Preparations for Emirates' much anticipated new daily service between Dubai and Zagreb are in full swing, with the airline to reveal further details for its upcoming inaugural flight, scheduled for June 1, later this week. The airline has modified its equipment on the route from the initially planned Boeing 777-300 aircraft to the B777-300ER. Although the two feature roughly the same capacity, the extended range version of the jet boasts a refurbished three-class product, including the airline's signature first class suites. The aircraft rostered on to operate flights to the Croatian capital are fitted with Emirates' newest configuration of this type. It will bring over 5.000 weekly two-way seats into the market.
Apart from offering nonstop flights to the Croatian capital, Emirates also expects to attract a significant number of travellers from Slovenia on the route. The Slovenian Tourist Board has also recognised the potential of the new service and is working together with Emirates in boosting the flow of Gulf tourists to Slovenia. "The new flights will not only benefit travellers in Croatia, but also those in neighbouring Slovenia and even the southern regions of Hungary and Austria making it more convenient to travel with Emirates to Dubai and beyond. Visiting the airline’s home of Dubai for leisure or business, in a choice of three different cabins, on a modern, wide-body aircraft, is now a viable option. Onward travel to Shanghai, Beijing, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur, or Sydney, Melbourne, Maldives, Seychelles and Sri Lanka can all be reached with less than four hours’ transit time", Emirates’ Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer, Thierry Antinori, said.
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| Emirates to offer upgraded first class cabin on Zagreb route |
The airline has forecasts an average cabin load factor of between 70% and 80% on the new route and expects solid occupancy both during the peak summer and slower winter months. "We are introducing this service because of the firm belief that Croatia has strong economic potential, especially in the tourism sector. Croatia has a solid diaspora in the Middle East and Australia, while this service will link Zagreb with forty cities in the Middle East, Asia and Africa", Mr Antinori noted. Zagreb Airport estimates the flights will bring in an extra 80.000 passengers in its first year of operations. Emirates' Area Manager, Martin Gross, recently told EX-YU Aviation News that the carrier has already seen "keen interest from travellers from the Far East" for the new route. Accordingly, Emirates has offered competitive fares out of Zagreb to markets such as China, South Korea and Japan during the high season, rivalling both Qatar Airways and Turkish Airlines for the same passenger base. In the last year, an estimated 330.000 travellers flew between Zagreb and markets across the Middle East, Asia and Australasia. These passenger flows are dominated by direct and indirect flights by Qatar Airways and Turkish Airlines which account for 71% of this demand.
They are advertising these flights from Zagreb quite a bit in Ljubljana.
ReplyDeleteBut unfortunately still no organised transfer to/from Zagreb like Fly dubai. Hope they address this soon.
DeleteThere is always goopti 😉
DeleteAnd what about chauffeur transfer for first/business in Zagreb?
DeleteIt's a bit unfortunate that with EK starting Zagreb there is little chance we might see Flydubai in Ljubljana.
DeleteAlso in Maribor the route is advertised. But i saw no advertisment in Graz. For Graz their Vienna-Dubai route is more logical.
DeleteHaplek
2017 projections:
DeleteQatar: 180 000
Turkish: 170 000
Emirates: 80 000
2018 projections:
Qatar: 190 000
Turkish: 180 000
Emirates: 180 000
2019 projections:
Qatar: 200 000
Turkish: 190 000
Emirates: 200 000
2020 projections:
Qatar: 210 000
Turkish: 200 000
Emirates: 210 000
2021 projections:
Qatar: 225 000
Turkish: 210 000
Emirates: 220 000
2022 projections:
Qatar: 240 000
Turkish: 220 000
Emirates: 235 000
Would be nice if they sent an A380 on 1st June.
ReplyDeleteThey won't. Staff has already been scheduled for B773. If it were A380 it already would be showing at least in staff system.
Delete^^^
DeleteCorrect. Staff was rostered a month ago for both inaugural sectors.
Apparently it's a Croatian crew... can anyone confirm this??
Delete@ Q400
DeleteDont know what you mean by Croatian crew but it will be 5 Croats and 1 Slovene going to ZAG and 5 Croats on the return. This number includes Serbs and Bosnians with Croatian passports.
@JATBEGMELMay 23, 2017 at 5:39 AM
DeleteI doubt you're familiar with Croatian citizenship laws, I doubt many Serbs or Bosniaks have Croatian passport, if they had it up to 2013, these passports are no longer valid and their respective rights to Croatian passports revoked (passports sold mostly sold through Consulate in Mostar and Sarajevo in the late 90s and between 2004 and 2010).
Some Croatian Serbs have right to Croatian passport, but they're like really small minority.
Bosnian Croats have rights to Croatian passports, but they're also small minority.
So if there are 5 croats going out of Zagreb, most likely he refers to Croats, otherwise they'd state it was 1 Croat, 2 Slovenes....
Getting Croatian passport is very hard for non-Croats, especially for non-Croats. I have a Serbian friend who can't get a Croatian passport despite living in Croatia as a Child and his mom being Croatian. Due to the fact that he was born in Serbia, he'll never be able to claim Croatian passport, unless he is allowed to settle in Croatia for minimum of 6 years 5+1 years, and that is almost impossible, at least legally impossible.
Same goes for Bosniaks. New EU laws means Croatian citizenship is nearly impossible to gain, unless you were born in Croatia and can prove it.
Looking forward to seeing the B777-300ER bird daily in ZAG!
ReplyDeleteIt's nice that they changes to the B777-300ER. Apart from the fact that most have the new product the -300 is being retired soon.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting that Emirates predicts it will have a LF of 70-80% while if you take Zagreb Airport's estimate that would be around 60-65%. Or my math may be completely off. I just took the number of seats offered for a one year period.
ReplyDelete"Zagreb Airport estimates the flights will bring in an extra 80.000 passengers in its first year of operations" Is this maybe just for the first year of ops? 2017, which has only 7 months?
DeleteDoes anyone know how bookings are going so far?
DeleteThis might take away quite a few passengers on the Air Serbia/Etihad combo from Ljubljana to Abu Dhabi.
ReplyDeleteIt will definitely, since it requires a change of planes just once if the Pax continues their journey beyond AUH. If it is the final destination of course not so much.
DeleteAgree with the above comment.
DeleteBut also look at fares from LJU and who offers the cheapest tickets.
The cheapest to southeast Asia is actually Qatar Airways from Zagreb which has slashed its fares. Then EK. But for a 100 euros cheaper ticket will people really drive to from Ljubljana to Zagreb? JU/EY fares are very competitive and lower than TK from LJU but like anon 9.15 says it includes two stops - BEG and AUH.
DeleteP.S. looking at the fares to Asia from ZAG/BEG/LJU during the highest season they are really cheap. That's the benefit of having a lot of competition :)
Delete@Anony 10.02. Assuming that many Pax do not live in Ljubljana but are spread out across the country it will be even better for some to go to ZAG. The same goes for Croatian pax. Many of them will come from across the country, even from Bosnia etc. Those are small countries and if you live in Rijeka you will fly from ZAG.
DeleteThe number EK will take from JU is insignificant, if at all. The AUH flights suprisingly had quite a number of transfers from PRG. Having that in mind, it was always a few pax. What will do more harm for the JU transit pax is the fact that connectivity will drop to 1 daily.
DeleteCongrats ZAG by receiving a real upper class legacy carrier. I'm really wondering if the route will be sustainable during the winter period. After all, EK are currently making lots of losses.
ReplyDeleteIf demand is low during the winter they could perhaps link it up with Budapest which isn't exactly full.
DeleteThat's what Qatar used to do until they generated enough traffic for a nonstop service. I think it was a smart strategy.
DeleteI think in the first year there will be no triangular routing. The worst I see is a downgauge once narrowbodies enter the fleet.
DeleteEK still made a profit but the amount has fallen quite significantly. Interestingly enough, it was the first financial year without their 'smaller' ac ie A330's and A340's.
Exciting stuff. Can't wait for them to start flights.
ReplyDeleteApparently Modric will be on the first flight :)
DeleteI think out of all the competition this will affect Turkish the most, although their fares are quite low.
ReplyDeleteAnyone know out of those 71% of passengers they handle to the Middle East/Asia/Australasia, who has the bigger share - Turkish or Qatar?
DeleteThe one who has the most flights/seats per week ?
DeleteThey pretty much have the same to/from ZAG.
DeleteWe will have to wait and see if TK will cut frequencies this winter like last year. With EK coming I think they will keep flights at double daily.
DeleteThere is nothing to wait for. They have 10 weekly flights in the system for W17-18. Unless they change something last minute.
DeleteThanks. Hmm not so sure if that is such a smart move.
DeleteEK should keep in mind that this is the first full year Turkish will be flying to Dubrovnik. Being a Star Alliance member and offering direct flights, I think they will take a large portion of passengers that are heading to the coast.
ReplyDeleteI notice that EK is selling tickets to Dubrovnik via Zagreb with Croatia Airlines. Do they have an interline?
DeleteCool, this could help feed some domestic OU flights.
DeleteEK selling flights to DBV via ZAG will only benefit those who are flying from Dubai or Dubrovnik. I highly doubt anyone from Asia will use this connection when TK offers a two stop option vs a three stop on EK/OU.
DeleteSorry, TK offering a one stop vs two stop option with EK/OU
DeleteBesides, there's Air Serbia already for that.
Delete*Etihad
Delete@AnonymousMay 22, 2017 at 11:09 AM
Deletetrolling are we
Tourist will use EK/OU or QT/OU combo over any other combo from Asia and Australia.
This is why Qatar is doing so well now. EX is just joining the game.
People keep talking about how TK and QR will be affected but hat about OU destinations like Munich, Vienna, Frankfurt. I assume a lot of people used to transfer through these cities to reach Asia.
ReplyDeleteIf you read the article it says 71% flew with Qatar and Turkish last year. So I assume the other 30% were spread out between Star Alliance hubs.
DeleteQR will probably go double daily next summer. I doubt they will introduce a bigger aircraft and go back to daily flights. The reason is that they would loose some passengers who benefited from the fact that they could catch transfers flights which you can't if you only have one flight.
ReplyDeleteI agree. before any widebody they will probably operate all flights with A321.
DeleteThere is still a lot of empty seats on the first flight both ways.
ReplyDeleteSo what... why if first flight so special and has to be full?
DeleteEK plans in ZAG are not for one month, season or year, it is longterm business.
Well it is the first flight and not such a good look if it is half empty as it is at the moment. Actually more than half. They could have invited the press or something to fill those seats. I'm talking specifically about the inaugural. I'm not saying they will be unsuccessful on the route.
Deletecan you please tell us the exact bookings as you seem to know the LF? What are the booking on the first flight currently in each class? Thx
DeleteZAG-DXB on 1st June at the moment
DeleteFirst - 0
Business - 17
Economy - 128
Of course this can change.
Business is pretty good actually. Economy numbers similar to what fly dubai had but we can't judge the route's success on the first flight.
Deleteand DXB-ZAG?
DeleteWhich is typical of an A320 load, most of the businees being Emirates people and reporters. Any news about the 2nd of June?
Deletewell i guess the first ZAG-DXB has to be booked less than the inbound sector, as those coming in will be flying out at a later date. Whereas those originating in ZAG on the first flight will be flying back later. If those flights only catered for Croatia, it would be insufficient with a population of only 4.1 million.
DeleteBusiness class are airline officials heading there for the launch.
DeleteOMG only 128 in economy class? On the first flight that takes place during the busy summer period?! That's catastrophic.
DeleteThere is news that EK is about to lease an A320 to serve Zagreb.
DeleteI can only imagine the comments if EK had only 128 on its first flight to BEG. lol
DeleteInbound on JUN1
DeleteFirst - 2
Business - 18
Economy - 70
@ 10:28 Of course not and I'm not implying that. Just made a comment that they could have filled up the plane with some media/VIPs on the inaugural. That's not to say they won't (or that they haven't for that matter). I can't see the fare type so don't know.
June 2 is better from DXB then the inaugural, but the return loads are not. I won't write figures anymore, probably shouldn't have in the first place.
This is just really bad. So basically only 2 premium passengers on both flights (First Class) other than that really light loads. The flight back will have a 23% LF on a plane that's really expensive to operate.
Delete^^the 24% LF is for DXB-ZAG, ZAG-DXB is 40.2%
DeleteIn fact they will fly just once. Then they will cancel the route since the inaugural LF is catastrophic. ;)
DeleteHahaha- if any of these guys here would be working for EK or really having the exact booking numbers, they better pray that their employer doesn´t find out as this is actually confidential data and not easily available. So take care ;)
DeleteAnon 11.18
DeleteGiven that EK's profit plunged 82% I highly doubt they will be willing to wait for many years for this route to work. Just imagine, in June they have 150-170 passengers. In February they will have 20-30.
Ha,ha koji ste vi luzeri...sve što vam je preostalo je nadati se lošem LF.
DeleteUzalud.
Maybe OU should start DXB and codeshare with EK instead? Just an idea.
DeleteOU should have started DXB years ago. They could have flown it overnight with evening departure from ZAG, morning arrival in DXB, morning departure from DXB and afternoon arrival in ZAG. Then they could have fed all their domestic flights too.
Deletegood that you all know how bad the LF is gonna be. EK should learn from you and suspend the flight immediately :D
DeleteWell, EK has already suspended several destinations in the past. Zagreb wouldn't be the first one. Imagine the loss from 70 paying passengers onboard the 773. :O
DeleteBad, really bad. We all expected more especially since we are talking about June here, not February.
Anon 12:30,
DeleteYou need to be a sportsman and take your share of: "bad, very bad, really bad!" with smile and grace.
Funny how when JU didn't have 100% on its inaugural flight to/from JFK last year, many people were making huge issues around this - yet remain relatively mute in this instance, when after making its own decision about deploying such a huge aircraft on such a leisure / seasonal route, it can't even reasonably fill the inaugural flights...
DeleteThis has disaster written all over it
I am sure this route will be a success story, good luck HR & EK!
DeleteGuys they've been hemorrhaging money to BUD with abysmal loads and yields. Their strategy is much wider than what meets the eye.
DeleteFirstly, with so many routes downsized, they are drowning in capacity and are looking in every corner of the globe to deploy these aircraft since parking them at DXB is not an option.
Second, they know pretty well that these secondary and tertiary gateways will be troublesome, but considering their proximity to DXB, they are willing to try and nurture them towards an eventual success.
Third, many such destinations are introduced to fend of market penetration by other competitors and also to mingle into Star and One World territory before it's too late. Leaving market vacuums also exposes such destinations to the evolving business model EK fears the most - long-haul, low-fare non-stop.
So, taking all this into consideration, their ZAG move was logical and I for one welcome them from down south in Belgrade, because we - the consumers will have a better and more competitive choice in the future.
Oh and finally, ZAG is just the begging, I'm almost sure other Balkan capitals will soon be on the map as well.
^Agree with you. Their Chairman said last week that a lot of new routes will be announced in fhe next few months.
DeleteInteresting there are more passengers from Zagreb than from Dubai on the first flight.
Delete? how do you know?
DeleteFrom the numbers above.
DeleteEK129 / 1Jun. Y 319 pax
DeleteSlovenian, you also work for EK? Stand in line, many 'reliable' info today, hahahahha
DeleteOh, wait I have newer figures.
DeleteBoth June 1 flights overbooked.
Now, who will you believe?
@AnonymousMay 22, 2017 at 1:50 PM
DeleteMan you're so angry and jealous. And no EK won't be starting any Balkan flights, they've got Budapest, Athens and Zagreb, Bucharest might be their next target if they aren't flying there. And that is it.
Zagreb is a long term strategy, they know they'll take a hit on the route in winter months, and they expect that in first few years before the route builds up in-to a route that generates money year round.
Turkish, Qatar are already flying to Zagreb, and that is some serious competition, they know it and they'll work with that in mind.
Emirates doesn't fly to airports that are served by Etihad and vice versa, unless airport has over 20 million pax. This is the case in Europe. Venice being exception here, Venice has 10 million pax, but it is a major holiday destination for super rich. Most likely they're sending B777 300ER to Venice that is all business and 1st class configured. Etihad flies to Venice only seasonally during summers.
They have started promoting Zagreb on their facebook, twitter and other social media with a video :)
ReplyDeleteMore Croatia than Zagreb but yes. Good exposure.
Delete...and the inflight magazine :)
Deletedanas kasni nesto ovaj "bravo hrvatska" ...da mu se nesto nije desilo??
ReplyDeleteBravo Srbija! :)
DeleteA sladak je :) Probudio se malo kasnije ;)
DeleteBravo Hrvatska!
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteGood luck EK. Wish them all the best on this new route. Can't wait for 1st of June.
ReplyDeleteThis is interesting. Could have some implications on ex-Yu flights
ReplyDeleteThe Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates Airline and Group, Shaikh Ahmad Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, has alluded to a possible closer partnership between the Dubai-based flagship carrier and budget carrier flydubai (FZ, Dubai Int'l).
Earlier this year, Emirates President Tim Clark said studies were currently underway concerning the potential addition of narrowbody capacity to the Emirates fleet. The aircraft would be used to open up new routes whose demand may not require the use of the carrier's B777 aircraft initially.
As such, when questioned by Gulf News on enhanced synergies between Emirates and flydubai given the latter's fleet consists entirely of B737-800s, Al Maktoum said something could be done. “I cannot spell it out. But you will hear something about it in the near future,” he said.
During the same interview, Al Maktoum also commented that he hoped to have a final decision on an order for either the A350-900/1000 or the B787-9/10 by the time the Dubai Airshow takes place (November 12-16). Emirates terminated an agreement with Airbus (AIB, Toulouse Blagnac) for fifty A350-900s and twenty A350-1000s back in June 2014 citing the need to reevaluate its fleet requirements.
Could Croatia Airlines codeshare on these flights? Do Emirates and Croatia Airlines have an interline?
ReplyDeleteI think they have interline agreement.
DeleteB787 would be perfect would be perfect for BUD and ZAG... B777-300er are really too big for that markets.
ReplyDeleteBut LF is never really high in the beginning of route, so I predict that for 2-3 years they will have pretty good LF. The same was with QR, I remember when I was traveling with them before 4 years, and there was only 20pax from ZAG, and all plane was filled with passengers from BUD, and now we see how successfull they are.
+1
Delete+1
DeleteI hope Anon 12:16 will be here when the next round of discussion of JU's JFK route takes place, to repeat the same argument:
Delete"LF is never really high in the beginning of route, so I predict that for 2-3 years they will have pretty good LF".
Agree 100%.
DeleteWell, this is something Hogan said at the beginning. Still, JU is in a tight place, since EK has more than enough profitable routes to sustain losses on any given route for a number of years, until it starts making profit. JU, not so much.
DeleteDoes anyone know EK's loads in BUD and PRG? Doesn't have to be the exact %, "good" or "bad" would also be indicative :)
ReplyDeleteIt would be interested to learn some info on these routes. IMO they attract passengers similar to the ZAG route hence their numbers could be illustrative.
I think Prague does really well for them given that they upgauged the route to an A380.
DeleteAs for BUD, I heard it's not good for them and that out of season flights are seeing really light loads.
There's now so much competition on these routes, involving some of the best carriers in the world. That will allow people to fly at relatively reasonable prices and fly in style! Some of the Qatar Airways deals already seem almost too good to be true, with Emirates' arrival being a major factor.
ReplyDeleteOT - JU just announced its Q1 operating results which are a record - an increse of 8% over last year. Seems to go against the grain of what the hate brigade have been writing on this website in recent times....
ReplyDeletehttps://www.airserbia.com/en-RS/corporate/news?newsplus_news_id=162321&newsplus_topic_id=77910
It's ok, you can have the press releases while we the haters will rejoice every time JU messes up which is more or less every day. :D
DeleteAlso have you noticed how there is no mention of profits anywhere :/
Have you noticed Air Serbia does not publish profit on a quarterly basis? If you don't know that why bother commenting on anything JU related? You haters are just uneducated, primitive, scum of the Earth type of personality.
DeleteLet's wait for Q1 2018, shall we? :)
DeleteBear in mind that JFK was introduced and I think some flights were upgraded to year-round.
For 2017 we don't even stagnate but cut flights. Only a lousy VCE for an ATR and that's it. And how many cuts?
Citta@ Air Serbia increase seat capacity.
DeleteOh do they? What about IST, AUH, 42 pw cuts over summer and leasing out an A319? :)
DeleteSramotno bi bilo da nije bilo ovog rasta s obzirom na rast operacija u odnosu na zimu 2016.
DeleteCitta if you are not happy with Air Serbia growth you can always take a Volvo B10M bus from Novi Sad.
DeleteGood luck Ek! :) look forward to flying with them in August.
ReplyDeleteEK just released some dumping fares to south east Asia from Zagreb including Christams/New Year period. Fares are:
ReplyDeleteKuala Lumpur: €382
Bangkok: €386
Colombo: €387
Jakarta: €438
Ho Chi Minh City: €439
These are return tickets. Availability from September 2017 to March 2018.
Yikes !!
DeleteThis is not going to end well....
Melbourne nothing? :/
Deleteif they are dumping fares to these levels for economy class travel in order to fill the aircraft, i can only imagine what a challenge it is going to be to fill so many premium seats
DeleteIncredible how jealous you are of ZAG/EK story! Feel sorry for you!
DeleteAnon 8:21
Delete+ 10000000
So when Air Serbia was dumping prices, that was ok, when Emirates is doing it, that's bad. I'll fly with Emirates, if they're cheap, and if prices are so low, why not. You can feel jealous all you want, it won't bother my pocket.
DeleteYipee.
No, it was never ok when Air Serbia was dumpting prices, they were accused for being massive loosers and draining the state-budget.
DeleteI may imagine a number of ex-Yu bloggers would be happy whether EMIRATES will fail and delete the new destination ZAGREB later this year! What a shame!
ReplyDeleteSame is with Air Serbia and its New York flights. I can remember so many cheering for it to fail. Idiots on both sides.
DeleteYou're rights! We need a genuine discussion and not webidiots!
DeleteI recall with a degree of nostalgia times when this blog was not so wildly popular and true aviation fans from the entire region had really good conversations and shared some inside info.
DeleteSadly, it feels like there are two hater brigades now.
Best of luck to EK in ZAG, but more so to ZAG in general.
Rgds from BEG
👍
DeleteBravo Hrvatska!
ReplyDelete