Dubrovnik Airport in talks with Ryanair


Dubrovnik Airport has entered into talks with Europe's largest low cost airline, Ryanair, over potential year-round flights to the city. The Deputy General Manager of Dubrovnik Airport, Frano Luetić, says the two sides held talks during the recent Routes Europe forum, which brought together a wide range of airlines, airports and tourism authorities. "We held a very important meeting with Ryanair's representatives. We provided them with a letter of intent from local authorities under the condition they operate services on a year-long basis". He added, "They are ready to come to Dubrovnik and hold talks with all relevant stakeholders". Ryanair has avoided Dubrovnik due to high fees, allowing its competitors, most notably easyJet, greater access to the market.

Ryanair operates flights to a handful of cities in Croatia, including Osijek, Pula, Rijeka and Zadar, albeit on a seasonal summer basis only. The no frills carrier has selected Zadar as its seasonal base in the country, while Osijek is likely to become its first year-round destination. During the peak summer months, Ryanair will offer 10.584 seats per week from Croatia, making it the country's fifth busiest carrier in terms of capacity. One of the its main rivals, easyJet, has been successful in Dubrovnik, maintaining its position as the second busiest carrier operating out of the city in 2015, behind only Croatia Airlines. It handled 189.328 passengers on its services to and from the city last year.

Dubrovnik Airport is putting a greater focus on its winter season operations this year, in an attempt to ease its highly seasonal passenger flow. Currently, over 85% of all travellers are handled during the peak summer months. This winter, Croatia Airlines will introduce flights from Dubrovnik to Frankfurt, while Turkish Airlines, which launched services from Istanbul this morning, will maintain the route throughout the year. In addition, Dubrovnik Airport is in talks with Austrian Airlines over extending its seasonal service from Vienna into the winter months. The airport has also entered into talks with LOT Polish Airlines over a new service from Warsaw in 2017. Dubrovnik Airport handled 174.577 passengers during the first four months of the year, an impressive increase of 21% compared to the same period in 2015. A multi million euro expansion of the airport is currently under way, with the construction of a new terminal building to be completed on schedule this October.

Comments

  1. Anonymous09:08

    Would be a great addition for next year. Dubrovnik Airport has capacity issues during the summer but with the new terminal ready next year there will be more than enough space to accommodate Ryan.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous09:09

    Very smart move if they can get them to fly all year.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous09:16

    I remember reading here last year that Wizz Air said it is avoiding Croatia because of high costs. They let Montenegro slip to Ryan, same in Croatia and my guess is the same will happen in Kosovo.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous09:21

    Well done Dubrovnik. With Ryanair numbers will really go up.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous09:22

    Smart planning and strategically expanding. They waited until they built a new terminal to call Ryan.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous09:24

    Which destination could we see?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Stefan09:25

      Some in Germany for sure.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:16

      Berlin

      Delete
    3. Anonymous11:56

      I presume some in Scandinavia too.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous12:03

      If there will be flights all year round (and they would presumibly launch this winter), then my guess too is London or another city in the UK which is DBV's largest market. Paris, Berlin and Barcelona are also highly likely based on passenger stats.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous12:23

      Air Berlin is launching Berlin - Dubrovnik in a few days.

      Delete
    6. I think they might be opening routes to Germany (Berlin) and/or Netherlands (Eindhoven)

      Delete
  7. Anonymous09:30

    Getting Austrian to do year-round flights will be excellent. They will fly with a B767 during the height of summer.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:44

      I think the B763 will be sent because of a shortage with the A321s. The seat difference is not that big and I doubt they are sending the 767 because of premium demand.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:00

      I'm sure these flights will materialize, Dubrovnik airport is growing more and more every year. hopefully, in time, Qatar airways will also come.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous12:18

      Austrian is replacing some A321 services by B767 due to crew training needed on long haul equipment during the course of this year.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous13:28

      So they are not upgradinh to B767 because of demand?

      Delete
    5. Anonymous14:55

      Of course they are upgrading on those routes where demand justifies it - so far I know of upgrades from VIE to DBV, FRA, LCA during summer. These are changes on routes where an A321 is always full so also commercially it should not be bad for OS - though the 767 offers only like 10% more seats compared to 321 but most likely costs will be more than 10% higher.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous15:10

      +1

      Delete
  8. Anonymous10:15

    Great news. Well done Dubrovnik. I wouldn't be surprised if they opened a base there.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous10:15

    What's up with the Qatar Airways rumour about flights to DBV? Is this really happening?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:19

      Sorry I just don't get that. Why would Qatar Airways launch Duborvnik in the middle of winter? I would understand if it were during the summer. Also, they still haven't loaded flights to Skopje yet and they announced them 2 months ago. They seem to be having some issues. They have delayed Auckland launch by 3 months, they delayed Sarajevo by 2 months... Probably fleet shortage.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous15:12

      waitin' for 320NEOs...
      seems they will short lease some 737-800 this year

      Delete
  10. Anonymous10:17

    I'm not so sure whether Croatia Airlines will launch those winter flights. Dubrovnik & Croatia Air. have been feuding through the media for weeks now, most recently today about fare prices, flights etc.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:23

      +1

      Latest problem

      Croatia Airlines sabotira Dubrovčanima odlazak na Euro

      Ponašanje nacionalnog avioprijevoznika u slučaju Dubrovnika i njegovih građana dosegnulo je novu razinu nevjerice.
      Izuzevši sav kaos koji je u režiji Andra Vlahušića, slobodno proizvela Croatia Airlines kada je na uvođenje subvencija putem Zračnog mosta podignula cijene aviokarata, najnoviji primjer mentalnog sklopa Uprave te firme može se vidjeti na Europskom nogometnom prvenstvu koje će se održati u Francuskoj u lipnju ove godine, kada Hrvatska igra prvu utakmicu, zakazanu 12. lipnja, protiv Turske, u Parizu.

      http://www.dulist.hr/croatia-airlines-sabotira-dubrovcanima-odlazak-na-euro/319904/

      Delete
    2. Anonymous00:53

      There is 5 Croatia Airlines flights per week to Paris. Split has just 3 weekly flights to Paris, and Zagreb just 2 more (7 per week). So, that is at least stupid to say.

      Delete
  11. Hocemo više low cost kompanija da leti iz Beograda. btw super vam je sajt!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous15:31

      February,1st

      "Nikola Tesla is the primary airport and it not usual anywhere in the world for low cost companies to use main airports. Their place is not there, but in secondary airports," said Assistant Minister for Air Transport at the Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure Zoran Ilic.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous15:41

      So then if Ilic is saying that LCC's use the secondary airports, why is he then allowing Wizz Air to fly from BEG? Or will Wizz Air be also gone from BEG in the future?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous18:12

      Trying to find any logic in his statements is painful, so I'd suggest you drop it and just be aware he is an appointed party member.

      Delete
  12. Anonymous10:26

    It's amazing that Ryan has avoided Dubrovnik and Split so long. I don't get why, especially since every other LCC flies there.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous10:28

    FR is on a roll in ex-Yu

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:34

      Really excellent news about Dubrovnik. It will surely be a couple of destinations.

      Delete
  14. Anonymous10:35

    Another nice addition for DBV :)

    BTW like it says in the article Turkish Airlines arrived today.

    Here is a pic of it at DBV just a few minutes ago

    http://i.imgur.com/Kd0h55v.jpg

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:39

      Nice :) how many passengers on today's flight?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:47

      Not sure but this happened :D

      http://i.imgur.com/YwCLkwx.png

      Delete
    3. Anonymous13:57

      There were 120 passengers on flight

      Delete
  15. Anonymous10:55

    In a year or two, DBV could easily handle 2 million passengrs.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:59

      Could happen if Ryanair opens a base and more airlines fly through all the year.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:29

      It will happen anyway as last year they had 1,7 million passengers.

      Delete
  16. Anonymous10:58

    Meanwhile Split is falling apart. Well done DBV. Time for SPU to wake up. It will be unable to grow anymore with that terminal.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Anonymous11:06

    wow go Dubrovnik!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Anonymous11:08

    INI-DBV hopefully?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:00

      Would be nice. Doubt it though.

      Delete
  19. Anonymous11:40

    Austrian year-round, ANA charters, new Turkish flights, possible Qatar Airways flights, LOT flights to Warsaw next year ... good times for DBV coming up.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous20:24

      So funny to say possible QR flights just because somebody on this forum said that while QR itself doesnt know a thing abt it...

      Delete
  20. Anonymous11:45

    Would be nice if they came to Zagreb too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous13:27

      Would be nice if any LCC came to Zagreb, not just Ryanair.

      Delete
  21. Anonymous13:53

    Dubrovnik was always one of the best managed airports in Croatia. Good work.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Anonymous14:03

    Great news for DBV!

    Would anyone know the composition of passengers on Turkish flights from IST (O&D vs Transit) ?
    It would be interesting to find out the percentage of incremental passengers to DBV generated by this new route.

    my2cents

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous16:41

      I don't have the numbers but I can confirm once again (first-hand) that Dubrovnik is a very popular city break destination in Turkey. On top of that, Turkey is a country of 80M people where even a tiny fraction with Schengen visas in their passports can generate a considerable demand. And them come those who will buy packages from tour operators and have their visas settled by agencies. Of course it would be better if there were no visas at all but even with them there will be some nice demand.

      And for sure there will be some transfer pax too.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous21:20

      Thanks!
      I'm generally interested in the incremental O&D traffic following the introduction of direct flights.

      Does someone have any averages or ranges ?

      Delete
  23. Anonymous15:21

    Bravo Hrvatska!

    ReplyDelete
  24. Nickey Namey18:18

    The people who travel on Ryanair with the cheap tickets will surely get a surprise when they see the prices in Dubrovnik.
    You might only pay 20 Euro for the flight but will have to pay 10 Euro for a coffee on Stradun in the old town.

    Two years ago when I was there the hotel was 380 Euro and car parking was 50 Euro per night! Needless to say we only stayed 3 nights, which according to the hotel was the average stay.

    While I am glad Ryanair will be an option, the people who travel to Dubrovnik will probably be able to afford a full service airline.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous20:17

      You can travel to Dubrovnik and avoid those places. It's easy.

      Delete
  25. Anonymous18:50

    "Dubrovnik Airport has entered into talks with Europe's largest low cost airline, Ryanair... two sides held talks during the recent Routes Europe forum"

    We read here that so many airports held talks with Ryanair. Even Zagreb 10 years ago, when Ryanair delegation went for final inspection to Zagreb.

    Starting talks with Ryanair are million miles from opening first route.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous19:05

      But it's a first step, so, good luck, Dubrovnik! I'm sure many new carriers will follow in years to come, still hope Dubrovnik will get a seasonal link to US, in 2 or 3 years!

      Delete
    2. Anonymous21:24

      I think that Ryan has shortened the negotiation cycle. They are very aggressive and have been expanding into major airports and those previously deemed expensive. Ryan has a huge fleet order and need fill those planes. I think that airports may have a better (not upper) hand compared to 3 years ago.

      my2cents

      Delete
  26. OT anyone knows what time a330 comes today? at BEG?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous08:03

      between 4.30 and 5.00 P.M.

      Delete

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