Croatia Airlines will make minor tweaks to its 2019 summer operations, which begin on Sunday, March 31. Notably, the carrier will resume all of its seasonal flights from Zagreb two weeks in advance of last year, with exception to Bucharest, which will commence a full month ahead. The Croatian airline will add an additional weekly flight between Zagreb and Dublin, which also becomes a year-round service. However, the extra frequency will come at the expense of its St Petersbrug route, which will be reduced by one weekly flight for a total of two. The airline is considering prolonging flights to a select number of seasonal destinations in the lead-up to Croatia's presidency of the Council of the European Union, which will take place during the first half of next year.
The carrier will reduce its operations out of Split to Belgrade and Dusseldorf by one weekly service, with flights to be maintained twice and once per week respectively. The airline will push back the resumption of its operations from Croatia's second largest city to Athens by a week but will bring forward the return of its Lyon and Vienna service by two weeks. Flights from Dubrovnik, as well as all other destinations, will be served by the same number of frequencies as last summer season. Similar to last year, the carrier will add two wet-leased Iberia Regional Bombardier CRJ1000 aircraft to its fleet from April.
Please note that the changes listed below are preliminary and based on current availability in the Global Distribution System (GDS). Furthermore, the tables below display the peak weekly frequency on each route during the course of the summer season. Increases in frequencies, particularly on domestic flights between Zagreb, Dubrovnik, Split, Zadar and Pula, may not come into effect until later on in the summer and can vary depending on the time of the year. EX-YU Aviation News will also bring you summer season changes for Adria Airways and Montenegro Airlines during the course of the month. Meanwhile, you can review modifications Air Serbia will be making to its network this summer here. The 2019 summer season runs until October 26.
Departing Zagreb
Departing Split
| Destination | Frequency S2018 | Frequency S2019 | Change | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Athens | 1 | 1 | - | resumes JUN08 ends SEP28 |
| Berlin | 1 | 1 | - | resumes APR27 |
| Belgrade | 3 | 2 | ▼ 1 | resumes MAY13 ends SEP23 |
| Copenhagen | 1 | 1 | - | starts MAY04 |
| Dubrovnik | 2 | 2 | - | resumes MAY04 ends OCT05 |
| Dusseldorf | 2 | 1 | ▼ 1 | resumes APR27 |
| Frankfurt | 7 | 7 | - | - |
| London Gatwick | 2 | 2 | - | resumes APR19 |
| London Heathrow | 1 | 1 | - | - |
| Lyon | 1 | 1 | - | resumes APR13 ends OCT05 |
| Paris | 3 | 3 | - | - |
| Munich | 8 | 8 | - | - |
| Rome | 7 | 7 | - | - |
| Vienna | 4 | 4 | - | resumes APR15 ends OCT19 |
| Osijek | 1 | 1 | - | - |
| Zurich | 5 | 5 | - | resumes APR15 |
| Zagreb | 33 | 33 | - | - |
Departing Dubrovnik
From Pula, Croatia Airlines will operate to Amsterdam (1x per week), Dubrovnik (1x per week), Frankfurt (2x per week), Zadar (7x per week), Zagreb (13x per week). All frequencies remain unchanged compared to last year, with exception to the one weekly service to Zurich which is suspended. From Osijek, the airline will fly to both Split and Dubrovnik (1x per week).
From Zadar, the airline will operate to Pula (7x per week), Zagreb (13x per week) and Frankfurt (2x per week), maintaining last year's frequencies. Rijeka will see the Croatian national airline operate flights to Munich (3x per week) as was the case during the summer of 2017, however, it will suspend its one weekly flight to London Heathrow.
The most exciting airline in Ex-yu.
ReplyDeleteHahahahaha +1000
DeleteThis is not good at all.
ReplyDeletePurger's forecast is that OU will not be able to avoid bankruptcy in max 2 years
Bravo Croatia!
ReplyDeleteI hope this is irony
DeleteNo, it's called trolling
DeleteBasically they will operate the same number of weekly flights as in 2018, no new destinations abroad, neither there is increase in frequencies. We'll see how they managed by October. Number of pax will be slightly more than last year, but looks like OU is stagnating big time. I wish them good luck nevertheless.
ReplyDeleteThey can't grow anymore with current fleet. Dublin increasing while St Petersburg going down.
ReplyDeleteFleet will expand only if they get new owner. If not no expansion until 2021 when neos start arriving.
DeleteAre all 4 neos coming in 2021?
DeleteNo, 2 in 2021 and 2 in 2022
DeleteAh ok, thanks.
DeleteHow uninspiring.
ReplyDeleteNot bad. Good coverage in the east and west. Now if the network looked like this in winter...
ReplyDeleteAmazing network for an airline with 12 planes. :)
ReplyDeleteThey could follow Air Serbia in expanding and add BCN, OSL, ZAD, HEL or LIS would be nice :)
JU does not fly to OSL, but OU has already the routes to HEL and LIS.
DeleteFrom the other side OU is not capable to follow JU regarding to the expansion steps
exactly, because it does not have the number of AC needed fot that.
DeleteNumber of aircraft is not the issue, it's the mindset that's preventing them from growing.
DeleteIt has enough aircrafts, but unlike JU (and I assume JU has to thank to Etihad for that) it is forced to spread its capacity and operate direct flights from coastal cities, limiting its own growth potential. Typical balkan mentality.
DeleteBig JU expansion happened after EY stopped planning flights for JU
DeleteWell celebrating an airline (JU) for its expansion with the same fleet size shows that typical balkan mentality. Just imagine OU opening 9 new routes with the existing fleet? People would rightfully aks what they did before, how unproductive their production is etc.
DeleteThe point is that comparing an airline that opens 9 new routes with the same fleet sounds sexy, whereas it only shows how unproductive there fleet utilisation was before. OU with its fleet is stretched to a maximum. Morover OU, unlike JU, has to position and dispose aircraft and crew across 6 cities in summer and 3 in winter and cannot only operate from one base.
This sounds as one more attempt to justify terrible results at the same time blaming the companies that made big step forward.
DeleteThe planes that JU has in its fleet did not fall from the sky...Most of them had to be leased. If OU fleet is stretched to the maximum why don't they lease more AC?
Oh yes, in that case they would not have financial means to compensate to the passengers their cancelled flights or to pay extremely expensive last minute wet lease for their flights cancelled only due to their incompetence.
Who is blaming anyone? The thing is that you do not seem to understand the difference between leasing in planes, which OU does (2 very expensive CRK, surprise because it is high season and spare carapcity is being looked for) and LEASED planes, which are already in the fleet (leased) but very unproductive (I can just out of nowhere add 9!! routes, which are not short either (BEG-MAD) without cancelling anything else?
DeleteAnyone with a bit of understanding of aircraft utilisation would understand that the productivity is very bad.
OU fleet productivity is stretched to the max, that is why they add expensive capacity over summer.
Just imagine OU leasing an A220-300 and fly it 2 times a week. Than they could of course add 3 more destinations and everyone would celebrate it as being fantastic news??!
In order to discuss this matter to you it is first needed that you understand the current fleet has been leased for much bigger results and for many more destination that JU had last year.
DeleteLet's not forget that JU was flying to VAR, WAW, IST, BUD and especially to AUH where actually one A319 was all day busy with that route only. After they closed these routes (AUH closed in October 2017) they had more capacities which they are using very well now.
And it is much more efficient to keep the planes you leased on a long term (not only during the summer paying extremely expensive lease) during one or two weaker years than returning them knowing they will be again needed and not knowing if new leasing contract might be less financially attractive than the current one.
But, why am I explaining it to you when you believe that no more routes can be introduced becuase OU fleet is stretched to its maximum at the same time not wanting to lease new planes that would help flying network to be increased?
OU paid much more money due to incompetence of its management due to cancelled flights or poisonly expensive last minute wet-lease that it would cost leasing of 1 jet plane for a whole year. And that plane could actually increase the business and increase the revenue - exactly what the terrible moves of OU management did not do.
At the same time you are conveniently ignoring the fact that JU had to actually downsize as it expanded way too fast in the beginning. So its fleet was only temporarily underutilized until it pulled its act together.
DeleteFurthermore, JU is only starting to expand at other airports once it stabilized its operations in BEG. Maybe OU is rushing to expand on the coast without first fixing all the issues it has at home? JU didn't rush to expand at BNX before the time was right, who knows what might happen in the future. This summer they are adding a second summer destination while next summer they might add a third.
So maybe it's time for OU to reevaluate its core business plan and to put greater emphasis on regional flying and on offering connections in ZAG. What's stopping them from introducing year-round night flights to Athens? They could boost their European network out of ZAG with connecting passengers. Imagine how many flights out of BEG are filled when the A320 from BEY lands with 174 passengers. OU could do the same but it doesn't. It rushes to expand on the coast where in the end it always ends up losing and being massacred by the competition.
For small airlines such as JU or OU, building a hub network is the only way to survive.
Nemjee, what do you think is the difference in filling BEY-BEG-XYZ and DBV/SPU/ZAD/PUY-ZAG-XYZ?
DeleteExactly there is none! The only difference is that OU has a home market, that needs attention whereas JU has a transfer market to compete. CDG-BEG-BEY vs CDG-ZAG-DBV.
Quote: " Maybe OU is rushing to expand on the coast without first fixing all the issues it has at home? " ---- AT HOME? Well the coast is THEIR HOME :D they are not rushing anywhere.
Btw in other posts you write OU should concentrate at the coast, now you say they should make their homework at HOME? :D Look at the above graphics depicting their network out of 6!!! different airports (all their HOME ;) ). And judge how many trensfers and combinatory frequencies they offer.
Well, main difference is that BEY handled 8.6 million passengers in 2018, an increase of some 600.000 compared to the year before. Demand is year-round so flights don't have to operate only in summer. On top of that, most of the passengers who go there are not heading to the beach via tour operators. There is a lot of ethnic travel which is good.
DeleteActually, I said that OU needs to concentrate on the coast by copying the model of Dubrovnik Airlines. They need bases in SPU and DBV and to fly from there and not from Zagreb. If they fully commit to the coast then they can make it otherwise they will keep on retreating every year more and more.
Also a home airport is where the airline is based and for OU that's ZAG. SPU, DBV... are focus cities.
BEY has 8 million PAX right!
DeleteTripoli, the second largest city in Lebanon has aroung 750.000 inhabitants, more than the whole of Dalmatia together.
Yet Lebanon has 8 million passengers a year, wheras Croatia has 11 million at 6 different airports.
Demand for DBV/SPU/ZAD PUY is not year round on OU? Are you sure?
I suggest you board a plane in ZAG in January to DBV and look at the transfer Pax.
So, JU's productivity with planes has suddenly been forgotten...
DeleteNemjee suggests that OU should shrink next year so that we can celebrate OU doing amazing stuff in 2021. :)
DeleteAren't most domestic flights subsidized? That would mean demand isn't really there.
DeleteAll domestic flights are subsidized. OU gets around 10.4 million per year for them and this will increase next year since new PSO funding will start.
DeleteHuh? I am saying that OU should focus on its hub in ZAG if it can't compete on the coast. It's not shrinking, it's redeploying its resources elsewhere.
DeleteYes, but that is a different thing. I agree that OU should sharpen its business strategy. But as talk was about the fleet utilisation as compared with JU, I think that OU is doing a pretty good job here. As many here would wish, OU cannot simply pull out 9 routes with the current fleet and have it celebrated in Media, because fleet utilisation is at max already.
DeleteNemjee, zar ne vidis da samo izvrcu teme jednu za drugom ne bi li se sakrila sustina?
DeleteAnon 13.00
DeleteYes but under current circumstances, whatever they make in summer they lose in winter. That's what I am talking about. A new strategy is needed to change this especially since they obviously don't make enough during the summer busy months to keep them going until traffic picks up in spring.
Anon 13.03
Па добро, нема везе.
Let's hope that if they extend some of the seasonal lines for the EU presidency, they work and keep them year round in the future.
ReplyDeletethey need one additional Air Nostrum -like seasonal wetlease to cover places like: SOF, TGD, OHD where there is demand but little competition
ReplyDeleteIf they are starting OTP earlier means it is performing well.
ReplyDeleteI think it was reported they had 8,500 passengers on this route last year which is not bad at all.
DeleteThe priority should be extending seasonal routes into winter. For that they have enough aircraft.
ReplyDeleteat least during xmas season for a start
DeleteTrue
DeleteSame old same old from them.
ReplyDeleteSame old - same good :)
DeleteSo much good
Deletehttps://tangosix.rs/2019/05/03/kolumna-alena-scurica-nakon-restrukturacije-stanje-croatie-ponovo-ekstremno-lose/
Yes, you mix up topics, we understand. The above comment is regarding their Schedule. The point you are reffering to is their financial performance, of which this article does not write.
DeleteFYI ==> flying schedule has direct influence on financial performance.
DeleteWith this copy-pase flying schedule they had only "profit" achieved by selling slots, Pleso prijevoz, engines etc.
It means that flying schedule is no good as it does not bring positive financial results.
If you keep stagnating nothing good can happen to your company especially in the field of aviation.
Amazing network across 6 airports with planes being stationed at ZAG only. Well done Croatia Airlines. :)
ReplyDeleteMy German and Polish friends are talking only about Croatian seaside, yet CTN is doing nothing about harvesting their love for the Croatian sea in summer! Same VIE, ZRH, MUC, FRA all over again. Where are the flights to Hamburg, Leipzig, Nurnberg, Dusseldorf, Dortmund, Paderborn? Why not to try exotic places like Kassel maybe? How about flights to Poland? Poles love Croatia and yet there are no flight? Warsaw, Gdansk, Krakow...Is it so hard to try to earn money?
ReplyDeleteAnd interestingly they reduce Split-Dusseldorf.
DeleteI agree with you, they should be doing much more from the coast.
How many bases does CTN have?
ReplyDelete1 in ZAG.
DeleteThey don't have planes based in DBV or SPU over summer?
DeleteNo. That is why the fly triangle routes like ZAG-SPU-FCO or ZAG-DBV-ATH. To have the aircraft there.
DeleteNo. The plane with 2 or more crews flies to DPU/DBV from ZAG, flies few days, hotel expenses, ground transportation and per diems paid for the crew when operating out of SPU /DBV, and after few days plane and the crew return to ZAG. And they have LOT of crew, both flight and cabin, from Dalmatia, who would like to work from home. But as the entire schedule, as the ridiculous FCO service, and much other things, they just keep doing the business the more costly way, instead of reducing the costs wherever possible
DeleteSPU not DPU, typo
DeleteThank you very interesting actually.
DeleteWhere else could they expand?
ReplyDeleteFrom ZAG to MAD, WAW, IST, KBP, DUS, TXL, SOF...
DeleteMany opportunities
Italy, Spain, Eastern Europe
DeleteNo interest for CRO from EU except two months during summer and one week in winter. Keep on dreaming.
DeleteLooking at the airports´numbers I would rather say the interest is for 7 months ;) The interest of airlines flying there, otherwise the tourists´interest is year round.
DeleteMoscow, Podgorica, Tirana, Sofia...
DeleteNo point in competing with Aeroflot to Moscow. They decreased St Petersburg so I don't think they would have more success at SVO.
DeleteThey don’t need marketing, capacity and routing planning or revenue department. Just a student who copy-pastes each year the schedule!
ReplyDeleteExactly. And they have some 50 people employed in mentioned departmens. Cousins, mistresses, school friends, party buddies, who work on positions which does not exist in any other airline
DeleteThey should do more from the coast in summer. Pity they ended Split-Nice 2 years ago but I think the competition was too strong.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely. They have a lot more opportunities at airports on the coast which they are not using.
DeleteCompetition on the coast is huge.
DeleteThey are the national airline and are in a better position to make flights from the coast despite competition.
DeleteMulti-hubbing is very inefficient.
DeleteTrue. But there is HUGE difference between the "hub" and 'base", especially if base is seasonal. No one is asking SPU or DBV to become hubs and to introduce multihubbing. That's something reserved for really big players, American or Lufthansa, for example. But having hub in ZAG, btw. much bigger than existing one, with seasonal bases in SPU and DBV, would be more cost effective than the system they operate now
DeleteFor me it is ludicrous that Croatia Airlines will be serving London from Zagreb just 3 times per week. That is really poor considering how many Brits are visiting Croatia.
ReplyDeleteMy guess is they will eventually open Gatwick. I just can't believe they will settle for 3 weekly flights
DeleteI was hoping they would add Gatwick, but still nothing.
DeleteSlots at Gatwick are not so easy to get these days and they are not cheap either.
DeleteI think it's too late for OU and London, in any combination. Ryanair and LGW could be the solution, providing Brexit not going wrong direction, and ZAG reaches deal with FR
DeleteRyanair would be perfect for Dublin and London Stansted or Luton.
DeleteRyanair flies from Gatwick to 4 destinations in Ireland and Spain, so why not ZAG as well? Stansted could be OK too. Not sure about Luton, concerning the market think bit too far. Coast flights yes, not sure about ZAG
DeleteNothing new. Let's see how many routes they will keep next winter during that 6 months presidency.
ReplyDeleteUpgrd route to Brussels from dash to at least A319, some destinations like Milan, Oslo, Helsinki, Bucharest, Prague can work well during that time!
Why OU does not implement transfer system like many other airlines?
ReplyDeleteWell because they have one already? via ZAG to SKP, SJJ, OMO, PUY, ZAD, DBV, SPU, BWK and others and vv.
DeleteI did not mean ex-Yu but Europe
DeleteWhat would be the difference?
Delete1) OSL - ZAG- ATH
2) OSL - ZAG- DBV
Marketing.
DeleteCroatia Airlines is very well known in Croatia and does not need any new advertising in DBV but many people in ATH did not fly with OU.
If OU could offer them decent service with decent price in ATH new possibilities could be opened...for example SKG.
By opening new routes you grow your network, you grow your revenue and you increase your profit.
Also, the name of your company is wider and better known.
I have to say that for an airline, the size of OU, the network coverage is more than decent.
ReplyDeleteJU is focused entirely on BEG but OU has this nice cocktail of covering the capital and the coast.
What's most is that all the OU destinations are mainly primary and very important airports in Europe.
The ZAG map would look more complete with:
SVO/DME
MAN/BHX
BCN/MAD
OTP
SOF
Either way, good luck to OU. One of the few decent legacy regional carriers.
Their cocktail is half full. JU is growing from its one base. OU is stagnating from its multiple ones.
DeleteBetter half empty than half full.
DeleteThe coast makes money and you know it. Even in winter, the coast is slowly receiving year round destinations.
SPU + DBV = BEG.
And I am not even mentioning ZAG.
Don't forget them regular big planes that bring more and more money to DBV for instance.
If the coast made them money then there would be no need for PSO and you know it.
DeleteHold your horses. PSO is for domestic flights only. They have significant share of international flights from/to coast and they do make money there in season
DeleteRoute structure is good.
ReplyDeleteAgree. Nice network.
DeleteAn airline still under the impression that there is an iron curtain. They could have attracted transit pax from the east before Air Serbia even showed up. Every western european airline has made the most out of the East Europe market.
ReplyDeleteWell it's a but better than what it was. At least now they fly to LED and OTP.
DeleteGood luck, OU!
ReplyDeleteWhy doesn't Croatia Airlines operate charters!?! Or at least more of them.
ReplyDeleteWhen and with what aircraft? They did a few charters to Scandinavia last summer. Not sure if they will happen again.
DeleteOU is very weak on the charter front unfortunately. I think this is an area they could really work on. This winter Aegean was operating charters from Croatia to Germany which is sad considering it could have been Croatia Airlines.
DeleteThey should learn it from JU
DeleteIt's a bit different. JU operates charters for local population going on holiday. OU charters are aimed at tourists coming to Croatia. So it is easier for JU to negotiate with local tour operators. For OU to have charters they would have to actually get off their backside and try negotiating with German/Norwegian/Swedish tour agencies. And that's just too much of an effort for them.
DeleteIt is nothing different comparing what Turks do to bring the tourists to their country by using their charter airlines
DeleteIt is disappointing to see that OU have downgraded their on board meals. The OU snack box was great. Not much content but well presented and made passengers feel like they have received sufficient catering. Much better then the majority of European airlines.
ReplyDeleteBut now it looks like this.
https://bit.ly/2J1HhDW
Well I don't know if you read the news lately but they 11 million euro loss last year. They are trying to cut costs as much as they can. The whole "livery refreshing" is also aimed at cutting cost bu reducing weight of the planes.
DeleteAgree with Anon 12:51.
DeleteAir Travel is getting more and more unformal. Aer Lingus no longer requires female crew to wear makeup.
People wear jeans and smell when they fly, they get stuffed in McDonalds before they board the plane. The glamour of air travel is lost forever.
I think BoB is quite fair on regional flights.
Buy on Board is becoming normal now. Remember the backlash when Air Serbia switched to BoB, passengers were initially upset but are getting used to it.
DeleteTime to stop wet leasing year after year and find a longer term solution to the fleet.
ReplyDeleteIf they had the planes they should fly to Tirana, Sofia, resume Pristina and Podgorica too. Get more links and transfer passengers from the region.
ReplyDeleteMore flights to Eastern Europe are still lacking.
ReplyDeleteI hope they turn at least Bucharest into year round destination.
DeleteI think Sofia will be more successful than Bucharest even if the market is smaller.
DeleteRemember JP success?
Looks like Ryanair has cancelled the flights from Paris to Zadar. Someone can confirm ? Thanks.
ReplyDelete