Instant success for Korean Air's Zagreb service


Zagreb has become one of Korean Air's best performing routes in terms of bookings just weeks following the launch of the three weekly scheduled service between Seoul and the Croatian capital. The Korean carrier noted that its average cabin load factor on the Zagreb - Seoul - Zagreb flights this September, operated by the three-class 218-seat Airbus A330-200 aircraft, amounts to 99%. As a result, the route has the highest average cabin occupancy rate within Korean Air's European network, ahead of Barcelona at 98% and Zurich at 92%. Furthermore, Zagreb has placed fourth among the carrier's global destinations with only Okinawa, Phuket and Sydney ahead. "As the holiday season approaches, the Zagreb route is close to full", Korean Air said.

The airline conceded that the early strong results were primarily down to the upcoming Chuseok festival, a major three-day thanksgiving holiday during which demand for travel on the Korean peninsula increases significantly. "Due to the nature of the festivals, which allow for protracted holidays, long haul routes are showing better booking rates than mid and short haul routes", the airline said. However, it added that sales for its new Zagreb service have exceeded expectations so far. Furthermore, it noted that the route is not being used purely by point to point passengers. "The new Incheon - Zagreb service is the first direct nonstop route from Asia to Croatia. It is also being used by customers to visit other countries in Eastern Europe and the Balkans", the airline said.

Korea's largest tour operator Hanatour, noted, "Most of the people who are travelling to Zagreb during the holiday season are young but there are also examples of large families travelling together as a group". Close to half a million Korean tourists are expected to visit Croatia this year. The Korean carrier will upgrade its equipment on the service at the end of next month to the Boeing 777-200ER aircraft. However, it will then switch to the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner as of January 2, 2019. The two jets seat between 248 and 269 passengers. Korean Air will operate the return service from Zagreb to Seoul via Zurich over the winter months.

Comments

  1. Anonymous09:02

    Good to hear.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous09:03

    Will they be sending a bigger plane in the next few weeks to ZAG?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:04

      Maybe only A333. There is rumors about route upgrade next summer season.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:05

      To B777 I assume?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:10

      They also have the A380 <3 <3 <3

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:14

      They will probably increase to B747-8 in summer on certain dates, which they also use to PRG.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:40

      @Anonymous17 September 2018 at 09:03
      Will they be sending a bigger plane in the next few weeks to ZAG?

      No, they might send A330 300 on few days, as they did already, but no bigger planes planned, this is new route, it would be stupid to commit to a larger aircraft, Zagreb if we are really honest, doesn't need anything larger than A330 200, if at some point in future there's demand, B787 800 can be sent, but beyond this no need for larger aircraft.

      Zagreb should expand its terminal and sort its stuff first, also not pleased how the Turks got in on the action @Zagreb airport, they're literally cannibalizing airport finances for their own end. Story in Slobodna Dalmacija is making me very angry with TAV and the Turks.

      I think Government should step in, tell the French, we agreed with you, not the Turks, you're braking our contract and we'll devolve this relationship unless you take actions and re-gain control of operations fully.

      Turks it seems are siphoning funds from Zagreb airport to prop up TAV turkey, $110 million in 2017, no idea how much in 2018, this has to stop. Croatian Government must step in and take control of the airport.


      Delete
    6. Anonymous09:58

      The article clearly states that KE will upgrade the service to 777-200ER at the end of next month.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous10:11

      @Anonymous17 September 2018 at 09:04
      Maybe only A333. There is rumors about route upgrade next summer season.

      No such rumors, on other forum, guy who works for Korean air keeps us up to date, no plans for anything beyond what we've got now. 3 weekly flights with A330 200 and From Jan 2nd with B787 800. Plz don't speculate if you aren't sure.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous10:38

      Anonymous17 September 2018 at 09:58
      The article clearly states that KE will upgrade the service to 777-200ER at the end of next month.

      Hm, not sure it is smart move by Korean Air, B777 200ER is too big for Zagreb on a regular basis and new route. I guess Korean air has some data that justifies sending, oh ok re-read the article again, 248 seats, I was like afraid they might be sending 300+ seats B777. I guess it is a slight increase in number of passengers, might be ok. We'll see. They did send A330 300 few times already, and they are considering sending it again later this week. However, I would be happy with A330 200 year round, three weekly service, I am ecstatic tbh.

      Add Chinese carrier in 2019, perhaps even US Carrier say Delta (wishful thinking and hoping)
      we could see nice coverage of Americas, Asia and Middle East, with Emirates, Qatar and Turkish. Only south-east Asia is missing, Singapore or Thy Airways would do us nice, Although someone said Asiana X or something is expanding...



      Delete
    9. Anonymous10:45

      777-200 (base, ER, LR) planes are ~250 seats, 777-300s are big planes with ~350 seats.

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:03

    Not surprising. With 500,000 visitors from Korea it's baffling they didn't launch the route earlier.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:06

      With 500k Korean tourists they might as well launch daily service :D although most of them probably visit Croatia as a part of a tour

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:10

      Wasn't there a drop in Korean arrivals this year?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:14

      Yes there has been a small drop compared to last year (so far).

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:15

      Hopefully with these new flights numbers will catch up or exceed last year.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:16

      We will see what impact this route will have in the September figures.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous09:46

      Had Incheon won the concession for Zagreb, flights would have started immediately.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous09:53

      @Anonymous17 September 2018 at 09:06

      No, not most of them, Actually most Koreans visit individually, most are young, in their 20s and most are traveling alone, discovering Europe. Tour operators have a significant chunk of the market, around 20-25%, but nowhere near to your statement, "most".

      Same goes with the Japanese visitors.

      Anonymous17 September 2018 at 09:10
      Wasn't there a drop in Korean arrivals this year?

      Yes, 36000 visitor drop for first 6 months. Sadly, totally unexpected, however numbers should be up again, we'll need to wait till the end of the year to find out how many visitors from S. Korea, but i expect it'll be around 450 000 this year, last year we had 444 000 and so far this year 277 000 visited Croatia.

      @Anonymous17 September 2018 at 09:06

      No daily service is a bad idea, really bad idea, just look at Emirates who launched daily service and maintained it winter, well November last year, according to Nemjee numbers, 8988 passengers used the route, 20 rotations in November generated barely 62% load factor, you really don't want that sort of number on wide body aircraft, anything under 75% is a loss.

      Good to see Korean Air is going cautiously and plans to do stuff according to demand not like emirates. BTW good to see Zagreb is doing so well for Korean Air.


      Delete
    8. Anonymous12:07

      He also posted EK had a sharp increase in June so in winter they could have 75% up from 62% last year.

      Delete
  4. Anonymous09:04

    It looks as if this route is exclusively used by Koreans.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:54

      No shit Sherlock, flying out of Inchon to Zagreb, who else you expect to fly on the route, Martians perhaps ?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:55

      No, I would expect Croats too.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous12:36

      Dr. Watson did not even think about the possibility Croats to visit Korea :-)))

      Delete
    4. Anonymous13:13

      @Anonymous17 September 2018 at 12:36 If the tickets are rightly prices, sure, but atm they're steep, no Croats would waste $1000 on a ticket unless it is USA. Lufthansa, BA, AF, KLM, Iberia, all have cheaper flights to Seoul out of Zagreb.

      Delete
    5. Hoce, hoce.
      Posebno onaj kojem poslodavac placa karte.
      A tak'ih je poprilicno

      Delete
  5. Anonymous09:07

    ' "The new Incheon - Zagreb service is the first direct nonstop route from Asia to Croatia.'

    I wasn't aware Emirates added a stop on its way to Zagreb. Anyone know which stop it is? OSI? BWK? INI? Also, OU operates nonstop flights to Asia as they serve Tel Aviv while LY operates flights to ZAG.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:09

      They probably meant far east asian.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:10

      They said Asia, not north-east Asia.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:11

      Well you know airlines and press releases... always the first and best.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:18

      True but it's funny.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:22

      Discussed this a few times with Japanese people. East Asians (Japan, Korea etc) dont consider the Middle East as Asia. For them Asia is only the triangle Burma - Japan - Indonesia. This is how the learn in schools AFAIK.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous10:01

      Let's be honest guys, even is it is in Asia, who considers Israel to be there? We always refer to those countries as Middle East countries.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous12:08

      ...and Middle East is not a continent. It's part of Asia.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous13:42

      And? I know that, thanks.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous13:44

      And you would hear that a certain airline has introduced flights to Middle East. They won't say to Asia. And of course we know that that part is Asia too.

      Delete
  6. Anonymous09:07

    Is there any chance they will start Ljubljana?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:09

      No market demand.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:11

      No

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:12

      There were 147,981 korean tourists in Slovenia last year, which is not a small number at all.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:17

      Yes but I am sure most of those in Slovenia came through Croatia or Venice. They didn't fly directly though SU might start changing that. They are super strong in Korea.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:04

      Don't think so. Normally they come to Cro and then visit Slo as well. I am more interested in the fact that Slo and Cro presented themselves together in China. The advertising campaign is financed with EU funds. Good job, bravo.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous10:06

      @Anonymous17 September 2018 at 09:07
      Is there any chance they will start Ljubljana?

      No, Zagreb is only one of the a dozen routes they fly to in Europe, they stopped Oslo, Stockholm, Athens and Marseilles flights due to poor performance last year. Only seasonal charter flights there now. Vienna, Milan, Zurich are all nearby and they won't be flying anywhere near due to these 4 destinations.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Korean_Air_destinations

      Zagreb will act as their regional hub or sorts for visitors to Balkans and Hungary, Prague is for Czech R and Poland, and Vienna for Slovakia, Hungary and Austria.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous12:34

      Similiar as Hainan is doing with BEG

      Delete
    8. Anonymous12:48

      @Anonymous17 September 2018 at 12:34

      I have no idea what Hainan is doing in Belgrade, so couldn't possibly comment.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous13:23

      to and from Prague 2 times a week. Then it flies from and to PEK.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous13:24

      With excellent fares amd schedules to both cities.

      Delete
  7. Anonymous09:09

    "It is also being used by customers to visit other countries in Eastern Europe and the Balkans", the airline said.

    It would be interesting to see which countries they are.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:10

      Interestingly Bosnia also gets a lot of Korean tourists which probably means a lot of them continue on from Croatia to Bih. Over 52,000 Koreans visited Bosnia in 2017.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:11

      Korean arrivals to Serbia are minimal so they are not heading over here. My guess is primarily Slovenia and Bosnia.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:13

      What about Montenegro?

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:18

      It's not in the top 15 so under 28,000

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:20

      Montenegro had very few Korean tourists. In 2017 just 5,844. Less than Serbia.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous09:21

      wow that's a surprising number for BiH. Congrats.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous09:23

      lot of Koreans visit Međugorje

      Delete
    8. Anonymous09:25

      I was about to ask that. Makes sense.

      Delete
    9. More than 5 million of Koreans are Catholics. Now, more groups visiting Medjugorje, on tour from Split to Dubrovnik. Another reason why number of Koreans increasing in BH , They spend night in Neum, instead Dubrovnik. Hotels there are way cheaper for groups also much easier to find a place could have rooms for group of 30 people in peak season.

      Delete
  8. Anonymous09:13

    I think they will impact EK quite a bit. They will go daily to ZAG only in June, before that it's mostly 4 weekly. Wouldn't it be wiser to have daily FZ until June? They need frequencies to match Qatar and Turkish.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:17

      4pw is because of DXB runaway upgrade, reductions are all ower EK network not only ZAG.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:18

      * over

      Delete
    3. Anonymous11:04

      @Anonymous17 September 2018 at 09:13

      Dubai is resurfacing both of its runways, one after the other, with work commencing in late February through late May. There'll be restrictions for all carriers flying to or out of Dubai main airport.

      According to Nemjee numbers, and I trust these numbers, as they' seem about the right figures for Zagreb, June through November are really really impressive loads for EK, last May there was a fall in pax which was something that I didn't expect, considering in April EK had 13000 pax on route, which produced 85.6% LF over 20 rotations, however this dramatically dropped down to 58% in May when EK had only 12600m on the route with 30 rotations. I expect this year, June through October load factor to be above 80% comfortably, not confident with November, hopefully EK reduces November to 20 rotations.

      I project this year EK will have around 10 000 pax in November on the route, but with daily flights or 30 rotations this would only generate 46.2% load factor on B777 300ER, or 62.5% on B777 200 LR. However if EK reduced November to 22 rotations, this figure improves dramatically, 63.1% for B777 300ER and 85.4% for B777 200 LR.



      Delete
  9. Anonymous09:15

    These are great figures so far. Very smart planning from Korean to launch the route in September.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:40

      They obviously know what they are doing ;)

      Delete
  10. Anonymous09:27

    Would be nice to have direct instead of triangle route next winter.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:32

      Hope so too but I understand their cautiousness, especially with the route launching in September.

      Delete
  11. Anonymous09:38

    Could we eventually see Asiana come to Zagreb too?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:41

      I don't think the market is that strong to sustain two carriers.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:44

      Asiana would suit OU much more since they are both * alliance.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:12

      It would be better for Asiana to start Dubrovnik actually.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:29

      No chance of Asiana coming to Croatia or the region,

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Asiana_Airlines_destinations

      They even stopped flying to Amsterdam. Amsterdam is 3rd largest airport in the EU, economic and commercial capitol of Netherlands, country of 17.5 million people and GDP of $875 billion. If they don't fly to Amsterdam, there's little or no chance of them flying to Zagreb or Dubrovnik, or any other city before Amsterdam.

      Delete
  12. Anonymous09:42

    The Korean Air Boeing 777-200ER(registration HL7531) is very comfortable aircraft with quiet passenger cabin, the Airbus330-300 has less comfortable passenger seats and occasionally strange rattles and noises from passenger cabin plastics.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:03

      The “strange rattle and noise” is present on all older generation Airbus widebodies, specially around the middle of the aircraft. Not as pronounced on A350, though A350 is more rattley than 787 altough it is quiter overall, and A380. We’ll see if the issue is still present on A330neos

      Delete
  13. Anonymous09:48

    The title should rather be "Instant success for Korean Zagreb AND Zurich flights". Cause i imagine Zurich was not running empty till 1st of September. This is a typical PR boast by an airline who's launching a dubious route in a distant and poor part of Europe. In reality they're flying three times per week a plane where they have about 125 seats to fill or an A320 basically during the high season. These first flights were selling for 6 months in advance and it is only in winter that we'll be able to see the true picture and we don't know either at what promotional prices those tickets were sold. Such an instant 'success' would be possible virtually on all routes without making losses.

    After all, if these news were true, wouldn't there be already an upgrade in frequency or equipment?

    Let's get real.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:56

      Flights between Seoul and Zagreb (and back) are currently operating nonstop. The Zurich stop is only during winter season.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:00

      Do we know how many seats are blocked for ZAG and how many for ZRH?!

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:12

      The flights between Seoul and Zagreb are currently nonstop in both directions. The Zurich leg will be introduced on ZAG-ICN leg during the winter months. The ICN-ZAG leg will remain direct.

      The last paragraph of the article mentions equipment upgrade to 777-200ER next month.

      Frequency upgrade is not as simple for LH routes as planes are scheduled sometimes months in advance. However, the contract between Korea and Croatia allows KE to fly to ZAG 5 times per week. Any frequency upgrade beyond that would require renegotiation of the bilateral agreement between two governments.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:47

      @Anon 10:00

      there are no seats "Blocked" fro ZAG or ZRH. The number of seats is determined by the forecast for the demand on each Origin Destination pair, that is ZAG-ICN and ZRH-ICN. Since this demand varies according to date and weekday of travel, the proportion of the saets given to each OD varies also.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:51

      haha anon 9:48 :) you are a funny guy claiming you have knowledge of what you are talking about. 125 seats on an A320? ok I will have to look, which airline flies that configuration. But saying A320 and A330 have the same capacity clearly shows that you either provoking or you should start from scratch when it comes to aviation ;) High season 320- made my day thanks :)

      Delete
    6. Anonymous11:06

      Sweedie, now it's non-stop. Get real ;)

      Delete
    7. Anonymous11:17

      @Anonymous17 September 2018 at 09:48

      Croatia ain't poor, it is a high income economy with $62 billion economy and nearly $15000 income per head, or 28000 Purchasing power parity. I know you're trolling and very jealous...

      https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9c/World_Bank_high-income_economies_in_2016.png/1920px-World_Bank_high-income_economies_in_2016.png

      Delete
    8. Anonymous11:31

      How much is Croatia's debt per head?

      Delete
    9. Anonymous12:12

      @Anonymous17 September 2018 at 11:31

      Again trolling, Croatian debt is around 285 billion kuna, https://www.debtclocks.eu/select-an-eu-member-state.html debt clock for all 28 member states of the EU, 285/384 projected Croatian GDP for 2018, and you end up with national debt of around 74.2% of GDP. In 2020, that ratio should fall down to 66.2%.

      Delete
  14. Anonymous09:49

    If the 444000 Korean visitors to Croatia from 2017 were spread out over the year, it could fill an A380 daily.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:51

      Exactly, but then they are also spread out over TK, EK, QR, LH, BA, AF, SU etc....

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:52

      ..... and not just to ZAG, FZ, TK are full of Koreans to DBV..

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:57

      And also not all of the arrive by plane directly to Croatia. I assume some of them come from Italy and perhaps other countries as well - Czech Republic. Remember Korean has a codeshare with CSA to Prague. Some also go directly to the coast with Turkish or FZ.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:10

      If OU had leased an A330 they could fly to Seoul and the US during the summer. I'm sure they would be full.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous12:40

      A380 cannot land to ZAG

      Delete
    6. Anonymous12:50

      But 747-8 can and it will cetrainly be used soon on the route :)

      Delete
    7. Anonymous23:35

      @"""Anonymous17 September 2018 at 12:40
      A380 cannot land to ZAG"""

      Of course it can, who told you it can't !!! A 380 can't land in Belgrade, cause taxiways are too narrow and space between the terminal and the taxiway is too narrow.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous00:42

      That's exactly the same problem in Zagreb.

      Delete
  15. Anonymous10:11

    Honestly I thought the first airport to likely receive a connection to Seoul would be DBV considering most Koreans go there in Croatia.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:01

      No, most Koreans go to Zagreb, Zagreb gets around 56% of all Korean visitors to the country, Dubrovnik gets around 40%, Split too. Zadar around a third and Istria around a quarter.

      Also in Zagreb you have all the Korean services, i/e Korean hostels,Korean restaurants, Korean shops. Nowhere else in the country you've got these, what is only missing, is Korean cars and electronics being made in Croatia, that should be the next priority for Croatian government, get Korean investments in, massive investments...

      Delete
    2. E bas su potegli iz Koreje da bi u Hrvatskoj obilazili korejske restorane......

      Delete
    3. Anonymous14:55

      Older Koreans definitely prefer to eat in Korean restaurants! Younger Koreans are more adventurous though. Pop into the Korean Restaurant opposite Dolac Market in ZAG, its full of Korean tourists ;) :)

      Delete
    4. Anonymous16:18

      Of course that older Koreans prefer eating in Korean restaurants. You just need to know them before posting ridiculousness

      Delete
    5. Anonymous16:23

      NO, Kreso, this is not what I am saying, I am saying the facilities are there cause of market has grown for such facilities, with arrival of Korean air, only thing is missing major Korean investment in to manufacturing...

      Delete
    6. Anonymous22:15

      A lot of Korean tourists in Croatia follow this itinerary:

      - Zagreb (land and spend 1 ir 2 nights)
      - trip to Plitvice Lakes
      - trip to one or more Adriatic coastal cities
      - back home via Zagreb

      Koreans often take holidays of 1 week duration unless they are retirees.

      Delete
  16. Anonymous10:17

    Excellent news. Koreans are cashed up and are good tourists to attract.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Anonymous10:19

    So there are more Korean tourists in Croatia than from the US and Canada? Correct?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:22

      Yes

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:28

      Interestingly, Croatia had more Korean tourists than Czech Republic last year.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous11:15

      and yet KE uses its 747-8 on the PRG route.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous12:16

      Anonymous17 September 2018 at 10:19

      No, there are more Korean visitors than Canadian, but not US Visitors.

      in 2018, so far Croatia was visited by in 000 :

      USA - 417 000 - up - 22.5%
      S. Korea - 335 000 - down 3.5%
      Australia - 187 000 - up 15.5%
      China - 138 000 - up 37%
      Canada - 120 000 - up 24%
      Japan - 108 000 - up 20%
      Taiwan - 69 000 - down 1%
      India - 51 000 - up 7.5%
      Brazil - 48 000 - up 3.5%
      Argentina - 40 000 - up 30,5%
      New Zealand - 32 000 - up 22%
      Hong Kong - 24 000 - up 16%
      Thailand - 21 000 - up 40.5%
      rest of ASEAN - 95 000 - up 16%
      South Africa - 20 000 - up 16%
      Mexico - 15 000 - up 21.5%
      UAE/Qatar/Kuwait - 16000, up by 43%
      Chile - 10 000 - up 14%

      Numbers for visitors to Croatia from non-European countries and over 10 000 per year.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous15:26

      Argentina 40000??? WOW! They they tell you a ZAG-EZE route is not going to work and we are not talking about Croatian diaspora in Argentina.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous16:39

      The data is for first 7 months, we need to wait for a full year top get an idea how many visitors visited Croatia from where. I think we could have 50 000 Argentine visitors this year. Most would come via Madrid or Paris, although Madrid would probably dominate with 80%. If TAP starts service to Zagreb, number of Brazilians could also go up dramatically, as of OU now service to Lisbon is paying off as Lisbon is transfer hub for South America, namely Brazil.

      TAP and Iberia are very strong in South America, they have strong networks over there, so they could play important role in braining more visitors to Croatia.

      This is projected number of visitors for entire 2018,

      USA - 575 000
      S. Korea - 455 000
      Australia - 255 000
      China - 210 000
      Canada - 175 000
      Japan - 170 000
      Taiwan - 120 000
      India - 61 000
      Brazil - 65 000
      Argentina - 57 000
      New Zealand - 44 000
      Hong Kong - 35 000
      Thailand - 42 000
      rest of ASEAN - 150 000
      South Africa - 25 000
      Mexico - 20 000
      UAE/Qatar/Kuwait - 21 000
      Chile - 12 000

      If TAP starts year round service to Zagreb, say 3 weekly in winters and daily in spring/summer months, and add to this Iberia double daily service in in spring/summer we'd be looking at 350 000 visitors from Latin America, with 100 000 from Brazil alone.

      Potential from in 2020 if Iberia/Tap Service year round (TAP no longer flies to Zagreb):

      Mexico: 50 000
      Brazil: 150 000
      Argentina: 100 000
      Chile: 50 000
      Rest of Latin America: 50 000

      South America is untapped market, around 700-800 000 ppl with Croatian roots, we could easily bring some to visit.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous16:41

      *potential for

      Delete
    8. Anonymous16:47

      According to your list then, ZAG-PEK is easily doable too...

      Delete
    9. Anonymous17:21

      My list is slightly on the conservative side, but if we consider actual growth of 37.5% number of Chinese visitors to Croatia this year should be around 220 000, if similar trend continues next year, we come to figure of 300 000 Chinese visitors to Croatia, I'd say, with that figure you can have daily out of Shanghai and Beijing, with B787 800, no biggie.

      However, would be happy with 3 weekly flights year round out of Beijing and Shanghai.
      in 2020, 400 000 Chinese visitors to Croatia, this would indeed mean 2nd Chinese carrier would be all but certain to start flights to Croatia, Airport management said flights out of Shanghai and Beijing.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous23:35

      Yes, because you're know to being conservative.

      Delete
  18. Anonymous10:33

    Is ZAG the only market in EX-YU to sustain a three weekly non-stop service from Far-East Asia?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:34

      It's non stop for less than 2 months.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:36

      Oh and I thought the will restart services non-stop from March till October next year.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous12:45

      @Anonymous17 September 2018 at 10:33

      Yes it is, it is only market that maintains direct flight to Seoul, year round, with November through to April, or March, Korean air will also link Zurich on its return leg. Previously Zurich was connected same way via Vienna.

      So it'll be non-stop service from Zagreb to Seoul from April 1st to October 31st, and then on Zurich is added on return flight from November 1st to March 30th. Chinese carrier starts operations next year and should also have non-stop flights to Zagreb, we'll see which carrier in few months time. It is between China Eastern, Air China and Hainan Airlines.
      Also we'll find if there'll be non-stop ANA flights to Zagreb, airport has been talking to Japanese carrier for some time now.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous23:42

      Chinese airlines didn't announce flights to Zagreb. Is it wishful thinking and hoping?

      Delete
    5. Anonymous08:50

      Prvo skoci pa reci hop

      Delete
    6. Anonymous11:45

      @Anonymous17 September 2018 at 23:42

      No they didn't yet. For now would be wishful thinking if I said it only, however this isn't the case, Croatian Government stated this and Zagreb Airport Management said it. So it is a more of a hope, it happens soon sometimes next year.

      this year 220 000 Chinese visitors are expected tovisit Croatia, next year 300 000, even if no Chinese carrier shows up, this are significant numbers, any major carrier would be damn to ignore. Only problem i can foresee to these flights is global economic recession.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous22:14

      Officially now, Croatian government is close to agreement with number of Chinese carriers to service Zagreb and Dubrovnik.

      Twice weekly service would connect Zagreb and Dubrovnik with Beijing and Shanghai. More on this very soon. Flights should commence next year in summer, Zagreb would most likely be year round with Dubrovnik only over summers.

      Delete
  19. Good to read and it could attract other airlines from the region to Zagreb. Airlines from China and Japan come to mind.

    But on a negative note, makes you just wonder if OU had management with some initiative, vision and jaje....

    ReplyDelete
  20. Anonymous13:28

    what to said... Bravo!!! (from SLO. ZG is 10 years ahead from LJU :( )

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous13:57

      If Slovenia has a coast similar to Croatia then you'll be singing a different song.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous14:41

      If Prague had a coast it could have 15 million pax.

      Delete
    3. Da ja baba musko.....

      Delete
    4. Anonymous14:50

      Taking in consideration how long and warm Adriatic coast Croatia has it is really strange to compare it to Hungary or Czech Republic who do not have sea coast at all.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous15:03

      Yes but my point was that even witout haveing a coast (FRA, LHR, MAD, MXP etc) you can have success. The initial comment says ZAG and compares it to LJU. So I do not see where ZAG has a coast.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous15:10

      ZAG has 75% traffic to/from the coast leaving the rest 25% to the foreign carriers.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous15:29

      Anon 15:10 you seem to be a funny guy!

      Delete
    8. Anonymous15:51

      Anyway ZAG has much higher growth than LJU since they got new terminal (I hope that LJU will get it at least until 2020).
      I really like to flight from LJU (paid 30-70EUR more per ticket) but be honest, sometime I must flight from ZAG, so great job ZAG!

      Delete
    9. Anonymous15:52

      Not funny. Zagreb needs the coast and the coast needs Zagreb.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous16:05

      Maybe, according to your logic BEG needs the coast as well, TIV, SKG, ATH, All Charters, LCA, MLA, TLV .....as do so many. DUS with their 60 daily connections to PMI and AYT obviously too. THE COAST is the place to be ;)

      Delete
    11. Anonymous16:06

      An 15:51 speaking of new terminals, here is a reminder:

      https://www.exyuaviation.com/2018/08/ljubljana-airport-readies-for-new.html

      R u ready for the challenge? :*

      Delete
    12. Anonymous16:22

      @anon 15:03
      Do you really think that KE flies to ZAG because of ZAG and puts on their promotional videos Dubrovnik?
      Don't be funny

      Delete
    13. Anonymous16:45

      Well, if you remember, KE put a photo of the coast in its promo video and not ZAG. What I am trying to say is that the capital feeds the coast and vice versa. It's mutual feeding.

      Delete
    14. Anonymous17:17

      Anonymous17 September 2018 at 16:06
      With "left" government.... hope dies last :D


      Anonymous17 September 2018 at 16:45
      I understand you and you are right, capital feeds the coast.

      Delete
    15. Hey...ZAG is the largest Slovenian airport! ;)
      Seriously tho, it could be the second largest in terms of the number of Slovenes using it. Right after LJU, no?
      At any rate, in the case of these long haul flights, Zagreb feeds the coast and vice versa for sure. Otherwise people can just fly directly to the coast which is more than sufficiently covered and starting with next year that will include American flying directly to Dubrovnik.
      Still, Zagreb has more potential of being a year-round destination. It's successfully become a tourist destination in its own right - No.1 in the country just ahead of Dubrovnik. It is the capital, the center of business, industrial, corporate, financial center...etc. accounting for something like a third of the entire Croatian GDP if I'm not mistaken. It's the only city in Croatia that can really be called large, the only metropolitan area with a population of over a million.
      It's good than new 4 and 5* hotels are being opened. However I maintain that more decentralization is better, especially for a country like Croatia. The disparity between Zagreb's standard of living and the rest of the country (apart from Istria) is obviously a huge problem. Slavonia is a disaster. As for the coast, It'd be nice if Rijeka looked up to Slovenian Koper more in terms of developing as a cargo port, it's another example of criminal level of neglect in my opinion. I remember what Rijeka used to be in Yugoslavia and what it could've become beyond that by the time we entered the EU.
      And regarding Zagreb airport, once the Chinese and possibly Japanese and American carriers arrive, it is high time to start attracting LLC.

      Delete
    16. Anonymous11:49

      @Michael18 September 2018 at 09:52

      currently I think around 20% of all passengers @Zagreb are from Slovenia, some 620-650 000 in 2018, this figure is bound to grow to around 1-1.5 million long to medium term. Airport should really if they're considerate put signs in Slovene. Germans are 3rd largest group using the airport, some 300-320 000 Germans used the airport in 2017, we should also put signs in German :) Just a thought.

      Delete
    17. Anonymous14:18

      18 September 2018 at 11:49
      18 September 2018 at 11:49
      +1

      In Croatia i did not saw (never) signs in Slovenia language "Dobrodošli" and "Nasvidenje"

      You can buy ticket for EK from "LJU airport"
      So you came to LJU and then "EK" drive you to LJU train terminal and from there you go directly in ZAG airport.

      Delete
  21. This is really great! Means that with as many as 16, or is it 18? seats in the 1st class, even those are bein sold out.
    That said it's no wonder they've been flocking onto these flights, given it's their home country flag carrier, given the number of Koreans visiting Croatia and the really affordable prices even out of Seoul. I was checking out the tickets from Seoul to Zagreb just the other day for a week in advance and both economy and 1st class were sold out. There were only a few seats left in business and they were only $2,500. A direct, nonstop flight in business class, considerably cheaper than any other business class alternative with one stopover. Cheaper than EK, QR, TK, Aeroflot, Austrian...and not to even mention BA, KL, AF or especially Lufthansa.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:00

      Look, not everyone lives in Denmark and can afford to spend $2500 on a ticket, this is quite expensive. most Koreans can't afford such flights. Average S. Korean pay being around $1700 per month, with living costs around same as those in Italy or France.

      Delete

Post a Comment

EX-YU Aviation News does not tolerate insults, excessive swearing, racist, homophobic or any other chauvinist remarks or provocative posts with the intention of creating further arguments. A full list of comment guidelines can be found here. Thank you for your cooperation.