Low cost carrier Ryanair is expected to resume operations from Zagreb to Manchester, Podgorica and Sofia next summer, as well as increase frequencies on a number of destinations based on its preliminary plans for 2024. The three abovementioned routes are to be suspended at the end of this month, however, the low cost airline plans to resume flights between the Croatian capital and Manchester on June 1 with a two weekly service each Tuesday and Saturday, to Podgorica, also on June 1, with three weekly rotations on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, as well as to the Bulgarian capital starting June 3, twice per week, on Mondays and Thursdays. Tickets for the three routes are yet to be put on sale as the carrier continues to work on its 2024 summer season timetable. On the other hand, operations to Bratislava, which are to be suspended next week ahead of schedule, are so far not planned for resumption next year.
The return of the trio of routes is in line with Ryanair’s recent announcement that it will operate more destinations out of Zagreb during the summer of 2024 than it did this year. “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 satisfied with conditions in Zagreb, although any increase in fees affects costs, which we try to minimise”, Ryanair’s Chief Commercial Officer, Jason McGuinness, said recently. The budget airline anticipates handling 1.2 million passengers on its Zagreb flights this year.
Ryanair also plans to boost a select number of its existing Zagreb routes next summer when compared to this year. They include Charleroi, increasing from six weekly to daily, Rome Fiumicino from four to five weekly, Gothenburg from two to three weekly, Malaga from two to four weekly, Malta from four weekly to daily, Weeze from three to four weekly and London Stansted from daily to nine weekly. The frequency additions are expected to take affect from June 1 as well, although changes remain possible as these are still the airline’s preliminary plans for next year. Ryanair’s busiest route out of its Zagreb base is London Stansted, with the airline handling more passengers this year than its competitors Croatia Airlines and British Airways combined on their London Heathrow service.
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Wonder what routes will be Ryanair adding for next summer. Depending on what they said, should be at least 4 more...
ReplyDeleteI'm anticipating that at least 1 new destination would be another seasonal route to one of greek islands, like Rhodos and Chania. If not even Mykonos becsuse it is not served from any other exyu airport.
DeleteIt is probably going to be cities from that connecting capital city incentive scheme.
DeleteI’d like to see them launching direct flights to PRG and BER
DeleteExactly. I know many Czechs or Croats living in Prague who'd like to fly to Zagreb.
DeleteThat's great return (and increase) on pre pandemic traffic for Franjo Tudman airport.
ReplyDeleteActually, European traffic in Zagreb is stronger than ever by a large margin. Thank goodness that Zagreb brought in Ryanair so we no longer have to fly from Budapest, Rijeka/Pula, Zadar, Trieste/Venice and Ljubljana to get around and to avoid Croatia Airlines' ridiculous prices and a tiny route network.
DeleteActually Zagreb and the rest of Croatian airports are among the best in the E.U. for gaining back pre pandemic traffic and more.
DeleteZagreb lost so much long-haul capacity in covid that it is remarkable how much passenger growth Ryanair was able to generate with much smaller planes. Plus, Croatia Airlines was shifting capacity to the coast too.
DeleteA 737 that flies six times a day brings a lot more passenger traffic than a widebody flying (at best) twice a day.
DeleteAnd don't forget that the Ryanair Max has a seating capacity of 197 seats!
DeleteMeh...
DeleteWhy there is no flight between Zagreb-Vienna? It will be full every single time. Offers are really bad by Ryanair
DeleteThis most probably meand 4th plane will be based in ZAG from 1st of June.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteThe fourth aircraft is definitely coming with at least 3 new routes
DeleteDaily Malta wow👌
ReplyDeleteSome airports "discuss", and some airports "accomplish".
ReplyDeleteBest comment today. But, to be fair to Ljubljana, Zagreb is a bigger city.
DeleteYou mean like discussing JFK-ZAG? I forgot which airline already operates this route..
DeleteIs Malta that popular among Croatians? It's hardly a diaspora, there simply isn't one.
ReplyDeleteYou would be surprised, Also Croatian citizens are no longer required to apply for an employment licence in order to reside and work in Malta
DeleteThe benefits of EU membership.
DeleteYes, but this is only possible from recently despite Croatia joining in 2013.
DeleteWhy do you guys always think that only diaspora travels? Malt is more affordable than to travel to the croatian coast, especially if you don't have your own apartment on the coast. And also Malta is popular to the serbian workers - not so much by croatians.
DeleteSo yeah, zagrebians are traveling there for a holiday.
It's definitely a mix of Slovene and Croatian passengers who fly on these flights. But I am also genuinely surprised that there is enough demand for daily flights. I know Malaga is a smashing hit, but I did not realise Malta was too.
DeleteThe reality is that the Adriatic coast has become too expensive for most continental Croats, and Ryanair has finally allowed people who do not own a property on the coast to take longer beach holidays outside of Croatia.
DeleteYou are right, Serbs only work there. That is why Malta has been part of holiday packages by all Serbian tour operators since the mid 1990s. I went with my family to Malta when I was 8 years old the first time. I must have been working at a bar. And it must be the reason Air Serbia, Wizz Air and Ryanair all fly from Serbia to Malta. The stuff you read here.
DeleteNot surprised about Malta at all. It's one of their busiest routes from Zagreb. Last year it was their fourth busiest route in their entire Zagreb network.
DeleteHave various friends that visited Malta and told me the beaches are not the best. It seems that the whole island, however, is quite beautiful.
DeleteExactly as mentioned above. Croatian Adriatic has become too expensive for a large part of Croatian citizens, even those from Zagreb. Some do have property on the coast, some stay with friends or family, but for those who can't arrange something like that, the cost of flying and staying in Malta, Greece, Spain, Turkey, Montenegro, Albania...etc. is either about the same or actually cheaper. No wonder Podgorica is returning. They should introduce a direct flight to Tirana as well. I bet Cyprus would work well too.
DeleteHow about Paphos?
DeleteWOW, Malta to daily!!!
ReplyDeleteGood development. Let's just hope it all happens.
ReplyDeleteIm very pleasantly surprised that Podgorica is going up to three times weekly. That should boost passenger numbers because the twice-weekly schedule was not good this summer.
ReplyDeleteBravo Hrvatska!
ReplyDeleteI can tell you why Malta is up to daily but then I would be attacked here. It has to do with also covering another market and satisfying tour operators from that country.
ReplyDeleteTrue
DeletePlese tell, I am really interested. And don't mind the attacks from anonymous people on the internet, they are really irrelevant.
DeleteNice! Hope they become bookable soon.
ReplyDeletePlanned departure times Zagreb-Malta
ReplyDeleteMonday: 14.30
Tuesday: 14:00
Wednesday: 05:45
Thursday: 06:45
Friday: 14:55
Saturday: 07:35
Sunday: 20:05
Sunday time is the only one that's a bit meh. Check-out times in the hotels are all around 11am, so you'll have to wait for 6h in the airport before checking in for the flight
DeleteThe early morning departures are perfect for those going on holiday.
DeleteYes, but for those who work there is perfect as they stay with their families whole weekend and than start freshon Monday afternoon at bar's counters!
DeleteIt kind of makes you wonder where was Croatia Airlines? Why didn't it start Malta 4 or 5 years ago.
ReplyDeleteCroatia Airlines had 30 years to launch leisure routes. Didn't cross their mind.
DeleteOU did fly to Malta a long time ago
DeleteCroatia Airlines is deep deep deep in Lufthansa 's ass. That's why they didn't start Malta 5 years ago, that's why they didn't start minimum 20 other regional destinations decade ago, that's why they don't fly long-haul, that's why they didn't make ZAG proper hub, that's why they get new regional jet to continue being humiliated servant and pathetic feeder......
DeleteDefinitely 4th plane coming next June. It fits perfectly with the frequency increases. Now it is just a question of how many new routes we could see.
ReplyDeleteOU made a big mistake selling 5 of it's Heathrow slots.
ReplyDeleteIt was bound to come back to bite them one day.
DeleteKresimir Kucko needs investigating by the Croatian government for the damage he did to OU!
DeleteIvan Misetic needs investigation by European Prosecutor office in Zagreb for the damage he did to OU. Kucko is smiling puppy compared to Misetic, who was trying to at least partially improve total mess and totally ruined company which Misetic left
DeleteNot surprised about Malta at all. It's one of their busiest routes from Zagreb. Last year it was their fourth busiest route in their entire Zagreb network.
ReplyDeleteThe biggest benefit of Ryanair's base and what I'm definitely seeing more and more is people going on short weekend breaks and travelling a lot more.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteIs it too much to hope that Croatia Airlines will respond to this?
ReplyDeleteYes
DeleteUsually if an airline isn't responding in face of huge competition it means their finances are stretched to the very limit.
DeleteCroatia Airlines has absolutely no ideas at all. It cannot respond.
DeleteCan anyone say anything more about SOF and SKG? What kind of passengers are we watching? About SOF, I know that it is used by Bulgarians as well as Slovenians and Croats, but are the passengers mostly VFR or business travelers? SKG I see it as a sunny destination for Croatians?
ReplyDeleteCroatia is a relatively "new" destination for Bulgarians as historically there weren't that many flights compared to say, Serbia. Both ZAG and ZAD will need a bit more time to mature. Sadly, there are no advertising banners of Croatia yet on the Bulgarian streams or portals. I guess it's the same in Croatia regarding Bulgaria. Serbia for example has launched a longstanding advertising banner on Travelnews and BGTourism which are 2 big portals watched closely by the local tour operators. Imo, now with the much improved schedule times between SOF and ZAG, may witness more city break and pure O&D traffic.
DeleteRecent early morning flight ZAD to SOF was fully booked. Return flight too.
DeleteReally? I flew in July, it was super cheap, and I would say 30% of seats were empty.
DeleteThessaloniki, Kos, Corfu, Malaga, Lanzarote, Malaga, Malta, Naples, Brindisi, Paphos. Wow very nice Ryanair, big number of leisure destinations.
ReplyDeletenot bad at all. Although they were announcing 4th and 5th plane back in 2021. Hoping it finally happens next year.
ReplyDeleteSo what is that called? Saying, predicting, announcing...
DeleteLook it up in a dictionary.
DeleteAnnouncing.
DeleteYou are just lazy - Synonyms for announcement:
Deleteadvertisement
briefing
broadcast
disclosure
message
news
notice
prediction
publication
release
report
revelation
statement
Ryanair's success is a mirror to Croatia Airlines' failure.
ReplyDeleteCroatia Airlines needs to get its act together in ZAG and fast.
DeleteWhoa whoa whoa what's the rush??
DeleteThat ship has sailed.
DeleteIf there are Slovenians, they are 1% of the passengers on the plane.... Stop talking nonsense. Besides, Malta is not so popular among Slovenians (of course there is interest, I don't deny it) but not so much in Croatia. Slovenians prefer Croatia, and for far - Spain, Portugal, Greece, Turkey. I also forgot about Italy...
ReplyDeleteAs Croatia *
DeleteStop talking nonsense. Our neighbors use Zagreb airport often and for sure don't participate with 1% share only on the Malta flights. Croats travel and Slovenes travel. Why are many question it that often.
DeleteCroats fly from Ljubljana, Slovenes travel from Zagreb. No big deal. We are happy that we have the choice.
DeleteWhat if Wizz Air comes? Croatia Airlines must move to Split or close.
ReplyDeleteRealistically, we shouldn't expect new destinations from OU. It is better to strengthen what is left, because if they drop that too, they have no future. It's just that now at any cost they have to manage to keep the current frequencies and destinations.
DeleteWizz won’t come
DeleteBad news for OU
DeleteAt 100% next destinations are Berlin and Chania.
ReplyDeleteOn their mobile app, they are launching the flights, but still not bookable. It seems that other bases will receive more frequencies as well. In SOF for example ZAG is restored with a much more decent timetable including ZAD .
ReplyDeleteVIE will be increased to 9 weekly, MAD to 4 weekly, BCN and BRI to 6, STN to 18 and Bristol is becoming year-round it seems. BUD is increased to 4 weekly and Wroclaw has a horrible outbound schedule.
As for ZAG, and as expected they are probably going to launch a second fault evening flight to STN on Sundays and Wednesdays according to the mobile app but are not yeti put on sale. This means that ZAG is most likely to have a busier 2024.
Ryanair beats Wizz Air in SOF. Bulgaria Air at least manages to hold on to the strongest destinations and seems to have retained market share, something that OU has not had success with. Also taking 7 A220.
DeleteThat's right! OU is literally losing and will continue. At least they have AMS, CDG, VAR, LHR and that too in beastly competition. They are also a large market. It is normal to have a high demand.
DeleteFB is eaten alive by Wizz and Ryan. But they still rely on their CDG/AMS/LHR transfers with AF/KL and Virgin Atlantic as well as codeshare with Air Europa in Madrid. Also no one yet competing them on the PRG route and VAR is probably their most important destination. BRU is also important because I think they have a contract with the government to transport MEPs to EU HQ.
DeleteStill, they lost many routes: VLC, LIS, VIE, BCN in winter, etc
Will be very interesting to see how OU will utilise their A220s especially with their longer range and if they might consider warm leisure destinations in winter in cooperation with local tour operators like the common practice in Bulgaria.
I remember when a number of "businessmens" ( Dalmatian, Air Croatia) tried to make regular flights from ZAG. Now I was expecting OU competitors. Good thing Ryanair came. Otherwise, the home market ( local airlines)is worthless. I exclude a few stable examples - Trade Air, ETF Airways, Sundair, Air Adriatic, Dubrovnik Airlines.
ReplyDeleteFinally upping Stansted frequencies.
ReplyDeleteA bit off topic, but does anyone know if Osijek will return from STN next summer?
No reasons to suspend flights.
DeleteYes, from June
DeleteIs there a chance that Ryan air expend it network from Dubrovnik. In Zagreb you only have northwest Croatia and Slovenia while on coast you have whole world
ReplyDeleteHow many new routes could they launch with an additional aircraft?
ReplyDeleteI would assume 5 new routes.
DeleteMore likely 3 or 4 along with this frequency growth.
DeleteI really hope that FR considers domestic flights. It'll be very beneficial for Croatia.
ReplyDeleteThey had the opportunity to apply at Croatian PSO tender but they chose not to.
DeleteFor an airport in the category of 2 to 5 million passengers, this is not so bad.
ReplyDeleteHow many flights per week on average does Ryanair have out of Zagreb?
ReplyDeleteThis summer it was around 9 flights departing per day.
DeleteNot true. The average was always 12 flights a day. Even tomorrow there are 12.
DeleteSeems like FMM could be canceled though.
ReplyDeleteIt is too early to make that conclusion
DeleteIt's not cancelled. They haven't loaded all the routes yet.
DeleteBut they loaded their flights from both the FMM and ZAG base. It also had the lowest price and the lowest lf.
DeleteNo they didn't. And no it didn't. Bratislava had the lowest load factor. What the hell does "lowest price" even mean?
DeleteBanja Luka - Memmingen is also not loaded yet.
DeleteI am really pleasantly surprised by the uplift in frequencies on so many routes.
ReplyDeleteSlightly off topic but very interesting fact about Croatias connection with Malta :
ReplyDeleteIn Australia there is a rather big Maltese community which immigrated after WW2 .
They all came by ship not by aircraft and it were Yugoslavian/Croatian ships and crews that ferried them over !
Some thousand people from Malta emigrated this way.
DeleteI once met an old Maltese man in Sydney and he surprisingly spoke some Croatian words.
He told me that story too.
Excellent news. Very happy to hear it
ReplyDeleteCome on Ryanair, give us Friday evening flights from London to Zagreb!!
ReplyDeleteWhy not seasonal: Bodrum or Dalaman (Turkey)?
ReplyDeleteBodrum no chance because of Kos. Dalaman - hm...
DeleteTurkey (excluding Istanbul and Kapadokia) is not that popular to Croatians. Not that much demand.
How about Slovenians?
DeleteOh waiting to hear again all those comments how low budget airlines are leaving Montenegro for good. Not three months has passed and the news changed completely
ReplyDeleteWell the article is related to Croatia. I wouldn't call the resumption of one route out of a multitude of discontinued LCC flights from Podgorica a complete change.
DeleteComplete change of the news I said. And yes, let's wait to see the other routes in the upcoming period...
DeleteIt seems ZAG-BSL increases to 6 weekly according to the Ryanair app
ReplyDelete