Emirates, one of the world's largest international airlines, inaugurated flights between Dubai and Zagreb this morning, marking its arrival to the former Yugoslavia and its 39th destination in Europe. Flight EK129 left Dubai for the Croatian capital just after eight in the morning local time with a fully loaded 360-seat Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, featuring eight private suites in first class, 42 lie-flat seats in business class and 310 seats in economy. The airline will maintain the service on a daily basis. In Zagreb, the jet was welcomed by a water cannon salute, Emirates staff and members of the press. Following an address by the airline's representatives, local media had opportunity to tour the wide-body jet prior to its return to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The new flights also mark the first time Dubai and Zagreb have been linked with a nonstop service since Flydubai suspended its operations on the route in November 2016.
Travelling on today’s flight EK129 was Thierry Antinori, Emirates’ Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Thierry Aucoc, Emirates’ Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations (Europe & Russia), Gari Cappelli, the Croatian Minister for Tourism, Ali Al Ahmed, UAE Ambassador to Croatia and a contingent of partners and business leaders from Dubai, Hong Kong, India and China. Demonstrating the high level of interest in the new route, today’s flight carried commercial passengers from more than sixteen countries in Emirates’ network, including Taiwan, Australia, India, the United Arab Emirates, Korea, China, Japan, Singapore and South Africa. In the flight deck of the B777-300ER operating the inaugural flight, were Captain Rashid Al Ismaili from the United Arab Emirates and Croatian-born First Officer Marin Zdrilić.
A welcome reception was held in the airport’s new terminal, followed by a press conference, gift exchange ceremony and cake cutting. After the formalities, government ministers, VIPs, airport executives, trade partners and media enjoyed a guided static tour of Emirates’ B777-300ER. Thierry Antinori, Emirates’ Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer, said, “Today is an important milestone for Emirates as we launch full operations into the market and reinforce our commitment to growing trade and tourism flows between Dubai and Croatia. Since establishing our commercial presence in the market in 2003, we have worked with our trade and tourism partners to make this day happen. We thank those partners and especially the Ministry of Tourism and Zagreb Airport for their support in preparing for introduction of our daily flight and the event today”. He added, "We look forward to continuing the successful partnerships we have formed over the coming months and years".
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| Water cannon salute at Zagreb Airport |
Commenting on the new service, the Croatian Minister for Tourism, Gari Cappelli, said, "I am very pleased to have the opportunity to welcome Emirates in Zagreb on behalf of the Government and the Ministry of Tourism of the Republic of Croatia. We believe that this direct daily flight between Dubai and Zagreb will bring many benefits to our country. Namely, it will enable significant increase of trade relations between countries and will have the especially positive impact on tourism. With Emirates daily flights, Croatia will not only become the centre of Southeast Europe in connection with the Middle East - the most propitious part of the world in terms of industrial growth, but will also be connected with many other countries like China, India, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan". He added that this year-round route will contribute to extending the tourist season. The General Manager of Zagreb Airport, Jacques Feron, noted, "We are extremely proud of the fact that one of the biggest airlines in the world, Emirates, chose Zagreb as their new destination in this part of Europe and this is even more important if taken in consideration that it comes just after the opening of the new passenger terminal that offers the superior level of service for all passengers and complements the top service provided by Emirates”.
The new route will be an important one for Emirates as it will further strengthen the airline’s European footprint and tap into a new part of the continent. It is expected to boost the growing tourism demand for Croatia from around the Emirates network, especially the Middle East and Asia Pacific, and also offer a convenient option for visiting friends and relatives travelling in from Australia and New Zealand. In June alone, Emirates has received bookings for flights to Zagreb from passengers originating from no fewer than 36 different countries around the world. To further facilitate trade and commerce, Emirates’ daily B777-300ER service will offer up to 23 tonnes of cargo per flight, providing many same-day transportation options for temperature-sensitive shipments to the UAE and beyond. Dedicated services like SkyPharma, for pharmaceutical consignments, and SkyFresh for perishables, like fruit and vegetables, will become available to Croatian exporters.
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| Captain Rashid Al Ismaili and Co-pilot Marin Zdrilić |
Congratulations and good luck!
ReplyDeleteWelcome to Zagreb Emirates! The best of luck for a successful route!
ReplyDeleteCongrats ZAG! Hope the route becomes a success!
ReplyDeleteGreetings from BEG
"Emirates has received bookings for flights to Zagreb from passengers originating from no fewer than 36 different countries around the world."
ReplyDeleteNice!
Great news for Croatian tourism industry!
Delete+1
DeleteBravo Hrvatska!
ReplyDelete+1
Delete+1
Delete100% LF and flight was overbooked!
ReplyDeleteConnected passengers from 36 countries!
Impressed!
On all other flights LF if very good!
Capacity: F8 J42 Y310
Delete1.6. DXB-ZAG
Overbooked by 15 pax
1.6. ZAG-DXB
Booked: F3 J18 Y195 = 60%
2.6. DXB-ZAG
Booked: F2 J20 Y337 = 100%
2.6. ZAG-DXB
Booked: F2 J11 Y210 = 62%
3.6. DXB-ZAG
Booked: F1 J10 Y268 = 78%
3.6. ZAG-DXB
Booked: F4 J14 Y282 = 83%
The LFs for the upcoming days looks fantastic and main season is just about to begin in a few weeks time. Also very nice to see booking in First Class on any flight :)
DeleteNice! return flights will be booked more when the pax start to travelling back! Great results!
DeleteGiven their dumping fares no wonder they have so many passengers, they were selling PEK for as little as €350.
DeleteAnon 9.31: And yet people complain about high prices in ZAG.
DeleteEver wondered how other airlines fill their seats. You can book LH from FRA to BEJ for as little as 350€ direct.
DeleteHigh charges at ZAG are unrelated to EK's dumping fares. All I am saying is that EK filled them by offering unrealistically low fares.
DeleteLH does not offer for €350, they start from €550 onwards which is ok because of the ATIs and JVs, something EK doesn't have.
I paid for return ticket to Auckland (New Zealand) from ZAG (with Emirates) 1200 euros. The flights are in early September. Cheap? I don't think so.
DeleteBravo, ZAG! Congrats! It will be great to see Emirates to ZAG and B767, B787 to DBV today!
DeleteDo you realize how far Auckland is? €1.200 is standard fare to Australia and given that New Zealand is some three hours away I think that another dumping fare. However good on you for catching it.
DeleteSeveral times I was comparing tickets to and fro KL both on Emirates and Qatar and Emirates was a bit more expensive every time.
DeleteDo you know what dumping means? Obviously not, as I can book that route with many other airlines especially via China.
DeleteChinese airlines are subsidized so fare dumping is a common occurrence with them.
DeleteEK and QR are both dumping since these flights were announced. QR can probably go lower because they operate a narrowbody to ZAG so there are less costs.
Congrats to ZAG on route to Dubai and BEG to (new) route to Venice!
DeleteAnon 10.21: 6 hrs flying distance is on the limits of a narrow body (full fuel, more consumption), but it's the ideal distance for wide bodies (compared to 1-2 or 10-12 hrs flights). Hence I don't think QR has an opex advantage against EK on the route.
DeleteB773 is designed to operate long-haul flights. Six hours falls under the medium-haul flight so it's better to operate with a lighter aircraft like the A333 (even the A332), B757, B763, A320NEO, A321NEO...
DeleteThe B773 is ideal on flight over nine, ten hours. Of course at the end of the day it depends on how much EK can charge customers. On some destinations like RUH, KWI... they can charge a premium meaning that sending even the A380 makes financial sense. From what I've seen yields to ZAG are far from ideal since fares are extremely low.
Fares from Zagreb on Emirates are not low. That is not true.
DeleteI need to by 25 tickets for my troop to Shanghai for 11th October this year (back on 23rd October).
Most expensive in this moment is Emirates, than Qatar. Good deal is on Aeroflot, but, surprisingly, the best deal is Lufthansa (520 EUR).
Also I did check prices last few days on Dubai-Zagreb route. For first flight it was more than 600 EUR. That is huge!!!!! In same time I compare prices via Dubai with Emirates and via Doha with Qatar, Emirates is always 10-20% more expensive. So, it is not about dumping, prices are higher then on others, and because of that LF is even more impressive.
I just hope that because of Emirates prices would go down, especially on Emirates flights. But for now, that is not the fact.
Purger, will you list us all the delays at ZAG since the opening of the new terminal like you did when JU was set up?
DeletePurger there was dumping in the first few months when they announced the route. At the same time, you are correct that nowadays they are much more expensive.
DeleteDon´t forget Alen that the current price structure of EK is intended for transfer flights rather than O&D. Anyway EK is a true legacy carrier, their lowest fares almost always include a large transfer time at the airport. I have flown with them various times and aware of this. Also, they will be relying on transfer from/to Australia where there is a huge Hrvat diaspora.
DeleteI trace those price from very first day, waiting for Shanghai flights to go down. But from very first day Emirates is most expensive. Hope that prices will go down once they start flying, especially for winter season.
DeleteWe all know that P2P routes for legacy carriers are more expensive than connected one. So, it is usually cheaper to take flights to Dubai via Doha then nonstop one. But 600 EUR is really to much even for P2P legacy route.
Agreed. Also Croats can still visit Dubai in winter as visas are no longer required. But lets wait and see, its still too early for them to drop prices to Dubai.
Delete@AnonymousJune 1, 2017 at 9:31 AM
DeleteI am sure Air Serbia never done that sort of stuff, dumping fares. As to €350 to Beijing, is that return ? I want one @that price.
PS, are you paid to troll or it is just your hobby ???
@AnonymousJune 1, 2017 at 2:38 PM
DeleteDon't remember Croats ever needing visa to visit UAE. However, I think the flights will be packed with Croatian and Slovenians visitors to Dubai or on the network to other places, land of Ozz, Kiwiland, far orient, land of giants and so on.
if Croats wanted to go to Dubai for holidays they would have done it when flydubai was flying. It's not like they were waiting for EK to do so
Delete@Purger please stop lying. You didn't not track prices at all. For example ZAG-HND a few days ago:
Deletehttps://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7kiAopmdnprR1pUZVNOVmZkUUE/view?usp=sharing
There were only ~70 revenue pax on this flight. About 200 people got free tickets at the very last minute cause the flight was almost empty a few days ago. The next days are ok. Word in EK is that in winter it'll be linked with BEG or BUD.
DeleteWord from where? The street? Please stop trolling.
DeleteCongrats, ZAG, the pics are really great!
DeleteMay numbers for ZAG or other airports in Croatia? In first 20 days, both Split and Dubrovnik had around +20%!
DeleteAnonymus 3:46, do you exactly now how many Croats used to fly Flydubai? Please, illuminate us. Because from your statement I can only conclude that YOU KNOW that Croats didn't use Flydubai at all.
DeleteFrom EK, don't you know to read?
Delete@AnonymousJune 1, 2017 at 5:31 PM
DeleteI shouldn't really respond to a troll, however I shall this time.
140 passengers on first flight where journalist, all economy class seats. The plane was overbooked as many Croatian and Slovenian passengers bought tickets in advanced for very first flight, but this didn't show up on the system till all official/press reservations were certain.
Many of the passengers were transferred on flights for 2nd and 3rd.
Emirates won't be flying to Belgrade, or any other city in the region. Zagreb is it. There won't be landing in Budapest or Belgrade and on to Zagreb, you're simply making things up as you go.
All trolls lie, so I should simply ignore any future posts from a troll.
I was checking the prices from Auckland to Zagreb for June and found that a one way ticket with Emirates in business class was less than $3000. That's pretty awesome, considering that you're flying in business class on an A380 to Dubai and then on Boeing 777/300ER to Zagreb!
DeleteI'm going to Auckland with Emirates in September and can't wait. Of course, I bought seats in economy class :)
Delete@6:16PM - Watch and see ;)
DeleteAnon 6.16
DeleteYou do realize that BEG has been connected with Dubai for almost 20 years now? You make it seem as if ZAG is the first one to get a link in the Balkans.
What ZAG is doing is playing catching up. As mentioned before, we had the link to the UAE long before you, we have flight to JFK and soon to PEK. Do you really think anyone will lose their sleep over these Emirates flights? No.
What makes me happy is that flying out of BEG is far more affordable than it is out of ZAG. For ex-YU people that's what matters the most.
Anon 8.18
DeleteBut you are aware that this is DAILY service with EMIRATES B777-300ER which has more than 360 seats?
Aware enough to notice it's gonna be a commercial disaster for most of the year.
DeleteAnon 8:18
Delete20 years! So what? With old metal and a small airline company with almost non-existant connections beyond Dubai (JU's code-shares were a joke).
Yes, that it the same.
Air Serbia is downsizing its destinations this summer, and the only new arrival is a line or two by Wizz. Woohoo!
I guess the 5 million pax really hurt.
DeleteYou do realize that BEG-DXB is operated by flydubai, not Air Serbia?
DeleteThe fact remains that you are presenting the situation as if this is something wow which it is for the airport but not for the wider region. Compare ZAG to BUD or BEG and all this shine is lost.
Like I said, we had these flights for 20 years so there is nothing to be jealous of. You are still light years away from BEG in order for us to even consider you as being in the same league.
To put things into perspective, ZAG is even behind SJJ when it comes to the connections to the East. Not to mention that TK has already downsized ZAG for the winter season and QR is down to 10 weekly A320 with all A321 withdrawn.
EK has come but at what price.
I would also like to add that BEG is home to two airlines, Air Serbia and Wizz Air.
DeleteOne is a legacy carrier while the other is a lowcost. That means that BEG has the best of the two worlds, unlike BUD for example which is home to only LCCs. At this rate ZAG won't have any airlines based there, unless EW sets up show when OU eventually goes bust.
@AnonymousJune 1, 2017 at 8:18 PM
DeleteIt seems to me, you're all worked up, you can't sleep cause you're so stressed out over this.
Look Croatia is in the EU, what matters most to all Croats is they have a decent connections out of their airports, be it Dubrovnik, Split, Zadar, Pula or Zagreb.
Totally irrelevant what you've got in Belgrade, what people in northern Croatia care most for is good and easy access to where ever they need to go.
Zagreb has good links now and more links are coming as Zagreb becomes increasingly more popular. I couldn't care what happens in Belgrade, not my neck of the woods.
EK has come but at what price? Do you have some real problems?
DeleteEmirates is one of the best companies in the World. For sure one which all airports wants to have. You can not compare this to flydubai or Jat flights to Dubai.
BEG is behind SJJ also when it comes to connections to the East. BEG is behind ZAG when it comes to connections to the East especially from October when Air Serbia will stop flying to Abu Dhabi.
Qatar will fly 10 flights with A320 from winter, and that is less than combination of A321 and A320 they have in Summer. But, god bless you, it is 10 flights per week. More than Belgrade will have to Doha, or to Abu Dhabi. Zagreb will have much more seats do Doha compare to Belgrade, and much more than Etihad to Abu Dhabi. For sure will have several times more than Belgrade to Dubai.
Hahah yet BEG ends up having twice as many passengers as ZAG. That is something you seem to be forgetting.
DeleteIn terms of weekly frequencies BEG is still ahead:
BEG has 18 while ZAG has 17. However to that we should also add Belgrade's 14 on TK, 4 on Pegasus and 10 on KK since the three are also offering connections to the east.
ZAG which is supposedly so fancy can't even make TK work double daily the whole year.
Maybe you should first pass 3 million passengers and then come talk to us. After all, soon we'll have twice as many passengers than you have. lol
Also, EK just launched their flights. Let's actually see how long they last. EK might be among the best airlines in the world but it is not a magician to create demand there where there is none. They've already suspended destinations in the past and I could see them fly seasonally to ZAG.
DeleteAlso, my comment on flydubai was in response to your comment that JU flies to DXB. ;)
+1 last anon
DeleteComparing ZAG to BEG is like comparing BEG to VIE. Different leagues.
ZAG should compare itself to Bordeaux or Varna.
The fact that ZAG is the second-smallest airport in the world and smallest capital city where Emirates flies tells enough.
DeleteDemand is there. Bookings from more than 80 different passport holders for the 2017 season so far,croatian minister of tourism stated today. 36 nationals in June alone.
DeleteWhat you are forgetting is that Croatia is being visited by 15 mil foreigners, Srbia less than 1,5 mil.
Zagreb is a tourist destination in its own right, holding the record for the most number of tourist arrivals on a town/city level throught Ex Yu...and leaving Belgrade behind which is even more defeating for Belgrade given that Belgrade is the only somewhat of a worthy place to see in the entire Serbia.
So leave your "no demand" theories at home ;)
@PetarJune 2, 2017 at 12:01 AM
Delete15.6 million + .8 million nautical visitors. total 16.4 million.
This year, 17.5 million expected.
@AnonymousJune 1, 2017 at 10:42 PM
Zagreb and Belgrade are in same league, i.e same size airports, and importance. Problem is, Zagreb had really small airport for many years, airport terminal designed to handle 2 million pax tops.
Now it has a representative terminal Zagreb will catch up with Belgrade fast. By 2025 Zagreb will surpass Belgrade in traffic.
Number of new carriers will arrive to Zagreb, i expect by 2020, out of Zagreb, there'll be at least 40-50 carriers offering flights to Asia, Africa, Europe and North Americas and not just on seasonal basis.
Emirates opens the doors, others will see if Emirates is in Zagreb, they'll try their luck too. Zagreb isn't a small city and 1.2 million visitors visited Zagreb in 2016, 2017, generating over 2.1 million nights. 10% growth is expected. All this data is available from Croatian tourist website, and official publications.
http://www.mint.hr/default.aspx?id=976
http://www.dzs.hr/Hrv_Eng/publication/2016/04-03-02_01_2016.htm
http://www.croatiaweek.com/record-2016-16-3-million-visitors-to-croatia/
Feel free to read and research.
I don't have to make numbers up, the're there to be looked at.
In short Croatia is going places.
Also Belgrade can't ever be compared to Vienna. Vienna has traffic of 27 million passengers. Belgrade barely 4.9 million.
Vienna has a world class sci fi state of the art airport/, Belgrade has 60s throwback and monument to communist brutalist architecture.
Belgrade is expected to handle what, 5.1 million pax this year, Zagreb 3.1 million.
by 2020, Belgrade if it hits 6 million I'd be surprised, Zagreb will hit 4.5 million easily, 5.0 million possibly.
Zagreb has mostly legacy carriers, with decent LCCs such as Norwegian, Monarch and German Wings. Belgrade has collection of lccs Zagreb told so sod off.
So you can argue two cities are in complete different league, Zagreb comparable to Vienna in terms of quality of airlines, Belgrade comparable to Varna.
@last anon Yep. That's it. You described the actual, factual reality. Zagreb is doing an amazing job, especially considering that, unlike Belgrade, it isn't the only international airport in the country - Nis isn't worth a mention yet. Croatia has two additional international airports with over 2 million pax annually.
DeleteEven if BEG records zero growth it will handle 5.1 million passengers. In other words, this year numbers will be between 5.3 and 5.5. Sorry if you can't deal with that but its the reality.
DeleteAs far as Nish goes, on a year-round basis it has as many airlines flying there as DBV or SPU. In winter months it has already surpassed these two in terms of passenger numbers. This year it will comfortably pass 300.000 while next year... who knows. Especially if Wizz Air opens up a base there. So 450.000 is realistic so it's more than worth mentioning it as an airport.
As for tourists in Belgrade, of course we are behind. Belgrade had sanctions and then it was illegally bombed by NATO. Zagreb saw minimal damage during the war of secession not to mention all the support you received from the West.
What I do find funny is that people on here brag about tourism in Zagreb yet we managed to snatch the PEK flights. If there was really so much demand for ZAG then Hainan would have gone for them, no questions asked. Like they fly to BUD or PRG. I think you are overestimating your value.
Furthermore, the growth you are experiencing on the coast is primarily due to the unrest in the MENA region. If there were no wars, growth would be comparable to the previous years as in 5% to 10%.
Like I already said, BEG is home to two airlines, a legacy and a lowcost. It has direct flights to New York and soon to Beijing. It has links to both large and small airports in the Euro-Mediterranean region so no, BEG and ZAG are far from being in the same league. Don't forget your number or passengers and ours. BEG is chasing six million while you are still chasing three. Huge difference.
However, if believing all the nonsense you wrote there will help you sleep at night then I will agree with you.
p.s. I am surprised that with all this massive demand for ZAG (and I suppose you will say it's also high yielding) that OU is such a basketcase and that all of its destinations are loss-making. I guess that also speaks volumes about the nature of the market.
Also I am curious to find out what airlines are flying to BEG that ZAG chased away? Are you referring to Wizz Air? Let me remind you that they used to fly to ZAG before BEG but ended up leaving. Also, didn't easyJet suspend a few routes from ZAG as well?
DeleteOnce again, it seems that you have deeply rooted issues. Both you and Michael who already had outbursts of anti-Serbian hate on here.
@anonymous7:01AM - Zagreb accommodated for more than 400.000 forcefully dislocated people from Croatia & Bosnia 1991-97, the economy had to finance all the rebuilding that Serbs destroyed. This was done by loans, hence Croatia is indebted.
DeleteNiš compared to DBV or SPU? OMG that's like a 6 x 100% difference in numbers :)
Croatia's tourism had been growing twice the world average tourism rate of growth for more than 10 years, unrelated to the "unrest in the MENA region".
I am not predicting what BEG will achieve this year, but calling an airport like ZAG which has traditionally been roughly 60-80% of BEG's traffic "a city in a totally different league" is nothing but a pompous and arrogant statement. Watch what you say, there's one local saying "tko visoko leti, nisko pada..." and to me it seems BEG has already passed through its honeymoon with Etihad 2013-15...
As for the Chinese - Please, let me set you straight. You did not "snatch" anything. This is the first hand information from one of the ZAG managers. Hainan Group is going around the world and asking for money to fly to places. They gave up on ZAG, because one of their own states in China experienced some problems with providing subventions to the airline... Vučić on the other hand stepped in and promised who knows what. 2 pw with a stop over in PRG ? Wow, huge :)
And AGAIN Croatia beats you here as well - Chinese will come one way or another, wheter that be Hainan, Air China or some other airline...
given that over 150.000 Chinese are in Croatia per year already, Serbia has what...30k ?
Čestitke Hrvatskoj onakav prelep termin al, čak i bez staklenog krova :-(, zaslužuje Emirates-ov 777 na svojim mostovima.
ReplyDeleteWell done Zagreb. I hope we see Emirates expand further in the region :)
ReplyDeleteCongrats and good luck, can't wait for the first pics/videos!
ReplyDeleteThanks for covering this ex-Yu. I too look forward to some photos.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first hear the flight is overbooked, I assumed that there could be quite a delegation including press, travel agencies, EK staff, government officers on board first flight. But then I noticed the bookings on next day, again over 300. Although it is too early to comment on a success, it seems that EK will do better than expected in ZAG.
ReplyDeleteThe first flight was overbooked only in the last couple of days, until then the LF was around 60%. Seems like they had a sale or something the last minute. It's good as otherwise it would be embarrassing not to have a full inaugural flight.
DeleteProbably filled by journalists, agents etc. It is inaugural after all.
DeleteIt would seem quite a lot of journalists will be coming with Emirates on these flights.
DeleteI mean, I know Croatia is magnificent but that there was so much interest from the media that even the flight on June 3rd is 80% sold out..
@AnonymousJune 1, 2017 at 1:45 PM
DeleteYeah journalist have overbooked the flight for next 4 months I heard. Damn freeloaders !!!
I am sure if you pretend to be a journalist and pay €800 you can get a free return ticket to Zagreb, you should try, who knows you might be lucky.
You'll need a press pass however, it says Visa or Mastercard on it, and has long number in the middle, you'll need to give Emirates that number so they can trace you down and confirm you really are a journalist. (its good to be a journalist)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StJS51d1Fzg
Go get them tiger !!
Good luck btw.
Well done ZAG! Great work!
ReplyDeleteBravo Hrvatska!
Now Qatar Airways has some real competition.
ReplyDeleteTurkish too.
DeleteTK is in a different league than the other two. It actually has a local market it can rely upon
DeleteThanks for the updates and pics ex-yu! Good luck Emirates.
ReplyDeleteHello world to Croatia. Congratulations Emirates and Croatia. Love the advertisement showcasing the best of fabulous Croatia. 10 minutes till touch down. BRAVO HRVATSKA!!!!! Now you're flying
ReplyDeleteStrange that there are only 36 comments, I expected more. Let's hope tomorrow it's something that interests people more.
ReplyDeleteA bit jelous aren't we? News has been up just 2 hours.
DeleteHahah jealous of what exactly? It's been well over two hours. You'll see it won't even get 100 comments.
DeleteSuit yourself. You will look quite silly at the end of the day.
DeleteNot as silly as EK's planning team at the end of the year. :D
DeleteJust passed BEG at FL360
DeleteHa ha Anon 11.13. That's because everyone is preoccupied trying to get a glimpse of EKs arrival into ZAGs amazing new terminal. Today is a a showstopper for all of Croatia welcoming daily flights by the worlds finest airline. Congratulations Croatia and Emirates. Simply amazing
DeleteNije tebi lako... :)
DeleteE da, kad smo već kod toga. Ovaj blog traži hitnu rekonstrukciju...razgovor s tolko Anonymousa je besmislen.
Any pics of overflying Belgrade?
DeleteWow 250 Croatians working for Emirates!
ReplyDelete"Demonstrating the high level of interest in the new route, today’s flight carried commercial passengers from more than sixteen countries in Emirates’ network, including Taiwan, Australia, India, the United Arab Emirates, Korea, China, Japan, Singapore and South Africa."
ReplyDeleteThumbs up. Shows that this route will bring many new travellers to Croatia.
Could we see EK come to some other Ex-Yu countries?
ReplyDeleteprobably not in the near future.
Deleteit is strange that EK can fly the 773 daily to ZAG whereas EY cannot send even a 330. EY should send its 773 on a daily basis to BEG, as they have JU there and BEG is a bigger market, at least people often claim that.
ReplyDeleteNot strange at all. EY are having serious financial concerns. Calling in the banks to try and salvage the remains of AB. AZ is a mess and virgin Australia losing almost a $1m a day.
DeleteEY will upgrade its BEG service when will be enough pax in BEG. After ASL cancelation of AUH, I bet we could see A321 in near future from EY.
DeleteEk's finances are far from being rosy. Profits plunged 82%, they are introducing ancillary fees...
Delete@ anon 11.39. But if the can make money flying to BEG that would actually help them. They could carry up to 360 pax to Beg as Emirates does to ZAG.
DeleteAnon 11.41 I guess the difference is that EK is profitable unlike EY losing equivalent of $4m propping up financially messed up airlines. A big difference. The best thing EY should do is get of all their partner airlines and concentrate on EY
DeleteEK also gets massive subsidies like not paying anything to the airport. They are far from being run like a commercial business. None of these Persian Gulf airlines are real businesses, they are all vanity projects.
DeleteIf flying 90 A380s was commercially viable, LH, AF and BA would be doing it.
True. We have had previous debates on the MEB3 carriers and for how long will they actually be viable to continue with the continuous subsidies. US carriers bitched a lot in the past and I think they were right.
DeleteEuro carriers acted smart by changing their business model and creating various brands e.g. IAG Group created Iberia Express, Vueling and Level, AF/KL will soon create a long haul airline and so on.
They would want to do the same if they wany to survive in the next 10-15 years.
copilot is Croat! so cool! Congrats Emirates and Croatia, surely this will be really profitable route for Emirates in Croatia in future!
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteBravo Hrvatska!
ReplyDelete+1 million!
DeleteExcuse me for hijacking .. but many knowledgeable persons here. In trying to book the new non stop flight Ljubljana to Kiev (Dniproavia). Trying all possible days in July I can't find a single seat. I'm using the Dniproavia site. Is it always fully booked? Is it Dniproavia really flying to Ljubljana this summer? Anyone knows more?
ReplyDeleteCall Kiev?
DeleteThe flights have been cancelled as expected!
DeleteOuch! Still no information about cancellation of this flight on rhe Dniproavia English language site. Not very professional!
Delete.. and no information about cancellation of this flight on the Dniproavia Ukrainian language site.
DeleteWill they keep it at daily during the winter too?
ReplyDeleteThat's the way it's scheduled at the moment.
DeleteI hope these flights work out outside of the summer season too.
ReplyDeleteAnd let's hope there is premium demand as well.
DeleteWith the interline between OU and EK this should help fill up OU's seats on domestic flights.
ReplyDeleteThey should do up a codeshare agreement.
DeleteMama Lufthansa would never allow that.
DeleteLufthansa is not OU´s mama, unlike JU, whose mama is Etihad. OU has decided to work together with Star Alliance, and there are certain business rules which all airline must adhere to (admittedly the rules are being weakened lately). A partnership with the LH group makes much more sense for OU than with any other group. Without any partners they would die very fast.
DeleteLufthansa is much more "mama" to Croatia than Etihad to Air Serbia.
DeleteAbout that partnership one can see how good that was with Austrian, Dolomiti, Eurowings, Swiss, Brussels... whom all, after several years of "good cooperation" becomes part of Lufthansa (100% ownership)
@ Alen: Market consolidation in Europe and elsewhere is long overdue. It has been always obstructed by national regulation. The EU has done a lot in that respect allowing carriers to merge 100%. To overcome this in the past alliances were formed. These have never really come close to what is needed in the industry. Every other industry is way more consolidated. If you claim that LH is mama to OU and EY not to EY you have not quite understood this industry. EY has long been distorting the European Market with keeping alive carriers like AB, AZ and JU which would be long dead and would give way to profitable carriers. NOW EY has been pumping billions of dollars to distort the market. That´s what I call mama, not the business decisions that LH is making. In the end AB is slowly being integrated into LH, with the bill going to AUH. Explain please how LH is more mama to OU than EY to JU with it 2 years old boutique business model in Europe. Was this a sovereign decision by JU ? Who sent Kondic? Who gave money into the business?
DeletePogledaj koliko je para Nemacka upumpala u LH ili hrvatska vlada u OU ili italijanska u njihovu kompaniju ili americka u tri velike kompanije. Upravo sam se vratio sa leta gde smo pojeli vise hrane nego smo im platili za kartu gde je tu rad kapetana stevki, gorivo? Takav biznis jednostavno ne moze da opstane bez subvencija na ovaj ili onaj nacin.
Delete@ 2:38 - your argument is " because it has always been done so" it can continue like that forever. It is good some people are finally waking up!
DeleteNista neces promeniti. Takav je avio biznis. Niko se ne budi vec svi rade po starom. Na tim letovima dva su bili sa Er Srbijom ja zaista ne znam sta su oni na nama zaradili. Imaju previse stjuardesa koje samo smetaju mladje se samo keze dok starije gospodje odradjuju posao. I stara sedista su veoma blizu mogu misliti kako je sa novim.
DeleteJust landed!
ReplyDeleteAmazing -,pics please exYU
DeleteE8 parking position on new terminal, connected on airbridge! warm welcome to the best airline on the world!
ReplyDeleteCONGRATULATIONS CROATIA and EMIRATES
Deletehttps://preview.ibb.co/iQNuav/IMG_6567.jpg
DeleteGreat pic Anon 12.19 thank you
DeleteFirst pic(s):
ReplyDeletehttps://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1986810&page=55
Thanks for the pic!
DeleteIt looks bigger than the terminal.
DeleteCongratulations to ZAG! And good luck with the line! :)
ReplyDeleteDejane, did you go yo ZAG to take some pics? I love how you do it ;-)
DeleteKeep a good work!
Off to a great start!! Thumbs up and once again, congratulations! Hope Ex Yu and the folks from Zagreb post some pics soon! :)
ReplyDeleteMicheal do you live in Australia by any chance?
DeleteNope. Denmark.
DeleteThanks for the video ex-Yu! :) much appreciated.
ReplyDeleteBest compliments to the blog's administrator for covering this outstanding event in Zagreb.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone know if Qantas are codesharing on this route with EK. They do on most routes with EK to a Europe
ReplyDeleteOh wow, so awesome! Brilliant and congratulations to Zagreb on the achievement. Hoping that EK send you an A380 one day. Pozdrav ot Sofia :) We envy you in a very good and dear way of course.
ReplyDeleteit will as promo after several weeks of flying to make one more press opportunity
DeleteBravo Croatia!
ReplyDeleteWhat say that naysayer now? That we wouldn't reach 100 comments today.
ReplyDeleteCongrats to ZAG!
Docked
ReplyDeletehttps://scontent.fzag1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t31.0-8/18768263_10212879143553333_2722458529968559835_o.jpg?oh=aa785859799d0fecc2d45d96174ded83&oe=59B42EAF
BTW, one of those light poles would be a perfect place for a webcam!
DeleteIndeed, at least two-3 cams could be nice adage.
DeleteAs to docked part, I can only imagine how long it'll take passengers to leave the plane with a single bridge connected.
I normally fly with Austrian a lot from London to Vienna, and they use A321, 220 seat configuration, it takes ages to empty the aircraft. With 360 pax, it'll take at least 20 min.
Great pic! Waiting for the videos of the landing and take off :)
Deleteit will take 20 minutes- but then the aircraft has a scheduled turnaround time of more than 3 hours. So what.
Delete@AnonymousJune 1, 2017 at 3:07 PM
DeleteOh I see, my bad than, they can take as long as they need it, 30-40 min to deplane. No rush. I can only look forward to daily EK flights to Zagreb, hopefully first of many companies that will opt out to fly to Zagreb with Wide Body aircraft. Singapore next? ANA? Korean Air? China Southern or China Eastern ? Air Canada Rouge ?
I think they'll need to expand new terminal really fast now. One Wide body, but 3 wide body aircraft at the same time would make current terminal too small. The expansion must be on the airport management minds as they see traffic going through the roof and chaos with managing 3 large aircraft.
This is from a HR forum. Anyone knows more?
ReplyDeleteBude uspjeh ako oštemaju ulaz u sortirnicu pa se ne dogodi bruka i sramota kao danas kad su kontejneri iz Emiratesa ostali ispred jer nisu mogli proći u sortirnicu. Potom su se praznili ispred i vozalo se sve unutra. Kako se misle handlati 2 takva zrakoplova?
Ja stvarno ne znam kako opravdati ovaj...nemogu nazvati propustom već notornom glupošću. Stvarno jad.
Pa vi pljuvajte kritičare i pravdajte ovaj fijasko od ...trebalo je biti....vrhunskog posla za Zagreb i Hrvatsku.
Za pocetak, to sto si kopirao, kopirao si izljev gluposti nekog anonimusa.
DeleteJer, ako vozilo koje vuce prtljagu moze uci u sortirnicu, budi siguran kako moze i ULD kojeg ovdje taj anonimac naziva kontejnerom.
...Sem ako kontejner nije bio previsok
DeleteBudi siguran da ako nije u sortirnicu stao kako onda nije avionom ni dosao
DeleteFake news
DeleteThis aircraft is too big for ZAG
DeleteSomeone needs to educate the trolls about aviation. Still lmao. ULD not fitting into sorting area, what an imagination
Delete:))))))))))))
ZAG fail lol
Deleteloooooool just jelous people, ULD went inside without any problem, guyz, why u are making fake news? Emirates crew was really happy with service in Zagreb, handling op., airbridge, pushback, etc. Flight cew said that to us, operation crew in Zag :)
DeleteThat was writen by a Croat who works at the airport. I am sure he knows more than you do since you most likely load luggage or something.
DeleteTaht post was written by an idiot and copy/pasted also
DeleteOf course every time someone messes up in Croatia it's fake news. I mean after all we are talking about an airport that didn't know how to celebrate it's 1 milionth passengers
DeleteYou mean you didn't know.....or you know better?
DeleteOnce again, stop trying to be smart. It is not working. The airport welcomed him on Saturday but they missed him so they chose someone randomly a few days later. It was reported on here.
DeleteBtw...mi ne koristimo izraz "bruka"
DeleteA short note on the 1 millionth passanger. If you were a PR department and wanted to invite journalist, for which you need to do 1 day in advance (most journalists don't know their schedules more than 1 day ahead and even then things can change...), would you call them up on Saturday or Sunday to show up, or would you wait Monday morning to organize this mini PR news to be published the next day, on Tuesday May 30th ?
DeleteCongrats from Skopje! Croatia is going very up!
ReplyDeleteThank you for the coverage ex-Yu. Much appreciated.
ReplyDelete+1 was the quickest and most up to date of any portal. Of two Croatian aviation specialized portals one didn't even report this and the other did just a few hours ago.
DeleteWhich is the second croatian aviation portal... I know about avioradar, but what is the second?
DeleteBravo Zagrab for making this happen!
ReplyDeleteOT: Boeing 767-304 today in Dubrovnik, beautiful pics!
ReplyDeletehttps://www.facebook.com/AvioRadar/photos/pcb.1951619298403302/1951618285070070/?type=3&theater
OT: Sarajevo in May
ReplyDelete84.137 pax
-1,9%
So far, in 2017:
305.813 pax
+5,1%
still unbelievable. Every day 777-300 to DXB. amazing :0
ReplyDeletewhat can we expect from EK during the winter period when it comes to ZAG? I would not be surprised if BUD or possibly BEG and ZAG are linked during this time. I wish ZAG the best but I am curious how they will fill seats during October-April period.
ReplyDeleteIf I were you, I wouldn't worry that much :)
DeleteBecause I remember comments, predictions, and worries hers, few years ago, when Qatar started their ZAG operations, that the flights will be cancelled within few months time, and that QR would be leaving ZAG soon. Meanwhile, their tripled their capacity to ZAG. And Emirates case will be the similar story - if not increasing capacity, it will at least remain daily throughout the year. And lot of people are really not aware of the real turistic potential of Zagreb and Croatia, which is huge, and has just started booming
Touching down:
ReplyDeletehttps://scontent.fzag1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t31.0-8/18880004_1541835195839274_4357643207706221076_o.jpg?oh=50e4dccce8f35eb2cd697b1581a5f815&oe=599C43D4
I don’t understand why we are celebrating a uae owned aircraft land on the french owned airport to ferry passengers to foreign owned resorts using a foreign currency to pay. In the 80s we had our own dc10s, our own airport, resorts and currency. What are we exactly celebrating here, economic occupation...? This is not the Croatia I fought for!
ReplyDelete- Hrvoje