Ryanair will expand operations out of its Zagreb base next year with plans to serve over thirty destinations during the 2024 summer season, up from 27 this year. Speaking at a press conference in the Croatian capital, Ryanair’s Chief Commercial Officer, Jason McGuinness, said, “Last year we carried just over 900.000 passengers on our Zagreb flights, this year it will be closer to 1.2 million and the plan is to continue growing in Zagreb. We are boosting connectivity and the economy and driving tourism. It’s all about direct connections. We had close to thirty destinations from Zagreb this summer, 27 to be more precise, and we will try to get that to over thirty for summer 2024. We are working with Huseyin [Bahadir Bedir, Zagreb Airport General Manager] and his team and that is because Ryanair is the only airline growing in Europe with the lowest fares and the lowest base costs”.
As previously reported by EX-YU Aviation News, Ryanair will maintain flights to nineteen destinations this winter season, which begins on October 29, with an increase in frequencies on seven routes. The airline will introduce an additional two weekly flights for a total of four to both Malaga and Malta, as well as an extra service to Dublin, for a total of four. Basel, Beauvais, Gothenburg and Memmingen will all be operated three instead of two weekly. These do not include an increase in flights on most routes during the two-week Christmas holiday period. The carrier will also inaugurate operations to Lanzarote. “Our busiest routes out of Zagreb are London Stansted, Bergamo and Dublin. This record winter schedule will be operated on Ryanair’s three Zagreb-based aircraft, representing a 300 million US dollar investment”. Mr McGuinness noted.
Asked to comment on the public spat over the increase in Zagreb Airport’s fees earlier this year, Ryanair’s Chief Commercial Officer said, “We are satisfied with conditions in Zagreb, although any increase in fees affects costs, which we try to minimise”. Although Mr McGuinness did not go into detail as to which new routes may be introduced from Zagreb, the airport recently launched an incentive scheme for airlines with the aim of connecting the city to a number of key European capitals. Routes that are eligible for incentives are those to Prague, Tallinn, Berlin, Budapest, Riga, Vilnius, Luxembourg, Stockholm (Arlanda or Skavsta airports), Tirana, Pristina, Reykjavik, Tbilisi, Kiev (upon the reopening of Ukrainian airspace), Chisinau and Yerevan.
I guess this means they will base a fourth plane in ZAG next summer
ReplyDeleteUnless they plan on adding a lot more flights I don't see it happening. Those extra three destinations can be served from other bases.
DeleteGood bye Croatia Airlines
ReplyDeleteNo chance. They are protected by the government, although they are not even loss-making at the moment.
DeleteThey are loss making. Just because you make a minor profit in a single quarter does not make you profitable.
Delete@9.05, of course, I didn't mean they will go bankrupt I just think they will keep retreating ops. from Zagreb (especially during summer). I am pretty sure they will, at one point, be overtaken by Ryanair at ZAG.
DeleteYes, making a minor profit in a single profit literally makes you profitable. Why do people on this forum suspend logic for cross-national fights?
DeleteThey can't retreat much further. Split may be booking from June to September but year-round passengers are in Zagreb. They need to figure out a strategy. They have done absolutely nothing since Ryanair arrived.
Delete@9.19 it does not because you are still a loss making business on an annual basis or during the financial year.
DeleteMalev was also protected until they were not. Same with OA. Actually the same way Wizz Air replaced Malev, Aegean replaced Olympic, Ryanair will replace OU.
DeleteRyanair will not replace Croatia Airlines because Ryanair is Europe's biggest airline and Croatia Airlines is minuscule and irrelevant. Ryanair already handles more passengers in Croatia than Croatia Airlines does.
DeleteThere is no comparison between those two.
DeleteCroatia will crush them. They will lay in ruins soon . Nothing will remain of the enemy of Croatia. The final victory is near.
Ryanair will go bankrupt before long. They are too greedy and expanded too much and offer rubbish customer service. The day of reckoning will come!
DeleteYeah, they are the most profitable airline in Europe but are planning to declare bankruptcy.
DeleteHahahahahahahaha how delusional Kradeze bots and uhljebs could be, that's beyond imagination 😃 (addressed to 15.34), and, like the way you said it 14.18 😃
DeleteFor admin: Is there any chance tu publish notification if coment Pozdrav iz Rijeke set to be published.
DeleteVbrgd for all discusion atendants, but Pozdrav is one and unique.
Best regards to Vlada m
This is nothing - 3-4 routes more and probably seasonal.
ReplyDeleteIt even means they won't be adding number of based planes in ZAG.
And let's not forget they announced to have 5 based planes in 2023.
Fairytale.
A 10% increase in routes and capacity is nothing?
DeleteYes, it is nothing as these will be probably only seasonal routes. Where is 4th plane planned for 2022? Where is 5th plane planned for 2023?
DeleteLet's be reminded that they cancelled already year round destinations like Podgorica, Sofia and Manchester, so the number of destinations (if increased by next summer) will be more-less the same like previous summer.
Simply, they make no progess in Zagreb. I don't understand you can't see it guys.
It won't be more or less the same as this year because they say they had 27 destinations this summer and that they plan to have over 30 next summer.
DeleteThey canceled also Dortmund.
Delete10% is not much when your starting point is modest.
Delete5% growth in FRA is huge while in LJU or ZAG is nothing.
ZAG is not even in top 100 European airports. They need more than 10% to become relevant.
This is actually pathetic especially as it is still not sure if new destinations will be opened at all.
DeleteThese are just mambo jumbo fairytales. The same like 4th or 5th plane based in ZAG.
Why is it a problem that Zagreb is not in the top 100 of Europe?
DeleteThey are quite clearly bullying Zagreb into lowering the fees by publicly committing to am expansion. We've seen it many times already, and that's why aviation industry doesn't really like how they operate
ReplyDeleteThe CEO (!) of the airport appears at a press conference and you think the airport is being bullied?
Delete1.2 million passengers is quite a lot. I think they will overtake Croatia Airlines in Zagreb in terms of passenger numbers
ReplyDeleteThe sooner the better. Maybe the Croatian media can finally start writing about the scandalous management in Croatia Airlines.
DeleteIf they handled 1.2 million then it means their share at the airport will grow to around 35%. That's really a lot.
DeleteExcellent news. Good to see they have further growth plans
ReplyDeleteFingers crossed for Berlin, Pristina and Stockholm
DeleteBravo Hrvatska!
ReplyDeleteYeah, right, Bravo Hrvatska! Compare number of ZAG LCC services with BUD, BEG, SOF, BUH, TIA, RIX, VNO, TLL, even SKP, and then come back and hail Bravo Hrvatska once again, please
DeleteThese are not good comparisons. In order:
DeleteBUD is far richer and has far more tourism than Zagreb
BEG has the geopolitical advantage
SOF is more remote from central Europe and Bulgarian diaspora is further away from Bulgaria than Croatian diaspora is from Croatia
What the hell is BUH
TIA has no good road links to anywhere in Europe and it has a diaspora all over the continent
RIX, VNO and TLL are in the corner of the continent unlike Zagreb which is pretty central, and their populations need to fly to go away on summer holiday
SKP also does not have road access to Europe and is remote.
ZAG can only be compared to LJU and BTS. And it should be doing better than both of these airports.
Much better: ZAG is unique!
DeleteBUH the hell is IATA denomination for city of Bucharest with its both airports OTP Otopeni Henri Coanda and BBU Baneasa Aurel Vlaicu. Absolutely the same as NYC, PAR, LON, TYO..... And your lack of basics of the basics of the aviation has just the hell disqualified you to further discuss this topic and annuled all you have just wrote above. Sjedi jedan.
DeleteSo the whole tax increase tantrum was just for show?
ReplyDeleteIt's classic Ryanair.
DeleteYes, just like in dozens of other airports all over Europe.
DeleteTypical Ryanair business strategy.
Any guesses which routes they may launch next?
ReplyDeletePorto I think
DeleteWouldn't Lisbon make more sense first?
DeleteZagreb sadly has no direct connections to Berlin, Prague, Stockholm, Lisbon...So actually they have a plenty of big destinations they could fly to.
Deletelisbon they won't do because they are in a fight with Lisbon. Porto is much more likely.
DeleteBerlin is also a problem for Ryanair and they're trying to get the German government to drop fees so they are not expanding there by much.
Prague would be great
One could hope they move their MMX flights to CPH instead to compete with OU. FR are also opning their first base in CPH soon with four planes, so it should be feasible.
DeleteRyanair has been flying to Copenhagen for many years, and it had a base there just a few years ago.
DeleteIf I am not mistaken, they are just about to reintroduce CPH base
DeleteYes, they are reopening CPH. Very cool!
DeleteAs for ZAG I'm sure they'll go for the routes with incentives. Prague, Stockholm, one of the Baltic states, even Reykjavik could work, but I'm hoping for Berlin and Tbilisi too.
This is interesting. Will the restore the routes they are ending this winter like Podgorica, Manchester, Sofia etc or they will add completely new routes.
ReplyDeleteI believe it will be completely new routes. TGD definitely won't come back.
DeleteIt should be more than 1pw like they introduced to Canary Islands.
DeleteCanary Islands are a winter seasonal route.
DeleteThat's what I meant.
DeleteNew summer routes should not be only seasonal and not only 1 pw.
With JU growing in both SOF and ZAG I don't see FR resuming those flights.
DeleteAs if Ryanair pays any attention to that
DeleteOf course not.
DeleteIt was just a coincidence that they closed SOF and TGD where JU flies very often.
How long will FR be paying only 5 EUR tax in ZAG?
ReplyDeleteAs long as you believe in that :)
DeleteHaha! Some people seemingly can't google. Until a month ago they believed in the 2 euro myth
DeleteLove how Ryan guy calls Zagreb airport CEO by his first name only. Those small tricks ...
ReplyDeleteNothing new. Check how presidents call themselves. By first name.
DeleteThese guys are not presidents or politicians, they are business people.
DeleteThis is standard business practice in the western world. But people in the Balkans always think they know best, even though this area is the backwater of Europe when it comes to any economic metric
DeleteIn private conversation maybe, but in public relations that is atypical even for western standards.
DeleteIt's literally the norm 100% of the time. Especially in Ireland.
DeleteGood. We should see passenger numbers keep increasing in 2024 too.
ReplyDeleteIs OU management blind??? The incentive scheme surley isn’t there just to look at it. Half of these routes can be and should be flown by the flag carrier!
ReplyDeleteThey are blind, and when Ryanair launches some of those routes they will complain and say how they are treated unequally.
DeleteCroatia Airlines is a national disgrace
DeleteOU does not have management. They have Party aparatchiks, Misetic puppets and Uhljebs, and as long as that the "management" is, they will remain blind, deaf, paraplegic and deep into Lufthansa 's ass.
DeleteI was hoping they would announce a 4th plane in ZAG for this winter and more new routes.
ReplyDeleteThis is good news. It means their loads and bookings are performing well.
ReplyDeleteYes, it means they are performing well and are satisfied with ZAG.
DeleteSome routes are performing really well like London, Dublin and Malaga. Some routes like Bratislava are really struggling. They need to improve their schedule and route network by adding Prague, Berlin, Porto, Pristina and Stockholm!
DeleteHa ha ha Pristina 😂 and what about Podgorica and Sofia? Ah, canceled.
DeleteGreat news for ZAG
ReplyDeleteI still don't know, why Wizx Air has not opened any new routes to/from ZAG?
ReplyDelete^ wizz
DeleteBecause they didn't get a tailored tender for incentives like Ryanair 2 years ago.
DeleteTailored tender is the perfect wording.
DeleteWhat I find unfortunate is that several major LCCs used to fly to Zagreb but not anymore. Hope they come back.
DeleteI don't think they're needed with Ryanair around.
DeleteBetter to say other LCCs have no interest in Zagreb even with special conditions offered.
DeleteThere is no need for Wizz. Only if Croatia Airlines collapses then there will be a need for Wizz or easyJet to keep Ryanair in check.
DeleteSame in BEG - no need for FR unless JU collapses, but JU's collapse is far less likely compared to OU's dead man walking journey.
DeleteHope for some Iberian Peninsula flights, since we don’t have it in LJU
ReplyDeleteZagreb airport is crazy if they believe to FR.
ReplyDeleteSooner or later FR will start blackmailing them and then we shall have show.
Poor OU.
ReplyDeleteThey have only themselves to blame
DeleteI remember when some here were saying that ZAG does not need ultra LCCs and that the general travel public will never fly these airlines from Zagreb.
ReplyDeleteIt was the 'prestige' guy. He is still around.
DeleteSo Dublin is one of their most successful routes yet Croatia Airlines suspends it over winter and most of summer (basically now operating a month per year). Says it all.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteYes, that's a brilliant example of how awful Croatia Airlines is. They went head to head. Croatia Airlines had transfers in Zagreb and in Dublin, it has the same fees on this route as Ryanair and it has full freedom to tailor its schedule. And it did nothing.
DeleteWhen can we expect FR to announce new routes for next summer?
ReplyDeleteThe first route announcements should come in November
DeleteThanks. Any idea of what they might add?
DeleteBerlin, Palma, Bucharest, Marseille, Nice, Porto, Krakow, Trapani....
DeleteFR summer schedule is expected to go on sale by the end of December or beginning of January.
ReplyDeleteRubbish. Ryanair doesn't do "schedules". They add routes as they please. London Stansted is already on sale from Zagreb until OCtober 2024.
DeleteOU... the village is burning and baba is combing her hair
ReplyDeleteRyan is growing slower than expected in ZAG but will continue to squeeze out Croatia Airlines. OU will continue to deteriorate in ZAG until they are reduced to LH feeder and domestic operator. A220 is not a silver bullet with power to change this outcome. A220 will be a shiny new toy that will attract some attention next year while Ryan slowly continues to crush OU's foundations in ZAG.
ReplyDeleteFully agree.
DeleteI would just like to add that A220, except being a shiny new toy, will cost way too much money - money which OU does not have.
OU is preparing their victorious strategy: unify fleet, reduce number of seats availible, sell and lease back two oldtimers with defunct lcd screens, increase daily pilgrimage to Vranvurt und Minken et voila!
ReplyDeleteE svaka ti je ka' u Njegosa! 😃😃😃
DeleteI am in Malta and saw article of 51 route that Ryanc, localair will have from the airport. Little island, small population, small diaspora and indeed very touristic, having local carrier and many others flying here yet they are able to have 51 route this winter.
Deletehttps://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2023-09-07/local-news/Ryanair-Group-aims-to-be-a-long-term-investor-in-Malta-CEO-6736254664
Maybe the fact Malta is an island and literally the only other way to travel anywhere being by boat, has something to do with it?? 😂
Delete