Croatia Airlines plans twelve international routes in winter


Croatia Airlines plans to operate flights to twelve international destinations from its hub in Zagreb during the coming winter season, which begins on October 31. This is compared to 24 filed by its low cost competitor Ryanair, which will have its network fully operational from December 1. At this stage, the Croatian national carrier plans to maintain flights from Zagreb to London, Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Rome, Frankfurt, Munich, Vienna, Zurich, Sarajevo and Skopje. They will be complemented by its domestic network comprising of Dubrovnik, Split, Pula and Zadar. Unlike the pre-pandemic 2019/2020 winter season, the airline will no longer run flights to Mostar, Dublin and Barcelona.

Over the winter period, the carrier plans to run the greatest number of flights from Zagreb to Frankfurt, followed by Munich, Vienna, Zurich, Sarajevo and Brussels. On the other hand, the most capacity will be deployed to Frankfurt, followed by Amsterdam, Paris, Munich and Vienna. During the winter, the Dash 8 turboprop will operate the majority of flights, some 56.1% of all Zagreb operations, followed by the Airbus A319 with a 31.1% share and the A320, which will be deployed on 12.8% of all services. Due to the evolving epidemiological situation and changing travel restrictions, the airline’s winter line-up is subject to change.

Croatia Airlines will not compete directly against Ryanair on any route, although the low cost carrier will fly to secondary airports serving Rome, Paris, Munich, Frankfurt and Copenhagen. The Croatian airline recently noted, “The start of 2021 was weaker than expected, while the second quarter marked a slow recovery in traffic, which is still well below pre-pandemic levels. The spread of delta variant of the coronavirus and an insufficient number of vaccinated people, as well as various restrictions in international operations makes recovery uncertain in the short-term. The company is undertaking all necessary measures to actively monitor liquidity and optimise operations. It continues to apply rigorous cost-saving measures”.



Comments

  1. This would be the news if those were 12 NEW routes. But no, they will operate what they operated before. Not a single new route despite FR. Why I am not surprised?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:04

      Attacking best professionals in the industry is malicious. Croatia Airlines will thrive and show how big mistake you made, FR for them is a market savior not a competition!

      Delete
    2. Best professionals in the industry hahahahahaha hahahahahaha hahahahahaha I can't stop laughing. Is that new complex name for uhljebs who managed to destroy all potentials for croatian aviation during the last 30 years?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous14:29

      @pozdrav iz Rijeke Croatia airlines know what they are doing and what's best for them during the winter season when there isn't high demand to ZAG unlike in summer, They will develop strategies and combat FR threat with help of BSG

      Delete
    4. it's safe to say that there are governments bots in Croatia as well :)

      Delete
    5. Anonymous18:39

      pozdrav iz rijeke probably has other interests by constantly attacking best in class people. Look at the results and you will see best mega market moves made by best management in the industry!

      Delete
    6. Hahahahahaha hahahahahaha hahahahahaha

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:03

    I find it crazy that Ryanair's network will be double the size of Croatia Airlines

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:22

      Let's see what sticks in the end, they reduced Sofia to 1 weekly in November. I know many attack OU but maybe they are slightly more realistic when it comes to their network? Maybe demand has not recovered that much.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:27

      SOF was scheduled that way for a while. It's nothing new

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    3. Anonymous09:29

      At the same time Rysnair increased Charleroi to 4 weekly.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:31

      So a change from 2 to 1 is nothing new? Since it was not reported anywhere then it's news now.

      Exactly, CRL is a gasto route so that makes sense. Brussels was always a solid performer for both OU and JP. FR knows where to hit.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:33

      No it's nothing nrw since it was discussed here weeks ago. Despite your excitement.

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    6. Anonymous09:34

      Can you please provide a link for that discussion?

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    7. Anonymous09:38

      https://www.exyuaviation.com/2021/07/ryanair-prepared-to-launch-domestic.html

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    8. Anonymous09:52

      God bless you.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous10:21

      I don't see in that link where the discussion is on the reduction of ZAG-SOF from 2 to 1 weekly.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous10:28

      Well try to look harder. You will find it.

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:04

    They only need a few hundred staff so so much for "rigorous cost cutting measures"

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  4. And imagine, most of the routes to Frankfurtu, Munich, Zurich and Vienna. Bravo uhljebi, tako se to radi!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:27

      Unfortunately they are doing their job really well, that is the one they were put there to do. ;)

      Delete
    2. I agree to that. Serve Mutti and feed LH on expense of croatian taxpayers with immense crime and corruption is where they are really good at

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    3. Anonymous13:36

      Yeah but does it really matter? I mean they don't care because there are no consequences for their actions.

      Delete
  5. Anonymous09:04

    And something like a 100 FRA flights and up to 4 weekly for the rest.

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  6. Anonymous09:07

    This is quite low number of routes but good to see no major route cancellations compared to Sept.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous09:08

    Poor Mostar, it won't have any flights this year again. I was expecting OU would resume it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:11

      Me too :(

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    2. Anonymous09:13

      The route was not very busy before corona either. Imagine now

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    3. Anonymous09:23

      There were flights with just 1 passenger. Then again OU is to blame because they created an idiotic flight schedule, some connections were missed because of 5 minutes.

      Delete
  8. Anonymous09:08

    What about frequencies on these routes?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:12

      LH group hubs most frequent like it says in text.

      Delete
  9. Anonymous09:10

    Wonder if they are seeing an impact on the routes they are (indirectly) competing against FR. Did ticket prices go down?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:21

      I really don't see who would choose to fly to Rome on a prop via Split instead of nonstop on a B737.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:26

      +1 last anon

      Delete
    3. Anonymous14:40

      I would rather fly on a Dash 8 then a Ryanair 737 max and risk my life in the air. I have more confidence in being safe on a Croatia Airlines flight then Ryanair. Ryanair cut corners to save money and disaster will happen one of these days.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous14:49

      Lol

      Delete
    5. @anon14:10 i challenge you ,) try to figure out whats the percentage of accidents per ops operated by OU and FR. I thint it favours FR

      Delete
    6. @An.14.40
      Yes, Ryanair is the one using butter to lubricate the doors LOL

      Delete
  10. Anonymous09:15

    They will face fierce competition with FR on the Brussels route. FR already increased the frequency to 4 weekly starting November. It seems like an underserved route yet normal because of EU institutions.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:20

      Are they doing anything about it? OU I mean?

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    2. Anonymous09:25

      They slashed the prices from what I noticed.

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    3. Anonymous09:26

      Of course not

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    4. Anonymous09:30

      FR operates to CRL, which is in Wallonia and not Brussels but it is still a pretty cool airport and very well connected to the capital. BRU is a quite expensive one.

      Delete
  11. Anonymous09:20

    I hope it stays at this number during the winter season.

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  12. Anonymous09:22

    Winter is going to be tough

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous09:25

    Last winter they cancelled many routes like Vienna, Skopje and Sarajevo while Paris was operating once per week. Hopefully it won't come to that again.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:26

      I wonder how SKP is performing for them. Wizz Air slashed its network there for September, hopefully there are enough transfers and cargo to keep this route alive in covid winter.

      Delete
  14. Anonymous09:29

    So many flights to Frankfurt, so few to other places.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:31

      It's the number 1 transfer destination to/from Croatia.

      Delete
  15. Anonymous09:32

    There is not much else they can do. If the demand is not there...

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  16. Anonymous09:33

    Seems like they really got value out of the BCG engagement ... Bravo, money well spent (not !)

    You could have got this plan from someone out of the local retirement pensioners village !

    ReplyDelete
  17. Anonymous09:35

    What is happening with the employees? Have they fired any? This will be a pretty modest operations so it makes me wonder what they will do with excess staff.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Anonymous09:35

    They are not competitive to capture the post covid market

    ReplyDelete
  19. Anonymous09:39

    Let's see how things turn out. I wish them good luck.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:47

      It can only turn out worse than planned. Not better.

      Delete
  20. Anonymous09:40

    They should have gone harder and earlier against Ryanair. They have basically given up without putting up a fight.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:44

      True. But in their first full season of competing against FR in Zagreb they do more of the same as they have done the past decade.

      Delete
  21. Anonymous09:41

    This strategy will lead them nowhere

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:43

      Agree. Another deep sleep for OU.

      Delete
  22. Anonymous09:42

    Hope for the best.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Anonymous09:44

    12 routes with Dash and active fleet less than 10 aircraft... it's called a regional airline.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Anonymous09:46

    Just recently they were talking about how they will launch new markets and basically nothing. They won't have a single new route from Zagreb for 2 years.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:01

      Just PR on their side.

      Delete
  25. Anonymous09:48

    This airline makes me do angry. They could be doing so much more. Instead they do nothing.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Anonymous10:05

    Will be interesting to see what OU and LH do about MUC in the end. Still a long way to go but seems like MUC really struggled in covid.

    ReplyDelete
  27. And yet again not a single route out of Osijek, and we have a huuuge diaspora wanting to get home and VFR traffic wanting to be connected with western Europe. National flag carrier should do these routes even regardless of load factors (which was always 95%+ on Ryan) — it's doing right thing for our people.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Anonymous10:13

    Didn't they plan to expand in southeast europe and offer connections via Zagreb so they can compete against Ryanair?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:14

      They did. In the end their only two routes in SEE are Skopje and Sarajevo.

      Delete
  29. Anonymous10:14

    They are doomed

    ReplyDelete
  30. Anonymous10:15

    Would love to know what advance bookings look like especially to places where they are competing with FR.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Anonymous10:17

    Many missed opportunities. Even in 2020 and 2021.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:43

      hibernation

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:48

      Yes, this is unfortunate. I am sure some opportunities presented themselves as a result of Covid. Some unserved route became more popular. But OU is in deep sleep.

      Delete
  32. For the size of the company, this is a nice and descent network for the winter

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:29

      Really? 12 international routes for an airline with 13 planes?

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    2. Don't forget the maintenance of the airplanes, that more companies do it in winter.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:50

      But FR with three aircraft will have double the network than Croatia Airlines from Zagreb

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    4. Once or two weekly per destination?!!! Tell me about it

      Delete
    5. Anonymous11:03

      All are at least two per week while some are more like London, Rome, Brussels. In fact London is daily with Ryanair in winter while with Croatia Airlines it will be 4 weekly.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous11:30

      All routes that are 2 weekly with FR and its high density B738 could have been operated at least 4 times with OU's Q400.

      Delete
    7. The only thing being issue is potential of croatian market to have flag carrier 3 times size of OU. Or more. With the same number of administrative staff, or even less. Comment on that decency?

      Delete
    8. Anonymous15:06

      Bel Cielo@10.41 .... what are you talking about maintenance of a/c in the winter ? Their fleet has been grounded for the better part of 18 mths ! So what have they been doing all this time ? You don;t do maintenance if the a/c haven;t been flying, moreover, you don;t do it now when there are signs of recovery !

      Delete
  33. Anonymous10:49

    The airline needs a radical change in management. If something isn't working - fix it

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's been like this for 30 years and not fixed. Why do you think will be fixed now?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous15:12

      The fish stinks from the head .... if anything needs to be fixed first, it is the Minister in Charge and then the Supervisory Board. Mgt doesn't move if instructions don;t first come from the top. The fact that this situation has existed for far too long, reflects on how things are decided and in what decisions come down from above. Fix that and then you might get some movement from the mgt. The truth is that no pressure is exerted from above and so the rest of the organisation is impotent as well.

      Delete
  34. Anonymous10:50

    Quite disappointing really.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Anonymous10:51

    OU needs to launch new routes if it wants to compete against Ryanair, especially in the region.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:04

      Agree. They should explore new market opportunities.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:12

      too late

      Delete
    3. Anonymous11:12

      I was hoping this situation would wake up the management and that they would seize some opportunities as they have left many slip but nothing came of it of course.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous11:30

      OU desperately needs to launch Odessa and tap into the lucrative and large Ukrainian market.

      Delete
    5. My friend, if it would only be Odessa and Ukraine.......

      Delete
  36. Anonymous11:30

    No Tirana?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:50

      In the end it will probably be launched by Ryanair too.

      Delete
    2. No Tirana. OU CEO's are known of giving statements "da ne zele da im Siptari prljaju avione" (My apology to all my Albanian friends)

      Delete
  37. Anonymous12:49

    Those Dashes are really valuable during this winter.

    ReplyDelete
  38. Anonymous13:03

    Yesterday Cyprus and today Norway tightened entry requirements for Croatia. With rising covid numbers I expect more to follow. OU is smart and they are not too adventurous. They know a difficult winter is ahead of them so they want to avoid adding and then cancelling flights. They can always add more flights and frequencies in September if there is a need.

    ReplyDelete

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