Croatia Airlines adds one new route, extends seasonal flights

Croatia Airlines has unveiled its 2023/24 winter season network which will see the introduction of one new route and the upgrade of three summer seasonal destinations. The Croatian flag carrier will commence flights between Zadar and Munich, making the Bavarian capital the airline's its only international destination from the coastal city. The new addition is in line with earlier announcements made by the carrier’s CEO, Jasmin Bajić, who said the company would add new winter routes from both Zadar and Dubrovnik. Previously, the airline said it would upgrade its seasonal flights between Dubrovnik and Frankfurt to a year-round service. The new two weekly flights between Zadar and Munich, which will launch on October 31, will be maintained once per week. Further flight details can be found here. As of this coming winter, Croatia Airlines will operate nonstop flights from Zagreb, Split, Osijek and Zadar to Munich.

Croatia Airlines will upgrade two seasonal routes out of Split, which will be maintained for most of the winter. It includes flights to Copenhagen, which will run once per week, each Saturday, until January 6, 2024. Furthermore, services from Croatia’s second largest city to London Heathrow will also run once weekly on Saturdays until January 6. Out of the new routes launched by the carrier this summer, Croatia Airlines will continue to operate flights between Zagreb and Mostar throughout the winter. In total, the company will boast 23 destinations in its network this winter, which begins on October 29 and runs until March 30, 2024.

Croatia Airlines will increase its overall number of flights during the winter by 11.8% compared to last year for a total of 9.474 operations, while capacity will grow 13.6% to 970.644. The airline will maintain nonstop international flights from almost all of Croatia’s commercial airports, including Zagreb, Split, Dubrovnik, Zadar, Pula, Rijeka and Osijek. Croatia is one of Europe's most seasonally skewed markets, with both Croatia Airlines and the government seeking ways to reduce seasonality and the country’s dependence on summer leisure routes. “Our goal is to increase the number of flights available to Croatia throughout the entire year, which contributes not only to air connectivity, but also to the development of a year-round tourism product. This has been specifically highlighted in the new [tourism] strategy, with the focus of improving both domestic and international air connectivity”, Croatia’s Minister for Tourism and Sports, Nikolina Brnjac, said, recently.