Croatia Airlines sees signs of recovery as winter looms


Croatia Airlines has said it is satisfied with its performance over the preceding peak summer months as it prepares for the upcoming winter season which begins on October 31. The airline’s Chief Commercial Officer, Slaven Žabo, noted that together with the support of the state, the national carrier has navigated its way out of the first phase of the pandemic and is now preparing for its post-Covid strategy, which will primarily focus on development. “During this summer season we saw some recovery and we were pleased to have been able to increase our frequencies. Between June and September, we linked Croatia with eighteen international destinations, operated over 8.000 flights and carried almost 400.000 passengers”, Mr Žabo said.

Outlook for the coming winter season remains awash with uncertainty for European carriers. Continuing travel restrictions and the Delta variant of the coronavirus are expected to discourage travellers this winter. November is considered one of the slowest months for the aviation industry even at the best of times. Croatia Airlines plans to run 1.340 scheduled flights next month (return service included). It has put 148.840 seats up for sale on scheduled operations this November. It will primarily utilise its Dash 8 fleet, which will be deployed on 52.2% of all flights, followed by the Airbus A319s on 39.1% and the A320s on 8.7% of all scheduled services. The airline will maintain flights to fourteen destinations from Zagreb, of which ten are international, as well four destinations from Split, of which three are international. Furthermore, it will reduce a two weekly service between Osijek and Munich, which is scheduled to operate from mid-November.

Germany will remain Croatia Airlines’ largest foreign market, followed by Switzerland, France and the Netherlands. The table below displays the airline’s planned scheduled destinations and frequencies for the month of November, which is correct at the time of publication. Further changes may occur in the weeks ahead. Destinations with daily or more flights are marked in blue.

Planned Croatia Airlines November network departing Zagreb


Planned Croatia Airlines November network departing Split





Comments

  1. Anonymous09:03

    I find it interesting that they will operate more fights from Split to Munich than from Zagreb to Munich.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:20

      well they fly where ths demand sits, quite logic.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous00:50

      Point is that Zagreb is three times bigger than Split. Not to mention it is the capital city.

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:04

    Surprised at Vienna being only 3 weekly.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:06

      I am not, VIE-ZAG has been underperforming for months now. OS has been reducing it since August.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:08

      As far as I can remember last winter both suspended the route at some point.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:53

      It's a bit odd isn't it? Considering the size of Croatian diaspora. I assume most drive to ZAG.

      Delete
    4. Buying a plane ticket that costs well over 100EUR instead of 3+ hours drive for a fraction of a price? Not odd at all.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:20

      And you can bring unlimited luggage...

      Delete
    6. Anonymous10:20

      How long is the drive from VIE to ZAG?

      Delete
    7. Anonymous10:21

      VIENNA is 99% transfer. Winter is coming and the situation is growing worse, so quite logic.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous10:42

      The drive from Zagreb to Vienna is 4,5 hours on the best of days, definitely not 3. Besides, with the cost of petrol and SLO/AUT vignettes each way, flying may very well cost the same as driving.

      Delete
    9. The cheapest ticket with either OU or OS is minimum 160EUR, on most days well over 200EUR. Taking in consideration you need to be at the airport around 90 mins before the flight and probably around an hour to get from the airport to the city, time wise, it falls within the same time window. So, I still don't see how is flying for that airfare same as driving or taking a bus.

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:17

    So Ryanair has more than double the number of destinations from Zagreb this winter.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:22

      Wonder if they are seeing an impact on the routes they are (indirectly) competing against FR.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:25

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

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:28

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

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:51

      +1 last anon

      Delete
    5. Anonymous11:46

      those who can't fit into FR's 3 flights per week schedule + Split people

      Delete
  4. Anonymous09:21

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

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous09:21

    As expected, LH group hubs most frequent.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:51

      They are in summer too.

      Delete
  6. Anonymous09:22

    Winter is going to be tough

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:23

      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.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:26

      It won't come to that this winter. Last winter was really exception for all airlines.

      Delete
  7. Anonymous09:24

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

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:38

      You can fly to many other places via FRA. you can fly from Zagreb to Split via FRA. My sis flew BEG SOF via FRA only because her company required so as they have some insane deal with DLH 🤣

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:40

      True but I would assume the point of a national airline would be to provide nonstop flights to as many places possible.

      Delete
  8. Anonymous09:24

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

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous09:26

    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. Anonymous09:27

      There will likely be new routes next summer.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous17:41

      They should first restore all the pre-Covid routes they cut which were all launched in last 4 years.

      Delete
  10. Anonymous09:28

    10 international routes for an airline with 13 planes...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:34

      If you take out the PSO domestic routes, they wouldn't need more than 6 for this schedule.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:36

      And a few hundred staff. Not almost a 1000.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:44

      How many planes does Croatia Airlines use during the winter?

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:58

      They will be using all of them this winter.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous17:42

      They woll use all because many go on scheduled maintenance.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous17:42

      I don't think they will use all. They will park some A319s for sure.

      Delete
  11. Anonymous09:29

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

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous17:43

      Launching new routes in winter during corona is not very wise.

      Delete
  12. Anonymous09:32

    Europe ends at Skopje for OU. Athens, Istanbul, Moscow, Prague? Their destination list is tragic.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous09:33

    Those Dashes are really valuable during this winter.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous09:38

    So compared to normal years, no flights to Mostar, Barcelona and Lisbon. So that is pretty good considering the situation. Almost all routes have been kept.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:39

      They also used to fly Dubrovnik-Frankfurt before corona.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:42

      It’s interesting that Lisbon just doesn’t seem to be able to work in winter. I remember TAP used to fly to ZAG in winter via Bologna but eventually they cancelled it too.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:46

      OU ended Lisbon and route has been taken over by TAP which will only maintain it during summer.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:47

      @9.38 it speaks about their winter network pre-Covid which was for from impressive.

      Delete
  15. Anonymous09:41

    They should really take some more risk and extend some of their seasonal flights from Zagreb to year round.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:52

      Risk is the last thing they can afford at the moment.

      Delete
  16. Anonymous09:44

    Does OU have a plane based in SPU?

    ReplyDelete
  17. Anonymous09:46

    Seems like they really got value out of the BCG deal...

    ReplyDelete
  18. Anonymous09:52

    They have quite a few high frequency routes.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:55

      Domestic routes and Frankfurt you mean?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:31

      Well it is something.

      Delete
  19. Anonymous09:54

    Some years ago they had a very good network from DBV with numerous European destinations. Instead of using the opportunity to benefit from Dubrovnik Airline bankruptcy they just let other airlines take over and withdrew

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:10

      It's just one of many opportunities they did not use. The most recent one being Adria bankruptcy.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:10

      It is now cheaper to fly ZAG-TGD with Ryanair than ZAG-DBV with Croatia Airlines.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous12:21

      wow

      Delete
  20. Anonymous10:09

    Disappointing

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Of course not. Their network looks impressive LOL!

      Delete
  21. Anonymous10:11

    Good to see Dublin extended. Last winter they didn't operate it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:12

      True. Pre-covid they operated it until January. I wonder if they will keep it all winter.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:13

      And they compete directly against FR on the route.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous13:46

      Well are they scheduled for all winter?

      Delete
    4. Anonymous15:40

      No. Only until 30th of January.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous15:46

      So same as previous years before covid. Pity. If they want to remain relevant against Ryanair on this route they need to operate it throughout the whole winter season.

      Delete
  22. Anonymous10:12

    Nice that Split-Munich is back to daily in winter.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Anonymous11:02

    Good that Croatia Airlines has a world wide known consultant - BCG - to steer the company through hard times like that. I wonder what the carrier would do without BCG's expertise this winter.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:20

      Hopefully their impact will be seen next summer.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous23:49

      I wouldn't hold my breath.

      Delete
  24. Anonymous12:20

    No surprise. Didn't expect more from them anyway.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Anonymous12:27

    It seems that London route has been really affected. The other day I noticed this with Air Serbia too. Very few frequencies from both airlines.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous17:38

      Entry rules are way too complicated. Vaccination certificates from most non-EU countries are not accepted and there are no transfers to US.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous17:38

      And I koow Croatia is in the EU but many of their London passengers were transfers from Skopje.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous17:39

      Most point to point passengers now travel with Ryanair between Zagreb and London.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous23:48

      Makes sense.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous23:49

      @12.27 don't forget that BA is also suspending ZAG.

      Delete
  26. Anonymous12:31

    3 daily flights to FRA! How many does LH have on this route?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:36

      11 weekly.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:39

      So in total 32 weekly flights.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous12:49

      How about Munich? Will Lufthansa reaume it?

      Delete
    4. Anonymous17:36

      Not before summer 2022.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous23:48

      They seem to be letting OU operate more flights to FRA and MUC.

      Delete
  27. Anonymous12:31

    Wasn't Munich supposed to go double daily from next month?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:35

      It was supposed to but their revised it. I think it is now planned to go double daily in January but I think that will be changed too.

      Delete
    2. For the time being for January is double daily. I have made a reservation through LH website for a trip to Zagreb via Munich from Athens, and it's double daily. (Athens to Munich Lufthansa, Munich to Zagreb Croatia airlines in the morning. Return in the afternoon Zagreb to Munich Croatia airlines, Munich to Athens Lufthansa. Ticket price :226 euros.)

      Delete
    3. Anonymous13:45

      Thanks. That's a pretty good price. Pity there are still no year round ATH-ZAG flights

      Delete
    4. Vlad15:00

      You better check your reservation again, LH cleaned up the Jan-Mar schedule a few days ago, many frequencies have been axed.

      Delete
    5. Dear @VLAD I haven't receive any E-mail from Lufthansa for a change of the flights. They are still on. Departure from Athens on 24th of January 06:10 in the morning arrive in Zagreb at 11:40 am. Departure from Zagreb on 28th of January at 18:40, arrive in Athens at 00:30 after midnight local time.

      Delete
  28. Anonymous17:30

    I hope in the years to come they put greater focus on winter which should be coordinated with tourist board which should do more to promote Croatia as a year round destination.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous17:40

      Zagreb tourist board is working on promoting Zagreb as year round destination with advent and other events. But they chose Ryanair as their airline partner.

      Delete
    2. @17.40
      Martina Bienenfeld, head of Zagreb Tourist Board, used to work in OU, is "in love with" OU, and tried possible and impossible for OU to become their partner. And only OU inertness and incompetence are the reasons why ZG TB had to consider other options, including not first choice LCC one. So please don't blame ZG TB for something they are not guilty about, all guilt is on OU

      Delete
    3. Anonymous19:07

      I don't blame TB at all. They did what is best for the city in the end.

      Btw, do you know what position she had at OU?

      Delete
    4. Anonymous23:47

      Care to share? :)

      Delete
    5. Anonymous23:51

      She was a flight attendant.

      Delete

Post a Comment

EX-YU Aviation News does not tolerate insults, excessive swearing, racist, homophobic or any other chauvinist remarks or provocative posts with the intention of creating further arguments. A full list of comment guidelines can be found here. Thank you for your cooperation.