Canadian carriers battle for Croatian market

Two rival Canadian airlines will compete on the Croatian market next year, with both Air Transat and Air Canada Rouge confident in their success. Air Transat, which first commenced operations from Toronto to Zagreb last year, will increase its seasonal flights on the route in 2018 by further extending its flying season. It will resume services between the two cities on May 15, some two weeks ahead of this year and half a month ahead of Air Canada Rouge's inaugural flight, while the second weekly service will commence on June 3, which is also two weeks in advance of this year. The airline noted that there is "pent-up demand" for flights to Zagreb, noting that it has an advantage over the completion as it sells package holidays to Croatia, in addition to individual tickets. "We wanted to make sure Zagreb doesn’t become an air-only destination. It’s a gorgeous country and there’s so much to explore and so much to do", the airline's Business Development Representative said. The carrier's leisure division is offering both seven and fourteen-night travel packages to various cities across Croatia in order to ensure the route's success. Furthermore, it has concluded deals with eighteen hotels in the country.

Despite offering fewer flights to Croatia next year than Air Canada Rouge, Air Transat noted that its advantage over its competitior is the possibility for passengers to combine their trip with other European cities in its network. "We have seen all categories of passengers to Zagreb. There are those wishing to visit Croatia or just visit family and friends. Our advantage is that we have an extensive European network, allowing our passengers to combine their trip to Zagreb with other cities, such as Venice and Budapest", Air Transat's Commercial Vice President noted. The airline maintains flights to the Croatian capital with a 345-seat Airbus A330-200 aircraft.

Air Canada Rouge, the leisure subsidiary of Canada's national airline, will inaugurate four weekly seasonal flights between Toronto and Zagreb next June. The carrier highlighted that it will offer more services to the country than any other airline in North America. The Star Alliance member will also offer a range of connections to Croatian travellers across the United States and Canada and says it will evaluate the potential of extending operations to Zagreb based on its performance over the coming summer. "We are pursuing our international expansion further solidifying Air Canada’s position as a leading global carrier. With this new service, Air Canada becomes the only North American airline offering the most weekly seats and frequencies from Canada to Croatia", the airline told EX-YU Aviation News. It added, "Our leisure carrier Air Canada Rouge will be operating this route between June and October, and we are always assessing every route’s performance to ensure our schedule meets demand".

Croatia Airlines has a wide-ranging codeshare agreement with Air Canada in place and is likely to add its designator code and flight numbers onto Rouge's upcoming service. The Canadian carrier will maintain services to Zagreb with its 282-seat Boeing 767-300ER aircraft, boasting 24 seats in Premium Rouge (business) and the remaining 258 seats in economy class. Next year will mark the first time the Croatian capital will have more than one airline operating to Toronto since the early 1990s, when both Air Canada and JAT Yugoslav Airlines ran flights between the two cities. Both Air Transat and Air Canada Rouge will have a flight each operating on the same day to Zagreb, each Tuesday.