Croatia seeks airline partner for US flights


The Croatian Ministry for Tourism is in search for a carrier willing to launch flights between the country and the United States. Airlines from both the US and Europe, including leisure carriers, are all in consideration, with the government determined for services to begin next year on a seasonal summer basis, before being upgraded into year-round operations in 2019. Recently, Tourism Minister, Gari Cappelli, said, "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. All signs point towards the introduction of seasonal flights during the high season in 2018 and year-long services in 2019". He 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 during his upcoming visit to the States.

Several US-based airlines have ruled out operations to the former Yugoslavia at this point. The world’s second busiest carrier, Delta Air Lines, told EX-YU Aviation News it is satisfied with its presence in the region, noting that it codeshares with Air France and KLM between Paris, Amsterdam and Zagreb, as well as with CSA Czech Airlines between Prague and the Croatian capital. “Codeshares are an important part of Delta’s network strategy as they allow us to reach parts of the globe that we do not operate to ourselves. We have many partnerships of this nature around the world”, a spokesperson for the airline said. They added, “Although we continually evaluate our markets and make adjustments to our network when required, we are happy with our current network footprint in the former Yugoslavia and Eastern Europe in general and at this stage do not have any plans to update this”.

American Airlines, the US' largest airline by fleet size, noted, "American constantly evaluates our network to ensure we are maximising our fleet and profitability while matching customer demand. While no airline can serve every destination, our joint businesses and alliances with airlines like British Airways and membership in Oneworld allows our customers to seamlessly connect to Croatia". On the other hand, Star Alliance member United, which has a wide-ranging codeshare agreement in place with Croatia Airlines, said it has no plans to serve the country for the time being but added, "While we have not announced anything about this market [Croatia], we’re always looking for new opportunities". Despite the reluctance from the big three US airlines, it should be noted that any European Union registered carrier can operate services from any point in the block to the United States if it holds a valid foreign air carrier permit with the United States Department of Transportation. For its part, Croatia Airlines' CEO, Krešimir Kučko, said, "We have the general goal of starting transatlantic flights. Maybe not within the next five years, but we all have dreams".

The General Manager of Zagreb Airport, Jacques Feron, previously said it would be "fantastic" for the Croatian capital to offer direct flights to the United States. "In the US, New York would be an excellent destination, although it is true that this metropolis is well connected to all major European airports", Mr Feron said. His words echoed that of Sani Sener, the CEO and founder of TAV Airports Holding and TAV Construction, which forms part of the consortium running Zagreb Airport. He noted that the most desired route from the Croatian capital would be New York. 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 ran services from Zagreb to New York, Chicago and Los Angeles.

Comments

  1. Anonymous09:03

    I think it will be a European airline, maybe Norwegian or Eurowings.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:30

      Unless it is Eurowings, it will have a big impact on LH/Austrian in Zagreb.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:58

      Well it is now or never with Eurowings. Their route manager is from Croatia :D

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:05

      Or they could get Emirates to introduce a second flight and continue on to the US ;)

      Delete
    4. Anonymous20:27

      I think OU will be forced to start service to NYC if no new carrier comes along and starts the service themselves. No idea if Air Canada Rouge flies to NYC and if there can be some sort of a deal between OU and Air Canada, to cover that destination, as they're the only airline that I know off that still uses B767.

      If no deal comes along, OU might be forced to convert 2 A320 Neo in to A321 LR Neo, and start direct service to North america via Dublin.


      The thing is, first class on A321 is unheard off, to make this route viable, at least 20 business class seats @150cm pitch will be needed, reducing the economy seating down to 168 or 174 seats @82cm pitch.

      With 194 pax, A321 LR NEO has range of 8000km, so Zagreb - NYC is also a possibility, without stop over in Dublin.

      However daily service to NYC will be difficult to maintain in winter months.

      Delete
    5. Rouge focuses on tourist destination. So, their US destinations are all in California, and Florida. I think they also fly to Phoenix and Honolulu as well.

      There are still a lot of B767 operators arround

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:04

    US airlines have poor coverage in Europe so I am not counting on any of them. European airline is most probable. I just don't want it to be some no name leisure airline because it limits connection opportunities.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:55

      Ne lupetaj lete sa svakog aerodroma na obali do svakog malo veceg grada u zapadnoj Evropi. Zagreb jednostavno nema putnika.

      Delete
    2. Micek@ 9:55 - Zagreb je itekako pun turista i ZAG ima putnika. A posebna čar je u tome što ti putnici plaćaju premium cijene i premium uslugu NPTa, za razliku od ostalih u Ex Yu...Zagreb itekako ima putnika i lijepo raste, a eksplodirat će u trenutku kad se upravitelj na to odluči (LCC), a to mu sada nije u interesu, jer postoje prioriteti (OU + ostali legacy carrieri koji će izgraditi održivu mrežu letova). Koncesionaru je u interesu osigurati stabilnost (prihodovnu) poslovanja dovodeći i podržavajući razvoj legacya, jer su oni puno "zahtjevniji", ali dugoročno unosniji. LCC se brzo "zapale" za destinaciju i brzo "ohlade", lako za njih.

      Ako ste takve baje - dovedite vi KLM, British, Brusseles, Korean, Monarch, Air Transat, Emirates, Iberiju itd.

      Kada se pojača udio LCC (sada su ispod 10%) na barem 20% (i dalje ispod prosjeka E.U.), promet će narasti i još više...

      Btw - Zagreb - Best European Destination 2017., +21% noćenja u 05 mjesecu

      Btw - Zagreb kao destinacija - najviše turista u ExYu (broj dolazaka, ne noćenja da se razumijemo)

      Skinite se više s pljuvanjem Zagreba.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous12:00

      Petar, tko ti drzma kavez?

      Delete
    4. Anonymous16:36

      Hahaha po vasim pricama ispada da Zagreb ima vise turista od Rima samo to niko nevidi...masta cini svasta

      Delete
    5. Anonymous17:27

      Nije mašta, postoje konkretni i lako dostupni brojevi.

      Delete
    6. Gdje se to konkretno uspoređujemo sa detinacijama poput Rima?
      Exactly.

      Delete
    7. Mašta stvarno čini svašta. Tako je mašta anonimusa od 4:36PM otišla u neke naše tobožnje uspredbe sa Rimom.
      Međutim činjenica je da u usporrdbi sa svim gradovima u ex Yu, Zagreb ima najviše ppsjetilaca (dolazaka turista). To uključuje i gradove poput Splita i Dubrovnika, koji su sami po sebi daleko ispred svih ostalih ex yu destinacija, a i šire.
      Zaggrebači advent je proglašen najboljim u Europi treću godinu u Europi, u Siječnju svake godine se održava utrka svjetskog skijaškog kupa, a Lonely Planet je proglasio Zagreb destinacijom No.1 u Europi.
      Pa se pojedite ako već morate, a vaši ljubomorni ispadi ispod svakog članka o Zagrebu i Hrvatskoj, kao i ispod svih ostalih članaka koji nisu o Bsogradu, zasigurno ne govore o vašoj sigurnosti u sebe.

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:06

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

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous09:07

    They have been delaying these flights from Zagreb each year. Hope it finally happens in 2018.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:10

      Every year the same - maybe next year!

      Delete
  5. Anonymous09:09

    If Croatia Airlines was smart they would have leased 1 or two long haul planes years ago and started flying to the US and Asia. They could have used those planed during the winter as well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:31

      With what money would they lease wide-bodies?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:48

      Surely you meant to write if OU was stupid because JU showed us what a financial disaster that strategy is

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:56

      You have no insight into Air Serbia's financial performance on any route so you are far from competent to comment on that.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous11:50

      But what is visible even for outsiders - and an indicator reg. JUs finances - is the schedule, meaning the cuts in ops, the ticket pricing in combination with LG, meaning that almost everybody can figure out that the JFK flights are everything but for sure boy profitable, and it is evident that all the recent changes are a result of poor financial performance. And it is also evident that all this trouble started after JU introduced JFK. So - no. A politically imposed route is never good. And same goes for ZAG JFK. And if a minister and am embassy have to search for carriers this only means there is no real (profitable) market. As simple as that.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous11:52

      *LF
      *for sure not profitable

      Delete
    6. Anonymous13:38

      Anon 9.56am Correct. No insights into JUs actual financial performance. JU did however boast a few weeks ago about strong LF, ASKs, freight performance etc but still nothing on profitably. Ironic don't you think?

      Delete
    7. Anonymous18:58

      What's the point ? if they report a profit, you will say it is B.S. If they report a loss, you will say that what they are doing is B.S.

      So, no point - the crowd here are much like the crowds in the Coliseum during Roman times, just waiting to see the blood of those thrown to the lions !

      Delete
    8. Anonymous21:11

      Air Serbia HAS suffered financial breakdown...They are fired 50 per cent of their cabin crew in last six months and claim they will fire a huge number of remaining cabin crew in autumn...

      Delete
  6. Anonymous09:09

    United's response is interesting. They are not actually denying that they would start flights.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:11

      Their B767s would be perfect for this route.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:15

      There are too many bigger markets in Europe for them to start first.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:19

      The same was said for Emirates ;)

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:38

      Do any of the major US airlines still operate B757s on transatlantic routes?

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:46

      United would be absolutely the best choice. They could codeshare with Croatia Airlines from Zagreb to the rest of country plus Skopje, Pristina, Sarajevo, Bucharest... It could be a major success.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous09:57

      There are rumors it will be Delta (seasonal to ZAG), talks are being held at MZLZ

      Delete
    7. Anonymous09:59

      Delta is the most interested in flying to secondary European airports out of the US airlines.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous10:15

      Delta? They gave the most extensive response in the article that they are not interested. In January people were saying how United is coming 100% and that they are in talks with ZAG.

      Delete
    9. @AnonymousJune 8, 2017 at 9:38 AM
      yes, delta to KEF

      Delete
    10. Anonymous10:59

      Thanks. Can a 757 make to ZAG or DBV?

      Delete
    11. Alen Šćuric Purger11:39

      No, but A321LR (Norwegian, Wow, Aer Lingus, TAP, JetBlue...) to ZAG can. To DBV can not.

      Delete
    12. Anonymous19:39

      Purger: seems you are really not capable to understand all the explanations that A321LR will NOT be able to make it regularly between HR and ZAG, judging by official Airbus performance forecast considering an airplane never flies close to the shortest gc route. It has been said and discussed on here many, many times. Now please don't bring this up every one or two weeks - it gets annoying.

      Delete
  7. Anonymous09:12

    Would be interesting to see how much these flights would bring in new tourists.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:19

      I work in the American tourist sector. And from the feedback that I get from Americans visiting Croatia, they say that is is beautiful, and historic, and people must visit Croatia

      Delete
    2. Anonymous13:17

      Finally a excellent and constructive comment.
      +1000000

      Delete
  8. Anonymous09:14

    I think charters from Dubrovnik to the US would be a great success straight away.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:24

      True. There is massive demand from American tourists.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:27

      I'm sure Dubrovnik will have seasonal flights to New York as well, it's just a matter of time.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:53

      Agree, they will happen, at least as seasonal flights, so many Americans during summer in DBV!

      Delete
  9. Anonymous09:16

    I would be more happy if they tried to attract a LCC to base an aircraft. Having flights to New York is nice but the benefits of having an established LCC serving several cities out of ZAG outweigh a few flights per season to New York.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous09:19

    Zagreb Airport offers quite good support for new routes so it is worth a try at least seasonally for the beginning.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:02

      In 2010, Tonci Peovic ex-ZAG CEO offered the following to airlines to start Zagreb-New York

      - Airport will purchase a certain number of seats on each flight in order entice the airline to initiate the flights.
      -The airline will be exempt from paying landing and handling fees in the first year, with the fees progressively introduced within the next five years.

      Delete
  11. Anonymous09:23

    It makes you wonder how big the market was if Pan Am used to fly 4 p/w with A310s.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:43

      There was a lot of demand. Also there were all those JU flights from ZAG to 3 destinations in the US.

      BTW this was the Pan American schedule

      JFK-ZAG PA036 A310 nonstop -23-56- 1830 0755* (next day)

      ZAG-JFK PA037 A310 nonstop --34-67 1015 1440

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:48

      Pan Am used to fly to Dubrovnik too if I remember correctly.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:59

      The OD market is definitely there. Today however there are much more 1 stop opportunities that at those times. When PA used to fly direct, LH had barely 2 daily flights to NY from FRA. Nowadays you can go from ZAG via MUC,FRA,LHR,CDG,MAD,WAW,AMS, ZRH,IST,CPH,VIE and others at fares starting from 350€ return. This of course makes any direct flight less economic unless you can get the premium for a direct service, which is often difficult.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:16

      Yap +10000000

      Delete
    5. I think the Pan Am service to Dubrovnik was from their Frankfurt base so not trans Atlantic.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous21:14

      Yes, Pan Am was flying to ZAG, DBV and BEG from FRA. When A310 direct was introduced all this was discontinued, and the only flight was to ZAG with JP used as connection from ZAG to DBV and BEG. They had PA flt nr. By the end of summer 1991, PA had a few JFK-ZAG-DBV-JFK flights, and all finished, as far as I remember, 1st of September. I was PA staff @ZAG at the time.

      Delete
  12. Nemjee09:24

    OT BEG-VCE 55/64

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous09:26

    Seems like every ex-Yu city wants flights to NYC.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:52

      Wouldn't it be more wise to focus on another destination in the US than one already offered nearby?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:56

      Croatia has potential for these flights, don't you think?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:02

      @ 9:52 Why? I think both Zagreb and Belgrade can sustain flights to JFK.

      Delete
  14. Anonymous09:28

    Very good for Zagreb but I do wish they find an airline that would serve all year round.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous09:32

    Great news. This minister seems to be doing a lot to attract various airlines to Croatia.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Anonymous09:33

    There were rumors it is going to be XL Airways.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:37

      XL has A330 with 3-3-3 seating like Air Transat. Very tight! Also they would offer no connections within the US or viceversa within Croatia. I hope it's not them.

      Delete
  17. Anonymous09:36

    Exciting times for Croatian aviation. Good luck.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Anonymous09:38

    It will be United or Delta.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:43

      Your opinion or inside info? :)

      Delete
  19. Anonymous09:54

    OU CEO once said that Croatia doesn't need direct flights to NY because they already have so many options to NY and elsewhere in the US with 1-stop connections over Europe...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous13:23

      Well, what else was he supposed to say when JU started flying to JFK ?? He hasn't shown himself to be the most collegiate sort of guy - especially when it comes to JU.

      Anyways, 12 mths is a long time and they all now seem to be suffering from either amnesia or Alzheimer's .... Everyone seems to now think that it's a must have !

      Delete
  20. Anonymous10:01

    With so many new pan European long haul airlines like Level and Boost anything is possible.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Alen Šćuric Purger10:05

    In 2016 there was:

    110.997 tourists from Canada
    120.000 Croatian diaspora in Canada
    = 2 flights pw by Air Transat with A330-300

    337.464 tourists from USA
    1.200.000 Croatian diaspora in USA
    = no flights????

    Out of this 53.541 tourist from USA were in Zagreb.

    For sure direct route will make this number much better.

    So risk for that routes is much lower than to Canada

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:14

      Tvoje tumacenje statistike je prosto smesno. Niko od zaposlenika aviokompanija se ne bi ni trgnuo na ovako jadne cifre. Vidis valjda sta se desava sa ASLom.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:26

      What these numbers also do not say is the real potenital of air traffic; you cannot easily count on what comes into Croatia via sea or part of European tours. Direct services would increase demand for sure, but you need to realize that these numbers are far from automated passengers on future flights (also noting that if you don't have daily service, it would shatter to 1 stop options as well etc....). Thta being said, I truly hope we get flights to the US, but as anon above says, it is far from given + JU lesson is there...nobody wants to bleed money unless financed by somebody else or some higher interest.

      Delete
    3. Alen Šćuric Purger11:50

      Jesus, I thought that this is air blog where we don't have to go throw basics as in low profile public blogs. Participants here should be educated enough that we don't have to explain simple facts.

      Of course, my god, that most of those tourists are on tours that goes to several destinations and countries. I wrote about that just 2 days ago on Tango 6. But, still more than enough would use that route. That is why I put here comparison with similar market (Canada), not with Korea which has same amount of tourist into Croatia.

      So, if on 111.000 tourist from Canada we can have capacity of 33.000 seats on 2 week flights (A330-300), than for sure on 338.000 tourist we can have at least same number of flights (2 pw).

      Of course on top of tourist there is diaspora, business travelers, politicians, NATO...

      Delete
    4. Anonymous12:20

      Do you think that it can be sustained year round? I think that demand is very much concentrated during summer. One ailing problem would also probably be very lightly booked business cabin..

      Delete
    5. Alen Šćuric Purger12:43

      of course it is seasonal option now, and can be all year just if tourist managers would do much more to deal with seasonality.

      Only option to make it all year is that companies made 1stop option from Zagreb like

      - United (USA-MUC-ZAG)
      - Emirates (DXB-ZAG-USA)
      - Air India (DEL-ZAG-USA)
      - Turkish (IST-ZAG-USA)
      or some other carrier of option

      Delete
    6. Alen Šćuric Purger12:46

      or LCC long-haul like 2.3 pw Norwegian JFK-ZAG-JFK if they open base in Zagreb and with connections via ZAG to wider region

      Delete
    7. Anonymous13:03

      Yes, Croatia market is probably better cut for some LCC option...ideally with visa waivers in place and low fares, it could possibly survive year round service with probable extra revenue during summer and hopefully break even/minimal loss durign winter periods. Now, we will see if there are carriers willing to invest!

      Delete
    8. Anonymous16:25

      Alen, although you had excellent articles, reports regarding the aviation in the region, I found your message above (as well the way you present figures) quite amateur. I even don't want to comment on your risk assessment (which seems to be the opposite according to professional analysts in the airlines), please try to study the case more carefully (hint: check the city pairs instead of across the country figures) and it's always better to use the same source for comparison (don't pick the lowest available figure for one and the highest available for another - diaspora figures).

      Delete
  22. Anonymous10:19

    ZAG-NYC route will be more succesfull than Venice or Belgrade one. It is sad that OU can't operate route like that beacuse of their financial situtation.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous13:45

      @AnonymousJune 8, 2017 at 10:19 AM

      Venice, no chance, Venice is a major tourist magnet, with over 10 million tourists. Venice has 3rd busiest airport in Italy for a reason.

      Delete
  23. Anonymous10:58

    Hopefully all these plans and announcements will actually materialize.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Anonymous10:58

    When does the minister go to the US?

    ReplyDelete
  25. Anonymous11:05

    Earlier this year, I had a meetings with Delta in DTW. I was interested in their expansion plans and whether they would have any interest in flying to Ex-Yu. At first it seemed as none of them even heard for Croatia or Slovenia but then when I presented them with more information about the region such as tourism travel, relatively large Diaspora travel, geographic position, airline alliances...they became very interested and promised they would do some more market research about feasibility of non-stop flights to ZAG or LJU. Delta is famous for exploring and testing new markets in Europe and Africa. They serve numerous small and mid-size destinations in Europe such as Nice, Stuttgart, Venice and have had pretty big success.

    I really hope we soon see NYC-ZAG come to realization.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:09

      Stuttgart small? In terms of business it is an economic powerhouse with the likes of Bosch, daimler etc. Delta flights out of STR are always full in Biz with people paying full fare.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:23

      If you were the one that put Croatia on the map for them without them having any idea of it, then they absolutely 100% will not even consider that. Not sure what kind of a meeting was that, but you also need to note that business meetings always end up in very cordial 'we are interested' tone...unless you are minister of transportation, tourism or some REALLY influental person, and you talked to some very senior DL manager, I don't put absolutely any weight to your meeting. If it ever happened.

      Delete
    3. +1 last Anon.

      That YOU had to point on the map Croatia and Slovenia and that they've never heard of them before, then either this story is fake or these "gentlemen" from Delta should be fired ASAP. If you work for one of the biggest airlines in the world, you can't happen to know about pretty much any country in the world.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous11:40

      lol frishki there is much you have to learn about the US. I don't doubt that they haven't heard about croatia and slovenia.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous12:16

      Prestani vise da lupetas. Obisao sam i zapadnu (jug) i istocnu obalu i ziveo u centru amerike i upoznao sam toliko ljudi koji su se vucarali po bivsoj sfrj tako da prica o zaposlenicima dl kojima si ti stavio na kartu sl i hr je bas besmislena. zasto moramo citati vase bedaste izmisljotine.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous13:07

      "as none of them never heard of Croatia or Slovenia"

      That is the key-word.

      Delete
    7. Anon @11.40AM
      We're not talking about folks you stop on the street and ask about Croatia and Slovenia. We're talking about high positioned employees of a major American airline.

      Delete
    8. Hahahaha!!! Yeah, sure! But of course! Employees of one of the largest airlines in the world have never heard of Slovenia and Croatia!
      They have definitely not only heard of, but can give you a mini expose about countries that you have never heard of, like Kiribati, Djibouti, Benin, Kirgistan for instance. Your story about them never having heard of two EU member states is such an obvious lie.

      Delete
  26. Richard11:18

    Interesting, The demand for this route will be quite high, as the people from the Balkans will come to Zagreb to fly to the States and vise verse, Croatia is a nice tourist destination and i think this is a profit-making decision.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous14:23

      Richard - if they are not already doing so via BEG, who already has direct flights to the US and is much better connected to the ex-yu region than is OU, then what makes you think that -

      "people from the Balkans will come to ZAG to fly to the US" ?

      Delete
  27. Anonymous11:21

    I would say that probably 80% of the Bosnian Diaspora from North America uses ZAG as either their final destination and then drive to Bosnia or as a stop-over on their way to SJJ. If the NYC-ZAG flight prove to be true, this will take lots of passangers away from BEG as well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous14:19

      "I would say that probably 80% of Bosnian Diaspora uses ZAG as either their final destination ....."

      Based on what facts ?

      Or, is it so, just because you say so ?

      Delete
  28. Anonymous11:29

    All this smells as preps for EK's extension to its existing Zagreb service (DXB-ZAG-JFK/EWR-ZAG-DXB) based on alteady existing proven model via ATH and MXP. If no US carrier jumps in, EK would be more than willing to feel the gap. EK gets an additional boost to its existing Zagreb service and bypass on board electronics ban. Watch out for this development....

    ReplyDelete
  29. Anonymous11:47

    It will be Quantas. The route will be Sydney-Singapure-Zagreb-Atlana. Big tourist influx and huge diaspora. Mark my words.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alen Šćuric Purger11:53

      hahahahaha.... good one

      Delete
  30. This time next year we'll be Millionaires!

    Oh, no, no it goes like this...This time next year ZAG will have flight to NYC!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alen Šćuric Purger12:50

      hahahahah... again good one.

      Delboy should be CEO of Croatia airlines or tourist board. Yes, our politicians should do much more on negotiations and promotions of possible routes.

      But as you remember even Delboy at the end become Millionaire! :-)

      Delete
  31. Anonymous12:33

    This route is a political project. If there was enough demand, one of US3 carriers would already start the service. Yield will be low, market is saturated with one stop connections. There is not enough premium demand on the route. There is no demand for year-round operations. If they offer connections within region they will get killed by the competition offering one stop via large EU hubs.

    This is not my opinion on the potential ZAG-JFK route. Above comments were taken from discussions regarding a service to JFK from another regional destinations. As they say in the movies, any similarity is purely coincidental.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous15:55

      You are absolutely right. Actually, no one would care if there's a direct flight to New York, Toronto, Beijing or not, had this route not been a political project for all countries in the region.

      And we all know what happens when politics is directly involved in commerce. Therefore OU acts very clever on transatlantic issue. And I hope somebody warns the minister to calm down, we all see what's happening to JU because of this ambitious but unrealistic move.

      Delete
  32. The minister is doing his job and if there is a money to be made than I'm sure any interested parties will consider this. I just think that when it comes to Southeast Europe, that extra hour of flight time makes it really difficult to be competitive and profitable.

    I would add that I'm surprised by the number of first class passengers flying to Zagreb with Emirates.... So their could be a decent demand upfront especially during the summer for these flights.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Anonymous13:28

    Here we go - welcome to another vanity project which is going to require financial support, just like the recent EK route launch.

    And once it happens, everyone will simply say that there were no subsidies, no support and no inducements to make it happen.

    Just like a rabbit out of a hat, this route will suddenly appear out of nowhere, but for the fact of "strong unmet year round demand" - just like the EK service.

    Don't ya just love it ??

    ReplyDelete
  34. Anonymous13:36

    Why are you seeking for a partner? If you consider the route a lucrative one, set it up alone. All the money will be yours.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Anonymous13:55

    Calm down everyone. Its UA - daily flights all year with a mix of 767 and 757s depending on demand and yes OU will be codesharing to Newark and opening up new routes to capture the transfers. Eg. Pristina and Skopje.
    The above has been a work in progress for quite some time. ZAG are good at keeping things quiet until contractually executed.
    And yes this is long overdue and yes the route will be successful. Should have happened years ago. Will also make a reliable option for Serbians ex BEG who want a daily option rather than something sporadic

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous13:57

      You announced the same thing months ago for this summer.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous14:06

      For Serbians, from where exactly?

      Delete
    3. From Banja Luka.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous14:50

      When is it going to be anounced?

      Delete
    5. Anonymous05:11

      @Anon at 1:55 Not going to happen. Loaded 757 can't fly nonstop EWR-ZAG. Delta had DL413 JFK-PSA (shorter than EWR-ZAG) with 757-200 in 2014 but had many fuel stops and had to cancel in 2016.

      Delete
  36. Anonymous14:18

    T -3
    ��

    ReplyDelete
  37. Anonymous15:36

    JATBEGMEL, how is WAW doing, better than BUD?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous16:01

      We all here forgot a much higher profile route launch than DXB-ZAG which is ATH-EWR. That is where all the EK highest officials were.

      Any info on how that route is performing would be more than welcome.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous19:25

      Not that we forgot, it's just that it is not in ex-YU.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous02:09

      Who cares about Ex-yu...

      Delete
  38. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  39. Sorry but every year the same story.

    ReplyDelete
  40. Anonymous19:58

    OT : Does anyone know which JU planes are retrofitted with new seats ?

    ReplyDelete
  41. Anonymous22:41

    I'm not sure for A319s but I think both of their A320s have new seats.

    ReplyDelete
  42. Anonymous00:55

    I fly PIT-ZAG every year in summer and would still prefer to fly PIT-CDG-ZAG with DL/AF or PIT-FRA-ZAG with Condor/LH. I suspect many travelers who don't fly from USA but not from NYC would rather do one-stop at major EU airport than connecting through JFK (ugh).

    ReplyDelete
  43. Anonymous00:56

    Who don't fly = who fly :)

    ReplyDelete
  44. Anonymous02:14

    I know personally Minister of tourism. He knows about flights as much as he knows about space travel.
    All of these stories do not make sense. The only reasonable flight that might make sense is seasonal flight Atlanta - Split. For that purpose Split airport has to be equipped for intercontinental route. It is not just flight, it is service to the airplanes, catering, security screening, fuel supplies, baggage handling and many other things.
    ATL airport is the biggest in the World and it's in 2-3 hours flight available to the most of USA passengers. Delta, pretty much has monopoly on ATL. The only option is for Croatia Airlines to cut its relations with Lufthansa and join Delta's alliance and to build hub in Zagreb or Split to become regional hub for Delta. PRICE of the airport services is what attract carriers, not Minister's wet dream.

    ReplyDelete

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