Low cost carrier Ryanair has opened its base in Dubrovnik this week by stationing two Boieng 737 MAX 8 aircraft at Rudjer Bošković Airport, with plans to serve the city over the winter months as well. It is the airline’s third base in Croatia, complementing Zagreb and Zadar. As a result, Ryanair is in the process of introducing seventeen new routes out of Dubrovnik and will serve a total of nineteen destinations from the city this summer season. The airline has confirmed it plans to maintain operations out of Dubrovnik during the 2024/25 winter season as well, with at least three routes to run on a year-round basis, one of which will be London Stansted, although the base itself will be operational only during the summer. Vienna and Dublin are expected to be the remaining two year-round destinations.
Commenting on Ryanair’s arrival, Dubrovnik Airport’s General Manager, Viktor Šober, said, “We are very pleased that Ryanair has opened its new base at Rudjer Bošković Airport with two of its aircraft, and I will use the opportunity to thank all our employees who have been actively working on this project in recent months and have done a superb job in cooperating with Ryanair. Now we have a challenging season ahead of us, which will probably be a record breaking one, and we have a lot of work ahead of us”. For its part, Ryanair said, “Building on our bases in Zagreb and Zadar, Ryanair's new base in Dubrovnik represents a further investment of 200 million US dollars, or a total of 800 million across the three bases in Croatia, creating more than sixty high-paying jobs for pilots and cabin crew, while also supporting more than 500 local jobs in Dubrovnik through our contribution to year-round tourism and connectivity”.
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| Ryanair's Dubrovnik 2024 summer network |
This summer, Ryanair has 450.000 seats available on its Dubrovnik flights, operating 54 weekly rotations from the Croatian coastal city. It represents a significant increase on the two seasonal routes the airline maintained from the airport over the past few years - Dublin and Vienna. Dubrovnik Airport handled 75.370 passengers during the first quarter of 2024, down 8.3% on the same period last year, as well as a decrease of 36.1% on the pre-pandemic 2019.
It's official now. Croatia was officially conquered by Ryanair. From now on they will only get stronger and stronger and I expect them to open a base at OSI as well.
ReplyDeleteStep aside easyJet and Croatia Airlines, we have a new sheriff in town!
did they used to have a base in OSI over 10 years ago then shut it?
DeleteI don't think it was a base but they had a few flights here and there. Flights from OSI to London are performing very well so hopefully they add Memmingen, Oslo and Dortmund.
DeleteNow that Tuzla is dead and BEG can't grow it's time for OSI to strike back.
No, they never had a base in Osijek.
DeleteIf you seriously think that Ryanair will open a base in Osijek then you are completely clueless. Zagreb, Zadar and Dubrovnik make complete sense but Osijek would make 0 sense.
DeleteAlso Croatia Airlines was never a sheriff in town. It was just a monopolist who failed to capitalise on its dominant position and instead became insular. Croatia's airports are finally tired of it and thankfully they have brought in ryanair to bring in some routes. And we passengers are absolutely loving it.
@09:14 thanks
DeleteActually OU was the sheriff who ran ZAG. They were in charge and they were deciding about anything and everything at the airport. Well, at least that was the case until the Irish came and replaced the Croats.
DeleteRyanair will bankrupt all the Croatian Airports if they are allowed to get away with it.
DeleteAll of them? Probably not. Dubrovnik, though? Most likely
DeleteWhere do people come up with this nonsense. Ryanair is the biggest airline in Europe and the Croatian airports WANT it to fly there. Zagreb Airport is privately operated so they only care about profit and you think ryanair will bankrupt them?
Delete@9:14 Now that Tuzla is dead and BEG can't grow it's time for OSI to strike back.
DeleteМожда је Тузла, како Ви кажете, мртва, али да кажете да BEG не може да расте... Ви онда имате вееелики проблем са реалношћу. Да не кажем ништа теже.
0907, some people still in terms of conquering. Century is 21st.
Delete*think
DeleteI wonder if this will impact Croatia Airlines' plans which said they plan to open some routes from Dubrovnik during winter 24/25.
ReplyDeleteI doubt it. It is most likely that Dubrovnik will start providing some subsidies for winter ops from W24/25 which is why Ryanair will keep routes and which is why OU is suddenly considering winter flights from Dubrovnik.
DeleteDubrovnik Airport does not give out subsidies. It gives incentives and that is not enough for Croatia Airlines which wants hoards of cash for three routes.
DeleteAnyone know what is going on with OU? They keep on cancelling flights every day. Two days in a row they cancelled MUC and three days ago they cancelled ZAD, SPU and OMO.
Delete^ crew shortage
DeleteOU doesn't have crew shortage.
DeleteWell the reason given the other day for the Mostar cancellation is that there are no crew available.
DeleteI was wondering when this news would feature here as it is absolutely huge for Dubrovnik and a game changer. It took many years for Dubrovnik to finally realise that it cannot protect Croatia Airlines anymore and that it has to start opening up to low-cost airlines if it wants to grow passenger traffic outside of the peak summer months. Ryanair's two aircraft will do wonders for April, May and October traffic. Not to mention winter 2025.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations to Dubrovnik but those Q1 numbers are terrible. What happened? How are the numbers so bad compared to 2019? I mean it's worse than Ljubljana which had Adria then. The decision to let Ryanair in after refusing to do so for many years makes sense now.
ReplyDeleteBritish Airways discontinued Gatwick and easyJet only replaced them in March.
DeleteGame of Thrones hype falling off means that fewer people and thus fewer airlines are interested in flying to Dubrovnik
Delete@ 12:03Probably quite true. Additionally, people in Western markets are likely to stop exploring alternative destinations, of which Croatia still remains, and instead turn to traditional markets with all-inclusive offerings. Especially now that prices are really biting. Or perhaps not. We shall see.
DeleteThe opposite is the case. Croatia is a mainstream destination. But not in the winter obviously. Dubrovnik is too cold and windy in the winter.
DeleteNo, outside of Central Europe Croatia is hardly considered mainstream. Everything east of Italy is still unchartered territory for many Westerners.
DeleteWell, no, not even close; Dubrovnik was well known destination in the west even back in Yugo-times. I used to live in France then - most of them were not sure about Belgrade, but they did know Dubrovnik.
DeleteInteresting that they opted for Ryanair metal in Dubrovnik and Lauda Air metal in Zagreb.
ReplyDeleteWhat about ZAD? Is it the Ryanair planes or the Lauda Air planes?
DeleteLauda
DeleteZagreb is 4 Lauda and Zadar 3 Lauda. Dubrovnik got the new MAXs like Trieste and other bases opened this year.
Delete^ Thank you for the info!
DeleteI'd rather fly the Lauda Airbus's then Boeing Max's.
Delete100%
DeleteI'd rather walk than fly a 737 MAX lol
DeleteWhy do people constantly say have you been there in the Winter? The Croatian coast(Dalmacija, Kvarner and Istra) are Mediterranean regions and experience the same weather as other Mediterranean countries. Yes during Bura and Jugo increases during the winter time but the weather is mild compare to interior Croatia(other side of Velebit). These posts crack me up making it sound like The coast turns to Siberia during the winter.
Delete@15:48 your post is full of falsehoods that I don't know where to start. No, Croatian coast doesn't experience the same winter weather as all other Mediterranean regions, it is colder and wetter than most. We in Dubrovnik (the warmest part of Croatian Adriatic) experience 0 C temperatures at least a few days every winter. In southern Spain, Tunisia, Egypt etc that never happens. Bura makes the feeling of cold much more extreme, so we sometimes have a reel feel of -5 C or even lower. Also, our winters are so rainy, we receive 2 or 3 more rain than Spanish Mediterranean cities. We get periods of weeks of raining non stop. I have been to Spain more than 10 times during winter, it never rained more than a day or two in a row.
DeleteIf it all about a weather for you then I`m sorry
DeleteOf course, it's mainly about the weather, that's why the tourist numbers are what they are.
Delete@15:46 exactly. Some guys here are just coping.
DeleteFantastic news if the winter flights do take place, I'd love to visit outside of the main tourist season and I'm sure I'm not the only one who wants to avoid the crowds.
ReplyDelete+1 me too
Deleteyou pessimists, with strong south wind and lot of rain are the best. Have you ever accomplished anything in your life by yourself
DeleteWent to Venice in winter, best time to visit: empty streets, took pictures without thousands of people in it, you could find a place to eat wherever you want, even prices were lower....
DeleteVisting Dubrovnik in winter makes ZERO sense. Strong cold winds, cold weather and everything is closed. There is a reason why people in winter go to Malta, Portugal and Spain, not Croatia, no, not to Croatia... at least not the coast.
DeleteThat's right. Ryanair also announced flights to Zadar in the winter flight schedule (including London and Vienna). Of course, that never became reality. Not enough demand
DeleteI think low demand made these flights expensive for the airport so Ryanair said adios muchachos.
DeleteDBV in winter is absolutely shut. I made the mistake of once stopping there and could barely get a coffee. The weather was nice though so quite a shame.
DeleteRyanair was never due to fly winter flights to Zadar. London was never announced, so your comment is not true. Vienna was loaded in error.
DeleteVenice is a large city with a major population in its immediate surroundings and an industrial region all around it. Dubrovnik is a small town surrounded by areas with low population density and extreme winds making it unpleasant in the winter. The fact that there is a nice day here or there does not make it a viable destination.
Delete14:47: O'Leary had announced in an interview and at a press conference in Croatia that Zadar would also get 2-3 flights in the winter. You can read about it. It is true that these flights were never in the system.
DeleteFinally the myth about Croatia and DU as an "elite" destination is over...
ReplyDeleteYeah nothing elite there… just mass tourist…
Deletewell it elite in regional standard, not it world wide
DeleteI wonder how many more tourists can the city handle? Ryanair tourists are like invadors that expects everything shoukd be free or next-to-free
DeleteThese tourists will just fill Dubrovniks expensive hotels because the city has banned new apartments for rent which is great
Delete@ 10:30
DeleteYes, that is why Spain last year had record tourism revenue.
Revenue is not equal to profit.
Delete@09:47 Why would that be the case just because Europe's largest airline opened a base in Dubrovnik? Are you aware that Ryanair is the biggest airline in Spain and Italy? Or are you just a troll?
DeleteBoeing 737 MAX 8 nein danke!
ReplyDeleteMaybe a stupid question, do you think they'll open a base in Split?
ReplyDeleteOf course..not.
DeleteOut of curiosity, does anyone know if there would be any demand for Dublin to Sarajevo with Ryanair?
ReplyDeleteI hope for the day when Ryanair will come to Belgrade. That would be a real gamechanger: 1) we would get dozens of new routes 2) the prices would force JU and Wizz to compete and improve its services 3) prices would overally go down.
ReplyDeleteI think ,this is a positive step to have year round flights to Dubrovnik, I think the weather should not be an issue as people fly all over Europe in the winter with all types of weather ,most flights stop around the end of October from Dubrovnik and this is crazy .The main thing now will be for the Dubrovnik tourist board to promote Dubrovnik as a winter destination.
ReplyDeleteWe'll see how much the winter winds will allow aircraft to land...But what are you going to do in Dubrovnik in winter for 3-4 days?
DeleteGreška novog direktora aerodroma. Ne znam kako su ga izlobirali, al domaći ljudi nisu uopće zadovoljni low cost turistima, zimer fraj ekipom.
ReplyDeleteDubrovnik treba i zaslužuje direktne letove i USA, Azije, bliskog istoka itd. Ovo je zlo. Dubrovački aerodrom zbog toga razvlači jutarnju i poslijepodnevnu smjenu. Prvo polijetanje Rajana je oko 5:40, dakle ljudi moraju na poslu biti oko 3:30. Zadnje slijetanje je oko 01:30. Dakle opet moraju biti do barem 2:30.
Poltronski pristup mladog direktora koji želi ugoditi svima. Do prije je bio briselski potrčko, prije toga potrčko u ministarstvu prometa.. ne znam kako je mogao docu na ovu funkciju. Neće dugo izdržati.
who would like to talk about cargo market
ReplyDelete