Ryanair subsidiary Lauda will open a base in Zadar during the 2020 summer season by initially stationing three Airbus A320 aircraft and launching a range of new routes. In total, the carrier will maintain flights to 31 cities from Zadar. These include some routes previously operated by Ryanair. The new services from Zadar include Aarhus, Beauvais, Bremen, Cork, Hamburg, Kaunas, Maastricht, Riga, Liverpool, Toulouse, Vienna and Wroclaw. The majority of the services will be introduced from early May. The three A320s were originally planned to be based in Palma, however, the airline said it wanted to strongly focus on the tourism sector in Croatia instead, noting that the country been a highly sought after holiday destination.
Click on link for further details
Lauda’s CEO, Andreas Gruber, said "Croatia is one of the most popular destinations for summer holidays by the sea. Every year the country records further growth, but from many regions, the range of flights is quite thin and often expensive. We offer an unbeatable value for money on 31 routes to and from Zadar, enabling passengers to enjoy unforgettable but affordable beach holidays in Croatia. The local economy will also benefit greatly because together with our parent company Ryanair we will bring many thousands of travellers to Zadar. This not only safeguards jobs, but also creates many incriminating jobs in Croatia". A number of the destinations to be launched out of Zadar will be served by Lauda for the first time.
As previously reported, Lauda was initially interested in opening a base in the Croatian capital of Zagreb, but backed down following strong objections from Croatia Airlines. In addition to the new base, Zadar Airport is expected to see a number of airlines launch new routes to the city in 2020. These include Austrian Airlines from Vienna, Jet2 from London Stansted and Manchester, easyJet from Basel and Amsterdam. as well as SAS from Copenhagen. Furthermore, Lauda's parent company Ryanair will commence flights from Gdansk.
In order to facilitate the significant growth in traffic, Zadar Airport will initiate a seventy million euro expansion and overhaul of its facilities. It will become the latest airport in the country, following Zagreb, Dubrovnik and Split, to carry out major upgrades. They include the overhaul of the runway and its extension by 700 metres, as well as the expansion of the terminal building and apron. The Croatian government will assist with the financing. Zadar Airport's General Manager, Josip Klišmanić, previously noted that necessary project documentation will be obtained during 2019 in order for work on the project to commence as soon as possible. No firm timeframe has been given as to when construction work could be completed.
Comments
"In addition to the new base, Zadar Airport is expected to see a number of airlines launch new routes to the city in 2020. These include Austrian Airlines from Vienna, Jet2 from London Stansted and Manchester, easyJet from Basel and Amsterdam. as well as SAS from Copenhagen. Furthermore, Lauda's parent company Ryanair will commence flights from Gdansk."
But that is still insignificant considering that area from island of Pag down to Sibenik can accommodate 300.000 tourists per day.
So, it slowly moves from road tourists to air tourists.
The average FR one-way ticket price form/to ZAD in June-Sept is above 115 EUR.
Sadly it doesn't seem to work that way.
And I wouldn't try and spin the angle like 'oh, it's nothing'. Ryanair is making loads of money in summer, full stop. They don't deserve a penny on top for a deal like this. Just like they committed to a full year base the first time and then sneaked out of it with no penalties. To me the whole setup's criminal.
But hey, I'm happy there's some traffic. Hopefully the markets get developed and in the end there's no need to grease O'Leary.
Can anyone find a source or maybe admin can request further information on this?
Shame SPU doesn't want to lower fees by a single cent.
(Obviously, Kaunas would be far fetched for OU.)
People from Dalmatia travel abroad so rarely.
ZAD deserves credit, ZAG does not.
ZAD has a rich history with FR ever since it opened its base a couple of years ago.
Croatia's tourism is maturing and even attracting huge players such as AA.
It is now up to ZAD to try long-haul and talk with DY on establishing routes to JFK, LAX, SFO, YYZ and so on.
BRAVO Hrvatska!
So this means Zadar will be conected with all major airports in Netherlands, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Eindhoven and Maastricht