Croatia leads post lock-down recovery



Croatia is recording one of the lowest declines in the number of operated flights in Europe this summer when compared to last year and the lowest in the former Yugoslavia, according to Eurocontrol. In the week ending July 26, the Croatian market registered a 52% decline in traffic with some 279 flights. It was behind only Albania, which is recording the lowest decline in Europe, then Norway, Luxembourg, Lithuania, France and Belgium. On the other hand, Slovenia, Serbia and Montenegro have registered a 63% drop in traffic, while Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia have registered a 65% and 66% decline respectively. Moldova, Georgia and Armenia have seen the steepest decrease in traffic on the continent.

Aiding Croatian airports is the relative openness of the market this summer to tourists from Western Europe, with those on the coast generating the recovery. Over the past weekend, Split Airport registered 135 arriving and departing flights, carrying some 23.000 passengers. Although this figure represents just 30% of last year’s traffic, it was the busiest so far this year. “Considering the coronavirus pandemic, we are delighted by these numbers”, Split Airport’s Operations Director, Mate Melvan, said. He added, “We expect for the busiest part of the year to be on the first and second weekend of August when we anticipate around 30.000 passengers each”. The head of the Croatian Tourist Board, Kristjan Saničić, noted, “We are conducting an intensive promotional campaign on our most important near-by markets to communicate that Croatia is a safe destination for tourists. These figures, given the circumstances, are an excellent indication for August, during which we expect for the positive trend to continue”.

Recovery in markets including Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia has been slowed by ongoing flight bans, as well as travel and entry restrictions for nationals from these countries. Based on Eurocontrol’s Network Operations Recovery Plan, most will see a small increase in traffic during August. While the entry of nationals from the abovementioned countries is currently restricted to most other nations in Europe, there is also a total ban on flights to Italy and Austria, the latter generating considerable traffic during the summer months from all markets. While the bans are to be reviewed in the coming days, there is no indication they will be lifted, although Austria is likely to green-light the resumption of flights after introducing new entry measures for arrivals from these markets.

Comments

  1. Anonymous09:04

    Good for Croatia

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous09:04

    So much for some of the expert predictions in the comments here in the past few weeks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:09

      People were saying the touristic season will be heavily hit.

      52% decline is obvious proof for that.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:13

      Well just because there are flights doesn't mean loads are there as well. FR and W6 also launched a whole bunch of flights yet their LF was 40% and 50%. Don't forget that corona is exploding in the west, Germany is expected to have a double digit GDP decline, people are losing jobs... summer holidays might not be their priority right now my friend.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:14

      https://www.rtvbn.com/313298/Katastrofalna-ljetnja-sezona-u-Hrvatskoj%3E

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:16

      @9.13 actually a surprising number of people are willing to travel this year. Economic impact will be felt next year as most people already had the funds and used them to travel this year.

      Also @9.14 I'm not sure what you are trying to prove. It is a catastrophic year for tourism everywhere. It's just a question how much.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:20

      lol, link from 2014.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous09:35

      People were saying how Croatia will be more effected than any other country in the region.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous09:39

      @9.35 well come back after Sept to see ZAG figures

      Delete
    8. Anonymous09:53

      Why only after Sept?

      For 2020 H1 ZAG had 64.3% decline

      Delete
    9. BA88810:11

      Four rtn flights STN-PUY-STN booked due to favourable prices and flight timing.

      One done so far. Another one this week.

      I was delighted to take the risk and use my refund money from FR for these flights. Borders can close at any time.

      Happy to fly and full respect to onboard staff for any airline.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous11:17

      So you think decline will be higher in September than in July?

      Delete
    11. Anonymous11:31

      Don't forget that the EU revised the GDP drop for Croatia which is 11% now. They are going to have the biggest drop in the region. Continental HR will also suffer, Meggle is just the tip of the iceberg.

      Delete
    12. Anonymous14:39

      There is 700.000 tourists in Croatia in this moment. Huge

      Delete
    13. Anonymous15:19

      Source?

      Delete
    14. Not true. It is 2 million, not 700.000.

      "Ministrica turizma i sporta Nikolina Brnjac izjavila je u utorak da je s obzirom na situaciju vrlo zadovoljna trenutnim turističkim brojkama, koje pokazuju da je promet u sezoni na oko 50 posto prošlogodišnjega."

      "Prema podacima sustava eVisitor, koji sadrži turistički promet ostvaren u komercijalnom i nekomercijalnom segmentu te nautičkom charteru, u Hrvatskoj je na današnji dan ostvareno više od dva milijun turističkih dolazaka u srpnju, što je 54% dolazaka ostvarenih u istom razdoblju prošle godine."

      Source: Ministarstvo turizma i sporta
      https://mint.gov.hr/vijesti/8?tip=1

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:06

    Well let's hope passengers are also there. We saw that QR in ZAG was flying empty.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:06

      " Over the past weekend, Split Airport registered 135 arriving and departing flights, carrying some 23.000 passengers. "

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:10

      30% of last year's traffic

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:12

      That's the weekend so two days, it means planes arrived with an average of 85 passengers.

      That's not that great.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:33

      @ Anon 9.12- That´s not that great?????? But you heard we have a worldwide pandemic? 85 passengers per flights is very good considering this.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:48

      If Croatia is so successful why ZAG had such a huge decrease?

      Delete
    6. Anonymous10:10

      Who said Croatia is “so successful”?

      Delete
    7. Anonymous10:18

      QR is sending A321 to BEG today.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous10:24

      ^I'm sorry, but there is no QR flight scheduled to Belgrade today... There is one tomorrow with the A321.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous11:32

      Great job to QR!

      Delete
    10. Anonymous12:49

      Big difference.

      Delete
    11. Anonymous14:59

      Maybe those are people from Zagreb.

      Delete
  4. Anonymous09:08

    52% decline isn't a lot in today's day and age unfortunately.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous09:09

    Introduce mandatory fast testing at airports for all passengers and problem solved.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:11

      Yes, that comes very cheap.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:12

      Charge for it.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:14

      Israel is developing some sort of whistle like thing which will give results within 4 minutes. It is expected to be bought up by airports.

      Delete
  6. Anonymous09:13

    The only reason for that is the coast.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:19

      and only for 2 months

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:22

      your inference capabilities are extraordinary

      Delete
    3. Keep Calm and Visit Dalmatia09:23

      Yes, sorry not sorry that we have a beautiful coast.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:32

      All Mediterranean countries have a beautiful coast.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:34

      Croatia is the only country to have a coast in Europe. That is why the recovery here is best. IRONY OFF!

      Delete
    6. Anonymous09:39

      Anon 09:13

      But people were talking how Croatia won’t recover as other countries in the ex yu because of that same coast... What was changed in their minds?

      Delete
    7. Anonymous09:39

      actually HR is badly needing every € it can get from the coast since there is no industry

      Delete
    8. Anonymous09:59

      Croatian economy along with MNE will be most affected in our region and thats for sure, these two countries depends alot on their tourism and of course a 50% decline i air traffic is tremendous as they earn the most in Jun-aug.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous11:33

      Experts are predicting a GDP drop as big as 20% in the end. Our government will do what it loves doing the most: getting loans.

      Lol

      Delete
  7. Anonymous09:15

    With relatively open borders between Croatia and Western Europe, you would think that this would be an ideal opportunity for OU to launch an assault on recapturing lost ground from the past few years, right ?

    So where is OU and what is their management doing ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:18

      It is too early to react.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:28

      True - why rush ? We should wait until the season is over and then react

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:39

      Nothing weird for OU...

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:47

      OU is in deep financial hardship. Yes, they will be saved by the state in one way or another but they don't have money to expand at the moment.

      Delete
    5. No it is not. Because of 33 milion EUR before Covid19.

      CEO sent memo to workers that Croatia is OK till 2022.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous15:20

      Ok is a relative term. They got some money before but expenses are much higher now.

      Delete
    7. CEO said Croatia Airlines is in safe zone till 2022 with finances. So, it is not true that they are in "deep financial hardship".

      Delete
  8. Anonymous09:20

    Bravo Hrvatska!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:31

      Good. Here's a banana.

      Delete
  9. Anonymous09:27

    As expected, Hrvatska's EU membership helped a lot. ZAG was operating flights to EU cities while the rest of ex-YU airports shut down. This was also thanks to the low Covid figures. Bravo Hrvatska!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:37

      lol. this is summer holiday. read the article again

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:46

      Hahahaha, well said anon 09:37

      Delete
  10. Anonymous09:47

    It's good to see that the Croatian market is recovering. All the best to other countries as well.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous09:58

    very easily explained: 90% of HR's summer air traffic is produced on the coast which is not the case in countries like ESP, ITA, FRA which have tens of mainland airports that are struggling with sharp decline

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous10:06

    ZAG and TIA passengers numbers going to tight from now on. Going to be very interesting.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:12

      You are comparing TIA and ZAG? Really?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:28

      Yes, in 2021 figures will be similar

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:37

      TIA will pass ZAG this year

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:44

      lol the TIA-troll why does he even bother with ZAG?

      Delete
    5. Anonymous11:30

      These airports are really not for comparasion. Im not defending ZAG airport managnent but TIA is really not comparable with ZAG in terms of passanger numbers. TIA is the only airport and entry point for tourist in the country of 2.864 million people while ZAG is not the only one in Croatia. Air transport in Albania is centralized on TIA so all of passanger growth in Albania is made in TIA which is not the case in Croatia where air passangers are distributed among other airports. In Croatia you have ZAG with 3.5 mil passangers and SPU with 3.3 mil passangers. Do you have an airport in Albania which has just 200.000 passangers less than TIA? No you dont, because TIA is the only airport in Albania.

      So in my opinion you cannot compare an airport on which is all of aviation in the country centralized with an airport in the country where passangers are distributed among other airports. TIA is doing fantastic job and ZAG is not, but I wouldnt compare these airports at all. Same as I wouldnt comapare PRG with WAW, BUD with OTP or BEG with SOF.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous11:38

      TIA might be the only airport in the country but it has airports in the same area it competes with. Do you honestly think ZAG, DBV, PUY, BWK...are competing for same passengers? They are not.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous12:07

      Still these airports are not for comparasion.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous12:39

      I am like curious now, what airports can ZAG be compared to since every time we compare them to an airport you say they are not for comparison.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous12:42

      Croatia is twice the size of Albania! Of course the passengers are distributed between more airports. Besides, many Albanians used TGD, PRN, SKP, OHD, CFU before the pandemic

      Delete
    10. Anonymous13:32

      Yes it is twice of the size of Albania and it has 4 times more air passangers than Albania!!! So why than TIA has 3.5 not 6 million? People would rather 5 hours drive to SKP or PRN for the same airlines you have in TIA?

      Anon 12:29
      Pick one airport and I would say is it for comparasion or not. So do you have argument against me because you think this comparasion is justified?

      Delete
    11. Anonymous13:46

      Hmm maybe because it has a coastline 16 times longer than Albania?
      And what same airlines are you talking about, Wizz just opened their base this month, before that there was barely and LCC presence

      Delete
    12. Anonymous13:54

      Exactly!!!
      It has more tourist so it has more air passangers. Same as TIA will have more passangers than ZAG because of centralization of Albanian air transport on Tirana.

      Delete
    13. Anonymous14:16

      Why are people talking about Croatia as a whole. All the airports except ZAG relies on tourist. TIA
      will be more busier than ZAG it already has more flights.

      Delete
    14. Anonymous14:22

      Anon 13.32

      So basically you don't know any airports with which ZAG can be compared?

      Delete
    15. Aэrologic15:23

      Anonymous @ 11:30

      Actually, you are wrong.

      70% of tourists who visit Albania come either by car or via Corfu/Ioannina just as I did the last time.

      Tirana is often very expensive and inaccessible by road.

      Delete
    16. Anonymous16:24

      Aerologic
      Who is Anon @11:30

      I think you mixed up some neighbourhood in Zurich for Tirana. Tirana (city in Albania) is not expensive, at least for EU citizens.

      How is Tirana inaccessible by road if every Albanian highway begins and ends in Tirana?

      Delete
    17. Anonymous17:03

      I believe he means TIA as an airport, not Tirana itself

      Delete
    18. Aэrologic20:10

      @16:24

      I was thinking it's evident I'm talking about the airport.

      Delete
  13. Anonymous10:08

    I find it interesting that Albania had the lowest decline. Was the base number low to begin with or something else?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:13

      Didn't Wizz Air launch a gazzlion flights to Italy or something?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:16

      Nope. Wizz air new base helped a lot of passengers numbers and new routes. In August more airlines are starting again so it’s going to get busy again.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:29

      New flights from Wizz air, Air albania, easyJet, LOT, UIA charters boosts passengers numbers

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:46

      rubbish. of course its the new Wizz flights

      Delete
    5. Nemjee11:40

      JU also helped TIA. Many transfers from JFK to TGD were simply rebooked to TIA. We are talking about 80 to 100 passengers on some days.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous11:54

      Its off topic, but it would be very interesting to see Air Albania somewhere in the ex yu region. Maybe in LJU or ZAG.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous11:58

      Nemjee
      We are talking about low decline, not about rebooked passangers from LH to JU. JU helped passangers to get to their destinations after EU citizens were prohibited from entering in US but a low decline is thanks to the airlines which added a lot of new frecuencies like Wizz or Air Albania.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous12:40

      Air Albania added a lot of new frequencies? Really? Also he didn't say they were rebooked from LH but from BEG-TGD which was banned by MNE authorities.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous12:45

      Anon 12:40 Yes really. They added 3 new Italian destinations in the beggining of July and STN just 2 days ago

      Delete
    10. Anonymous13:38

      Last summer they operated just 3 daily flights to IST because they replaced Turkish there (TK is not flying to Albania anymore). For this summer they still have 3 daily to IST + daily to FCO, daily to Pisa + 4 weakly to Bologna + daily to Bergamo + daily to Verona + daily to MXP + 1 weakly to STN. Seems a lot me.

      Delete
    11. Anonymous13:50

      Anon 13:38 Its not that many frequencies at the moment, but still pretty good considering the times we re going through

      Delete
    12. Anonymous13:53

      Anon 12:40
      I guess im wrong than. (not about Air Albania).

      Delete
    13. Anonymous13:59

      40 weakly flights is not many to you? Maybe in comparasion to the airlines like TK and LH or airports like LHR and FRA but for this region this is a lot. More than Wizz added in BEG or TIA, JU planed in BEG and INI or all airlines in SPU for this year.

      Delete
    14. Anonymous14:13

      You misunderstood, i didnt say its not many frequencies. I meant its not as many frequencies as you listed above

      Delete
  14. Anonymous10:12

    Croatia could profit from the Spain quarantine order for British tourists. Let's see.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:12

      I mean British quarantine order for British tourists returning from Spain.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:36

      Possibly.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous16:12

      Nemjee - a true JU fanboy :D
      As if TIA was all about it.

      Delete
    4. Nemjee21:07

      Hey buddy, you posted it in the wrong place but you get a B for effort.

      Delete
  15. Anonymous10:36

    I'm glad with Croatia's result but it is unfortunate that it is not the result of Croatia Airlines.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Anonymous14:27

    Big problem for ZAG will be BUD which now managed to overtake Prague for the first time ever! If ZAG doesn't do something right now it risks being chocked to death. Turning into an LCC hub would be a step in the right direction.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous16:16

      You dont know anything about the concession contract in ZAG, dont you?

      Delete
  17. Anonymous15:07

    Wow, it’s impressive how many persons are green of envy on Croatia’s performance!

    FYI, Croatia’s tourist numbers are top 3 of all mediterranean countries, but the numbers still remain low.

    Croatian Gvm’t is doing a great job up to date on all Covid-19 strategies, and 22 billion EU euros will help cushion the fall decline, a decline which ALL countries will feel, especially Balkan countries.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous15:22

      Listing facts doesn't mean someone is envious, just means they are not wearing rosy glasses.

      Delete
  18. Anonymous08:51

    Does anyone know if OU is reducing frequencies on some routes without announcement? I noticed for example they removed Wed eve BRU flights from booking engines, although they still have them in the timetable on their website. Anyone else noticed any further reductions?

    ReplyDelete

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