Winter 2018/19 - Croatia Airlines


Croatia Airlines will make several minor modifications to its operations this coming winter season, which begins on Sunday, October 28. The Croatian carrier will continue to maintain its two weekly flights from Zagreb to Mostar launched this summer season and will add an extra weekly service from Split to Munich, making the route operational on a daily basis. Furthermore, Croatia Airlines will upgrade its seasonal summer flights between Rijeka and Munich to year-round operations. The Croatian carrier will maintain two weekly flights between the two cities past October 28, each Thursday and Sunday, with its Bombardier Dash 8 aircraft. It marks the first time Croatia Airlines will be operating out of Rijeka throughout the entire year.

The Croatian carrier has no plans to reduce frequencies on any of its routes at this point when compared to last year. However, its flights to Mostar are likely to be rescheduled. Mostar Airport's General Manager, Marin Raspudić, said recently, "Loads are poor on Croatia Airlines' flights to Zagreb. We expected much better results. People complain about the scheduling so we will try and negotiate better times with the carrier for the winter season so people can travel to and return from Zagreb in a single day". The Federal government of Bosnia and Herzegovina is providing half a million euros in funding to subsidise the route on a year-round basis over the next three years.

Apart from the operations listed below, Croatia Airlines will continue to maintain six weekly flights between Pula and Zadar. The number of frequencies on the route remains unchanged compared to last year. The 2018/19 winter season runs until March 31, 2019. Please note that the changes listed below are preliminary and based on current availability in the Global Distribution System (GDS). Furthermore, the table below displays the peak weekly frequency on each route during the course of the winter season. EX-YU Aviation News will bring you Adria Airways' and Montenegro Airlines' winter season modifications over the coming weeks. In the meantime, you can also review changes made by Air Serbia.

Departing Zagreb

DestinationFrequency W17/18Frequency W18/19Change  Notes
Amsterdam77--
Brussels1111--
Barcelona22-seasonal
ends JAN13
Copenhagen77--
Dubrovnik2222--
Frankfurt2121--
London-Heathrow44--
Lisbon22-seasonal
ends JAN14
Mostar02 2-
Munich1414--
Paris77--
Pula66--
Rome77-
via Split
Sarajevo1313--
Skopje77--
Split2222--
Vienna1414--
Zadar66--
Zurich1414--


Departing Split

DestinationFrequency W17/18Frequency W18/19ChangeNotes
Frankfurt77--
Munich67 1-
Rome77--
Zagreb2222-
-

Departing Dubrovnik

DestinationFrequency W17/18Frequency W18/19ChangeNotes
Frankfurt33--
Zagreb2222--


Comments

  1. Anonymous09:03

    It's a shame they didn't extend Dublin to winter. I assume there is more than just tourists on this route. Anyone know how it performed during summer?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:38

      They should keep Oslo and Helsinki too.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:48

      They could have also kept Stockholm during winter now that Norwegian is out.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:53

      They could even operate it with the Q400.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:38

      I think they should have kept a few seasonal routes from Zagreb including Athens, Prague and possibly Milan.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous11:43

      Athens is now served by Aegean.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous11:59

      Yes but they can take on Aegean. They don't fly for half of winter and OU could carry transfer passengers.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous12:07

      Aegean won't be flying for only 5-6 weeks to Zagreb.
      And flies to every destination OU could possibly transfer them.
      Codesharing is a much more realistic option

      Delete
    8. Aegean will not fly just from 21.1. to 24.2.

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:03

    What an uninspiring winter at ZAG. Couldn't they extend at least ONE seasonal route?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous09:04

    They could be doing more out of DBV. Good to see Split-Munich going daily.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:29

      I'm certain OU had a bigger network from Dubrovnik before during winter. Didn't they fly to Paris and Zurich as well plus Rome?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:32

      Yeah, years ago. But that was before restructuring process.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:12

      not sure why they are not doing dbv muc daily, considering how many on their dbv zag flights connect to fra/muc anyway...

      Delete
    4. Anonymous11:59

      Nice to see them finally recognize the potential at SPU.

      Delete
  4. Anonymous09:05

    Why didn't the extend LIS and BCN for the entire winter. Why Just until early January?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:07

      Because January and February are the lowest of the low seasons.

      Delete
  5. Anonymous09:06

    Nice to see Rijeka finally served year round!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:44

      Do any other airlines fly to Rijeka during the winter?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:46

      Eurowings does year round.

      Delete
    3. And Trade Air to Osijek Split and Dubrovnik

      Delete
  6. Anonymous09:07

    It's surprising that Croatia Airlines doesn't add more departures between mid December and mid January like for example JU. That's the busiest part of the winter season.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:12

      Where is Bucharest in the winter schedule?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:13

      It's a seasonal summer route.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous11:45

      Me too, especially since they have sufficient aircraft for it.

      Delete
  7. Anonymous09:08

    How many planes does Croatia Airlines use during the winter? Do they park some of their planes?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:10

      One or two Airbuses are parked.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:18

      oh really?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:19

      Yes. They tried leasing them out over winter several times but no luck.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:26

      hm they are being too cautious imho (looking from outside)

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:14

      @anon 9:19: they did not do it, but it had nothing to do with luck; the reasons are the same why JU are talking about it some times but never do it

      Delete
  8. Anonymous09:10

    Any charters this winter? If I remember correctly, last year they operated some charters from Pristina or Tirana.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous09:11

    lol is the Mostar guy wanting double daily? "so people can travel to and return from Zagreb in a single day"

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:32

      No. An additional (third) weekly rotation (Monday/Tuesday) would allow travel to and return from ZAG in a single day (on Mondays).

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:37

      i see

      Delete
  10. Anonymous09:13

    Bravo Hrvatska!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous09:14

    No decreases. That's important.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous09:15

    I baffled that OU doesn't try ZAG-FCO nonstop. I'm certain there is enough demand.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:30

      there is not even competition from Alitalia

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:49

      Flights from ZAG to Rome still going via Split is completely nonsensical. If Alitalia wasn't a mess they would be flying this route already.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:50

      But is there really demand? Etihad Regional planned to fly FCO-ZAG with Saabs but cancelled the flights after few weeks of sales, meaning they were probably poor. Also the fact that Alitalia does not fly to ZAG is indicative. There obviously is no need for a nonstop flight at the moment.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:53

      If there was a market AZ would have launched it like they did SKP and TGD.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:02

      With Qatar running Air Italy and them saying how it will become Italy's true national airline maybe they do start Zagreb.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous10:03

      Air Italy has quite a lot of other markets to cover before they consider Zagreb. Plus, they are based in Milan not Rome.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous10:08

      And their smallest aircraft is the 737 which might be too big.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous10:18

      They've been planning to fly out of Rome too, but right now they postponed their decision.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous11:58

      I wonder how many people board the plane in Split for Rome.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous16:52

      Judging by how many weekly flights there are from Split to Rome and vv in summer I would assume that most people fly between Split and Rome generally over the year, not Zagreb and Rome. This is also supported by the fact that there are no other airlines operating between Zagreb and Rome at all.

      Delete
  13. Anonymous09:16

    Never realised that OU's year round network from ZAG consists of only 17 destinations. To my eyes it looks tiny!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:06

      Adria now has more destinations out of Ljubljana, then Croatia Airlines out of Zagreb.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:19

      Yes. It is really poor. Great management.

      Delete
  14. Anonymous09:17

    shame they cannot go more then 7 weekly to SKP in winter due to lack of aircrafts. they had a +40% increase of pax in summer schedule thx to that spanish wet lease

    ReplyDelete
  15. Not surprised about the poor loads to Mostar. The two-weekly frequency and the departure times are absurd for P2P passengers, and connectivity onto other OU flights is very poor. 10.5 hour layover for flights to London, no connectivity onto Dublin. Return journeys even worse.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:23

      ZAG is too expensive as an airport for OU to offer cheap tickets to OMO. When I say cheap I mean to compete with cars and buses.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:32

      connectivity is one of OU's biggest problem. they have no classical waves

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:58

      So what do their regional flights connect to?

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:15

      randomly between 1 hour and 10. they should optimize their east and west connections

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:21

      @anon 9:32: they actually did have a small wave with their regional wave (spu, sjj, dbv, skp) . those dashs always departed at same times, just in time after their airbuses arrived from the west/north

      Delete
  16. Anonymous09:24

    Shameful!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:28

      What exactly?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:29

      That OU isn't growing!

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:29

      Any forcast for growth this winter?

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:31

      Well they added 1 weekly flight from Split to Munich, 2 weekly from Rijeka to Munich and 2 weekly from Zagreb to Mostar. At the same time they didn't decrease other routes. So I would say they are growing. Cautiously and slowly, but still growing.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:21

      Yes last anonymus, you're right. In a decade they will maybe fly to Stockholm year round.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous12:40

      At least they are not shrinking like JU.

      Delete
    7. Haha I knew someone is going to mention JU.
      It's obvious the biggest carrier in ex yu cannot be left alone no matter it has nothing to do with today's topic

      Delete
    8. Anonymous20:54

      And you jumped with joy when someone mentioned it as you could start trolling.

      Delete
  17. Anonymous09:40

    The issue with OU and winter is their fleet. They urgently need 100 seaters. The Airbuses are completely unsuitable for their winter ops. Too large for 98% of the routes.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:43

      It makes you wonder what are they going to do with the neos then in the winter when they arrive. Especially since they have more seats that the A319/320 ceos.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:50

      +1 to both

      Delete
    3. Anonymous17:14

      A320neos don’t have more seats than A320ceos, unless OU decides to reduce pitch and cram more seats in.

      Delete
  18. Anonymous09:47

    Nothing east of Skopje in winter.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:12

      That is ok ... they can't cover an entire globe. Focus is on the most important markets.

      Delete
  19. Anonymous09:56

    This is the maximum that OU can provide at the moment. Other companies will fill the gaps.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Anonymous10:07

    Not great but not a disaster either. Keeping the status quo. But seriously I think Croatia as a country has much more flight potential over winter then the network Croatia Airlines puts out.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:48

      They could do more like extending seasonal flights, leasing aircraft if they have excess during the winter and starting some charters. Every airline in the region seems to have realised the benefits of charters except for OU.

      Delete
  21. Anonymous10:10

    What about Osijek?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:14

      OU flies to Osijek only during the summer. And even that barely.

      Delete
    2. OU flies to Osijek 2 pw in summer time table (SPU and DBV), but has code-share on Trade air who wins PSO for Osijek flights. On those PSO Trade Air flies all year
      - 6 pw to Zagreb
      - 2 pw to Pula-Split
      - 2 pw to Rijeka-Split-Dubrovnik
      An all those 10 flights per week Croatia has code-share all year and connection to their flights.

      Delete
  22. Anonymous10:27

    Same old same old from Croatia Airlines.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:30

      Good to seem them being stable in their ops with no cuts.

      Delete
  23. Anonymous10:33

    Depressive.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:58

      I agree considering the whole potential of the Croatian market.

      Delete
  24. Anonymous10:38

    Very conservative network.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:06

      Didn't former CEO Kucko say all Croatia Airlines routes are unprofitable during the winter. That might be the reason why they are "conservative".

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:51

      Is that possible? Every route unprofitable?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous12:59

      Risk takinf hasn't paid off very much for either Adria or Air Serbia.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous12:59

      *taking

      Delete
    5. And we see that OU is very good example of successful company with its business strategy

      Delete
  25. Anonymous10:40

    You say it.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Anonymous10:58

    Hopefully they don't go on strike during the winter.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:48

      They can't. Court banned them.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:51

      That was for summer. But they probably wouldn't have a problem with winter since traffic is much lighter and impact is much lower.

      Delete
  27. Anonymous11:20

    It's interesting how strong OU is in AMS. They are killing KL which will have six weekly E90 flights this winter.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous13:00

      OU seems to have done quite alright against the competition. They managed to drive out Brussels Airlines and Swiss to fly only seasonal.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous13:10

      They seem to be fighting off OK quite well.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous13:38

      Yes but they don't operate Prague during the winter, just during the summer, as OK has now started as well.

      Delete
  28. Anonymous12:08

    Is this regional leading hub ambition still valid? Will ZAG achieve it by 2042?

    https://www.exyuaviation.com/2018/02/zagreb-airport-with-regional-hub.html

    Mr Feron noted that transforming Zagreb into a hub is a long-term strategy, with Group Aerport de Paris' concession to run until 2042

    ReplyDelete
  29. Anonymous13:01

    They should have upgraded Barcelona and Lisbon to year round, especially now with Iberia starting year round flights, they will be able to take some passengers off these routes.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Anonymous13:51

    There is not enough demand for TIA? Connections maybe?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous14:51

      I find it surprising that OU does not fly to Tirana. JP and JU seem to be doing well there with connecting passengers.

      Delete
  31. Anonymous15:48

    Not bad for winter. Croatia is a very seasonal market.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Does anyone know when JP plans to publish their winter schedule? I still dont get their statement abt GVA and its cancelation

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous16:06

      It's cancelled. It's a seasonal route now.

      Delete
  33. Anonymous16:07

    They should do more out of Dubrovnik. If more and more airlines can make it work from there on a year round basis then I don't see why OU can't.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous16:19

      More, and more?
      Like Iberia (2 pw), Turkish (4 pw), Trade Air (2 pw PSO), Vueling (4 pw just part of winter), British (2 pw just part of winter). Even Travel Service cancelled planed flights. So that is 12 flights pw + 2 PSO.

      Croatia has 22 flights to Zagreb pw and 3 to Frankfurt pw, what is 25 flights. So?

      Delete
  34. Anonymous20:15

    Connections out of/into DBV in winter are terrible. It takes all day to get there from anywhere other than Zagreb. Instead of flying to FRA three times a week, a daily CRJ flight to/from MUC operated by LH in the morning would be great (and another by OU with Q400 in the afternoon would be a good choice too)...but of course Dubrovnik bura in winter is another problem (cancellations galore).

    ReplyDelete

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