Zagreb Airport aims to better connect to regional destinations with Budapest, Bucharest, Pristina and Tirana recently included in its Connecting Capital Cities Incentive Model, with all four having been served in the past. During 2022, Skopje was Zagreb Airport’s busiest regional route in the Balkans, followed by Sarajevo and Belgrade. Regional destinations from Zagreb are currently served almost exclusively by Croatia Airlines (Skopje and Sarajevo) and Ryanair (Thessaloniki, Podgorica and Sofia), with Belgrade being the only exception, operated by Air Serbia. Passenger numbers were still impacted by the coronavirus pandemic in 2022, especially during the first quarter, although Croatia had a more relaxed approach to its entry requirements.
Zagreb regional route performance, 2022
Out of the four regional routes Zagreb Airport aims to subsidise in the coming period, Tirana is the busiest unserved destination based on indirect traffic volumes. It is followed by Bucharest, Pristina and Budapest. Zagreb was last linked to Budapest when Qatar Airways introduced flights to the Croatian capital which were operated with a stop in Hungary. The airline held fifth freedom rights between Budapest and Zagreb. The stop in the Hungarian capital was discontinued in the summer of 2015. In 2019, LOT Polish Airlines expressed interest in adding flights between Budapest and Zagreb as part of its new base in Hungary, however, these never materialised. On the other hand, Croatia Airlines introduced a seasonal service between Zagreb and Bucharest in 2017. At the time it noted, “We are seeing a number of transfer passengers on these flights, keeping in mind that Romania is the second largest market in Southeast Europe". The carrier even considered extending operations between the two capitals into the winter months. Ultimately, the service was not restored in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic and has been discontinued since.
Croatia Airlines also used to link Zagreb and Pristina, with its last service on the route operated in October 2016. That year, the carrier ran two weekly rotations between the two, down from a peak of seven weekly flights in 2009. The Croatian flag carrier also used to connect Zagreb with Tirana in the early 2000s. Twenty years later, just prior to the coronavirus pandemic, Croatia Airlines’ management held talks with relevant stakeholders over the introduction of flights to the Albanian capital. That same year the airline had scheduled the introduction of flights to both Sofia and Podgorica, which never materialised and were later launched by Ryanair.
Interesting. I'm a bit surprised. I would have expected Sarajevo to be first.
ReplyDeleteWhy would you expect SJJ first?
DeleteAre these passengers to/from Skopje mostly transfers or point to point.
ReplyDeleteI flew Zagreb - Skopje last year end of July and the plane was 80% transfers from USA or Canada, everyone spoke English on the plane...and you KNOW when someone is not naši....lol
DeleteInteresting. Let's see what impact LH's arrival in SKP has on this route.
DeleteAll these new regional route ZAG wants are best suited for Croatia Airlines.
ReplyDeleteBudapest and Bucharest are more likely with Ryanair in my opinion.
DeleteHow would they make BUD work with an A320 or B737-800?
DeleteOU has the perfect aircraft for these routes. The Q400.
Delete^ Not for long now
DeleteAll of these routes should have been introduced years ago by OU.
DeleteThey should have had this plan in 2019 when Adria went bust and launched them ASAP. They could have launched them during the winter of 2019.
Delete@9.07 I thought the same for Podgorica but seems to have worked.
Delete^ How do you know it has worked? The route is being maintained due to subsidies and Ryanair is contractually obligated to keep it for a certain amount of time. We will see if this route will keep going once the subsidies end.
DeleteTime will tell.
DeleteOnce again @An.09.50, Ryanair in Zagreb is not subsidised. Stop writing misinformation repeatedly. Podgorica is one of the best performing FR routes from ZAG. ZAG has issues, yes, the biggest one miserable pathetic OU based there, which missed all opportunities and wasted all ZAG potentials in synergy, and the second one Far East and Australia passengers not back yet in full numbers. FR and its incentives are definitely not the issue.
DeleteLF of Ryanair in Zageb is about 81%. This is below average for Ryanair.
DeletePozdrav, you are deluded. Ryanair is subsidised by all the Airlines who fly from Zagreb Airport. They pay more per passenger, so Ryanair get a discount. Once this scheme ends, Ryanair will be gone. Ryanair are the real uljhebs and criminals!
DeleteRyanair is led by professionals who succesfully use each and every opportunity to do business on the open market, with strong financial results and profits, and with fast growth which contributes to economy of all destinations they serve.
DeleteCroatia Airlines is led by politically appointed aparatchiks who are incompetent and unable to respond to situation on the market, with heavy losses despite immense subsidies by the state and EU for PSO, and stagnation which reduced their market share on their most important, domestic MARKET. Where real Uhljebs and criminals are, I will let other people reading this conclude
market was supposed to be in normal letters, not capital, autocorrect
DeleteJust wait for Mostar to launch, it will overtake them all :D
ReplyDeleteThey are so confident in Mostar, they haven't even bothered putting tickets up for sale yet
DeleteIf I remember correctly, when they last started this route they also didn't put tickets on sale until 2 weeks in advance. They don't care. They are getting paid for it.
DeleteRyanair will introduce Bucharest for sure.
ReplyDeleteWould make sense
DeleteOnly if they start several other new routes from ZAG. They would launch OTP to keep up fleet utilization.
DeleteCroatia Airlines is being squeezed on all sides. I have to ask again what are they waiting for?
ReplyDeleteOU had the right idea of launching seasonal flights to SOF and TGD in 2020. Shame corona came but even bigger shame that they didn't launch these routes afterwards. Now Ryanair has used the opportunity.
DeleteToo little too late.
DeleteIs there a chance for Ryanair to start a regional route at which they don't have a base?
ReplyDeleteThey don't have a base in Podgorica but fly there from Zagreb.
DeleteOf course
DeleteHas OU opened any new route from Zagreb since corona?
ReplyDeleteNo
Deletewow, that's a disaster
DeleteIt's sad that OU had a better regional network 10 years ago than today. They used to fly to Tirana, Pristina, Podgorica...
ReplyDeleteHas OU ever flown to Sofia?
DeleteI don't think so.
DeleteWhen did they fly to BUD?
DeleteIn the 90s with the ATR42. I think from Zagreb and from Rijeka too.
DeleteInteresting, thanks.
DeleteBUD was also served by Malev before QR
DeleteInteresting they used to fly to TIA. Anyone remember what were the frequencies back then?
DeleteAnd did they use the ATR42 to TIA?
DeletePozdrav probably knows
DeleteB-737-200A
DeleteTwice weekly. Late evenings ZAG-TIA, early mornings TIA-ZAG
DeleteWhat about Ohrid? I think there could be potential for this route from Zagreb.
ReplyDeleteCroatians & Macedonians do have really strong bond and I don't have any doubt that many Croats will visit Ohrid and vise versa with Maco's in Croatia
DeleteWe will see how SPU-SKP will perform this summer.
DeleteOhrid seasonal could work.
DeleteHave there ever been flights between Zagreb and Ohrid? Did JAT maybe fly this route back in the day?
Deletethe demand for SPU-SKP could be trully seen only once a lcc starts this route.
DeleteJust look at SJJ and TGD numbers being almost identical
Croats and Macedonians have strong bonds only in Australia .
DeleteIn Croatia or Macedonia unfortunately not much .
@18.38 lol
DeleteI think Croatia Airlines could be competitive on some regional routes where there are no major Star Alliance airlines flying.
ReplyDeleteThessaloniki and Sofia being quite new routes for Zagreb results are really not bad at all. And if Ryanair fix their stupid ZAG-SOF schedule there will be more passengers.
ReplyDeleteTrue not bad at all
DeleteSo many routes missing in Croatia Airlines' network...
ReplyDeleteOU launching regional routes would only make sense if they had a strong hub
ReplyDeleteThey could have a strong hub.
DeleteOU used to fly many of these routes and it didn't work. Why would it work this time round?
DeleteJust because they could not make a route work 10-15 years ago doesn't mean it can't work now.
DeleteWhy Skopje works for OU?
DeleteAn. 09.47
DeleteThose routes were not cut because they didn't work. They were cut, along with many other non-regional routes, Moscow, Manchester, Warsaw, Stockholm, Berlin, Hamburg, Stuttgart, Madrid, Malta, Istanbul and many others, because Misetic deliberately handed out Croatian market to Lufthansa in order to become member of Bord of Directors of Star Alliance. The same reason is why long-haul was never introduced, despite Croatia being the market with the biggest long haul potential, proved by several airlines from other continents operating to Croatia. Jasmin is just a puppet keeping status quo, as arranged within the Cartel
Misetic was the best CEO OU had. The fleet was modern, on board service excellent and had a much better network then nowadays. Kucko destroyed the Airline by selling everything off, so he could pocket bonuses by trying to make out it was profitable. Now OU is left with very few assets and a poor network, and as a passenger you can feel the company is on the verge of going under when on board. A cup of water is pathetic!
DeleteAirbus fleet was political decision. It was decided by Franjo Tudjman personally, and "operation" performed by Hrvoje Sarinic and his "french connections". Tudjman wanted Airbus to "please" EU for Croatia to start joining, with him simultaneously continuing his authoritary dictatorship. Misetic "inherited" Airbus fleet and came to OU CEO position from the position of Franjo Tudjman Cabinet Chief. Network was minimized during Misetic rule, in order OU to become LH feeder and for him to get position in Star Alliance Board of Directors. Today he is again highly positioned in Chamber of Commerce. His daughter Tena as well. That's the guy who cares only about his personal benefits and he is no exception within ex-yu. Kucko, the same as Jasmin, was just Misetic puppet, hiding all crime Misetic was involved, including Q400 double leases. And if you evaluate company by level of inflight service today, than we have really nothing more to talk about
DeleteInteresting stats. thanks
ReplyDeleteIt is amazing all these roures could not be started on commercial basis.
ReplyDeleteLack of demand?
Yes
DeleteNo
DeleteRead post above
DeleteThank you Ryanair for noticing new regional opportunities
ReplyDeleteHow is SKG regional but BTS or VIE are not??
ReplyDeleteBecause SKG is in Balkans. VIE and BTS are not theoretically in Balkans.
DeleteI am not at all sold that SOF and TGD will work for Ryanair in the long run.
ReplyDeleteI would prefer Ryanair starting domestic routes rather than regional.
ReplyDeleteNot going to happen anytime soon. They didn't apply for PSO funding last year.
DeleteWhat is the potential of some other regional destinations from ZAG like Varna or Cluj?
ReplyDeleteI don't see Varna working without transfer opportunities via ZAG.
DeleteRyanair might launch some of these flights now that they are being offered incentives. If you look at it, other than seasonal Greek holiday destinations, they haven't introduced a single new route from ZAG without being offered subsidies or incentives.
ReplyDeleteI don't believe they have incentives for London, and that's their best performing route from ZAG.
DeleteI thought its MUC :)
ReplyDeleteLast time I checked MUC wasn't in the Balkans.
DeleteWill be interesting to see if Skopje stays number 1 after Lufthansa starts FRA-SKP.
ReplyDeleteWe will find out soon.
DeleteSKP could be much more if there was an additional lcc option from ZAG
ReplyDeleteI see Rijeka-Skopje as an opportunity for Wizzair
ReplyDeleteLong time ago I suggested to RJK ex-management to try to get Wizz for flights to Paris, Amsterdam, Warsaw, Kiev, Budapest, Skopje. Neither I got any answer to my proposal nor was Wizz contacted
DeleteHahahaha
DeleteThis would be a very popular summer route.The beauty of Istra and Kvarner are well known but the long drive is a major turn off.
Delete@PiR: Wizz air would be perfect for Rijeka and would finally bring many more passengers. Instead of Budapest I would suggest Bucharest
DeleteOf course. Things changed. There was no highway to Budapest when I was writing and Bucharest was not that developed as emitive market. Also, Wizz flew to Amsterdam which is not the case any more. But yes, Wizz wouldn't be bad addition for RJK, despite I personally dislike the company
DeleteZagreb lost the golden moment to come back to Prishtina after Ljubljnaa quitet flight to the destination. Now is a different story, not the best moment for the come back.
ReplyDeleteWhy isn't Belgrade performing better?
ReplyDeleteThe performance is fine. The flights are operated by an ATR72 and during most of 2022 there were only a couple of flights per week.
DeleteWould be good if someone could share the numbers for SJJ before Wizzair started flying seriously to/from SJJ.
ReplyDelete2019 - 65.639
Delete2018 - 63.650
2017 - 65.716
WOW! Passenger numbers have almost halved!
DeleteI think this has more to do with Lufthansa starting flights from Frankfurt to Sarajevo than with Wizz Air. Same fate awaits Skopje route.
DeleteTo be fair, OU only restored pre-Covid frequencies to Sarajevo in the second half of the year.
Deleteexactly, SKP was around 70k in 2019 too
DeleteWow very little difference between Belgrade and Podgorica.
ReplyDeleteYeah, almost the same pax number...Podgorica is doing great and unsurprisingly so I think. Hopefully it does even better!
DeleteIt's due to the same reason why Dubrovnik is normally the busiest domestic route - it is just too far to drive.
I remember back in the pre-covid 2019. which to this day remains a record year, OU had some 250k passengers from ZAG to DBV, whereas to SPU it was below 200k.
I fully expect this year to be even better for this route especially given it is operated by cheaper FR, the fact that Montenegro is beautiful and yet significantly cheaper than Croatia, and we're using the same currency now.
I personally know quite a few people from Montenegro who are flying with Ryanair to Zagreb (since tickets are cheap) and then catching another flight from Zagreb to western Europe.
DeleteJust to clarify, I expect this year to be better for this route than the last one...I do not expect over a quarter of a million passengers from Zagreb. :)
DeleteYeah, I'm not surprised by that either.
DeleteAnyhow, I'm glad the route is doing well!
Yes route is really going well. Almost always the flights are full. I hope they add more frequinces as is still 2 days per week.
DeleteTerrible schedule between Zgb an Skopje. I prefer flying to Thessaloniki. More passenger friendly timings.
ReplyDeletelol what are you on about
DeleteTiming not perfect but it's not terrible.I flying often,personaly I would preffer a bit eaelier departure from Zagreb at evening and later in morning from Skoplje (more time for staff rest also practicaly now they have in best case 4 hours sleap).Daily flight schedule somehow also not very convinient at least for bussines traveler.
Deletetheres also a midday flight ^^
DeleteFor short trips such a schedule with Podgorica and Sofia not convinient at all,as connection or direct flight difficult to combine with only 2 weekly flights.I would Like personaly to see Tirana and Bucharest in network as well,I'm using Treviso now for this destination.Pristina should also work good 10 hours drive compare to cca 1:20 hour flight in case of decent pricr od simple choice.
ReplyDeleteyou can fly to SKP its only an hour away
Delete