Croatia Airlines’ CEO, Jasmin Bajić, has said seasonality remains a major issue for the company due to the nature of Croatia’s tourism industry but has noted the carrier is seeking a solution to the problem, which he believes will be resolved in the next five to ten years. Speaking to the “ATW” magazine, Mr Bajić noted, “Seasonality is a big problem when it comes to airline sizing. But Croatia, as a well-known tourist destination, has great potential to expand its offerings, and our vision is to create sustainable year-round tourism in the next five to ten years. Achieving that vision will require a joint approach with different stakeholders of the tourism sector, in which Croatia Airlines will play a significant role”. He added, “The implementation of Croatia Airlines’ post-Covid strategy, which includes the replacement of the fleet with a single type, is a precondition for a sustainable business in the future”.
Mr Bajić said the significant competition the company faces on the Croatian market during the summer is welcomed. “Competition is positive for us if it is conducted under the same financial and operational conditions. The Croatian aviation market is characterised by pronounced seasonality in demand with high competition in the summer months. During the summer season, almost ninety airlines operate in the Croatian market, and more than half of all passengers are carried in the third quarter, while in the winter period, the presence of competition is minimal. Croatia Airlines operates throughout the year, which enables Croatian airports to be open year-round to Croatian residents. This indicates the significant influence the company has on operations of other economic entities in the aviation sector”, the CEO noted.
Croatia is one of Europe's most seasonally skewed markets, according to the aviation analytics company Centre for Aviation. Croatia Airlines expects for the incoming A220 aircraft, the first of fifteen which will be delivered this June, to go towards making the carrier more competitive during both the busy summer months, as well as more sustainable over the quieter winter. “By renewing the fleet, Croatia Airlines will completely replace old aircraft with new ones, representing a significant technological step forward, greater energy efficiency and 25% lower fuel consumption. The new and higher-quality A220 aircraft, with a capacity of 149 or 127 seats, will ensure a better response to the specific needs of passengers and a more efficient business model, thanks to which additional business opportunities will be opened, along with the gradual expansion of the network”, Mr Bajić concluded.
I don't understand how higher capacity aircraft will help them with seasonality in winter. I wish them luck and success either way.
ReplyDeleteWell the planes are bigger than the Q400s but have less capacity than A319 and A320.
DeleteBigger than Q400 means lower LF on the routes this plane was flying on.
DeleteLower LF means more costs and more costs mean lower profitability.
With lower profitability you can't fight seasonality.
is it possible that tickets prices will be lower because of low cost of airplane maintenance
DeleteThere are numerous companies that NEVER have a high yield period of the year...
DeleteAgain, the well known local saying; "Rđavom...."
^ I don't get you argument. The airline itself is complaining about seasonality, not commentators.
DeleteI'm glad they have finally recognized that they actually have to play the main role in reducing this seasonality. They are the key.
ReplyDeleteThe key to reducing seasonality is to attract travelers to Croatia in winter season.
DeleteAll countries in the Balkans need to follow the example of Albania and the incredible success of TIA.
Delete2024 could have 11 million pax, all of them O&D. No transfer traffic to inflate the numbers.
To "inflate" numbers. Transfer passengers are just as valuable as point to point. In fact transfer passengers on average spend more money at the airport than point to point passengers, which is a major source of income for any airport. If transfer passengers were not important, then London Heathrow, Frankfurt, Madrid, Paris Charles de Gaulle etc would have none and would do nothing to attract them. Passing transfers off as a tool to "inflate" numbers is extremely ignorant.
DeleteIf we had 10 flights per day to Milan full of diaspora then yes we should follow TIA, but with current situation no thank you.
DeleteTransfer passengers re less profitable tot he airline and also do not spent anything in the city/country as they do not leave the airport.
DeleteYeah you are right. Majority of airports across the world are dumb and only Tirana is smart...
DeleteTIA and SKP figures are actually a bit more "artifically inflated". Albania is attracting tourists yes, but their only airport. SKP figures are (and lets be honest) because of the large Albanian rising diaspora. TIA is doing well in growing, but as BEG or SOF will grow and then suddenly stop. It is a small country with limited resources and shrinking population like the entire region. Yeah, of course it has a lot to offer, but this growth will come to end. Even Budapest is now not growing as it used to be.
DeleteNeither BEG or SOF have stopped growing. Anyway, stop turning every topic into a discussion about TIA. No one cares.
Delete10:59 The albanian diaspora isnt the main source for the growth of SKP. Until you have statistics about the nationality of pax going to and from SKP please do not spread false facts. I am sure you havent stepped even once at SKP airport to see who is travelling. In fact there are many turks as well even on other flights from SKP not just on those to Turkey. There are many macedonians from all cities across the country who use SKP airport. The albanian diaspora in Macedonia is 26% so your comment has no logic. Inform your self better next time.
DeleteThis is an ex-yu aviation portal, why are we even discussing Tirana?
DeleteBecause people are always taking the bait
DeleteFor the same reason Sofia and Budapest are discussed. They impact ex-Yu region.
DeleteHow Tirana impacts Ex-Yu region may i ask? Dont tell me that they steal pax from SKP cause it has no logic.
DeleteWell they steal from TGD and PRN
DeleteBravo Hrvatska!
ReplyDeleteYawn
Delete“Croatia is one of Europe's most seasonally skewed markets". Interesting. Would love to see which are the top most seasonal markets in Europe.
ReplyDeleteMalta? Montenegro?
DeleteMalta isnt seasonal.
DeleteMalta is probably less seasonal than Croatia, they have a much longer summer.
DeleteSeasonality is an issue the entire region has to deal with, although it is most apparent in CRO.
ReplyDeleteMontenegro too
DeleteSeasonality is an issue for all Mediterranean countries that have a large tourism sector.
Delete@09:39 Exactly.
DeleteGreek islands for example are highly seasonal too and there is nothing you can do to attract tourists to a beach destination in January.
BUT you can attract tourism to visit culturally significant sites.
Athens, Rome, Madrid, Barcelona have no issue getting tourists in winter.
Croatia needs to do the same.
09:49
Delete+1
The problem is our coastal cities are basically small uninteresting villages, that's why they can't attract anyone in winter. Malaga, Barcelona and such cities are very lively even during winter.
DeleteSplit, Rijeka, Dubrovnik... are hardly villages. I guess it helped in Yugo times that some of those towns also had industry, that there were some strong sport clubs, and so on.
DeleteDubrovnik is more a village than a city. What kind of a city is that when you have less than 10 people walking the main street at any moment after 4 PM on majority of out of season days. Yes during Yugo times it was much different, but we are talking about today.
DeleteThat's basically any central European city at 4PM in winter. Yet people travel there.
DeleteIf you're talking about Stradun, the permanent population of the old town has dropped to maybe 500 people. It is more of a museum than a living city. 99% of the Dubrovnik population lives outside of the old city walls. The place isn't a village though, in fact it is one of the few places in Croatia that's not losing but rather gaining a population.
DeleteSplit, Šibenik, Zadar, Rijeka or Pula are definitely not villages either.
(I am anon 11:46 & 14:44) Michael, yes I know, I live there, and I used to live near Stradun in the 80s while around 5000 people lived in the Old town. And believe me, in the parts of the city where as you say 99% of the Dubrovnik people live it is not much better either. It is basically a big village. And we are not gaining population, actually we lost some population as per the last census, but not much, basically stagnating.
DeleteAnon 18:49 it is not like that in any central European city, during winter I've been in towns with half the population of Dubrovnik which seem like Rio during carnival compared to Dubrovnik. Dubrovnik was not always like this...
Guys talking about seasonality you are completely missing the point mentioning tourist offer in costal cities. UO should research market where people from Dalmatia would like to travel during winter. Many Dalmatians work during summer seasonal travel during winter. Unfortunately we need to go to Zagreb in order to visit some European destination.
DeleteI think there have been some steps in the right direction lately. People have recognized seasonality as an issue and are working on it.
ReplyDeleteYes. In Serbia.
DeleteNot doing anything for 10 years and just letting the issue resolve itself is not doing anything about it.
DeleteOnly 13 routes out of Zagreb in winter is crazy, especially with such fleet.
ReplyDeleteI agree. That has to change.
DeleteThe airline needs to extend routes to year-round and get professionals to work in their marketing and sales departments.
ReplyDeleteEasier said than done.
DeleteI'm sure Croatia could enjoy a healthy number of tourists even in winter. It just needs to tap into the appropriate markets of those who wish to visit in winter.
ReplyDeleteWho wants to visit Split in winter?
DeleteI would visit Dubrovnik in winter to avoid all the tourists.
Delete^^^
DeleteSeems like you are alone in this.
Seasonality in tourism is a challenge and one of the key factors is certainly the weather and the temperatures. Winter western europeans either travel to ski or warm destinations, rather than spend 1 week in DBV with 13 C and Bura.
Delete09:52 I don't think you know how Dubrovnik looks during winter, I would say there are very few more depressing places. I am not a hater, just a local living there...
Delete11:00 that's true, only a few weirdos or enthusiasts would spend their winter holidays in Split or Dubrovnik rather than in Malaga, Barcelona, Sevilla, Canary Islands, or the Alps.
It's not about tapping into appropriate markets but expanding the offer in continental Croatia. Zagreb has done it with Christmas market, New Year events and skiing, but there's so much more potential. Why aren't there there thermal spas in Central Croatia and Slavonia? There are numerous new geothermal energy plants being built and I get that's the priority, but if Slovenia and Hungary can do it, so can Croatia. Gorski Kotar has the largest amounts of snowfall in all of former Yugoslavia (shared with parts of Montenegro). It also has plenty of slopes. Why has all of that been abandoned? Why isn't there skiing infrastructure there?
DeleteOne really needs to live abroad for some time to be properly shocked upon the return with utter lack of initiatives in Croatia. Beyond that, there's such incredible cynicism and utter lack of interest to change things.
JAT in Serbia and Air Serbia both had issues with even higher seasonality due to the fact that Serbian tourism is incomparable to Croatian due to fantastic and long Adriatic coast. Also major drive of ASL seasonality were Gastarbeiters. ASL fixed seasonality issue by dramatically improving transfer passenger numbers and by expanding its network. I don't see CTN doing either of that yet.
ReplyDeleteExactly my thoughts.
DeleteCroatia also has gastarbeiters, and the attractive coast does not help with reducing seasonality at all.
DeleteBoth Zagreb and Belgrade need to become city break destinations like Tirana and Bucharest have become lately.
DeleteBoth Zagreb and Belgrade had more tourists and overnight stays than Tirana in 2023.
DeleteUnsure why Bucharest is so "popular", yes they have a nice centre but for its size and population is just another commie jungle. So much traffic and people. t has an urban feel, but it is 100% times better to enjoy Cluj for example. This is the trend in the region. Ohrid is 100% more beautiful than Skopje, Novi Sad vs Belgrade, Plovdiv 100% prettier than Sofia, Mostar vs Sarajevo, New York vs Washington and so on. Even if you travel in SE Asia, most capitals are horrible compared to the countryside with some exceptions of course. Dubai is not a capital, but much more popular compared to Abu Dhabi, the official capital.
DeleteZagreb is getting nice noumbers now, and growing, especially when Asian tourist return. https://financije.hr/zagreb-u-2023-posjetilo-13-milijuna-turista-za-petinu-vise-nego-godinu-ranije/ 1,3 million foreign visitors in 2023, perhaps 1.5 million visitors in 2025? We'll see.
DeleteOne of the key issues is OU.
ReplyDeleteCroatia Airlines used to have several year round routes from Dubrovnik. Now almost nothing.
ReplyDeleteWhat can Croatia Airlines realistically do?
ReplyDeleteTry to make your network sustainable in winter?
DeleteTurn Zagreb into a mini hub. This is the only way they will grow and reduce this issue but they are just so lazy like all government run businesses in Cro.
DeleteLost all hope for OU to become anything close to what it could have been.
I really think they are just trying to hide. Don't make too much noise and just hope no one in the EU will notice them.
But linking where with where? Europe is very well connected with direct flights between places that OU could easily link. I think that leasing their fleet in the winter would have a been a better move.
DeleteZagreb cannot sustain a hub airport because the population is not high enough.
DeleteWell, the population is the size of Frankfurt's.
DeleteLol
Delete"which he believes will be resolved in the next five to ten years"
ReplyDeleteIn other words, I'll give my best to milk the company for at least next five to ten years.
Real manager knows that TODAY is the deadline to respond to the challenge he has today, because tomorrow it can only grow bigger if not properly addressed today.
+1
Delete+100
DeleteYeah, a real hopeless loser statement.
DeleteI actually stopped reading the article after exactly the part quoted above.
DeleteThis guy ain't no nothing about aviation and aviation management. Almost everybody in that company got their position not based on their qualification. Croatia is just a corrupt country. OU is actually the worst company in europe. The best is for them to close this disaster and avoid more embarrassment.
DeleteETF is the only smart company there and they should think to take over ZAG and built something smart.
If he doesn't know anything about Aviation, how has he just secured a place on the board of IATA?
DeleteThe only thing they can do is open bases out of Croatia in the winter. Maybe ski resorts in Austria, Poland, Czechia, even Bosnia?
ReplyDeleteConsidering the government just have 900k to Mostar, maybe they can open a base there.
DeleteThere are labor law considerations to be taken into consideration. The workers aren't serfs (yet) to be sent around..
DeleteHow about making some campaign or promotion to boost domestic tourism over winter?
ReplyDeleteThere is no campaign that could fool so many people to come to the Adriatic during winter, you can't escape geography and climate conditions. There is many much nicer places to go during that period.
DeleteIf Finland attracted more tourists in February alone than Croatia during entire winter, then something must be wrong with Croatia.
DeleteStatistic data say that January and February are slowest months for tourism in Finland, whereas July has more than double of January tourists https://www.statista.com/statistics/1131095/number-of-monthly-arrivals-short-stay-accommodation-in-finland/
Delete16:46 dumb comment really, has it occured to you that maybe people go to Finland because of snow and ice? We have neither, just rain, rain, rain, jugo and bura.
DeleteIn my opinion, OU will develop its hub at ZAG, offer flights to 50+ destination and provide connections to the domestic airports with multiple daily flights to each, in order to reduce the seasonality in the country.
ReplyDeleteHope so
Deletetoday guests want to fly less as possible. If you are organizing business congress in Dubrovnik during winter period main problem is that there is no direct flights to main Europe's hubs, they don`t want to fly through Zagreb, it to many layovers for them
DeleteAnd that opinion is based on what exactly?
Deleteon experience of people who work in that sector
DeleteProper waves of flights from ZAG with proper connections possible from domestic destinations would do wonders.
ReplyDeleteExactly!
Deleteyep
DeleteAbsolutely. The "only" problem is OU.
DeleteSeasonality is a huge drain on Croatia Airlines' finances.
ReplyDeleteTrust me, there are bigger drains on Croatia Airlines' financing than seasonality.
DeleteJust make more flights from Zagreb
ReplyDeleteBuy some slots back at Heathrow to offer daily flights again. Tarom have some for sale.
ReplyDeleteRyanair has done more in reducing seasonality from ZAG in the last 2 years than OU in the last 30.
ReplyDeleteSo they want to focus on the coast even more and leave even more space for Ryanair in Zagreb even in winter. Why didnt they bother with the coast when Ryanair wasnt in ZAG?
ReplyDeleteIs it possile to ski to Croatia?
ReplyDelete*possible
DeleteYes you can
DeleteYes, in Gorski kotar area near Rijeka
DeleteSljeme Zagreb
DeleteSkiing is less and less possible in Croatia. Natural snow is almost non existant now.
DeleteThere are more Croats on Kronplatz in one day, than during the entire winter season on all Croatian "ski resorts" combined together ...
DeleteTo reduce seasonality, it really needs to be a country wide effort. You can't expect OU to do it itself.
ReplyDeleteWasnt sure what he was trying to imply, the seasonality has been around since Croatia gained independance back in the early 90s, its 2024 now, surely this should have been worked out by now
ReplyDeleteHow comes that there was no seasonality in Yugoslavia time?
DeleteEasy: the state was sending retired people and people in some medical needs to the seaside and spa hotels during winter. There is a story, piece of interesting television, of Belgrade retirees celebrating Orthodox Christmas at the Hvar cathedral with a catholic priest from the late sixties...
DeleteCroatia Airlines CEO says: “Competition is positive for us if it is conducted under the same financial and operational conditions".
ReplyDeleteClearly it is not conducted under the same financial conditions. Lufthansa Group and Ryanair for example are not receiving large government subsidies like Croatia Airlines does.
Ryanair is the most subsidised Airline in the world.
DeleteIrish government is subsidizing Ryanair? Not really.
DeleteIf Croatian government-owned airports are giving subsidies to Ryan, then it is up to Croatian government to figure out if they want to support OU, FR or both.
Croatia Airlines CEO also says: "vision is to create sustainable year-round tourism will require a joint approach with different stakeholders of the tourism sector, in which Croatia Airlines will play a significant role”
ReplyDeleteIs it really going to play a significant role? Croatia Airlines already has minority role in passenger marketshare in Croatia and is trending to get reduced to under 10% marketshare in a couple of years. Looks like OU will play insignificant role in the end.
It's not gonna be Ryanair who will invest in reducing seasonality, they'll come later when it's sorted. So yes, OU should play a significant role, at the start at least, that's their purpose.
Delete