Croatia expects to register a strong summer season this year despite worries over the ongoing war in Ukraine and a potential resurgence of the coronavirus pandemic. A total of 66 airlines will maintain flights between Croatia and other international destinations with Ryanair, Croatia Airlines, easyJet, Lufthansa and Eurowings having the greatest capacity share on the market. Carriers will link the country with 131 cities, which is just slightly less than in the pre-pandemic 2019, when services were maintained to 134 points. Zagreb and Split will boast the largest number of flights, some 10.000 rotations, while Zadar will see the biggest increase in operations, fuelled by the expansion of Ryanair’s base in the city, with the number of flights growing 63% on 2019.
Commenting on the upcoming peak summer travel period, the head of the Croatian National Tourist Board, Kristjan Staničić, said, “During the past two years, which were marked by the Covid pandemic, there was a significant decline in air traffic, and tourists primarily used their own mode of transport to reach Croatia. However, this year, the recovery of air traffic has continued as we are witnessing a significant increase in the number of flights. Therefore, more than 460 airline routes with more than 34.000 rotations will operate towards our country during the summer, which is almost equal to the number of flights and rotations from the record breaking 2019”.
The largest number of flights from Croatia this summer will be maintained to Germany, followed by the United Kingdom, France, Italy and the Netherlands. This year, Rijeka Airport also anticipates having more flights than it did in 2019. An increase of 8% is expected this year. This will come on the back of increased frequencies, as well as the return of easyJet, which this week restored operations to the coastal city after fifteen years with flights from London Gatwick. They will be complemented by services from Berlin from June 28. “As we already announced, after fifteen long years, one of the main airlines responsible for Rijeka Airport's record traffic in 2006 and 2007, has finally returned. Back then, Rijeka was the first in Croatia to be served by easyJet”, the airport said.
The growth in Zadar is really impressive. Is there any particular reason for such huge growth there?
ReplyDeleteIt says, because of Ryanair's huge growth.
DeleteI understand that but I mean why the sudden focus on Zadar?
DeleteI'm guessing they got a good deal from the airport and tourist board.
DeleteZAD will profit in the future because of capacity issues in Split.
DeleteThey should really expand the taxiways at SPU. Also expand the apron. Just with these two simple changes they can tremendously increase the capacity
DeleteThank you Ryanair.
ReplyDeletePlease don't. Reminds me of Danke Deutschland. And we all know what happened later.
DeleteAbsolutely ironic for a country claiming that anything is depending or being faciltated by Ryanair in terms of tourism
DeleteWhat are the projections for Zagreb and Split airport this year? How many passengers are expected?
ReplyDeleteI wonder which one will finish the year on top.
Delete^ It will depend if Ryanair makes more cuts to Zagreb's peak summer schedule.
DeleteAs said, anything in terms of a major airport's performance depending on Ryanair says a lot about the airport and the relevance of it...
DeleteThis is an excellent and quick recovery.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteWell they did say leisure travel will recover first so make sense.
ReplyDeleteSo much for some of the expert predictions in the comments here
DeleteI believe Ryanair had a lot to do with this from ZAG and ZAD.
ReplyDeleteOf course
DeleteWhile I'm happy to see things returning to normal and Croatia seeing so many flights I would be cautious with an projections. If these last two years have taught us anything it is how unpredictable things can be.
ReplyDeleteIf they do not ,recover, and the things go south over an illness with a 0,3% death rate.... No problem, it will be a fine justification to pour in more state aid... Win-win
DeleteGood for Croatia
ReplyDeleteYes Great, it will further advance the systemic destruction of the coast called tourism. City planning, architectural and urban devastation, further reliance on rent seeking activities in stead of productive economic activity, upspyraling of house prices.... All great developments
DeleteWell let's hope passengers are also there.
ReplyDeleteJudging by the performance of airports in Croatia so far, I would say they are.
DeleteSo where is OU and what is their management doing?
ReplyDeleteThey are launching flights from Split and it makes sense.
DeleteIt does not make sense. Competition in SPU is much bigger than in ZAG in season. They got beaten on almost all services they had on the coast. SPU, and entire coast are highly seasonal, that's second reason why it doesn't make sense, planes need to fly year-round, not for four months. And third, and the biggest OU issue is not where from they operate, their operating costs remain to high no matter is it ZAG, SPU or whatever else, due to overstaffing, low work productivity, incompetence, crime, corruption, nepotism and political influence. No few flight from SPU, DBV or XXX can change it
DeletePOZDRAV : Boo-hoo-hoo-ing all the time!!!
DeleteDon't like it, skip it, scroll over, very simple, but the truth hurts you, obviously
DeleteYou might as well follow your own advice. Question: Have you ever written anything positive as a comment here?
DeleteThe major airlines are terrified .... The mere sight of the 13 strong Croatian armada makes them sh**t their pants.
DeleteAnd to the Anonimous up there... Use something else than argumentum AD HOMINEM if you got any.
Hahahaha, u sridu, uhljebi na aparatima! 😃
DeleteIt's good to see that the Croatian market is recovering. All the best to other countries as well.
ReplyDeleteCroatia could profit from the continued Spain restrictions for British tourists. Let's see.
ReplyDeleteWhat restrictions do they have?
DeleteFor brits its the same like those entering from third countries. Only those holding a certificate that proves they have been vaccinated against COVID-19 in the last 270 days with a vaccine approved by EMA or WHO, as well as those holding a certificate which shows that they have recovered from the virus, are eligible to enter the country.
DeleteThose from the EU can enter without any restrictions.
Of course, the chances of survival are like ,99.97%...
DeleteAll that are sound measures. It is probably more likely to die on the flight
I'm glad with Croatia's result but it is unfortunate that it is not the result of Croatia Airlines.
ReplyDeleteJust wanted to say the same. At the same time happy about air travel market and civil aviation in Croatia growing, but at the same time unhappy, sad and disappointed that growth is only or mostly due to croatian natural beauties and advantages and foreign carriers. These results and numbers could have been at least double if Croatia had any kind of strategy for this sector and if Croatia Airlines were not World Champion in missed opportunities and potentials
DeleteThe coast saves the day
ReplyDeleteAs well as Zagreb
DeleteCroatia is thriving in recovery!
ReplyDeleteCroatia handled the pandemic very efficiently and professionally. No wonder why it's figures are way much better than most European markets given the fact it has a large number of airports.
DeleteHa ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
DeleteSplit had 133316 pax in April which makes it -14% compared to 2019.
ReplyDeleteDubrovnik is still not performing as well. 117.715 passengers in April, down 44%.
DeleteRecovery is proving quicker than most people thought..
ReplyDeleteThere is huge pent up demand.
DeleteAfter early jitters, seems like the war in Ukraine did not deter people from traveling.
ReplyDeleteWe are talking about capacity here, not actual passenger numbers. We will see how those will perform. Ryanair also had massive capacity for Zagreb in June and then culled half of its network.
DeleteWait
DeleteWhy is there nothing regarding BWK and their expansion?
ReplyDeletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2019/02/brac-airport-to-complete-expansion-by.html
Because nothing happened due to Covid.
DeleteHello. Where have Eurowings timetable? Thanks
ReplyDelete