Summer 2023 - Croatia Airlines


Croatia Airlines will operate over 17.000 flights with 1.8 million seats on sale during the upcoming summer season, which runs from March 26 until October 28. The carrier will introduce four new seasonal routes, including two from Split and one each from Dubrovnik and Brač. The four new seasonal destinations launched out of Croatia’s second largest city last summer will all make a comeback this year too. From its main hub in Zagreb, Croatia Airlines does not plan on adding new routes, however, it will maintain pre-pandemic frequency levels on services to Amsterdam, Brussels, London Heathrow, Paris, Rome, Sarajevo, Tel Aviv and Zurich. The airline has signalled its interest in restoring operations between the Croatian capital and Mostar this summer, however, flights are yet to be scheduled at this point. For a second year in a row, Croatia Airlines will maintain services between Zagreb and Dublin for just a month, after which flights will operate out of Split.

The Croatian carrier will continue expanding operations out of Split, with the addition of Skopje and Oslo to its network. Furthermore, the airline will boost frequencies from the coastal city to Prague and Paris with an additional weekly rotation compared to last year. Frequencies on all routes out of Split have now either matched or exceeded pre-pandemic levels. Operations will remain largely unchanged out of Dubrovnik, with the carrier introducing a new one weekly service to Prague. The airline will cap off its summer expansion with the introduction of a one weekly rotation between Brač and Munich between May 27 and October 7.

Please note that the frequencies listed below are preliminary and based on current availability in the Global Distribution System (GDS). They are subject to change. Furthermore, the tables below display the peak weekly frequency on each route during the course of the summer season. Increases in frequencies, particularly on domestic flights between Zagreb, Dubrovnik, Split, Zadar and Pula, may not come into effect until later on in the summer and may vary depending on the month. EX-YU Aviation News will also bring you the planned summer season operations for Air Serbia and Air Montenegro during the course of the month, in the lead up to the 2023 summer season.

Departing Zagreb



Departing Split



Departing Dubrovnik



From Pula, Croatia Airlines will operate to Zadar (8x per week) and Zagreb (3x per week), with no international services scheduled. From Osijek, the airline will fly to Munich (2x per week), as well as Split and Dubrovnik (1x per week). From Zadar, the carrier will operate to Pula (8x per week) and Zagreb (8x per week). Rijeka will see the Croatian national airline operate flights to Munich (3x per week). Finally, Croatia Airlines will maintain scheduled services from Brač to Zagreb (2x per week), as well as the abovementioned new weekly service to Munich.



Comments

  1. Anonymous09:02

    Split network is decent but Zagreb….

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:17

      That is BCGs strategy. Focus on Split

      Delete
    2. Anonymous16:56

      They've transformed themselves into a mini-airline.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous16:59

      At least Brussels has 11 weekly flights.

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:03

    Can someone explain to me the logic of serving Dublin from Zagreb for just a month and starting the seasonal flights AFTER Easter.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:14

      Makes no sense

      Delete
    2. Getting hammered by FR, even their "expensive" tickets are still more competitive than OU's entry-level ones.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous12:34

      I would rather pay more and fly with OU!

      Delete
    4. Anonymous15:25

      Me too, it's about awareness, not just money.

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:03

    Why such little focus on Dubrovnik?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:07

      Softer demand, even this winter their numbers have been relatively bad. At least worst than expected.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:20

      They haven't focused on DBV for a decade

      Delete
  4. Anonymous09:04

    Kind of underwhelming to be honest.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:10

      Well if a small network like this can bring them money then I say go for it

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:45

      But it doesn't bring them money.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:49

      In summer it does

      Delete
    4. Anonymous15:26

      In summer it brings them loads of money!

      Delete
  5. Anonymous09:06

    Bravo Hrvatska!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:23

      Especially from Zagreb to Dublin.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous06:58

      OU's response to Air Serbia flying to New York.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous06:59

      OU's long-haul flight.

      Delete
  6. Anonymous09:07

    SPU network looks good!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:11

      Yes, I agree. Finally, happy they realised how important it is

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:37

      On a map, sure, it looks good, but if you look at the frequencies, it is rather underwhelming.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous11:00

      They sure need more than 13 aircraft for more frequencies.

      Delete
  7. Anonymous09:12

    Disappointing, especially since they have an extra plane

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:14

      Is that plane just back up?

      Delete
  8. Anonymous09:15

    It seems they are definitely not focusing on ZAG or competing with FR.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:34

      It is shocking how passive they suddenly became in ZAG

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:01

      They gave up

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:02

      But what's worse, they didn't even try.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous12:38

      Zagreb Airport management are to blame. All the major carriers have made cuts or left completely. Looking solely after Ryanair and ripping off your other customers is not a good business plan long term!

      Delete
    5. Anonymous01:09

      I have to admit that I like this Ryanair expansion in ZAG and maybe OU can benefit on that. For example in last period I took OU from SPU to ZAG several times to catch FR. Comparable to bus is 40 - 50 € more expensive but you travel 3 hours (even more considering shuttle bus and waiting bus for reach Dalmatia) less to ZAG. Maybe OU should leave ZAG (not completely) to big ones and focus their efforts to conect the coast with ZAG and the rest of Europe.

      Delete
  9. Anonymous09:18

    16 international destinations out of Zagreb, one of them operating for 1 month and another two which are not nonstop.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:22

      Who flies with them to Athens when there is Aegean nonstop?!

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:24

      That is why Aegean uses A320 while Croatia Airines sends a turboprop.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:39

      If A3 flight is full the quickest alternative is OU.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:45

      What sort of strategy is that?

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:16

      Apparently it is the best strategy possible with the availabkle fleet.

      Delete
  10. Anonymous09:19

    At the end of the day, a network like this will bring them money

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:21

      Brings them money? They have been loss making for years.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:25

      OU still can't find a way to get around seasonality. This is killing them.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:40

      Seasonality exists for all airlines all over the world.
      You can't expect winter number of pax to even come close to summer no. of pax.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:55

      The priority should be extending seasonal routes into winter.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:17

      And fly empty planes?
      What sort of strategy is that?

      Delete
    6. JATBEGMEL11:59

      @09,40

      A properly run airline finds ways to reduce seasonality issues so they don't bleed their summer profits so heavily in the winter months. Airlines typically send aircraft for maintenance during the winter months so you're not at full capacity for a decent amount of the winter season.

      OU has for 4 years ignored an opportunity right at their door step - JP bankruptcy just over an hour away from ZAG. Winter flights from LJU could help lower seasonality issues. Sending crew to Ljubljana from Zagreb isn't as bad as how JU is sending in crew to Niš from Belgrade.

      OU have some form of a wave structure in place in ZAG, expanding on that should help them boost loads to make direct flights more viable. They were flying to OTP for example and the bankruptcy of Blue Air should of opened an opportunity to pull in some additional pax.

      Perhaps half empty flights could be a lower loss than not using that capacity at all. Airlines make a lot of money through ancillary sales.

      Lots more could be added to this list.

      Delete
  11. Anonymous09:23

    So the novelties is 4 routes with total of 5 frequencies

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:28

      There might be Mostar :D

      Delete
  12. Anonymous09:25

    I'm dumbfounded by their logic to operate Zagreb-Dublin on and off throughout the year for just a few months. How can you compete against Ryanair like that?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:45

      Plenty of demand during the Summer season for both.
      Winter is another story.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:49

      But in summer they fly just for a month from Zagreb

      Delete
  13. Anonymous09:28

    Why no flights to Poland. They could give Krakow a try if they don't want to compete directly with LOT to Warsaw. I think there would be sufficient demand from Zagreb with a Dash.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous09:28

    Good luck OU!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous09:29

    Same old same old from OU.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:33

      The most exciting airline

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:19

      NOT!

      Delete
  16. Anonymous09:32

    So weird they don't consider coming back to Istanbul

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:43

      Even Swiss is not flying to Istanbul. TK's (and Pegasus') prices are just too low to compete i guess.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:21

      Since when does Pegasus fly from Zagreb to Istanbul?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous11:59

      TK offers better price, service and connections to other parts of the world, also JU offers good deals to Istanbul via BEG and even INI if anyone bothers to go to LJU to take a flight.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous17:35

      @11.50 LOL at the last part

      Delete
    5. Anonymous00:27

      Anonymous17:35 you can buy a LJU-INI-IST ticket for less than TK is selling the LJU-IST tickets, transfer times are around 40 minutes (since its the same plane). It is an alternative option not many ppl know for. Not only for LJU-INI but for some destinations from Germany.
      You can even take a flight from BEG and transfer to IST, ATH, LJU etc. via INI.

      Delete
  17. Anonymous09:34

    Their network out of Zagreb is considerably smaller than pre Covid.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:43

      No Oslo, Stockholm, Helsinki, Prague, Milan, Bucharest....

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:46

      All shifted to Split

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:04

      Ryanair effect.

      Delete
  18. Anonymous09:36

    Not a bad network at all

    ReplyDelete
  19. Anonymous09:39

    This is quite low number of routes but good to see no route cancellations from last year.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:48

      They have 13 planes. How many destinations do you expect?

      Delete
  20. Anonymous09:40

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

    ReplyDelete
  21. Anonymous09:41

    Not a single new route from Zagreb for 4 years now.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:03

      Thank you MZLZ and FR.

      Delete
    2. JATBEGMEL11:31

      @10,03

      Absolutely not. It's all down to OU which consistently fails to react year after year while reducing it's market share on the Croatian market.

      Delete
  22. Anonymous09:41

    This airline makes me so angry. They could be doing so much more.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Anonymous09:54

    Almost no coverage in the east

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:12

      An airline still under the impression that there is an iron curtain. They could have attracted transit pax from the east before Air Serbia even showed up. Every western european airline has made the most out of the East Europe market.

      Delete
  24. Anonymous09:57

    How many bases does CTN have?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:58

      In summer 2 - ZAG and SPU.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:12

      Thanks. How many planes in SPU?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:16

      I believe 3 - 2 Q400s and 1 A319 but I'm not 100% sure.

      Delete
  25. Anonymous09:58

    For me it is ludicrous that Croatia Airlines will be serving London from Zagreb just 3 times per week. That is really poor considering how many Brits are visiting Croatia.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:00

      They sold slots so Kucko could show the airline is profitable.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous17:32

      even if they sold slots there are other London airports. Whats the frequency of FR flights to STN

      Delete
    3. Anonymous12:28

      Or LGW, they used to have a decent presence there. Why they are not flying LGW-DBV too is just crazy, they would have a full flight daily during the summer on that route.

      Delete
  26. Anonymous10:11

    Why OU does not implement greater emphasis on transfer system like many other airlines?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:20

      Network and frequencies too small.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:39

      Yields are much lower on transfer flights.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous17:33

      lol so why the many flights to MUC and FRA when they have to share with LH

      Delete
  27. Anonymous10:13

    Hope they will have quite a few charters too.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Anonymous10:20

    Groundbreaking

    ReplyDelete
  29. Anonymous10:30

    Will never understand the logic of those seasonal 1 pw flights to ,for example, Berlin/Oslo/Prague. The competition on these routes is big considering the fact that some of them are even flown by lccs. And let’s be real, tourists arriving to Croatia would opt for those instead considering the frequencies offered by Croatia Airlines. Plus not to mention that the CAPITAL is not connected to some of these cities. If they would just use their brains for strategic growth and shifted these operations to Zagreb at least twice weekly trhoughout the year (Berlin and Prague could work for example, Bucharest also, demand was there) they could attract p2p and transfer passengers. These dalmos routes are insane.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:15

      Why? They have a ton of flights to Frankfurt and Munich. Connectivity is nowhere as great as in Zagreb. Which is great for an airport in the categorization of 2 to 5 million passengers.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:45

      But why would you connect, that’s the point. Why would your main source of profit be offering connections in Frankfurt or Munich when you have a flag carrier whose soul purpose is to provide connectivity and financial/economic/tourist development. Not to mention that it’s 50 times easier when having a direct flight.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous12:00

      Yes, I agree with you. But various AnaLysts say that it is better to have a ton of flights to FRA and MUC than 2 or 3 weekly P2P flights. He says that it is more valuable and that is why Zagreb is unassailable.

      Delete
  30. Anonymous11:03

    Is it known which of the new destinations offered by Croatia Airlines is selling best?

    ReplyDelete
  31. Anonymous11:46

    I think JU will soon introduce midday flights to ZAG and start collecting transfer passengers to Western Europe. CRO's passivity should be used, and not everyone likes to fly with low cost airlines.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous15:55

      You think JU can compete with multiple daily flights to FRA & MUC?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous19:07

      Why not? If they can compete with them in Ljubljana, Tirana, Athens, Skopje, Bucharest, why not in Zagreb? Zagreb is the only city in the region that does not have flights to Berlin. Not even Stockholm, Prague, Lisbon, Valencia, Palermo, Florence, Bologna, Bari and many other destinations.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous20:04

      Not true. Ljubljana doesn’t have almost any of the destinations you just mentioned. Same thing with Sarajevo, Podgorica etc

      Delete
    4. Anonymous22:27

      Re-read both comments above yours. Maybe you get it.

      Delete
  32. Anonymous11:50

    I would say that the OU network is very respectable. If you combine the total number of routes and excluding long haul, it can be as much as JU and the coverage is geographically fantastic. It's just a matter of time when the A220s arrive and conquer the lands. Well done OU and Brawo Hrvatska!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:55

      Air Serbia's number of routes is over 80. Croatia Airlines is 41. I don't know how it can be as much as JU. Even if you exclude long haul JU still has just over 80 routes.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:03

      Well if OU had the same protection in its main hub as JU did in the past 20 years, I am sure that OU would be as big as JU and even bigger....

      Delete
    3. Anonymous12:07

      JU has had to contend with an LCC based at it home hub 10 years before an LCC set up a base in Zagreb. In fact LCC presence in BEG has been significantly bigger in the last 10 years than in Zagreb. But, whatever makes you happy.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous15:57

      Never let facts get in the way of what you wanna say.

      Delete
  33. Anonymous11:53

    How come Zagreb can sustain 11 CA + 6 Ryanair flight to BRU (Charleroi) while BEG only has 2. It cannot only be the EU institutions and NATO.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous15:14

      JU flies to Zaventeem, not to Charleroi, and I personally prefer it over CRL. I wish they could add a few more frequencies, but I don't travel to BRU that often, only once or twice a year so it doesn't affect me too much. This is likely not the case with everyone else going to BRU, the LF is always above 70% when I fly so I guess there's potential to expand.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous17:10

      CRL is just as fine as an airport. Not terribly far from depressing downtown Brussels. Can't understand how they call it the capital of Europe.

      Delete
  34. Anonymous12:38

    Running empty Dublin flights for a month is the most Croatia Airlines thing ever

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Those flights will be full, I can assure you!

      Delete
    2. Full is not the same as profitable though.

      Delete
  35. Anonymous12:40

    Bravo OU, Bravo Hrvatska!

    ReplyDelete
  36. Anonymous12:50

    I am Czech from Prague, my girlfriend is Croatian. When we lived in Zagreb (2018-2019) we could choose if we fly to Prague via Croatian Airlines or CSA. Now we live in Prague and there's no fricking connection between the two cities, so even though we would happily pay the ticket, we are forced to take 10 hour smelly Flixbus. I don't understand why nobody operates the line. The plane was always basically full when I was flying.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous14:36

      Why you don't consider Air Serbia? You can fly PRG-BEG-ZAG for only 90eur. Layover is 8h so you can go to the city center.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous15:18

      @10.46 you gotta be joking? You can do that once if you have not been to the city but not every time

      Delete
    3. Anonymous15:18

      14.36 was meant to be :D

      Delete
    4. Boris17:28

      Anonymous15:18
      It depends how often is “every time”. If “every time is “ once/twice a year i will always choose flight with 8 hour layover then to seat on the bus for 10 hours. But thats me.
      My curiosity was alway why some tourist from Scandinavia drive to Croatia or Greece for a day instead picking a a flight even with longer layover?
      I would always pick flying from Helsinki to Zagreb, having a 8 hours layover. Have a delicious lunch, coffee, desert and catch a flight from Zagreb to Pula, Split wherever. Instead of driving countless hours, eating hot dogs at the gas station, drinking bitter instant Nesscaffe, looking for clean toilets etc etc etc

      Delete
    5. Anonymous18:26

      but the price of flixbus

      Delete
    6. Boris, you clearly don't have children or don't travel with them.

      I cannot imagine wanting to cross security or borders more than it's absolutely necessary. Non-stop flights all day, every day for me.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous21:19

      If you have children then it’s okay. But the gentelman told that he is flying with his girlfriend.

      Delete
  37. Anonymous12:56

    as someone from Skopje I was looking at transfer options with OU find it bit meh:
    SKP-MUC is now available only on two days in the week, SKP-FRA on five

    at least they offer connecting flights through SPU as well but they will get under pressure with Lufthansa starting SKP

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous06:22

      So pretentious for someone who barely has connections to main European airports to call the OU service "a bit meh". At least they were serving your airport during the last years.

      Delete
  38. Anonymous14:07

    Is service to Athens year-round?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous14:14

      No, seasonal only unfortunately.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous14:32

      They need to upgrade ZAG-ATH to year-round without the the stop in DBV. It's so bad they don't serve a big hub like ATH year-round.

      Delete
  39. Anonymous11:36

    So there are no Mostar flights from Zagreb?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:39

      It says in the article:

      " The airline has signalled its interest in restoring operations between the Croatian capital and Mostar this summer, however, flights are yet to be scheduled at this point"

      Delete

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