U is the absolute leading LCC in ZAG. In my opinion, 4U should thank to ZAG's higher airport fees instead of complaining, otherwise they had to fight with FR, U2 and W6.

      ZB now has the opportunity to fill the gap on UK-LC segment in ZAG. And considering the seasonal Vueling operations to Spain and Norwegian to Denmark+Sweden, I'd say LC segment is not doing bad.

      Delete
    11. Anonymous10:55

      But that's the thing, prices are ok. Even if you look at Vueling or Eurowings the fares are not rock bottom, or even low. They are on par with what OU would charge, a legacy carrier.

      Delete
  5. Anonymous09:16

    "We anticipate for the continued support of the Croatian Ministry for Tourism, as well as local communities" = subsidies.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous09:21

    It's not just that the charges for departing passengers have increased at ZAG but also ground handling prices so I'm not surprised about their statement. But I still hope will eventually become the first LCC to base a plane there.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:36

      This huge investmemt will has to be paid

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:39

      Despite the charges they are starting flights from Dusseldorf to Zagreb this winter.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:05

      Yeah but they initially announced only two weekly flights. He did say they were cautious. If the charges were lower I guess we would see more flights.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:28

      Yes they actually increase it to 3 p/w. Sales must have been going strong.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:53

      Which is why I wrote: they initially announced two weekly flights. ;)

      Delete
    6. Anonymous11:04

      Oops sorry didn't see :)

      Delete
    7. Anonymous11:10

      They also increased VIE-ZAD from planned 1pw to 3pw just after a few weeks of sales.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous11:12

      I have a feeling this is not the end of their expansion. The real question is what other destination they might add to ZAG?

      Delete
    9. Anonymous13:58

      They will probably start Hannover - Zagreb.

      Delete
    10. Why HAJ-ZAG when HAM-ZAG only works in August?

      Delete
  7. Anonymous09:23

    I was hoping they would station a plane in ZAG rather then RJK and improve the low cost presence at the airport.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:24

      This is what Capelli said a few weeks ago about EW: "We really want them to fly from Osijek, not Zagreb"... so it's look like they are protecting a certain someone in ZAG.

      Delete
  8. Anonymous09:31

    Anyone notice that their Network Development and Airport Relations Manager is Croatian.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:34

      That's very good news for Croatia.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:05

      What's so surprising? By the amount of immigrants in Germany soon there won't be any Germans left.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous18:35

      And very bad news for OU

      Delete
  9. Anonymous09:45

    They are cutting more and more into OUs share.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous09:47

    The amount of new flights being launched to Croatia this summer is really impressive and compared to previous years the points in Croatia are much more diverse rather than just being Dubrovnik and Split.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous09:52

    Great news. We will be seeing more and more of them in Croatia.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous10:00

    It's great news but Croatia should do more to attract airlines to fly year round. Then it would really be an achievement. I'm happy they managed to get the year round Munich-Split flights. I think the Osijek flight will also be year round.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:10

      That's one of Croatia's main focuses. Extending the tourist season and turning cities like Dubrovnik and Split in all year destinations.

      Delete
  13. Anonymous10:01

    wow 900,000 pax is quite a lot. What is the biggest LCC airline in terms of passenger numbers in Croatia at the moment?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:04

      By far easyJet, they are second in terms of marketshare.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:05

      Yep i think they have well over one million passengers to CRO. What's crazy is they don't fly anywhere year round.

      Delete
  14. Anonymous10:04

    Lufthansa striking back at other low cost airlines in Croatia.

    ReplyDelete
  15. high fees are protection against demise of Croatia (they are keeping the LC airlines out). And that is a good thing to do, because you need state owned national legacy carrier. Just have a look what de-regulation has done in US! If you think that it is just about lowering the cost of travel, you are very much mistaken. In capitalism everything is for sale. Aviation is no longer a branch of travel, it has become industry with all kinds of polution (environmental, social....). Do you think that dragging an "overbooked" passenger out of airplane is sign of "taking care" of passengers, or they wouldn't care if they were transporting live stock instead people? I think that they don't give a f....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous13:23

      Glupo mi je da objasnjavam velike aviokompanije u USA nikada nisu ostvarile pravi profit. Kada se sabere i oduzme sta je sve drzava ulozila u njih i aviosabracaj sve je kontrolisano od Kongresa. Bitna im je proizvodnja i prodaja aviona. Zasticene su mnogobrojnim zakonima, i briga ih za putnike, ali vam to Purger nece pisati on samo drobi o nekim trivijalnostima oko prebukiranja aviona. To je njegov nivo. Briga za putnika je na poslednjem mestu tamosnjim aviokompanijama. Npr takse za prtljag su smesno mali deo zarade, ali ih oni i dalje imaju.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous18:38

      Bor - this is an interesting angle... have never noticed you take the same position vis-a-vis JU in BEG

      Delete
  16. Anonymous10:32

    So basically ZAG and SKP are slowly being converted to LH LCC destinations, same as HV in BEG and LJU. Flights are likely to be feeder ones within the LH group legacy carriers' hubs such as MUC, DUS.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Anonymous10:54

    Why is everyone so convinced that the appearance of new airlines and routes will be the demise of OU? The MARKET is growing or better is grown by the appearance of new players! Its NOT always the same number of passengers that decide if to fly OU or any LCC. Croatia Airlines is also growing (new destinations and this year a record Pax number).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:10

      No one is saying it will bring their demise but eventually they will be kicked out of the coastal market and that's a shame.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:11

      Exactly. Similar case elsewhere in the region. Arrival of LCCs does not necessarily mean they will steal all of your passengers. They create a new base of passengers who probably would not have flown previously to the country.

      Delete
  18. Anonymous11:17

    Great news for Croatia, new carriers and routes are being announced every day!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Anonymous11:42

    Eurowings is not low cost at all. Their fares are quite high when compareded to Ryanair or Wizz.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:45

      very true, I wonder if their concept will work out at all.. (in general as an airline)

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:47

      EW is much more comparable Vueling and Transavia then Ryan or Wizz. Also, don't forget tbat EW offers connecting flights to all LH Group member airlines.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous11:52

      There are many routes where EW is selling €14.99 fares. They don´t fly random routes like FR and W6. Also check FR fares from Ireland and UK, the fares are not that cheap - these cheap fares they sell mostly in Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia and where they heavily compete with other carriers. EW has different route network

      Delete
    4. Anonymous16:24

      last anon you have no clue what u talkin about

      Delete
    5. Anonymous19:26

      Anon 4h24 - I'm not Anon 11h52 but I must say you seem to have no clue. Actually what 11h52 writes is almost completely correct - though it's a bit too general.

      Delete
  20. Anonymous12:18

    LH group really going after the Croatian market this year.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous19:28

      Still waiting for announcement of more SPU routes - but their extreme fees are an obstacle. SPU to VIE and DTM with a low coster year round will be cash cows.

      Delete
    2. 4U/EW stopped winter route 2-3 years ago (DTM-SPU) but next winter they will keep DUS 2pw. VIE would be cool

      I wonder why nobody offers flights to LON in winter while in summer there are more than 40 flights pw

      Delete
  21. Anonymous12:37

    Can you earn Star miles with Eurowings?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:51

      No. Eurowings is not part of Star Alliance. You can only earn with LH's Miles & More.

      Delete
  22. Anonymous13:12

    Nice news. Well done Croatia!

    ReplyDelete
  23. Anonymous13:39

    After the coast EW will focus on ZAG which will mark the end of OU.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous14:02

      probably, badly, you are right..first step some Herr Flick will be the new CEO of CTN. after we know how it looks like when a shark eat sardines..

      Delete
    2. Anonymous16:23

      Alo Alo

      Delete
    3. Anonymous19:31

      Ahaaahaa - does Herr Flick come from Lufthansa Pissage?

      Delete
  24. Anonymous14:03

    What about long haul? They could try and push to get Eurowings to operate Zagreb-New York.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. OMG, enough already with the US obsession.

      Delete
  25. Anonymous17:45

    Is there anyone else starting routes to Croatia than Eurowings?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous17:50

      Well on the right of this page if you are viewing the web version there is a list of all new routes and many of them are to Croatia.

      Delete
  26. Anonymous20:48

    Did somebody know from wich airport eurowings will flight to brac...and from wich date?how many rotation pro week they will hawe?

    ReplyDelete
  27. the fact that I never explicitely supported survival of "JAT", later AS, doesn't mean I don't think it is a good thing that they are still alive and kicking. Having a "national" carrier of any kind (even trans-national, like SAS) is esential part independece. Like being owner of infrastructure in general. If someone is not sure, take a look in situation in Hungary after demise of Malev....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous01:08

      Chill it dawg.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous07:15

      Why are you telling him to chill when he was provoked? Shouldn't you attack the other loser who attacked Bor?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous15:07

      He got chilled for this, "Having a 'national' carrier of any kind is esential part independece." what about strong economy, strong democracy, independent foreign policy? These are important. Having a national carrier essential part of independece, naaa.

      Delete
  28. Anonymous00:28

    @Admin

    Just wondering, will there be news tomorrow since its a holiday? Thank you in advance for the reply.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, there will be news on Friday.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous02:34

      Nice.
      But not on Sunday.
      Thanks man.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous06:16

      Although I would like to see a new report on Sunday.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:30

      He can write the news now and just set the schedular to publish it on sunday

      Delete
    5. Anonymous11:39

      They won't have news on Easter
      http://www.exyuaviation.com/p/about-ex-yu-aviation-news.html

      Update policy

      • Feature news article: Daily at 09.00 CET
      • News Flash: Monday - Thursday twice per day, single update on Friday
      • Livery of the Week: Saturday afternoon
      • Vintage Photos: Saturday evening
      • Weekly Newsletter: Sunday afternoon
      • New Route Launches: Regularly upon announcement

      Limited updates: January 1, January 7, Easter Sunday and December 25.

      Delete

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