Zagreb Airport is engaged in talks over securing additional low cost flights in order to stimulate growth as the pandemic continues to impact the industry. The airport, considered expensive by budget carriers, has launched a new subsidy scheme to stimulate the arrival of new airlines and the launch of new routes. In order to qualify for the discounts, which includes an 80% reduction in the passenger service charge that amounts to 17.5 euros, an airline must launch services from the Croatian capital to destinations that were not previously served in either the pre-pandemic 2019 or in 2020. The carrier must also maintain operations throughout the year.
The new policy is said to have generated interest among the major European no frills airlines. Zagreb Airport is dominated by full service carriers with Eurowings being the only low cost airline serving the city. Based on the existing summer season schedule, just 3.6% of all flights from Zagreb will be operated by no frills airlines, all of them by Eurowings. However, it too noted that its airport charges are "significantly higher than most major European airports, making it less appealing for low cost carriers". Croatia's busiest airport hiked its passenger service charge following the opening of its new passenger terminal in 2017 by two euros per each international passenger. Similarly, it increased its fees by half a euro per every domestic passenger to seven and a half euros.
Europe's busiest airline, Ryanair, held talks with the Croatian Ministry for Tourism in 2018 over the potential introduction of flights to Zagreb. Commenting on its absence in the Croatian capital, Wizz Air's CEO, Jozsef Varadi, previously said, "It is a high-priced airport environment with fluctuating demand. Should the costs come down, I think they would attract us". Zagreb Airport was previously served by the likes of Wizz Air, easyJet and Norwegian Air Shuttle, however, all terminated their operations from the Croatian capital, but continue to maintain a notable presence on the coast where fees are lower.
That's a big discount. Hopefully it attracts some LCCs.
ReplyDeleteLCCs in ZAG would kill OU
ReplyDeleteLCCs haven't really killed any national airline in ex-Yu, so it won't kill OU either.
DeleteThere are only two national airlines left in the ex-YU region and in pre-covid times massive amount of LCC presence across the region. So it could be said that LCC helped destroy Adria/Montenegro and limit Croatia Airlines operations from the coast and Air Serbia.
DeleteOU has not reformed itself unlike JU. JP and YM died.
DeleteCan't kill somebody with unlimited state aid.
Delete@9.19 was about to post the same :D
Delete@9.19 I strongly agree
DeleteFinally! Hoping for a positive outcome.
ReplyDeleteVery good news, it seems that ZAG is on the right path.
DeleteIt would be fantastic for Ryan to base a plane in ZAG.
ReplyDeleteI always thought Eurowings would be the one to do that in ZAG.
DeleteEW is fantastic and the best fit for a niche market like ZAG.
DeleteEurowings prices are nowhere near LCC levels.
DeleteIt depends but they certainly are not an ULCC.
DeleteEurowings wont help much. Its not that cheap
DeleteActually easy jet would make most sense seeing as they handle over 600,000 passengers per year to Croatia and have an extensive network in the country.
DeletePlease no Ryanair or Wizz!
DeleteThis is bad news for OU
ReplyDeleteI really doubt it. More than a decade ago, when W6 followed by FR aggressively entered, let's say, OTP and SOF, their flag carriers still survived until today. The same with KIV and Air Moldova.
DeleteThe biggest advantage for the Zagreb citizens and the tourists or business travellers will be the low fares.
ZAG remains an expensive destination from many parts of Europe so having LCCs will be just perfect!
Do you really want OU to be on the level of Bulgaria Air?
DeleteI hope not.
KIV can't be compared as it is out of EU and Tarom even before pandemic was in quite bad situation as it had loss each year starting from 2009 and in 2019 it was -35.8 mil EUR.
In a sea coast country with population of 20 mil people and EU member they had almost the same number of passengers like Air Serbia with country population of 7 mil people.
So, no good news for national air carriers in these countries.
@10:24 Nothing wrong with Bulgaria Air. Compared to many other carriers, they are not backed by the government and have not received aid but still survived. They have an okayish fleet and more conservative growth.
DeleteRO had a more turbulent past with some layoffs etc but still managed to renew their fleet and sustain their large domestic network.
KIV cannot be compared to EU but it is still has its national carrier and several others operating and Air Moldova´s network is pretty okay.
Any of those from the photo would be more than welcome :D
ReplyDeleteYes please!
Delete96.4% legacy? That's huge!
ReplyDeleteZAG has considerably small LCC presence comparing the other European capitals. Hope this gets sorted out
DeleteYears ago Croatia Airlines used to push the argument that low cost airlines should not fly to Zagreb because it would not make it a world class airport and would reduce its value LOL.
ReplyDeleteTypical protectionism. When you have the government involved in a specific carrier, this is what happens. You increase the market share and prevent others from entering. You become a monopoly. Not to mention the subsidies on political routes for "prestige" and so on.
DeleteTraffic would boom if they got an LCC to base a plane. Passenger numbers would grow by at least 300.000 within a year just from that.
ReplyDeleteIf they come to Zagreb it will really impact Ljubljana negatively.
ReplyDeleteSame other way around. Better to get in there before LJU.
DeleteI'm all for LCCs coming to Zagreb BUT government should first offload Croatia Airlines.
ReplyDeleteNot going to happen soon
Deletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2021/03/croatia-airlines-privatisation-unlikely.html
There is a rumor that talks are being held with Ryanair. Don't know if it's true though.
ReplyDeleteThat would be amazing
Delete
ReplyDeleteI think I 'm still sleeping and dreaming. Is something finally changing? Old terminal, perfect for LCC. Potential for at least 3 planes to be based and operate even domestic flights. But for the beginning it would be good to see at least some new destinations and routes.
+1
DeleteWhat is with the old terminal? Is it being used for anything?
DeleteI visited ZAG many years ago and the old terminal was not very modern but quite efficient and clean. Have they did any refurbs? What about the transport to the city centre, is it still by bus?
DeleteI doubt they would activate the old terminal because the cost of running two buildings would be too much.
Deletewhy use the old terminal for LCC when the new one is empty and has so much capacity? that only increases the costs for employees and electricity etc.
Delete@9.30
DeleteI believe just offices. They used the terminal 2 yrs ago for a concert.
I agree new terminal is empty at the moment and can handle all traffic, including potential LCC. However I expect corona crisis not to last forever and new terminal to start being busy (again). When situation is back to normal, it should be normal to expect rise in traffic. In addition to that, old terminal does not need to have buses to shuttle passengers between the plane and the terminal building - it is possible to walk. So no cost for buses, no need for bus drivers. For other ground staff, I don't see what's the difference if they work left or right, up or down. Electricity can be solved by sollar panels funded by EU renewable sources funds. More shops, more caffes, more money which covers bigger expenses. Not saying would happen, but should in my opinion, of course only if this LCC story starts, which I still doubt
DeleteAnd yes, the bus from/to the city center is still driving old route, passing by the old terminal and not stopping. And old terminal was completely refurbished only couple of years before the new one was opened.
DeleteYes, the old terminal is perfect for these flights and once the air traffic recovers it will be necessary too.
DeleteI remember our plane being parked in front of it on multiple occasions pre-crises, because all slots at the new terminal had been filled.
Fingers crossed this goes through!
And here I was told that ZAG does not need ultra LCCs and that the general travel public will never fly these airlines from Zagreb
ReplyDeleteWhat I find unfortunate is that both easy jet and Wizz Air used to fly to Zagreb but not anymore. Hope they come back.
ReplyDeleteWhat was the reason they left?
DeleteI mean it was obvious they accepted the fees as soon as they started flying to ZAG but why they left?
Easy flew Dortmund, Paris and Gatwick. And Wizz also flew Dortmund.
DeleteWizz also flew Luton in addition to Dortmund.
DeleteI still don't understand why all these flights failed.
Delete@Anon 11:07:
DeleteMore yield to be made on other routes, where you don't have to compete with state-backed airlines.
But how do LCCs manage to fly to BE, OTP or SOF where there are state backed airlines?
Delete*BEG
Delete@17:02 RO is state backed but not FB. It is a private company.
DeleteExactly 10 years ago
ReplyDelete"Zagreb Airport’s new CEO Tonči Peović has announced that he will cut the cost of airport handling services in a bid to attract more low cost airlines to Croatia’s largest airport. New handling prices, which are a great deterrent for low cost airlines, will be revised within the next 10 days. Peović said that he is negotiating directly with easyJet and Ryanair for them to commence flights to Zagreb and offer a total of 10 new services from Zagreb to their European bases. Yesterday, Peović said that "Clearly, we should be careful not to lower our income through new, lower prices, but we should also encourage discount airlines by sharing with them the risk of new flights. However, at the same time, we should be careful not to harm airlines with which we have been cooperating for years". Peović added that the national carrier Croatia Airlines will not be receiving any pricing privileges from the airport authority."
LOOOL
DeleteZagreb-Dubrovnik with LCC would be great thank you :D
ReplyDeleteDoubt it will happen anytime soon :(
Deletethe bus services in Croatia are one of the best in Europe. You can travel to virtually anywhere withing the country in less than 4 hours.
DeleteThere is no money to be made on domestic flights. You can't ask Croatia Airlines about that. Those flights are filled with transfer passengers during the summer, while during the winter domestic routes are loss making and don't have too many passengers. For a LCC it is much better to fly direct from the west to the coast than to fly a short domestic flight.
DeleteI wouldn't mind seeing Transavia and Volotea. Perhaps their demands on the airport would not be as big as say Ryan, Wizz or Easy jet.
ReplyDeleteI would love to see Pegasus start SAW-ZAG. It would end the Turkish Airlines monopoly on the route and would offer some great transfer options.
DeleteDidn't they fly to Zagreb before?
DeleteNo they have never flown to Zagreb.
DeleteGreater LCC presence would allow for significantly more passengrs.
ReplyDeleteYes but at what cost?
DeleteIt would allow people who may not be able to pay full fare to fly for less.
DeleteI can't get over the fact that we can attract Korean Air and Emirates but not Wizz or Easy.
ReplyDeleteWell, you can't anymore.
DeleteActually, it's easily explained.
DeleteThe government offers benefits and subsidies to Korean and Emirates but not to Ryanair.
It's quite simple.
They are probably trying to do something since they realized LCCs will be generating growth in the next couple of years.
ReplyDeleteEveryone has realised that - even Sarajevo.
DeleteLJU didnt realise
Delete^ True...
DeleteNo brainer
ReplyDeletewhich routes could work?
ReplyDeleteDortmund - Zagreb
DeleteBerlin, Malmo and Liverpool.
DeleteDUB
Deletejust look at Wizz network in ExYu (and add UK to it because of no visa restrictions)
DeleteWhy LPL? I know there are a lot of serbs, but croatian?
DeleteGlasgow or Edinburgh, London (any) , Manchester, Dublin, Gothenburg, Malmo, Oslo, Hannover, Berlin, Dortmund, Gdansk, Krakow, Kiev, Sofia or Varna, Beauvais, Lyon, Basel, Charleroi, Porto, Tenerife, Barcelona Gerona, Rome, Malta, Skopje, Split, Dubrovnik...
DeleteForget about Kiev.
DeleteSince Zagreb is managed by a French company it makes sense to add more links to France.
Delete@19.56 an LCC like SkyUp could launch Kiev.
DeleteDefinitely also Amsterdam with easyjet or Eindhoven with ryanair/wizzair.
Deletenot the easiest day for the prestigious fans :) (only joking)
ReplyDeleteWhat are the landing charges in ZAG?
ReplyDeleteThis is exciting. I really hope it results in the arrival of new airlines.
ReplyDeleteAny news from Osijek?
ReplyDeleteThe LCC tender just ended a few days ago so I think it's too early.
DeleteOsijek tender for this summer? ��
DeleteRyanair at ZAG.. That's like a dream!
ReplyDeleteLaudamotion (ie Ryanair) wanted to open a base in Zagreb 2 years ago. Croatia Airlines lobbied and blocked them.
DeleteAnd good so !
DeleteSome low cost airlines are much needed.
ReplyDeleteNews from this sote from 2019
ReplyDelete"both Eurowings and Laudamotion have expressed interest in stationing aircraft in the Croatian capital. The airport's higher fees would have been avoided with the reopening of its old terminal building, which would have been used exclusively by budget carriers. However, as EX-YU Aviation News learns, both Eurowings and Laudamotion have given up on their plans for the time being following strong objections from the Croatian carrier, expressed to both the state and the airport. The company is in the midst of a privatisation process."
Such a lost opportunity. Airport would be in a much better position today if this happened.
DeleteThen finally Croatia Airlines can go bancrupt .
ReplyDeleteVery much needed !
Good news for the public but bad news for Croatia Airlines. They have already been squeezed on the coast, now Zagreb.
ReplyDeleteThat's their problem. They had years to become competitive and offer decent prices. For the basic service they offer their fares are way too high.
DeleteZagreb definitely needs more low cost airlines. I think Eurowings is a good fit for the airport. Somehow don't see ultra low cost airlines working out of ZAG.
ReplyDeleteWhy?! You think the local population is too good for ultra LCC and would avoid them?
DeleteYes, tacky airlines bring an airport down .
DeleteZagreb should not become a second Skopje .
Croatians deserve better then begging on their knees for Wizz or Ryanfall Air and their disgusting level of service .
Brits, Germans, Swiss and others from high GDP countries are fine with Wizz and Ryan but somehow Croatians are above it and deserve better??? For your information both Wizz and Ryan already fly to Croatia. Some spoiled Zagreber is fine when Wizz and Ryan fly to Zadar, Split and other Croatian coastal airports but he does not want so called tacky airlines at his prestige airport? Some people are just nuts.
DeleteYou make it sound like Zagreb is full of spoiled brats.
DeleteIt is not full of but those few writing this BS definitely are
DeleteWizz used to have a perfect, affordable service more than a decade ago. Was sad to see it go. Hopefully the new circumstances will make it shift its decision🤞🤞🤞
ReplyDelete