Ryanair to expand Croatia winter operations


Ryanair plans to further grow its presence in Croatia this coming winter season with the carrier to operate year-round flights from Zadar. The budget airline, which maintains a summer base in the city, will run two weekly flights to Vienna between late October of this year and late March in 2023, marking its first winter service from the country outside of its Zagreb base. Flights will be operated by its Malta Air subsidiary using the 189-seat Boeing 737-800 aircraft. Ryanair will become the only carrier besides Croatia Airlines to maintain year-round scheduled flights from Zadar, as well as the first foreign carrier to run services from the city in winter and the only operator to provide international flights from the Croatian city over the winter months.

Ryanair will boast its biggest summer network out of Zadar this year with 46 routes on offer. Furthermore, it will have three aircraft based in the city during the peak travel period. However, the airline has delayed the launch of planned new destinations out of Zadar for this summer on several occasions, as well as the resumption of some services. A total of 22 routes have been affected. Despite doing so, it will be, by far, Zadar’s largest airline, helping the airport increase its number of flights by 66% this year. The airport expects to register its busiest year on record, outstripping pre-pandemic levels.

The Director of Operations of Ryanair’s subsidiary Lauda Europe, Tadej Notersberg, recently said the Group sees that Croatia has “huge potential”. “We can see that demand in Croatia is generally very high. We can also see that the Croatian market has huge potential. There were many routes missing and the whole potential of Croatia wasn’t utilised in the past. The Ryanair Group recognised this potential. There is also further growth planned for the future. This year we will operate three aircraft, not only from Zagreb, but out of Zadar as well. We won’t stop with these six aircraft in Croatia”, Mr Notersberg said. He added, “Future growth is planned, and we are quite sure and optimistic that we will be able to increase operations out of Croatia soon”.



Comments

  1. Anonymous09:03

    Ryanair slowly becoming Croatia's flag carrier.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:40

      And on the other hand they are caceling lots of routes out of ZAG, common stop saying and dreaming about ryanair becomeing a flag carrier...

      Delete
    2. Anonymous19:01

      You've said it RIGHT!!!
      Their model of business is exactly comensurate to the purchasing power and habbits of the average croatian

      Delete
    3. Both rich and poor people use both LCC and legacies. There is no such a thing as average croatian. There is no guarantee LCC ticket would be cheap or legacy expensive. Those are just statistics combined with prejudices. Croatia and ZAG as the biggest city have space for both LCC and legacy traffic. The only issue, and serious one, in croatian civil aviation is Croatia Airlines with the worst thing being owner, the state, has no will to change anything and no idea how

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:04

    Congratulations Zadar. Finally year round international flights.

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  3. Anonymous09:04

    Nice work! I just hope they don't change their plans a hundred times by the end of October knowing Ryanair.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous09:06

    I'm wondering if FR will be subsidized on this route for winter or they just saw pure commercial logic in maintaining it.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:05

      I am sure FR would not fly to ZAD and even have a base there, if they didn't get noticable amounts of marketing support or however they call it in this case.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous06:00

      What subsidies? They are getting subsidies?

      Delete
  5. Anonymous09:06

    Will there be enough demand to fill a B737-800 in November or February? I'm not so sure.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous15:22

      I don't think so either.

      Delete
  6. Anonymous09:07

    Meanwhile, Croatia Airlines is fast asleep.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:08

      Apart from a heavily subsidized daily flight to PUY and ZAG, Croatia Airlines has brought absolutely nothing to Zadar.

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    2. Anonymous11:09

      Ryanair’s average cabin load factor in Zadar amounts to 97% compared to Croatia Airlines’ 71%.

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    3. Anonymous11:11

      Unlike FR, OU from Zadar to Frankfurt Main and not to Hahn.

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    4. Anonymous11:13

      Which shows that customers on ZAD-Frankfurt don't care about the airport but costs. OU should have gone for Hahn as well.

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    5. Anonymous11:32

      I assume the passengers flying ZAD-FRA on OU are mostly transfers onto Lufthansa.

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    6. Anonymous15:17

      Didn't Ryanair used to fly from Frankfurt's main airport to Zadar? I just realize now they suddenly fly from Hahn.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous15:29

      It flew both one year! But then they shut down FRA operations.

      Delete
  7. Anonymous09:07

    Why are they constantly delaying the launch of route from ZAD? Is it lack of equipment, lack of staff, lack of demand?? I don't get it.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous09:09

    Ryanair is really hitting Croatia Airlines on all fronts.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:11

      It is a sign of things to come for OU. They should have upped their game, prepared better... but instead they relied on some fairytale post covid strategy from BCG and phantom massive aircraft order for which we will soon celebrate the first year anniversary since the announcement.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:08

      Croatia Airlines never cared about Zadar, as illustrated through their network.

      Delete
    3. Croatia Airlines never cared about anything except Uhljeb employment and corruption on highest levels which brings financial, material and non material benefits for the selected few

      Delete
  9. Anonymous09:09

    Now that they will also have winter flights from the coast. The next step will be introducing domestic flights..

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:11

      Fingers crossed

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    2. Anonymous09:12

      At least seasonal SPU-DBV on B737 or A320 could work for them without a problem.

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    3. Anonymous09:12

      If those two airports offered discounts that Ryanair is used to, they would already be operating the route without doubt.

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    4. Anonymous10:06

      Shame SPU doesn't want to lower fees by a single cent.

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    5. Anonymous10:19

      Why should they do that so they make less money? there is enough demand

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    6. Anonymous15:15

      Exactly. Split Airport is actually highly profitable.

      Delete
  10. Anonymous09:10

    Let's wait and see, they delayed routes again this week

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  11. Anonymous09:15

    I'm happy to hear but I'm not overly overjoyed by Zadar's huge reliance on Ryanair. Knowing how Ryanair operates and how many airports it has left high and dry if it doesn't get what it wants.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:18

      Completely agree. Don't put all your eggs in one basket.

      Delete
  12. Anonymous09:15

    Good for Zadar and Croatia!

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  13. Anonymous09:19

    Does Ryanair have Lauda planes based in Zadar or from Ryanair itself?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:20

      Lauda

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    2. Anonymous15:16

      Ryanair handed Lauda operations in Croatia on the whole. Some routes that are not operated with aircraft based in Croatia happen to be Ryanair mainline.

      Delete
  14. Anonymous09:20

    With so many new flights ZAD will reach 1 million pax next year.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous15:16

      Maybe even this year although the Ryanair route launch delays will probably make it difficult.

      Delete
  15. Anonymous09:20

    Congratulations Zadar! This is fantastic news.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Anonymous09:21

    Finally. Good job.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Anonymous09:22

    Considering Lauda's operational performance, I'm inclined to say "lets wait and see". There are probably not many airlines in Europe with that many delays, technical problems and route deferrals given their fleet size as their are with Lauda.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Anonymous09:23

    Nice. A new winter season market from ZAD.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Anonymous09:24

    Maybe it is time for Zadar's terminal building which looks (and feels) like an Aldi supermarket in Germany to expand.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:26

      They plan to expand the terminal

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    2. Anonymous09:40

      When?

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    3. Anonymous09:42

      It was announced before Covid. I guess it is plausible that they will start work next year but there is no official date.

      Delete
  20. Anonymous09:25

    Their choice of destination is interesting. I wonder what influenced their decision. Is there a larger diaspora from the Zadar area living in Vienna/Austria?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous15:17

      Yes there is a sizable diaspora.

      Delete
  21. Anonymous09:26

    Who travels to ZAD in winter?

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:28

      My thought too. Whole of Dalmatia hibernates from 1.11. to 1.4.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:40

      not to mention that public transport switches to winter schedule in the first week of Sept (Zadar region) lol

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    3. Anonymous09:54

      I would travel to Zadar several times in winter and out of Zadar if the opportunity shows with the right route(s) being extended in winter.

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    4. Anonymous10:01

      Zadar is only interested in tourism for three months a year, mid June to mid September, the locals are on a winter break for the other 9 months,

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:19

      Maybe this incentivizes them to extend the season.

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    6. Anonymous15:49

      @9:26 and all: I do. Regularly.

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    7. Anonymous12:16

      You would be surprised how many people go to Zadar and Zadar in winter. More than half of the passengers from ZG Airport are from Dalmatia.

      Delete
  22. Anonymous09:26

    They should definitely add Eindhoven in winter too, this would cover the Netherlands, Belgium and a part of Germany. Their Eindhoven flights to Zagreb for example see very strong demand.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Anonymous09:27

    Good choice. In my opinion, this is the only route that can work on a year round basis from Zadar (at this moment).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:41

      +1

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    2. Anonymous15:46

      Could you elaborate?

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    3. Anonymous01:03

      I assume the only route he thinks has year round demand.

      Delete
  24. Anonymous09:40

    Not in my wildest dreams would I have thought something like this would happen! Way to go Zadar, congratz!

    ReplyDelete
  25. Anonymous09:41

    How many passengers will Zadar have this year?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:41

      I think it could be close to one million.

      Delete
  26. Anonymous09:41

    The great things is that not only Lauda is adding flights to Zadar but so many other airlines too. Cudos to Zadar Airport management.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:42

      In winter?

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    2. Anonymous10:04

      No, I meant in general.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:04

      True. And it's nice to see a few legacies in there too

      Delete
  27. Anonymous09:46

    Until september. Than will be reduced. Like all plans...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:04

      Most likely, unfortunately.

      Delete
  28. Anonymous09:55

    Hahaha yeah right. Just generating artificial cash flow for flights which won’t take place. They’re cutting in the height of the season and expanding in winter.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:05

      Generating artificial cash flow with Zadar winter flight?

      Delete
  29. Anonymous10:08

    Well done to Zadar and Lauda/Ryan. But how pathetic of Croatia Airlines. They have a subtotal of 3 routes in the summer to Zadar. Two of them are subsidised PSO routes. Congratulations!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:09

      Croatia Airlines could have based a plane and launched flights to perspective leisure markets.

      Delete
  30. Anonymous10:10

    What is the price ZAD paid to Lauda for establishing base there?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:17

      Nothing. It's paid from county tourist taxes budget.

      Delete
  31. Anonymous10:11

    Usually such projects (commercially not feasible ones) are financed not only by city or county tourist board, but also by the country tourist board, as they have the largest budget. Whenever you see weird projects/announcements such as this one, remember that these are financed on a country level.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Anonymous10:17

    They could also keep Beauvais in winter in my opinion.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Anonymous10:18

    Very good news for the local economy and tourism sector.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Anonymous11:08

    Great. It is now up to ZAD to try long-haul

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:10

      Ajme

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    2. Anonymous11:12

      Wasn't there an idea to introduce charters from China a couple of year ago?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous11:32

      Yeah the only problem is that the airport doesn't have a long enough runway and wide enough taxiways to handle widebodies.

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    4. Anonymous15:14

      In the case of ZAD that problem can be solved in no time as the land around the airport is not being used for anything and the state can easily use it for runway extension.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous15:30

      But didn't Zadar handle widebodies in the past? I remember some Ilyushin landing there.

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    6. Anonymous15:51

      Plans for the runway extension have been filed. Looking for financing.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous20:15

      The fact the runways were not suitable for long range widebody flights did not stop the various government appointed directors at the airport going on jollies to China.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous01:02

      ^^ +100

      Delete
    9. Anonymous01:02

      Widebodies can land but I think there are weight restrictions, and not sure about takeoffs.

      Delete
  35. Anonymous11:08

    Zadar is benefiting from Split's inability to handle more planes (because of lack of aircraft parking spaces) big time.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:10

      Split does not have capacity restrictions in winter time.

      Delete
  36. Anonymous12:10

    Crazy!

    ReplyDelete
  37. Anonymous13:36

    Bravo Hrvatska!

    ReplyDelete
  38. Anonymous14:24

    Just been to Ryanair....!! You can't book the flights at the moment... Something fishy going on me thinks....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous14:38

      They could be booked this morning.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous15:14

      Probably still scheduling the flights.

      Delete
  39. Anonymous15:53

    Ryanair: the curse and blessing in one.

    ReplyDelete
  40. Anonymous15:54

    I wonder, why exactly Vienna?

    ReplyDelete
  41. Anonymous22:10

    VIE based 737.

    ReplyDelete
  42. Anonymous22:14

    Technically speaking, it’s “year-round flights to Zadar”. That’ll be Malta Air AOC VIE based 737, and not ZAD based as it used to be until 2018.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous07:05

      ZAD based until 2018?? No way.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous17:00

      ZAD was a summer base with one based 737 from 2013 until November 2018.

      Delete
  43. Anonymous08:44

    Flights taken off sale already

    ReplyDelete
  44. Anonymous14:43

    As I said.... before...3 days ago.... FISHY !!!

    ReplyDelete

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