Flydubai has launched services from its hub in the United Arab Emirates to Dubrovnik this morning, becoming the first airline to link the Persian Gulf with the Croatian coastal city through nonstop flights. On board the inaugural service was a delegation of representatives from the airline together with members of the press. They were met in Dubrovnik by the Croatian State Secretary of the Ministry of Tourism, Tonči Glavina, the General Manager of Dubrovnik Airport, Frano Luetić, the airline's representative for the former Yugoslavia, Predrag Popović, and the regional Country Manager, Martin Gross. On arrival, the flight was greeted by a traditional water cannon salute.
The route will initially be maintained three times per week, each Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday, before increasing to four weekly from June 13. Services will run on a seasonal summer basis until October 25. Flydubai's Senior Vice President for Commercial Operations (UAE, Middle East, Europe & CIS), Jeyhun Efendi, said, “Flydubai is the first airline to offer passengers convenient, direct flights from Dubai to Dubrovnik. Our new service reflects Flydubai’s commitment to open up 71 previously underserved markets on our network of more than ninety destinations”. Mr Gross added, "Opening this new route is an exciting and significant development for Emirates, Flydubai, Croatia and the UAE. Not only can travellers in this region take a flight with Flydubai from Dubrovnik and connect seamlessly in Dubai to an exciting range of Emirates’ destinations, but we will also bring in more tourists to Croatia from Dubai and beyond, boosting the economy and extending business relations". Mr Luetić added, "We welcome the launch of FLydubai flights from Dubai to Dubrovnik. This is a significant milestone both for our airport and the entire Dubrovnik region. Connectivity is of paramount importance in today's global world and this new route will make Dubrovnik more accessible for tourists from the Middle East, Asia and Australia and contribute to the further development of the region’s tourism sector".
The route will initially be maintained three times per week, each Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday, before increasing to four weekly from June 13. Services will run on a seasonal summer basis until October 25. Flydubai's Senior Vice President for Commercial Operations (UAE, Middle East, Europe & CIS), Jeyhun Efendi, said, “Flydubai is the first airline to offer passengers convenient, direct flights from Dubai to Dubrovnik. Our new service reflects Flydubai’s commitment to open up 71 previously underserved markets on our network of more than ninety destinations”. Mr Gross added, "Opening this new route is an exciting and significant development for Emirates, Flydubai, Croatia and the UAE. Not only can travellers in this region take a flight with Flydubai from Dubrovnik and connect seamlessly in Dubai to an exciting range of Emirates’ destinations, but we will also bring in more tourists to Croatia from Dubai and beyond, boosting the economy and extending business relations". Mr Luetić added, "We welcome the launch of FLydubai flights from Dubai to Dubrovnik. This is a significant milestone both for our airport and the entire Dubrovnik region. Connectivity is of paramount importance in today's global world and this new route will make Dubrovnik more accessible for tourists from the Middle East, Asia and Australia and contribute to the further development of the region’s tourism sector".
In addition to carrying tourists from Dubai and other Gulf states to the Croatian coast, the new service will also cater for the growing number of travellers visiting Croatia from the Far East. Flydubai has a wide-ranging codeshare and partnership agreement with Emirates, allowing passengers to book their trip with both airlines via Dubai on a single ticket. The hybrid carrier faces no direct competition on the route, however, it goes up against Turkish Airlines which vies for a similar passenger base on its Istanbul - Dubrovnik service. Furthermore, Emirates maintains flights to Zagreb and enables travellers to reach Dubrovnik, Split and Pula with a single ticket and baggage through-checked as part of an interline agreement with Croatia Airlines.
The launch of its Dubrovnik service marks Flydubai's return to Croatia after two years. The airline previously operated flights to Zagreb which were suspended in November 2016. This was followed up several months later by Emirates' announcement of its planned flights between Dubai and the Croatian capital, although Flydubai maintains the suspension was not coordinated. The hybrid carrier is growing its operations to the former Yugoslavia this summer. It will maintain up to three daily flights to Sarajevo from mid-June, immediately following the Eid holiday, which will run until mid-September. Furthermore, the airline has deployed its new Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft on its daily flights to Belgrade and will add an additional weekly service to Tivat for a total of three.
I find it interesting that they are flying both DBV and TIV. But congrats Dubrovnik.
ReplyDeleteThere is obviously sufficient demand. Plus there is a visa issue so many people travelling to Montenegro would actually need a Croatian visa.
DeleteTIV flights are subsidized by Porto Montenegro.
DeleteReally? Was that reported?
DeletePorto and EK/FZ is almost same company :)
DeleteNO other airport in ex-YU is doing as much as DBV. I think the airport is even capable of handling LCC from/to Asia.
ReplyDeleteYes, SPU is expanding its terminal, but DBV is growing fast. It will soon be on the top 3 list. Bravo DBV, bravo for everything. You are the exYu airport motivation.
Top 5 maybe, top 3 never
DeleteAre you scared of the results ?
DeleteWhich puny results? DBV is falling behind SPU month by month, soon will be behind LJU and other regional capitals. Laugh of the ambition.
DeleteAre they using 737 MAX or 737-800 on these flights?
ReplyDelete737-800
DeleteKoristit će i MAX. Mix
DeleteInbound: 91 pax
ReplyDeleteOutbound: 22 pax
Regards
So and so loads but it is just the first flight and it is April.
Delete22??? This is an LF of 12%! That's not a good start at all.
DeleteReturn is weak but then again who from DBV would fly to Dubai? It's a small town and there are already flights from Tivat.
DeleteI suppose they didn't bother to promote flight to a local community, that would make initial Dubrovnik-Dubai leg full.
DeleteWith all due respect I'm not really sure many locals will travel on this route. This is for foreign tourists.
DeleteIndeed, that is why they will probably let the first two flights have low loads.
DeleteThey could have stimulated demand a few months before launching flights.
Delete4 flights p/w is quite good.
ReplyDeleteThis will definitely be the biggest competition to Turkish Airlines. Considering they fly over 7 flights per week to DBV during the summer, there is obviously a market.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteActually TK will be flying 11 weekly flights this summer to DBV :)
DeleteWill this affect EK's Zagreb flights?
ReplyDeletehahahaha again same story
DeleteYes, they are about to suspend Zagreb because of Dubrovnik. Steta.
DeleteWhat story? I'm asking a genuine question. If many passengers on EK flight to Zagreb continue on OU to Dubrovnik like people were writing in the comments, then isn't it fair to ask whather those passengers would now fly with Flydubai nonstop instead. If you find that hilarious then I'm happy for you.
DeleteMaybe yes maybe no... time will tell us but from tokyo to Dubrovnik now you will have only 1stop
Delete@ AnonymousApril 10, 2018 at 9:23 AM
DeleteNo, I wasn't asking that and EK's route to Zagreb seems to be performing well. I notice that unless I shout "Bravo Croatia" you can't ask anything on here.
@anon 9:12
DeleteIndeed, this is a right question. If somebody needs to transfer in Dubai and afterwards in Zagreb, they will use direct option to Dubrovnik which has now become available.
ZAG-DXB doesn't seem to be a profitable route.
DeleteOf course it is not. Why would it be? EK has money to throw in the pithole. Duh!
DeleteThey will be cancelling the ZAG route soon. The number of tourists, businessmen etc is significantly going down in Croatia. Now that EK will suffer from FZ´s flight to DBV also LH and OS will downsize their ops, because the guests will simply move to FZ. (Irony off!)
DeleteA while ago this portal wrote that a large number of passengers use ZAG and OU to reach the cost, DBV included.
DeleteIt makes sense for one to assume there will be less transfer passengers via ZAG in favour of direct or one stop flights.
Some people on here need to take a chill pill.
Ever looked at the growth rates at the regional airports here? What do you think those people are coming from except from new routes launched? Of course some people that wanted to go to DBV via EK and ZAG will move to the new service- but that is normal. Other Pax will then use the EK to get the seat that was blocked by the one to go tho DBV - lets say thos wanting to go to ZAG or PUY and now get the seat.
DeleteNext hopefully we will see some long haul flights to Dubrovnik
ReplyDeleteThere are a few markets which could surely work.
DeleteI think it could work, especially to the US. There is definitely potential.
DeleteAbsolutely, every time I transfer for DUB in MUC or FRA I see loads of Americans and Canadians.
DeleteThere network in ex-Yu is becoming very big: Belgrade, Skopje, Sarajevo, Podgorica, Tivat and now Dubrovnik.
ReplyDeleteYes but TGD, TIV and DBV are all seasonal.
DeleteStill it's an impressive network for an airline from Dubai.
DeleteAn airline from Dubai that has a code-share agreement with Emirates. Not that surprising.
DeleteHopefully Ljubljana will be added in the winter.
DeleteSoon Pristina too
DeleteTGD/TIV should be considered jointly. They maintain connection to Montenegro year round.
DeleteThey could try Pristina same way they did Podgorica with a stop. Maybe via Skopje.
DeleteOr via Ohrid.
DeleteDon't get me wrong, but DBV is exploding with tourists. The prices are soaring and the local population is getting sick and tired. Reminds of BCN. We will see until when will this be tolerated.
ReplyDeleteIt is exploding because of cruisers. They do not contribute significantly to the local economy as people both eat main meals and sleep on the ships. They are just creating crowds in the city. However great if you are selling souvenirs or ice cream.
DeleteExactly. That's why Venice is furious with them.
DeleteTUI has a new ship in DU this year.
DeletePula is planning to build a ship terminal too. The Venetians are interested in building it. That would be great for the city.
DeleteI expect to see an influx of Middle Eastern tourists to Dubrovnik this summer.
ReplyDeleteIs it hard for people from Middle East to get visas for Croatia? How does it work?
DeleteUAE citizens do not need visas for the EU
Deleteall others do plus no direct flights between Qatar and UAE
Croatia doesn't really have a strong enough offer for Middle Eastern tourists compared to say, BiH.
DeleteInterestingly enough, Serbia receives more tourist arrivals from the UAE than Croatia does.
... i ment holders of UAE Passports do not need visas for the EU
DeleteAnon @ 10:07AM
DeleteCould you please elaborate a bit? What exactly BiH and Serbia have that is appealing and Croatia doesn't?
BiH is a Muslim tourist friendly country. Availability of halal food and mosques. Consensus is that BiH offers an affordable European vacation without having to adjust too much culturally. In response, a lot of Kuwaiti, Saudi and Emirati investors have developments catered to tourists from these areas.
DeleteCroatia hasn't been well advertised in the Middle East compared to Korea (which films TV shows there).
UAE tourists to Serbia are mainly there for business purposes. In the long run, Iran will be the main source of tourists to Serbia from the MENA region.
So, basically, they go to the same destination like they have at home, minus the sand and with lower temperatures?
DeleteMaybe Croatia isn't advertised enough in the Gulf, but that doesn't mean that it doesn't have enough for average Gulf traveler. They do travel to EU. It just takes them to discover the destination.
I suggest you read this article: http://www.arabnews.com/node/1048361/travel.
DeleteHalal tourism is booming. Drives a lot of tourists to Turkey and Malaysia, to name a few. You have to remember in the post-911 World that there's a perception in the Middle East that they're not quite as welcome in the West. Just look at how the TSA targets anyone of a Middle Eastern appearance. Not saying that this would happen in Croatia at all.
I am familiar with anti-Muslim stance in the west, but they still travel all over the world. They just need to be lured, or else, what did you see and experience when you stick to the pretty much same environment you have at home?
DeleteIts kind of like a retreat from the summer heat type of place.
DeleteI guess Croatia will need to think of a strong marketing strategy to get Arab tourists. A sector that would be worth them targeting are wealthy GCC yacht owners. South of Spain is full of them at some times of the year.
I am spending a relevant part of my semi private life in the middle east. I am not gonna say that I “know their culture, interests and behaviour”, bcz each country is a bit different, but all I can say is that people for the Gulf (specially Kuwaiti and Saudis) they dont care about the culture, nature or anything else except shopping malls, shopping, mosques. Thats all. There is nothing deeper with them. Nothing. I got the opportunity to have quite a good opportunity into the life of one of the royal parts of saudi family. They dont travel to see anything. They dont travel to enjoy culture, local food. They travel to always sleep in the same hotels, to go shopping into the same malls and to eat in top end restaurants (but not looking for anything local). They dont really care about hallal yes or no, even if this family is very religious, when they travel they never go to mosques. But they look for pure hedonism in the sense of hotels, restaurants and ... sex as well. The exyu territory doesnt offer this (or at least I am not aware of). I keep inviting the niece of Salman to come to Slovenia and I always get the same answer - but habibi, are there any nice hotels, nice restaurants (showing them pictures
DeleteOf Bled, Piran etc does not impress them AT ALL). Now when we got Intercontinental in Ljubljana It might happen, but still not sure about it. The richest families from the Gulf they always somehow present the politics of their country. So if there is a clash between the idiology, then they dont travel to that country (Serbia many years suffered a kinda blockage from the Gulf part due to Srebrenica and war in Bosnia). Just in last 2 yrs saudi royal families denied visiting Turkey and Lebanon for more weeks/months because of the political clashes between the countries).
"But habibi" cracked me up BAD! :D
DeleteSloavio, zivimo li mi to u istoj drzavi?
DeleteOvo sto si ti natipkao nema veze s Saudijom u kojoj radim i zivim vec 5 godina.
I dont live in the KSA (thanks to the mighty God ... or thanks to my parents), but i am visiting it quite often (right now coming back via IST, coz LH cancelled my flight) - every few weeks for a couple of days. I dont know what kind of ppl u know there, but muslims from the Gulf are like that ... there is absolutely no real life in their life :))) non sense? It sounds like, but thats their life. I can imagine and i believe there are exceptions and you can find people with interests, but not the ones i got to know. Once the religion will loose its dominance in theirs day to day life, they might become aware of the world out there. Till then, there is only Koran which can fulfill every single aspect of one’s life. And i respect that. I love middle east, i find it extremely interesting how ppl are willing to follow some guideliness written 1300 yrs ago, but the fact is that majority of ppl from middle east doesnt find “random” heritage interesting enough to travel. I can say i am well traveled and not even a single time I met any gulf tourists in SEA or in Asia in general, but you do meet them on the Maldives, Istanbul, Paris, London, but u dont see them in Louvre, Madame Tussaud or places which are seen as “must do”. Its not part of their culture. So expecting to see rich saudis and kuwaitis to massively travel to Dubrovnik bcz of Dubrovnik itself is misconception, but they will travel to Dubrovnik if they gonna find luxurious hotels there, shopping streets or malls with Louis Vouitton, Prada, Gucci (even if they can get all this back home). Its nothing to judge, but they look for different type of tourism than ppl expect. Its the same with a lot of rich indians or bery rich africans.
DeleteHabibi, inshallah, mashalla, hamdillah are more often use words than mom, father, any other words. First its funny, then it is just pathetic.
Jel to ona ista religija koja im kaze kako je OK u Bahreinu, u Benningansu (odmah do velike Dzamije) udarati po pivu na Jumu?
DeleteObicno sam tamo petkom sa svojim Saudi kolegama za vrijeme centralne molitve petkom
Im not saying that they dont drink n party, been to Bahrain for saudi vacations - i always though drunk british tourists are the worst and then i saw hundreds of saudi cars in bahrain buying litres of alchool, getting drunk, party and look for all sex (same as in dubai), of course they do this. Bit this just reconfirms my point. They dont go for cultural tourism (just look at their “touristy places” - are there any? Yes, but not preserved at all and they dont care. I have been to Riad 10x and still didnt manage to enter the national musuem bcz its always closed) and tourism per se, but for a very focused one. They got money and they can afford whatever they want, but they dont care. But this might change ... soon or later... there is a cultural revolution going on in the KSA with the new crown prince.
DeleteO cemu ti to???
DeleteKulturnom turizmu?
Kao onom na tajlandu???
Do u fucking speak english or you wanna impose ur own rules here?
DeleteTourism is one thing, but not the main one. Pressure from the moral police (mutawa) has reduced significantly. Abaya wont be obligatory anymore. Women are getting the right to drive. Gay guys are still prosecuted, but this is not a pro-active policy anymore (they stopped creating fake profiles on gay apps to chat with gay guys with a goal to meet them and arrest them
Or at least to beat them, maltreat them
Etc). Less pressure in general. People feel a bit more relaxed. Shorts have become widely exceptable (2yrs ago i got turned away from entering into the malls, Alfaisaliah for example, today its not a big deal anymore as it never was in Jeddah). Small things which can
Make a life there a bit more
“Normal”.
So why are they going to Bosnia?Shopping malls? Louis Vuitton shops?
DeleteNema potrebe za takvim rijecnikom
DeleteGovorimo o Saudijcima kao mogucim turistima.
Istim onima na objed kojih si ispljuno pregrst uvreda iz samo tebi znanih razloga.
Pa dobro....
Kad sam dosao ovdje, upoznah podosta bas tih "nekulturnih" Saudijaca (kojih btw ima 23 000 000).
Opijao se s njima i nijedan ni u jednom trenutku nije izgubio pristojnost niti se oholo ponasao.
Ima jedan koji j3 svake godine u proljece na rijeci Krki. Kaze covjek kako mu se svidja priroda, voli setat po slapovima Krke...tako puni baterije.
Podosta njih je uslo i u muzeje i galerije po Evropi, pa i Postojnu jamu, odusevljeni Bledom......
Dakle, zao mi je, al te moram seronjom nazvat.
It would be fantastic if they go year round like Turkish Airlines.
ReplyDeleteHope so.
DeleteWhat are the chances of them going year round?
DeleteLow. TK flies year round and it was not very successful this winter. Loads were generally low and they cancelled flights many times. I think there is more than sufficient demand during summer but winter is a different story.
Delete3 daily to SJJ is just insane o.O even if it is just for three months.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the DBV route.
Sarajevo has become such a popular summer destination for those escaping heat of the Gulf.
DeleteThey are not jut escaping the heat but investing billions in their brotherhood country.
DeleteTheir brotherhood country? Ok.
DeleteThe way these guys are going I expect them to open Ohrid and Nis soon :D
ReplyDeleteThis is a really good development for Dubrovnik. Nice to see something different and not the usual routes from Germany or the UK.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteCongratulations Dubrovnik. Well done on another new route.
ReplyDeleteIs there a chance we might see Qatar Airways also launch flights to Dubrovnik next year?
ReplyDeleteI think it might be too late with TK and FZ already flying.
DeleteBravo Hrvatska!
ReplyDeleteIs there going to be some sort of welcome at DBV?
ReplyDeleteYes a welcome ceremony and a press conference. Parts can be watched on the webcam at DBV airports website. The AC is expected to land around 12.50.
DeleteGreat thanks :)
DeleteAnd they launched Krakow yesterday. Flydubai is now connecting secondary European cities with Dubai. Good work.
ReplyDeleteFlying over Turkey now. Should be in Dubrovnik in an hour and a half.
ReplyDeleteRight on time. Heje
DeleteWelcome Flydubai :)
ReplyDeleteExcellent development. Dubrovnik is attracting more and more big names.
ReplyDeleteRemember that FZ has connecting flights via DXB with EK as they also act like feeder ones.
ReplyDeleteI am thinking that we can see tourists from Korea or the Croatian diaspora in Australia.
This should have been Emirates with FZ touching down in Zagreb. Vice-versa.
ReplyDeleteSure. Because DBV has so much traffic in the winter.
DeleteDoes the 1st class with the Emirates out of Zagreb involve the newest, fully enclosed private suite, does anyone know? Since they've introduced that 1st class specifically on their 777 300/ER planes. Wondering if they perhaps started using those on DBX-ZAG flights.
ReplyDeleteI sincerely doubt that.
Deletefor the time being the new first class is deployed on EK183/184 between Brussels and Dubai as well as on EK83/84 between Dubai and Geneva.
DeleteNext destinattion is London Stansted in June.
Since someone mentioned TK struggling in DBV, I was wondering, can anyone guess what are their busiest destinations in ex-YU?
ReplyDeleteMy guess:
1. SJJ
2. BEG
3. SKP
4. LJU
5. PRN
5. ZAG
6. TGD
I wasn't sure if it's BEG or SJJ number one since BEG is the only ex-YU destination where they planned to have a scheduled widebody.
Strange they are still not making ZAG double daily in winter.
DeleteI think order is correct. Beg has 2 daily for sure
DeleteBut even LJU has not been upgraded for a while. It is double daily, but stil A320. I somehow hoped that they will upgrade it to A321 at least on busier days/at busier rotations like friday evening, sunday evening etc. Today’s evening flights IST-LJU was not full, hard to say how full it was, coz i didnt count ppl, but i would say it was less than 70% full (C class 4/12).
DeleteTurkish Airlines has once again loaded the A330 into its system for BEG flights. Let's see if it actually happens. Would be nice if the government didn't block them especially with booming local demand.
DeleteSloavio, I guess for them the yield is there which is why they are keeping it. Will be interesting to see what they do if someone like Qatar or flydubai launches Ljubljana.
Btw, in OTP, the jumbo jets have been banned until June because they caused damages at the runway.
DeleteInteresting. Seems like both runways must be in bad shape.
DeleteYes, there is a link here with photos. OTP-TLV is an extremely busy route, LY regularly send B747 and TK A330 daily:
Deletehttp://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/romania-airport-to-fix-runways-after-incident-04-05-2018
here is the order in exyu:
DeleteBEG
SJJ
PRN
SKP
LJU
TGD
ZAG
sorry, last order was wrong; this is the correct order.
DeleteBEG
SJJ
SKP
LJU
ZAG
PRN
TGD