The Croatian government has authorised the Minister for Sea, Transport and Infrastructure, Oleg Butković, to commence talks with his Japanese counterpart over the establishment of scheduled flights between Zagreb and Tokyo. The two sides will first have to sign a Bilateral Air Service Agreement, which has already been drafted, with Mr Butković expressing hope for negotiations to be swift in order for flights between the two capitals to be launched in the near future. Currently, Japan's largest airline, All Nippon Airways (ANA), operates summer charters from several cities to Dubrovnik. Previously, Zagreb also boasted charters from Tokyo. ANA, a Star Alliance member airline, recently said it was interested in commencing scheduled services to Ljubljana. The initiative for the introduction of regular flights from Japan to Croatia is said to have come from the Japanese side.
The Croatian Minister for Tourism, Gari Cappelli, has said the country is looking to secure flights from Far East Asia in order to better cater for the growing number of tourists from the region. Mr Cappelli singled out South Korea, Japan and China as key markets. Korean Air was recently granted permits to operate up to five weekly scheduled flights between Seoul and Zagreb. "The Ministry's strategic goal is to develop Croatia as a destination which is accessible to various airlines, particularly before and after the height of the summer season. That is why we are turning towards the Asian market, primarily Korea, Japan and China, where we are concentrating a lot of our efforts".
The number of Japanese tourists visiting Croatia has been growing steadily. In 2017, a total of 142.043 holidaymakers from Japan arrived in the country, representing an increase of 17.4% on 2016. The majority of those stayed in Dubrovnik, followed by Zagreb, Plitvice Lakes, Split and Opatija. During the first four months of this year, the number of incoming Japanese visitors stood at 23.000, up 29%. Emirates, which launched flights from Dubai to Zagreb last year, carries a significant portion of Japanese tourists to Croatia. Early next month, a large Japanese business delegation, which will include airline representatives, is set to visit Croatia, where further talks concerning the matter are set to take place.
There is a rumor that ANA will start scheduled flights from Tokyo to Zagreb.
ReplyDeleteThere is also a rumor of flights to New York.
DeleteThis is what someone wrote last week in comment
Delete"Tokyo - Zagreb, ANA -Japanese aviation authority request for Tokyo - Zagreb direct flights on a regular basis. Croatian Government needs to respond to Japanese request, if all approved first flights between Tokyo and Zagreb could start in July.
The service will be run by ANA All Nippon Airways on a regular basis, service to be agreed but it would most likely be a twice weekly service over Summer months and once per week in winter months.
The service will be first direct scheduled service between Tokyo and Zagreb and between Japan and Croatia."
I don't think this is plausible. First I don't understand how an airline will set up a scheduled long haul flight within a month. Second it will take a few months for both sides to ratify air service agreement even if it was signed tomorrow, which is not the case.
DeleteRealistically speaking, I think it can happen next year.
DeleteAnyone have Japanese arrivals during the slow(er) months? From September to March?
Next year I agree it is realistic.
DeleteNaturally it makes sense to seek more non-stop flights to Asia but the market is only that big. At one point other airlines such as Emirates, Qatar and Turkish Airlines will feel their presence.
ReplyDeleteIt's been two, three years that TK is keeping ZAG as 10 weekly in winter while all other destinations in the region have at least 2 daily flights.
Zagreb needs to look at this from a different angle. They need to re-direct a portion of the Asian traffic from BUD and VIE as they are currently the main gateways to the region.
+1
DeleteNot Budapest,as there are no direct flights to Budapest, for Croatia main getway to Zagreb, Split and Dubrovnik is Munich, Frankfurt and Vienna with five daily flights to each of these cities out of Zagreb.
DeleteDemand for flights out of Asia is growing fast, and Emirates and Qatar are doing brilliant job, Turkish as well, however we need direct link to Zagreb from Tokyo, Beijing/Shanghai, Seoul and perhaps even Osaka. All these are massive mega cities with over 10 million inhabitants and in case of Tokyo over 30 million.
I think our travel agencies and national tourist boards could do more on promoting the area in countries such as Japan. We have to compete for the new markets and not be focusing on the tourists from the West only.
ReplyDeleteZAG needs to learn from BEG's example.
ReplyDeleteSerbia has promoted itself in China so well that currently there are twice as many Chinese tourists as Hainan's seats to BEG.
In other words, Croatia must develop demand in such a way that all players benefit, not only those that fly non-stop.
Emirtaes? Austrian? Lufthansa? KLM?
DeleteAnon 09.14
DeleteI think you missed the point of that comment.
take a look on arrivals of Asians in Croatia on year base and u will see that Croatia is well branded in Asia :)
DeleteFor instance. there are NO scheduled non-stop flights to Korea, yet 500.000 Korean visitors yearly to Croatia. What exactly should ZAG learn from BEG in this respect? With direct flights there will be more than twice the number of visitors than non stop seats on offer. Sorry for missing the point, please explain..
DeleteNo one is saying otherwise, we are talking about the Asians that arrive by plane, not on buses.
DeleteFor example we have seen that since LO and others launched ZAG, LH was the first to suffer and to reduce capacity.
Croatia must make sure the same doesn't happen with those airlines that carry Asian tourists now if JAL or ANA launch flights to ZAG.
Those 500.000 that arrive now are not coming via Mongol caravans but either by plane (LO, QR, EK...) or by bus from one of the neighboring countries.
DeleteIf non stop flights happen, Croatia must make sure demand grows enough so that other airlines remain unaffected. That's where BEG did really well.
There are twice as many Chinese in Serbia than Hainan's seats. That's why airlines such as SU, QR, FZ, TK and others do so well and are adding flights like all the time.
You seriously think that by adding 3 weekly direct flight between ICN and ZAG the number of tourists will not grow in such a way that other carries are affected. Croatia has several airports and for instance only Lufthansa runs daily flight from DBV, SPU, ZAD, PUY and ZAG to both MUC and FRA let alone their coop with OU. Asians coming by bus to Croatia? Certainly some but nontheless I recommend taking one of LH flights from DBV or SPU to both FRA and MUC and count Asian tourists ;)
Delete@anan. 9.27AM
DeleteLH reducting capacity to Croatia? Seriously? Unlike in Serbia, you have to braoaden your view to more than just one airport. LH flies from DBV, SPU, ZAD, PUY and ZAG to bothe MUC and FRA...
Anon 09.42
DeletePlease go back and read the post once again. No one spoke of Croatian airports as a whole but rather of Zagreb where LH mainline is all but withdrawn. Quite a contrast from a few years ago when A321s were a regular sight.
ZAG nije Hrvatska u sferi zracnog prijevoza.....
DeleteDok BEG jeste Srbija.
Sad jasnije malo?
Загреб можда није лети али шта се деси када дође зима? Погледај промет путника на крају априла и где су сви ти хрватски аеродроми посебно Пула са својих 26.000 путника. Сплит и Дубровник су и даље иза Скопља, Приштине ...
DeleteИсто тако, сви хвале туристички промет и раст броја путника а онда Сплит забележио 0% раст а Дубровник свега 5%.
Што се Србије тиче, не заборави да Београд конкурише са TSR, BUD, INI, TZL ... тако има доста/довољно конкуренције.
Уједно, успех Београда није у томе што наводно доминира већ зато што је аеродром отворен за све, од Хаинана до Визера.
@ Anon 09.57
DeleteZAG has 5 daily! scheduled flights to FRA.
Mainline? Why differentiate here? LH is LH. But again, ZAG is growing at rate of around 13% annualy ATHOUGH other airports in Croatia are growing at a rates of around 20%. So what is your point? Surely I would also want a 321 of LH in ZAG. One strategy could be of course to limit the growth of DBV and SPU, then we could see A321s 10 times a day in ZAG. But that would of course be foolish ;)
The reason why I mentioned LH Mainline is because once other airlines launched flights to ZAG, LH immediately dispatched its regional jets to ZAG. Demand to ZAG did not grow as fast as new seats were being added.
DeleteWell, if they limit the growth at DBV passengers would be redirected to TIV or OMO, not ZAG.
PUY would gravitate to VCE and Trieste.
By the way, so far SPU grew in 2018 from 211.413 to 241.845 which is 14%, not 20%.
Delete@Anan 10.22
DeleteLH 3 years ago used to fly with 319 (capacity 144 seats) once a day. Now they fly the CRJ1000 with 100 saets twice a day. THis is almost 40% more seats.
It doesn't matter LH send smaller planes because now there are much cheaper tickets on the market from Zagreb.
DeleteFunny how LH sends regional jets and then OU sends the A320! At least they manage to be competitive somewhere.
DeleteNije ti jasno kako OU pravi gubitke? Well.
DeleteOU said all of their winter flying is loss making so I guess that includes those A320s to FRA.
Delete@AnonymousMay 14, 2018 at 9:30 AM
DeleteLets see, Croatia was visited by 160 000 Chinese visitors last year, Serbia by what 40 000. This year if Serbia gets 60 000 Chinese visitors, my hat off to you. Croatia will have most likely 250 000 Chinese visitors, what lesson can we learn from Serbia, that we should have direct flights with China and perhaps numbers might skyrocket from a very low base.
Chinese carriers and Chinese authorities are negotiating with Croatian Government and once agreement is made, Chinese will come.
This might be next year, might be in 2020. No need to rush thing.
Yes, very likely in 2020, there'll be 500 000 Chinese visitors to Croatia, at least 150 000 to Zagreb, and strong demand for direct flights.
@AnonymousMay 14, 2018 at 10:22 AM
Lufthansa maintains 5 daily flights to Zagreb out of Munich and Frankfurt, OU maintains 5 daily to Frankfurt and Munich, think we can agree the 10 daily flights is more than sufficient for now. Zagreb is also quite close to Munich, only 420km from Zagreb.
I koliko vremena kupuju regionalne dzetove? Ah da poceli su vec da lacaju A320neo.
Deleteverovatno i ove godine 160000 turista iz kine na jedan dan u Kroejsi (nema novog izvora turista) dotad 60000 turista iz kine cetri dana u Srbuji i tri dana u bih ili mne. Nisi jos nista naucio?
DeleteWithout being rude, Chinese tourists are a general trend. In Bulgaria, where visa is still required saw some 40k tourists last year and this year a bit more:
Deletehttp://www.novinite.com/articles/187906/Minister+of+Tourism%3A+I+Hope+for+40%2C000+to+50%2C000+Chinese+Tourists+in+Bulgaria+This+Year
I guess this is all a Balkan mania we have :D
We first saw Serbia and now everybody wants the sweet part...
Last year there were over 50.000 Chinese in Serbia. So far this year we are already at 12.000 and by the end of the year the number should reach 85.000.
DeleteAlso, we got a flight to PEK, maybe you should learn from us how to do it?
@AnonymousMay 14, 2018 at 10:40 PM
DeleteIf you get more than 60 000 Chinese visitors and 90 000 tourist nights this year, my hat off to you.
Zagreb had 58 000 Chinese visitors last year, and 87000 tourist nights, Croatia had 160 000 Chinese visitors and 236000 tourist nights, or 1.5 factor, sure would be nice to have more, but hey, we just started.
Last year Serbia welcomed some 54.000 Chinese tourists while having direct flights for only three months. Now you do the math for this year when flights are operated year-round.
DeleteWe are experiencing triple digit growth since September and there is no indication of it slowing down.
That said, I would love to hear why you believe Serbia won't welcome more than 60.000 Chinese tourists?
Wow. I just love it when komšije get all worked up if someone mentions BEG, but at the same time all up in ZAG belittling it. Double standards, anyone?
DeleteJapanese tourists are quite adventurous so expect them to land in Zagreb and then find them in Sarajevo, Mostar, Dubrovnik, Skopje, Belgrade, Novi Sad, and Pula. Perhaps it will boost a few of the inter-regional flights as well.
ReplyDeleteThe only problem is they spend only 1-2 days everywhere.
DeleteZasto je to problem?
DeleteSmart. South Korean, Japanese and Chinese countries provide significantly greater number of tourists than before and they all prefer to come out of season.
ReplyDeleteBut one thing which remains a challange is that all of these flights would be used primarily by people living in hose countries and in 98% of the case for tourism purposes. To make a route sustainable there needs to be two way traffic which in not purely based on tourism flow.
DeleteWill there be ANA charters to Dubrovnik this year?
ReplyDeleteI think so. I think they are linked with the Ljubljana flights no? Or they ferry the plane from Ljubljana to Dubrovnik and then do a charter back to Japan.
DeleteThey announce these charter flights in early in August and start in late August and early September.
DeleteHow about Tokyo - Ljubljana - Zagreb - Tokyo? :)
ReplyDeleteI doubt it. I think it can either be Ljubljana or Zagreb but ANA definitely won't fly to both.
DeleteMaybe ANA launches Ljubljana and JAL launches Zagreb :D
DeleteDoubt that too. If someone will start flights from Japan it will be ANA because they are Star Alliance.
DeleteWe will see who gets to them first.
DeleteAre there flights from Japan to Budapest>
ReplyDeleteThis is a good opportunity for Zagreb then.
DeleteGiven how aggressive and desperate BUD is I am sure they will have them soon enough.
DeleteHaha why do you say desperate? They seem to be doing rather well.
DeleteI meant desperate because they had heavy losses once MA went bankrupt.
DeleteAfter that they were trying their best to attract as many airlines as humanely possible.
Anon 10:17 What you (and the public) see and what professionals (and the management/shareholders) know is quite different. Public see success in growing passenger figures, such as SKP, BUD, regardless of the financial background. On the other hand, financials are the main drivers of the business, if not operated by government for public service.
DeleteWhen you scratch the shiny gilding coating, you can see the reasons for being aggressive and desperate.
Great to see all this initiative for long haul flights in the region.
ReplyDeleteI for one am glad that the region is becoming more appealing to airlines from far-east Asia. ANA in Dubrovnik and Ljubljana, Korean in Zagreb, Hainan in Balgrade. It is a good thing.
DeleteMaybe Hainan can increase BEG to three weekly and then operate one weekly to SJJ and two weekly to ZAG?
ReplyDeleteI think SJJ is far more realistic given the attitude of the current government in Croatia.
DeleteI doubt Hainan increses BEG frequency given that they carry approx. 50 pax to China and 40 to PRG on their BEG-PRG flights.
DeleteAnd where exactly did you get those numbers from? You do realize that in March alone there were 4.600 Chinese tourists in Serbia.
DeleteHow did they all arrive? On EK to ZAG and then by bus?
Is LJU also trying to get these flights? What are the odds of both airports getting them?
ReplyDeleteslovenes love to travel so maybe it would be easier to fill the planes in both directions.
Yes they are
Deletehttp://www.exyuaviation.com/2018/04/ana-considering-ljubljana-service.html
http://www.exyuaviation.com/2018/05/ana-and-adria-seek-codeshare.html
I think it is difficult for both LJU and ZAG to have scheduled flights to Japan. I thnk it will be the one or the other.
This reminds me of the situation from about a year ago when Slovenia was risen into the skies as the richest and one with the most traffic to the UAE and than Emirates started ZAG. I believe the same with happen with Japan and ANA
DeleteToo bad Fraport does not manage an airport in Japan. Then there would be a greater chance to see some scheduled flights to LJU.
DeleteJAL used to fly to ZAG but they haven't for a couple of years. What happened?
ReplyDeleteA couple of years ago they ended a lot of flights, charters to ZAG included because of financial problems. They haven't returned since. Last year ANA did fly to Dubrovnik.
DeleteBoth BA and AY run so many flights to Croatia, that JL has a code on.... Better offer and chaper flights for tourists.
DeleteJAL actually turned down request from tour operators to fly to Zagreb two years ago. They cited high fees.
DeleteJAL operates NRT-LJU / DBV-NRT this AUG. ANA in JUN, JUL, SEP, OCT. JAL was suffering from captain shortage. Then ANA took over the charter a few years ago. JAL and the tour operators were unhappy with ZAG and switched to LJU about 7 years ago.
DeleteGood luck! There is definitely potential.
ReplyDeleteIt's good that they are thinking about new markets. Would be fantastic to have regular flights to Japan.
ReplyDeleteIt's a good time. Many Far East travellers are skipping w. europe and going to central East Europe because of safety which they value a lot.
DeleteI really do hope that something materializes out of this.
ReplyDeleteWOW! While Asian fly into ZAG most people have to go to OSI, LJU or ZAD to fly for a normal fare.
ReplyDeleteGreat news. So very soon will have the following airlines operating widebodies to Zagreb:
ReplyDeleteANA, Korean Air, Emirates, Air Canada Rouge, Air Transat.
Still waiting on ANA and Korean Air though. But Korean does fly charters.
DeleteNice lineup of planes and airlines at ZAG
DeleteIt would be good if the government talked to these far east companies about them buying a stake in Croatia Airlines.
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised and concerned that the Bravo Croatia guy hasn't commented yet.
ReplyDeleteHahahahAAaaaaaa!!!!
DeleteAwesome news for ZAG and Croatia. ZAG has so much potential.
ReplyDeleteWell done. It seems the Croatian government is really trying to attract as many new customers as possible.
ReplyDeleteI think Japan, South Korea, China and the US are perspective long haul markets for Croatia. Happy the government is taking some action.
DeleteJAR is a must!
DeleteGood luck, I hope we get a surprise in the next few weeks :)
ReplyDeleteReally hoping for a nice surprise like the Air Canada news.
DeleteBravo Hrvatska!
ReplyDeleteSome interesting and related news is that JAL today announced it was launching a new low-cost long-haul airline.
ReplyDelete"The company will be a consolidated subsidiary of the JAL Group and plans to operate flights from Narita International Airport to select destinations in Asia, Europe, and the Americas. In the first stages of its establishment, the carrier will operate two Boeing 787-8 aircraft and is targeting to launch commercial flights from the summer of 2020 when Narita Airport plans to complete enhancements to its facilities."
And the obsession with long haul flights in Ex-Yu continues :D
ReplyDeleteObsession started when Air Serbia started their flights to JFK in 2016.
DeleteNo, it started when SkyGreece started Toronto Zagreb year before.
DeleteExactly. That’s why majority shareholder of Air Serbia pushed hard to convince the minority shareholder to launch JFK flights despite the market conditions.
DeleteMarket conditions are favourable for BEG JFK hence the increase thos summer.
Delete@Anon at 8:05
DeleteNot at all. You were not following closely. Air Serbia initiated steps for long haul in 2013. Efforts for Serbia to restore Cat 1 status as a prerequisite. And the whole obession with long haul just continued when JU long haul was forced to stop. It was already functioning in the 70's and 80's and then "mother" Lufti decided to force those passengers via their hubs. They were not going to take it then, and they are still not going to take it. LH managers are just not smart enough to find their interest in that, unlike LOT.
Flights from US and South Korea to ZAG would make most sense at this moment. Then we could see Japan flights in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteEveryone forgot about similar announcements for US flights...? Where are they?
ReplyDeleteDifference here is that as stated in the above article, the initiative to start these flight has come from the Japanese side.
DeleteNothing similar happened with potential US flight, so stop commenting just to practice your writing skills and use instead your cognitive skills.
Delete@An.8:58
DeleteIf nothing similar has YET happened with ZAG US flights doesn't mean it won't happen in the near future. It has nothing to do with cognitive skills, it has to do about a person being positive or negative towards the Topic. Cognitive skills, at the other hand can help recognizing potential successful destination ZAG from both Korea and the US, with roughly 500000 passengers. Those are the facts, other interpretations I rather wouldn't comment. And just btw if you change US for NA, you missed it completely with both Air Canada and Air Transat flying to ZAG almost daily
I remember those skills and attitude when Air Serbia announced arrival of Airbus fleet in 2013 or flights to JFK in 2015: "Airbus planes will not arrive", "Air Serbia will not get permission to fly to New York" and many more. Those are the facts, you can look up those old comments. And the fact is all of it happened despite the hate.
DeleteI think that LJU should just give up and rather build a high speed rail to ZAG and VCE with 30-45m train travel and let those two airports take over. LJU lost it's chance and they failed on everything. They are located in a too small country with too rivaled tourism by venice and croatia as a whole. It's a joke of an airport and a joke of a direct destinations. Shame on it for being a capital airport.
ReplyDeleteYes, I guess that's why they are experiencing a 20% growth this year.
Delete20% growth of what? Where are the new airlines? Where are their destinations? What happens when adria or if adria collapses? It becomes a useless airport.
DeleteYou don realize it's not just JP growing, right?
DeleteNo idea if there's a chance of high speed rail link with Zagreb or Venice,the landscape is to hilly would cost too much to build the link. Right now max you can expect between the two countries is 120min journey between Ljubljana and Zagreb by train.
DeleteZagreb - Krsko - Zidani Most - Ljubljana, google earth the route, you'll see what a nightmare for train drivers that route is.
Then just introduce direct flights to ZAG and VCE. 15m
DeleteOr build a new airport close to LJU and divert all traffic from ZAG and VCE to new LJU airport which is in the middle and would be best
DeleteWell this escalated quickly
ReplyDeleteAhahahah
DeleteZAG needs to drop these disillusion of grandeur and do what SOF did. They keep on growing this year like crazy and in the first five months they already handled 2.135.951 passengers.
ReplyDeleteBalkans need cheap flights to western Europe, not long-haul to Seoul or Narita.
Why exactly ZAG wouldn't need long haul flights from Korea or the US? Please, elaborate.
DeleteIf there was market for them then they would have happened already. Quite simple.
DeleteBecause if there is enough demand these flights will happen. While in the meantime they are losing opportunities on markets which are close-by. Why not to focus on Europe? Aren't after all the Europeans who spent the most?
DeleteHow can they are loosing anything if they got a demand from japanese???
DeleteAnd are you telling me Sloavio my friend that there is no demand to Beauvais, Charleroi, Luton or Dortmund? Shouldn't that be their priority and not Narita and Naruto?
DeleteWhy can’t they do both??
DeletePlus ANA 787 would look pretty at the Zagreb terminal, especially the ones with Starwars specify livery.
Because we repeated this 20 million times: ZAG needs European LCC, ZAG needs flights to more London airports, UK cities, FR to DUB, CRL, BVA, EIN, etc, etc, etc.
DeleteI mean even Debrecen will be soon better connected to Europe following today's W6 announcement.
Dude, if they get a long haul flight, this doesnt exclude flights to fucking BVA (who wants to fly to BVA at all???)! I would understand ur point only if ZAG had problems with slots and one option excludes the other, but its NOT the case!!! Its like saying ... u go to the sea side every summer and why dont u rather go to ski in the winter??? It has nothing to do .. we got summer n we got winter, most of people do
DeleteBoth!
@Q400
Delete"ANA 787 would look pretty at the Zagreb terminal"
Thank you, looking pretty at the airport should be a new reason for airlines to start routes to new destinations! Air Serbia A330 would look pretty at SXM, Princess Juliana International Airport, so let's start that route!
Trust me there is so much demand for BVA. Take the BEG-BVA route, it was never dropped nor decreased even since it was launched. The same goes to SKP. It is considered Paris' 3rd airport. Reputation may be a bit low, but the same applies for Stansted or Luton airports for instance.
DeletePeople talked dirty about CRL too and today it even has direct flights to HKG.
The point here is ZAG needs to fight for more Euroflights. Come on, no flighs to LGW, seriously????
TLV and BCN seasonal! Excuse me?!
What about the warm, winter destinations??? Egypt, Canary Islands, Morocco....
and? Does this flight to japan impids flights to other destinations???? No!!! So, why u oppose to something which doesnt change ur “priorities”. Non sense.
DeleteSo tell me Sloavio, do you prefer to have 2 weekly Japanese flights or daily flights to LGW and CRL?
DeleteJapan population: 127 million
FR, UK + BE population: 142 million but again Japan is super important.
Wake up, young man and face reality.
Again, missing the point. Demand from far away markets? Yes, and they are working to secure those flights. C'mon, they only started working on long-haul flights two years ago! That is when Air Transat came. Demand to TLV? during winter? No. Demand to BCN in winter time? No. so think out of the box, it's very logical, hun.
Delete@AnonymousMay 14, 2018 at 7:39 PM
DeleteWTF are you talking about, for Zagreb priority is to get good connections with legacy carriers, build a strong base and expand accordingly, Wizzair is only welcomed if they pay same landing fees as others do, no exceptions.
Getting connected with Tokyo, Shanghai, Seoul, Beijing, Osaka, far more important than have some low cost scam airline flying daily to Luton or Gatwick.
You do know London is connected with BA and OU, with 4 daily flights on some days, normally twice daily.
I think, you're just jealous, Zagreb is getting all these links to major Asian cities.
So so, the ZAG pride has no end.
DeleteTallinn, a much smaller city and EU capital is connected to 4 London airports.
TIA non-EU capital: 3 London airports
KIV - poorest European capital: 2 London airports
So, where is shiny ZAG with 9 weekly LHR flights?
You may opt for Jin Air Tokyo flights or Scoot to Singapore, more than happy for you but you must at least connect vital European airports and trust me, there is room for a lot of work.
Many EU capitals already serve bigger cities' other airports.
London: LHR, LGW, STN, LTN, LCY, SEN
Other major UK: BHX, MAN, EDI, LPL
Paris: CDG, ORY, BVA
Milan: MXP, BGY, LIN
Rome: CIA, FCO
Brussels: BRU, CRL
Netherlands: AMS, EIN
Berlin: TXL, SXF
Huh? What four daily from ZAG to LON? OU has four weekly and BA is daily. That's not even double daily.
Delete@An.9:19
DeleteTallin is the only airport in Estonia.Tirana is the only airport in Albania.Ukraine is huge country but with almost no LCC 's. All London airports can be reached from Pula, Zadar, Rijeka, Split other croatian airports few hours from ZAG on perfect highways. The same goes for all other LCC european airports you listed. And at the end do you really think in market economy the french concessionaire of ZAG would lose money with legacy longhauls while it could earn money with european LCC 's? I believe it' s quite opposite - growing interest for ZAG from long haul markets primarily Asian, which some people don 't want to accept because they are simply jealous
@AnonymousMay 14, 2018 at 9:19 PM
DeleteBA is going double daily, OU flies 5 weekly, on some days it is 3 weekly flights to London, not 4.
Again, Heathrow, heart of London, Piccadilly line vith Oyster card £3.50-5.50 and you're in city center less then 40min.
Standsted - London, 80km, 1h20 min by Train, two hours by Bus, EasyBus or National Express coach, Luton same.
Gatwick - Gatwick express = €20 one way. GFB!!!
You seem to have some strange notions that flying to Luton is better than Heathrow??? Since when ???
Also, connection with other cities will happen, there's no need to rush things. Zagreb just got new terminal, needs to get things sorted before we start with million destinations. I would like to see EasyJet doing Gatwick, Birmingham, Manchester and Edinburgh out of Zagreb, replacing Monarch, who went bankrupt.
Vueling to add Valencia and Seville with Barcelona going year round. And perhaps Transavia France adding Lyon, Marseille and Bordeaux out of Zagreb.
Alitalia to add Rome and perhaps Milan and Czech Airlines to do year round service. BrusselsSN and Swiss as well.
Zagreb would be totally fine with these for time being. Oh adding SAS, Aer Lingus and Finnair, Stockholm, Oslo, Copenhagen, Dublin, Helsinki.
These would do nicely. Hopefully all these happen by 2020 or in 2020. Fingers crossed.
After these, I want to see more carriers form Asia, Africa, North America, South America and so on, we have enough of European airlines as is.
@Anon at 8:59
Delete"Wizzair is only welcomed if they pay same landing fees as others do, no exceptions."
That's not true. Emirates, among others, are being financially supported to fly to Zagreb.
"... some low cost scam airline flying daily to Luton..."
Similar argument is being repeated by an expert from Zagreb arguing ZAG needs more legacy airlines and also "soft LCC" airlines like Vueling, Norwegian, Eurowings but NOT ULCC like Wizz and Ryan. However he is likely to support those ULCCs operating from other airports in the region. Are they "scam" if they operate to ZAG but fine when they operate to TZL, SKP or INI?
@AnonymousMay 14, 2018 at 11:24 PM
DeleteSomeone posted Zagreb incentives for new carriers, this is what Emirates is getting, The very same incentives are applied to all new carriers @Zagreb airport.
They might also have struck a PR deal with the HTZ - Hrvatska Turisticka Zajednica. And normally they get a budget of around 50 million kuna per year to advertise Croatia across the globe, majority of the funds are spent in Germany, around half of the entire sum, around quarter of the sum is spent in the UK, and the rest is spent across the world.
No idea if HTZ has any deals with Emirates, however i'd presume they'd have some sort of a deal, perhaps a few million kuna per year to advertise Croatia in Emirates PR program and new destinations program.
I also oppose LCCs as they tend to demand too much from airports, if Wizzair wants to start flying out of Zagreb airport, they know what the incentives are.
Personally I think Wizz will eventually come to Zagreb. They have some 400 planes on order and will need to find work for them. Will be interesting to see who bends first but I think if Zagreb sticks to their guns and OU stays safe than I think Wizz will eventually have to give in. Not just at Zagreb but at other airports too.
DeleteThis for me is the biggest risk in Wizzair’s strategy. Eventually what they can get in terms of subsideries will be reduced when airports realise the situation Wizz is in and the obvious over capacity which is coming into the market.
I think those 400 aircraft will be used for western European expansion. Look at what happened in Vienna. I think their current plan is to have 1 A320 and 4 A321s there. They also operate a massive base in Luton where more growth is expected.
DeleteIt could be that Zagreb is way too expensive for the amount of traffic it offers. Even Eurowings complained and they are not the ones to usually chase the cheapest deal nor to offer low fares.
Anon 10.35
Where exactly was it mentioned that BA will be going double daily to ZAG? You have been repeating that for at least six months now and nothing came out of it.
People are always going to one or the other extreme. Yes, Zagreb needs an ULCC there and no, it doesn't mean it will chase away other airlines. After all this didn't happen in OTP, ATH, BEG, SOF ... so I don't see why ZAG would be any different. At the end of the day, it's people of Zagreb that are getting ripped off so that French can earn more money. Didn't they raise the charges thrice since taking over?
ZAG as a normal EU capital, needs to reachable and easy to access, not only from a leisure prespective but also business one.
DeleteOTP and SOF being poorer than ZAG already did so much when it comes to aviation.
OTP is already reaching BUD while SOF is expected to surpass 7 million - a bit less than BEG + ZAG combined.
Does ZAG need LCC? Yes.
Is ZAG expensive from Europe? Yes.
Is the Croatian taxpayer feeding the French? Yes.
So, a Japanese airline wants to start ZAG service and this guy says: "we don't need that, so drop it!" Wow. You must be paying our of your own pocket some subsidies for those flights when they itch you so much.
DeleteAlso, those flights don't exclude opening other routes, so it's not like they gonna use all the "new-route-credit" for this year.
We are talking about destinations the airport is running after. It's ZAG lobbying for them to launch flights. Please keep up before comnenting.
DeleteSo if airport runs for long haul routes, all others are rejected? Please, enlighten me.
DeleteLong haul to East Asia is far from being delusional. One of the fastest growth sectors in Croatian tourism is from East Asia and it is also less seasonal than the traditional European tourism sources. Croatia has a real recognition as a tourist destination in some markets like Korea and eventually the aviation industry will follow.
ReplyDeleteI hope you are right and that Croatian airports will be back to normal growth in May.
DeleteU cemu je vas problem?
ReplyDeleteHoce ljudi liniju?
Zasto ne...neka lete ako imaju interesa.
Sto hoce LCC?
ZAG je pod koncesijom, SPU/DBV/PUY/ZAD nisu....pa ne vidim nesto opsadu LCCa na tim aerodromima.
Ili LCCi traze nesto sto im ovi nisu voljni (citaj prisiljeni) dati?
LCCi traze nesto sto im ovi nisu voljni (citaj prisiljeni) dati?
DeleteOvo tacno opisuje situaciju u Banja Luci u poslednjih par godina, ili situaciju u Tuzli i Nisu pre pocetka letova Wizzaira. Promet je naglo porastao od kad su im aerodromi dali nize cene. Gradjani, dijaspora pa i turisti sad slave sto imaju mogucnost da lete za manje para. Zasto gradjani Zagreba, turisti i dijaspora ne sme da uziva iste prednosti?
Zašto bi kad mogu i spremni su platiti veću cijenu karte? U protivnom neka lete u Banja Luku.
DeleteBNX already has a smart and sneaky plan to attract LCC passengers. I think ZAG must act fast before it is too late.
DeleteMogu i spremni su platiti veću cijenu karte? Ha ha... gradjanstvo u brojnim EU drzavama moze platiti jos mnogo vise od HR, ali ipak svi oni idu Ryanom iz Wizzairom kad mogu. U ZAG nema opcije sa FR i W6 pa zato moraju platiti vise, ne sto mogu nego sto nema ULCC opcije.
DeleteSlobodno trziste.
DeleteKoji dio tu nije jasan?
Ponuda/potraznja......na meni ke izbor kada, od kuda i s kime.
Sto je tu nejasno?
Aerodromi su nista doli obicne trgovine.
Prodaju svoje proizvode, kreiraju cijenu.
Na meni je da zbrojim i oduzmem te donesem odluku.
Ako je isti proizvod u npr.MZLZ-FT skuplji od istog na BNX, napraviti racunicu i obaviti kupovinu tamo gdje se vise isplati.
Ponavljam pitanje,
sto je tu nejasno?
Očito ovdje imamo dobrotvore iz regiona koji žele da građanstvo Hrvatske leti ULCC-ovima po nižim cijenama uz kvalitetu usluge ravnu transportu stoke.
DeleteTi ocito ne razumjes sto je to slobodno trziste.
DeleteTi očito ne razumiješ da se svijet ne temelji na ULCC
DeleteTko voli neka izvoli.....
DeleteU cemu je tvoj problem?