Ryanair to expand Croatia operations


Ryanair has announced plans to launch flights from Frankfurt's main airport to three cities in Croatia from March 26, 2018, providing competition to flag carriers Croatia Airlines and Lufthansa. The low cost airline will introduce two weekly seasonal services to Rijeka, Pula and Zadar, while also continuing to maintain operations from Hahn Airport near Frankfurt to the latter two. In Pula, Ryanair will compete directly against Croatia Airlines' and Lufthansa's two weekly service to Frankfurt, while in Zadar it will also face off against the Croatian carrier. The German city will mark Ryanair's sixteenth destination from its seasonal base in Zadar, fourth from Pula and second from Rijeka, as the airline will terminate flights from London Stansted to the coastal city later this month. Ryanair becomes the first low cost carrier to operate from Frankfurt, making it its ninth base in Germany. 

Despite adding new routes to Croatia, the airline still has no flights to the country's two biggest tourist hotspots - Dubrovnik and Split. Speaking to EX-YU Aviation News, Dubrovnik Airport's Deputy Director General, Frano Luetić, said, "We have been in talks with Ryanair for over a decade, however, our stance remains unchanged. Ryanair is more than welcome in Dubrovnik but under the same conditions as the other sixty airlines operating here. We are strong and united in this regard, hence, we would not want to destroy the excellent relations we have with other carriers in order to post big numbers". Last year, Ryanair requested for Dubrovnik Airport to reduce its fees and sign a multi-year agreement prior to it starting operations. The airline's Route Development Manager, Luis Fernandez-Mellado, said at the time that the budget carrier would maintain year-round flights from Dubrovnik, describing it as an extremely interesting destination.

Similarly, Split Airport has said it cannot reduce its fees to accommodate Ryanair. General Manager, Lukša Novak, noted, "In Croatia, they [Ryanair] still operate exclusively from airports which provide support for their flights. We have held meetings with them and established contacts, however, for now, they will not come to Split as we have not changed our policy. Neither Split, nor Dubrovnik, need to stimulate carriers during the season as traffic continues to grow. That would only create a mess on the market. We are always open for talks, but we do not intend on changing our business policy". Ryanair is Croatia's fifth biggest carrier based on the number of weekly departing seats. It operates flights to the country exclusively during the summer and maintained services from Croatia to twenty destinations this season. Earlier this year the airline pulled out of Osijek due to disagreements with local authorities over airport fees.

Comments

  1. Anonymous09:04

    Croatia Airlines and Lufthansa will get tough competition.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:09

      +1

      Ryanair's departure times from all three cities are competitive. OU and LH will be in trouble.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:18

      What are the times?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:18

      More than 3/4 of LH and OU Pax continue their journey to other destinations. How exactly will FR cater to that? Those flying NYC-FRA-ZAD/PUY will now book a single flight to FRA and a seperate ticket on FR? How exactly will they be hit?

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:20

      Because they will take the majority of P2P passengers. That's how.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:21

      @9:18 you have it on the right side in 'new route launches'

      Delete
    6. Anonymous09:28

      @ Anon 9.20: So if FR fills the planes with 180 Pax I do not see where they would be coming from LH or OU as they fly only 80 or 132 seater. So it mus be NEW Passengers- market is growing. Or do you think its a shift from carrier to carrier. Zadar will handle 700.000 Pax next year.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous09:32

      Speaking of long haul connecting traffic, easy jet this morning announced its feeder service to long-haul low-cost airlines Norwegian and WestJet at London Gatwick. So it will allow for long haul connections for passengers from Pula, Split and Dubrovnik.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous09:33

      What new carries will ZAD get to lift pax to 700000?

      Delete
    9. Anonymous10:00

      Bad news for OU

      Delete
    10. Anonymous10:02

      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. Anonymous09:04

    Zbogom CA.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:37

      ZAD,PUY,RJK cine 5 procenata saobracaha OU, ili CA kako neki ovde vole recipient. ZAG, DBV, SPU su 95%. Dakle, sto se Rajanera tice i njegovih novih linija za p2p putnike iz rjk,puy,zad, nema ni pomisli o nekakvom zbogom. Iz neki drug is razloga, u neko dogledno vreme, mozda, Ali iz ovog razloga sigurno ne

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:04

    I don't get how Dubrovnik and Split are so expensive for Ryanair? Practically all LCCs fly there.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:08

      Ryan and Wizz are ULCC

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:09

      But even Wizz manages to fly to Split seasonally.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:20

      Ever looked at Wizzair fares from STN to SPU or their WAW or KTW services. In summer you get return fares from 300€. They can also make money there with the high charges. It´s a different story at other airports where you can fill planes only if you offer 20€ fares. For that however the charges must be low!

      Delete
  4. Anonymous09:07

    Great news. Hopefully they will extend some of these flights into winter.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:32

      Hope so to. To me it's crazy that they don't have a single non-seasonal route to Croatia.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:47

      Why would they? Who is going to fly in winter. I can tell you now that 98% of Ryanair's passengers are tourists not locals from Croatia.

      Delete
  5. Look what I found.

    http://camteria.com/en/webcam/zagreb-airport_cam_4714

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous09:14

    Will these three airports have to pay them subsidies for this route?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:40

      The country's flag carrier struggles financially and cities pay millions of Euros every year to Ryanair... great logic.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:46

      It's called a free market.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:01

      In Pula it's Istria County who pays.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:30

      Not all LCC routes are subsidised.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:53

      Ryanair for sure is.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous15:19

      Not true. 50% pays local tourist associations and 50% Croatian tourist board. Also in Pula.

      Delete
  7. Anonymous09:14

    Good on Dubrovnik and Split. They should be aiming for the upscale tourist market. For this you need legacy airlines.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:36

      I think now they should start focusing on getting some seasonal long haul routes.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:39

      +1

      A direct seasonal flight to the US, Canada, China and Japan would be ideal.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:43

      There are already summer charters from Japan with B777.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:46

      I meant scheduled flights.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous11:48

      Legacy is not an indicator of upscale. Models have been converging and little separates them today

      Delete
  8. Anonymous09:15

    2018 is going to be fantastic for Croatian airports.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous09:20

    Bravo Hrvatska!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:36

      +1

      Also RIP Croatia Airlines.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:11

      I don't think they will be impacted that much. We can start saying RIP Croatia Airlines when an LCC starts operating domestic flights in Croatia but I doubt that will happen anytime soon.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:28

      I doubt Croatia's domestic market is big enough for LCC operation with 180+ seats with current frequencies.

      But seeing as OU is not operated on profitable basis, they can probably survive even without flying.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous11:36

      OU makes its money on international routes. The domestic network is unprofitable, especially since many of those flying domestic are transfers from international flights. I doubt a foreign LCC would make money here.

      Delete
  10. Anonymous09:23

    FR is very aggressive and I don't think they will be at all happy with easy jet continuing to expand in Croatia. I predict they will be launching more new routes to Croatia next year.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:35

      easy jet has been "taking their cake" for a while. They have handled over 1 million passengers from Dubrovnik since 2009.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:44

      True. But no new routes from easy to Croatia next year... yet.

      Delete
  11. Anonymous09:25

    wow Ryanair at Frankfurt. Now that will give Lufthansa some competition. The airline that goes to the European Commission every year to complain about everyone else but has a 60% share at FRA and soon 90% of the German domestic market.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:46

      Bullies.

      Delete
    2. i don't know where i read it maybe here, but there is a theory that FRA wants an upgrade and now they need to show some serious growth in numbers in order for merkel to cash out.
      and that's the reason why they let ryanair in

      Delete
  12. Anonymous09:26

    LJU is next.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:27

      Hope so!

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:50

      I don't believe it. LJU airport has a hostile aproach to LCC. They allowed flights to London just so they can say that they are not hostile. They will block any other route.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:53

      Agree with anonymous above. They will block any route that would provide Adria Airways with competition.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:59

      Same as Zagreb with OU, protectionism.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:05

      What about Transavia then? They started this year and compete against Adria.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous10:30

      Don't mix old LJU with new LJU. Check which company is behind FRA and which behind LJU. Might be surprised.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous10:54

      But Fraport has been running LJU for over 2 years and except for Transavia what else have they brought to LJU?

      Delete
    8. Anonymous11:41

      Well, considering Fraport offered lower fees in FRA, I don't see a reason why the same thing wouldn't happen in LJU. Of course it would be a huge blow to Adria.

      Delete
  13. Anonymous09:41

    I hope they will eventually open a yearly base in Zadar!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous09:44

    How many passengers could we expect at PUY, ZAD and RJK next year?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:55

      My guess
      PUY- 650,000
      ZAD - 610,000
      RJK - 200,000

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:32

      Very modest guess

      Delete
    3. Anonymous11:04

      Next year will be a crucial one as the Turkish market starts to recover. On top of that, Tunisia is also back. Let's see how Croatia, Greece and Spain perform next year.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous17:31

      Actually the beginning of the recovery of Turkey has been halted quite abruptly already thanks to the dear leader's behaviour towards the EU and its member states. As long as the attitude of Erdogan's regime doesn't change Turkey will not be recovering significantly again. Germany and Austria for ex. have already issued travel advices to their citizens for travels to Turkey. That is only category below the official travel warnings which means all citizens must be brought back immediately from destination to home country at the expense of tour operators through which most people book when undertaking (package) travel or tours.

      Delete
  15. Anonymous09:45

    Hopefully FZ will be adding more new routes to Cro in 2018. Not just these 3.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:54

      *Sorry I meant FR not FZ haha

      Delete
  16. Anonymous09:49

    And still no plans to fly to Zagreb :(

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:53

      And I doubt they will be coming anytime soon. "In Croatia, they [Ryanair] still operate exclusively from airports which provide support for their flights"

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:59

      You never know. ZAG might decide to give them financial support.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:06

      They need a LCC to base a plane there.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:12

      The French care about profit which is why they will focus on legacies, not low cost airlines.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:12

      It won't happen any time soon since the airport is protecting OU.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous10:16

      I think 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. Anonymous14:13

      The old terminal will be perfect as LCC terminal. ZAG is lacking in LCC and offers very limited European destinations with a lot higher fare than from the other European capital cities.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous17:08

      Again: French care about profitability , not about numbers and if they "skyrocket" or to overtake BEG one day or whatever...

      Delete
  17. Anonymous10:07

    Of course Ryanair, eurowings and easyjet 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. Why doesn't the almighty Ryan fly year round from Frankfurt International to Pula.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Danijel10:37

      Yes, and that is why Ryan should not get lower fares on airports. Lowest fares should have OU. They are far from perfect, but they fly even when there is not that manny passangers.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:57

      The thing is that PUY and ZAD would be hovering arount 10000 Pax if the relied on OU in the Pax!

      Delete
  18. Anonymous10:17

    The amount of new flights already announced to Croatia next 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
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:24

      +1 I do hope that Brac gets some attention next year.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous21:11

      Rayan on brac?is that possible?
      is true that norwegian will come on brac in sommer 2018?
      Brac can be good for wizzy rayan and other lcc ...

      Delete
  19. Anonymous10:19

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

    ReplyDelete
  20. Anonymous10:24

    It's great news but Croatia should do more to attract airlines to fly year round. Then it would really be an achievement.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:32

      That's one of Croatia's main focuses. Extending the tourist season. They have managed to do that with Eurowings for example. They have launched a couple of year round routes to the Croatian coast this year.

      Delete
  21. Anonymous10:35

    Why is everyone so convinced that the appearance of new airlines and routes will be the demise of OU? The market is growing and there will be enough demand for all.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:46

      True. Croatia Airlines is also growing.

      Delete
    2. With every new airline and/or route the same mantra repeats.

      Delete
    3. I agree, as long as OU fleet size remain dormant they will never be in trouble as long as the market continues to grow so unless some major even transpires which forces a massive Croatia tourism downturn or they decide to drastically increase their fleet, it will be the same as usual at OU.

      Delete
  22. Anonymous10:47

    Great news for Croatia. New carriers and routes are being announced constantly.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Anonymous10:58

    Nice news. Well done Croatia!

    ReplyDelete
  24. Anonymous11:05

    How on earth did Ryanair manage to fly from Frankfurt am Main? What did Fraport do?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:25

      Fraport apparently offered Ryanair discounted operating charges of up to 40% under a new system of airline charges that includes lower fees for newcomers generating passenger growth.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:30

      But don't worry, Lufthansa wasn't very happy with that so Fraport immediately gave discounts to LH and of course Eurowings for next year.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous13:17

      FRA passengers were down 0.4% in 2016. They need anything to get some growth.

      Delete
  25. Anonymous11:14

    Ryanair is opening a total of 35 routes from FRA next summer. A bit disappointing they didn't consider a destinations from Montenegro, Slovenia or Serbia from FRA.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Anonymous11:20

    Tickets are already on sale.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Anonymous13:10

    Any more mew Ryanair routes to Croatia next year?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous14:45

      Dobar si, kako znas? ;) Biti ce, biti ce...

      Delete
    2. Anonymous16:40

      I am sure they will. They have just started announcing new routes for summer 2018.

      Delete
  28. Anonymous13:10

    What happened with FR in Osijek?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous13:25

      http://www.exyuaviation.com/2017/01/ryanair-pulls-out-of-osijek.html

      Delete
    2. Anonymous13:43

      Thanks. Seem to have missed that.

      Delete
  29. Anonymous14:29

    Next year Croatian airports will handle over 10 million passengers.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Anonymous15:10

    What is Air Transat doing on the tarmac at the old terminal? No room for it at the new one?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous16:39

      There is, but Air Transat prefers nostalgia.

      Delete
    2. Looked like there were 2 large aircraft parked next to each other on the old ramp.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous20:07

      Air Transat uses bridge in Toronto. Nostalgia is not the reason.

      Delete
  31. Anonymous16:41

    If Ryanair is fifth largest in Croatia, who is ahead other than Croatia Airlines?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous19:03

      Croatia
      easyJet
      Lufthansa
      Eurowings

      Delete
  32. Anonymous18:28

    easyJet for sure

    ReplyDelete
  33. Why are they terminating RJK-STN line?

    ReplyDelete

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