Croatia Airlines will expand its Zagreb network this coming summer season with the launch of five new routes. As previously reported, the additions are primarily the resumption of citypairs served prior to the coronavirus pandemic. The flag carrier will introduce operations to Milan Malpensa, Prague, Bucharest, Madrid and Hamburg. Services to Hamburg, Bucharest and Madrid will be added in July, with operations to the German city and the Romanian capital to be inaugurated on July 1, Milan and Prague on July 2with Madrid following suit on July 3. All will be maintained three times per week. The airline will deploy its Airbus A220-300 aircraft on all five routes. EX-YU Aviation News can exclusively reveal the planned timetables below (click on links).
Click on link for flight details
Croatia Airlines’ network expansion is in line with the carrier’s plan to grow its operations with the arrival of new A220 aircraft. The carrier will take delivery of five A220-300s and one A220-100 this year alone, complementing the two it received last year. Croatia Airlines last served Milan, Prague and Bucharest from Zagreb on a seasonal basis in 2019. They were due to resume in 2020 but were discontinued due to the coronavirus pandemic. The carrier last flew to Hamburg in 2012, however, the route was maintained from Split. Zagreb was linked to the German city in 2019 by Eurowings. Ticket sales for the new routes are expected to commence soon.
Croatia Airlines will face direct competition on just one of its five new routes. It will go head-to-head against Iberia on services between Zagreb and Madrid. The Oneworld member plans to maintain between three and nine weekly flights between the two capitals, depending on the month. These include three weekly rotations in April, May and October, five weekly in June and September, six weekly in July and nine weekly during the peak summer travel period in August. Indirectly, Croatia Airlines will compete against Ryanair on the Milan service, with the low cost carrier serving Bergamo Airport five times per week during the summer months. Croatia Airlines planned on adding operations between Zagreb and Lisbon as well but was unable to secure slots.
Wow nice
ReplyDeleteBravo OU
DeleteYess. Take that ryan
DeleteVey good additions. Surprised a bit by Hamburg and Madrid. Was largely expecting them to resume the other three.
ReplyDeleteThere is huge demand for travelers to Croatia both in Spain and in Germany. It only makes sense for OU to serve some of this through ZAG.
DeleteI live in Spain..All Spaniards I know have been already to Croatia, they love it there..The only country in Balkans they know..Otherwise they are not interested in this region, and don't know almost anything about it..
DeleteFor sure not many Spaniards are interested in visiting Romania, Bulgaria, Albania or the exyu countries apart from Croatia.
DeleteIt's their loss, but once they discover the real Balkans, they will be thrilled.
DeleteWe're talking about economics here, not personal tastes
DeleteUnderwhelming
ReplyDeleteSomehow I think you would prefer for them not to start anything.
DeleteI'd prefer realistic prices, an improved LF, management capable of turning a profit and a proper meal in business class, not crap in a box.
DeleteYes, I am sure these are your issues. 😂
DeleteOU is in the business of bringing travelers to Croatia. These are great additions.
DeleteI agree, way underwhelming
DeleteHaters will be haters.
DeleteCroatia Airlines does not bring many travellers to Croatia. Its market share on the coast in the summer is less than 10%.
DeleteAnd with this expansion it will be able to bring more.
DeleteGood news for Croatia but for some strange reason certain commenters are upset.
None of the announced flights are to the coast. All of the announced destinations already have nonstop seasonal flights to the coast.
DeleteAh, those huge problems of having a coast...
DeleteGreat! I'm just hoping it's not all going to be seasonal.
ReplyDeleteI think Madrid and Prague can be year round
DeleteI would say OTP too. Romanian economy is growing like crazy.
DeleteI am surprised that LH gave them permit to fly Prague. Have to fly often there and all connections are via Fra, Muc or Vie; terrible experience. Now using LOT as best conex and superb planes. And Warsaw is easy to reach airport for quick transfer.
DeleteFantastic news! Looks like Franjo Tudman airport will have another very busy year.
ReplyDeleteZAG will definitely have a year of double digit growth again.
Delete+1
DeleteI can definitely see ZAG having over 4.7 mill. passengers this year.
DeleteIn January ZAG had 280.542 passengers, a 12.4% increase. 4.7 million is doable for sure this year.
DeleteIf current rate of growth continues even 4.8 mi. is achievable.
DeleteGroundbreaking
ReplyDeleteIt is. Don't remember when OU added five new routes last time.
DeleteThis is great but I'm wondering who will fly to Bucharwst
ReplyDeleteThis time they have to fill an A220.
DeleteDid they operate the Q400 before covid on this route?
DeleteYes
DeleteI think they are after transfers to the coast
DeleteOTP last year had 16 million pax. Plenty of business to be made.
DeleteThere's a growing Romanian diaspora in Slovenia and Croatia, plus Romanian economy is growing pretty fast and they're beginning to travel more and more
DeleteNobody from Bucharewst.
DeleteCongrats OU!
ReplyDeleteYeah, indeed. Daddy bought them a few new toys, but like every spoilt part they won't know what to do with them. It's a pantomime of aviation and CroatiaCroatia chest bumping. Which also makes it a farce considering who the actors actually are.
DeleteGreat year for Zagreb Airport.
ReplyDeleteNon stop to Rome would be better, but I guess it's too early
ReplyDeleteWhy would it be better and why too late?
DeleteMalpensa?? Against Ryanair's 20-euro Bergamo flights?
ReplyDeleteHamburg ?? Where Eurowings failed when it flew once weekly in August of 2019?
Madrid?? Against Iberia with its massive connections network and which flies up to twice daily from Zagreb, but also Dubrovnik and Split which means Croatia Airlines can't rely on transfers?
The management need to be replaced asap. Croatia Airlines should have launched Cairo, Marrakesh, Lisbon, Stockholm, Riga, Podgorica, Tuzla, non-stop Rome, non-stop Zadar and Pula, Pristina, Luxembourg and Reykjavik. Places where it can have transfer traffic and places where Ryanair won't go or hasn't gone yet.
At least Prague and Bucharest are good.
I'm not trying to defend them but as you said, Prague and Bucharest are good, Milan will mostly work well with connections from Skopje and Sarajevo as well as Mostar since it's the cheapest option. Hamburg connections sometimes work while Madrid doesn't make any sense and btw they operate Stockholm and Berlin 3 weekly
DeleteWho would have thought that OU actually using its new fleet to expand would upset so many concerned commenters.
DeleteI think everybody did! 😂
@09:21
DeleteSorry, but Mostar to Milano via ZAG? Would be hard against JU and it's prices and connections.
SJJ also has 20 euros BGY flights with FR. I don't think many will use Croatia for the route.
DeleteTuzla better than Hamburg?
DeleteSKP also has Malpensa flights with wizz, don't think anyone would connect via ZAG with OU.
DeleteIf OU has daily flights to Milan they could maybe catch some transfer passengers to Milan, Hamburg and Prague. But with 3 frequencies it's gonna be difficult
DeleteI was expecting more diverse route to North Africa and more Mediterranean destinations, like they were announcing. But I'm glad to see growth either way.
ReplyDeleteOU will not facilitate transport of Croatian tourists outside of Croatia. Period. The Govt wants them to bring in foreign tourists and is prepared to cover financial loss because it's easy to justify to the voters and even get credit for it. Period. The entire concept of daily release of stats in tourism during the season is for the PM to get credit and OU is an important player in that. It's all politics.
Deleteat1080
DeleteThat's all true. But it will all continue until it doesn't. And the Pharo might not last very long...
Congrats from Belgrade!
ReplyDelete+1000
DeleteFinally some good news from Croatia Airlines! It’s great to see them expanding
ReplyDelete2 brand new shiny A220s and more coming isn't good enough news for you?
Delete2 and more coming brand new shiny taxpayers money consumers in order to continue feeding Lufthansa as main goal, is not good news for me. Definitely not good. And I don't know who you argue with because the guy above appraised OU.
DeleteI am not arguing with anyone, just stating my mind. Tax payers money is to be spent, that is the purpose of it. The Govt decides on Govt spending, all you are saying is that you disagree with it. So, you don't disagree with me, just with the Govt.
Deleteat 1545
DeleteIf you had 115 of them you still wouldn't know what to do with them. Your financial results over the last few decades are an empirical proof m for that
Happy to see Bucharest back on the schedule. Hope they make it a year-round route this time instead of just seasonal.
ReplyDeleteNot sure about Madrid… Iberia already has a strong presence, and they offer much better connections. Croatia Airlines will struggle unless they match Iberia’s frequencies.
ReplyDeleteIberia just increased DBV to 17 per week. I guess demand is great ex MAD to Croatia and OU can serve that market via ZAG well.
DeleteThe demand is not ex Madrid, it's from Latin America and North America. Iberia has the best offer for transfer traffic.
Deleteat 1245
DeleteExactly
But that means cutting 46 Frankfurts a day
Great to see the A220 being utilized. That plane is a game-changer for regional routes, and it should help Croatia Airlines improve efficiency.
ReplyDeleteBoth the A220 and the E2 are ideal aircraft for airlines in our region.
DeleteKaj sa Tiranom?
ReplyDeleteThey failed there miserably
DeleteTickets are on sale, 2x weekly - - - - 5 - 7
DeleteTirana is increasing to 3 weekly
DeleteDa li se zna kada kreću sa letovima i kojim danima. Jel opet petak nedjelja?
DeleteThe airline needs to be more aggressive
ReplyDeleteThree flights per week to Milan? Seems too little when you have Ryanair flying to Bergamo five times per week. They need at least daily flights to be competitive.
ReplyDeleteI hope this expansion means Croatia Airlines is finally thinking long-term. They’ve been too cautious for too long. Let’s see if they can make these routes sustainable.
ReplyDeleteThis will resume ARN and BER a month and a half earlier, does anybody know if they added BCN capacity
DeleteThere will be an article on the airline's planned frequency and capacity growth in the coming days.
DeleteSaw article on Croatian Aviation about BCN going from 3 to 4pw few days ago
DeleteMeanwhile Ryanair flies to Girona 4 times per week in April from Zagreb.
DeleteGIR is not BCN just like CRL is not BRU.
DeleteAnon 13:46, so when you are flying to CRL, you are actually flying to Charleoi, not Brussel? To the city nobody knows outside Benelux?
DeleteIt has been time loss discussing about that, be reconciled with that.
Charleroi is over 60 km from Brussels and the cheapest way to get ther is by a bus that costs 20€ and takes an hour.
DeleteSo no, it is not Brussels bgy any means. Similarly Beauvais airport is nowhere near Paris.
Charleroi is not Bruxelles, that is clear, but Airport Charleroi serves as alternative tomthe Bruxelles airport. While BRU is Nort from the city, CRL is on the South. They serve the very same catchment area, they are not actual competition one to another but complement eachother.
DeleteBravo Hrvatska!
ReplyDeleteYou're in early today...
DeleteMore competition is always welcome. Hopefully this puts some pressure on Iberia and Ryanair to keep their prices low to
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteInstead of focusing on recovering old routes, they should consider new destinations. What about the Middle East?
ReplyDeleteDid not see Hamburg coming.
ReplyDeleteHamburg doesn't really make a lot of sense for me. Croatian diaspora is not that big, no big business relationship and I doubt that Croats are that much interested in visiting Hamburg nor I think people from Hamburg are burning to visit Zagreb.
DeleteAt 3 weekly, they need just one aircraft for 4-5 days to cover those 5 new destinations.
ReplyDeleteThey are getting 6 new A220 this year
DeleteExactly, very weak schedule and aspirations.
DeleteYou are forgeting that at some point they will retire all of their current aircraft, so they will be left with the new A220s.
DeleteNice and needed additions but a shame about Lisbon.
ReplyDeleteWhat is the story behind OU's 4 digit flight numbers starting with 4?
ReplyDeleteThe second flight to the same destination where they have 2 flights on the same day. For example morning 380, evening 4380
DeleteDirect ZAG-ATH flights needed in order to compete with Aegean
ReplyDelete+1 same with Zagreb-Rome.
DeleteVery good news!!!
ReplyDeleteNice one Croatia Airlines! These routes make sense although I was hoping for something a bit out of the box for them.
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks admin for publishing the schedule even before they are put on sale. Same case with the Ryanair SJJ routes a few months ago. Keep up the good work!
+1
DeleteAm I daydreaming? Jasmin finished his coffee already?
ReplyDeleteIs it still to early to hope for Rome non stop from Zagreb?
ReplyDeleteYes Jasmin hasn't finished his coffee
DeleteIt's definitely toooo early. Com'n, it's been only 30+ years like that 🙂🙂🙂
DeleteI am not sure how to translate to english proverb "iz šupljeg u prazno". That's exactly what's happening. These 3 weekly or less new routes will operate for some time, than some will be cancelled, some will be repositioned to operate from Split, some will be extended to year-round and than shortened to seasonal again, and the main issue will remain the same - OU being predominantly LH feeder, which limits real growth on non-saturated, far away markets. Brand new shiny A220 fleet is result of highly corruptive deal which cements OU role as feeder, and all these new routes are just a play, drama, show, in order to justify humiliation financed by tax payers. And I would be the happiest man in this World if I were wrong. But I am not, unfortunatelly
DeleteNo good news for OU or Croatia in general for that matter are complete without Pozdrav crying about them.
DeleteClassic!
This is not good news. Half of the routes are a complete miss. 100% of them are poorly scheduled. Barely any feeding opportunities.
DeleteNice.
ReplyDeleteExpect announcement from Ryan soon, maybe even stationing another ex Lauda plane in ZAG, covering same routes, just to kick OU out of them, followed by closure of said routes few days after OU tucks its tail between its legs
ReplyDeleteNonsense
Delete