Low cost carrier Ryanair, which is in the process of launching fifteen routes from Zagreb and establishing a base in the city, has said it plans to station up to ten aircraft in the Croatian capital. “As many as ten Boeing 737-800s could eventually be based at Zagreb. We started with two aircraft. Zagreb is the capital city … and remember, when we arrive in certain cities, they become [passenger] destinations”, the airline’s CEO, David O’Brien, told “Routes Digest”. The carrier plans to station its first jet in Zagreb at the end of August, a second in early September, while a third could join at the start of the 2020/2021 winter season in late October.
Mr O’Brien noted that Croatia Airlines’ weakness has played no role in its decision to open a base in Zagreb, “Croatia Airlines is irrelevant for our decision making. It is not a factor”, the CEO said. Last month the airline told the Croatian national carrier it should “do its homework” rather than complain over the agreement reached between Ryanair and Zagreb Airport. “The fact of the matter is that Croatia Airlines has not achieved growth and profit in the past four years. Ryanair will bring dozens of new routes to Zagreb this year, and Croatia Airlines has brought three in the past four years. We think Croatia Airlines must do its homework again”.
Ryanair has said it eventually plans to maintain between thirty and forty routes out of Zagreb and handle two to three million passengers per year. “We will grow exponentially in the years to come. The key for Zagreb is going to be the number of airports we have on offer in Europe. We made a bold decision to launch a base straight away. This shows our confidence in Zagreb. This will transform the city and we will become the largest airline in Zagreb and Croatia within a very short period of time”, the budget carrier said. The General Manager of Zagreb Airport, Huseyin Bahadir Bedir, previously noted that becoming a Ryanair base was a strategic decision in order to elevate the airport into a regional hub and speed up its recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.
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“The fact of the matter is that Croatia Airlines has not achieved growth and profit in the past four years. Ryanair will bring dozens of new routes to Zagreb this year, and Croatia Airlines has brought three in the past four years. We think Croatia Airlines must do its homework again”.
Even the inaugural flight had like 67 pax
2026 will be quite a different year than 2025, get ready for it.
LCCs are ruthless when it comes to competition. They wouldn't miss an opportunity to burry them no matter how strong or weak they are.
I do not think so.
Eventually, ZG may have 8 million in the future, but that's not to happen over night, but rather in next 10 years.
but hey TAP also said they fly to Zagreb because its an EU-capital.
As if that would be somehow important.
The government could turn this into a face saving move. Maybe keep one A319 for charter traffic and specialty flights.
This is one of the key initiatives that Aer Lingus implemented in finding a way of how to ensure survival in the Ryannair onslought it had to deal with ....
And about OU, Ryanair smelled blood. And it will be fast and ruthless death walk for OU from now on. Only thing that will keep OU alive for few more months is bad timing for Ryanair starting of base. If Ryan came in March with flights commencing from May, OU could close its shop window by September. By starting most of routes from Autumn, we will be viewing slower death until next spring.
I give OU max 12 more months. And then they will just stop one day. Like Adria.
Ps. I hope JU is already having a plan to hit croatian market hard the moment OU dies.
What Air Serbia needs to do is start more long haul flights like Aer Lingus instead of playing endless shell game of opening/reopening/changing frequency of regional flights.
So don't wait .... GO FOR IT !!!!
I flew with OU from ZAG probably more than fifty times and of course they had delays. This is normal in aviation. But each and every time they took good care of their passengers. That means food and beverage in case of long delays and financial compensation if delayed more than 3 hours or full refund. Or transfer on other carriers (OS,LH,AF, etc) if this is an option.
What is not normal is not careing for your customer in case of irregularities which is common practice of all LCC or aggressive sale by flight attendants on FR flight for example.
Oh and they should stop whining and do their homework instead, haha!