Croatia Airlines is due to launch its biggest network expansion in six years this July with the introduction of five new routes from Zagreb including Prague, Bucharest, Milan Malpensa, Madrid and Hamburg. However, the airline has now revised down frequencies for two of its five new routes. Furthermore, it is also reducing the number of services between Zagreb and Tirana, which was launched last year.
Flights between the Croatian capital and Prague will now launch on July 4 instead of July 2 and run twice per week, rather than three times per week, on Mondays and Fridays. Towards the end of August, just one weekly service will be in operation, between August 18 and August 25, and again from September 1 until September 15, after which the airline will restore its originally planned three weekly rotations between the two capitals (Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays) until October 13, when services will again be reduced to two weekly until their conclusion on October 20.
The flag carrier has also revised frequencies on its new Bucharest service. The route commences on July 1, as planned, and will run three times per week during its first week of operations (Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays). However, by the second week, flights will be reduced to two weekly, running on Tuesdays and Saturdays. From July 26, operations will be reduced to one weekly until August 2, while from August 5 no flights are planned for nine days until August 14. The route will then see another two weekly flights for a week, followed by another nine days of no service. Operations should stabilise from late August and run three times per week as originally planned in September and October until its conclusion on October 25.
Apart from the two new routes, Croatia Airlines is also revising operations between Zagreb and Tirana, which was launched last year. Following three weekly flights throughout June, services will be reduced to two weekly in July. They will return to three weekly in August, after which frequencies will be cut to just one weekly from September 12 until the route’s conclusion on October 24, with the exception of one week in October when two flights are planned. The carrier had initially scheduled to run three weekly flights between the two capitals throughout the summer.
Further revisions to the network remain possible.
Srlling A220 or A319 capacity to cities like Prague and Bucharest isn't so easy.
ReplyDeleteOr Tirana
DeleteIt's not about capacity or unsold seats. There is an aircraft shortage. Trade Air is now flying for Croatia Airlines for three days already. I don't know what they would have done if there was no conflict in Israel.
DeleteTradeAir is flying because one of the shiny new A220s broke down
Deletewrong. because one A220 is damaged. broke down or damaged is not the same.
DeleteOne of the A220s is not flying and that's the bottom line
DeleteIt's obviously you wanted to make this situation into anti-A220 propaganda.
DeleteSome jokes write themselves
ReplyDeleteYeah
DeleteReality always trumps parody when Croatia is in question
1 weekly to OTP from mid September... so much for reducing seasonality.
ReplyDeleteI think Bucharest will be dropped ahead of schedule. The A220 is proving to be too much of an aircraft for them. We all knew that.
ReplyDeleteThey should have taken the E2.
DeleteOr they should have never retired the ATR.
DeleteATRs? What are you on? So many slow and malicious people on this portal with "expertise" nobody cares about.
DeleteYupp, dumping ATR in favour of a much less economical aircraft was a terrible strategic decision by OU.
DeleteAre you talking about Q400s or the ATRs that were in service 20 years ago? Are you even aware that the Q400s were becoming too expensive to maintain due to their age and the very expensive upcoming checks? Don't you understand anything about aviation?
DeleteAre these cuts included in yesterday's table or not? All in all it's not good.
ReplyDeleteYes, they are.
DeleteOne of the A220 is grounded already and A320 of Tradair is flying
ReplyDeleteBut... They are all shiny new planes and will make OU rich!
DeleteWhy bother launching with such schedule?!
ReplyDeleteExactly. Why bother launching routes if you can’t commit to consistent service? This kind of chopping and changing just frustrates travelers and damages trust.
DeleteGood morning!
ReplyDeleteStart wet leasing them out before it's too late
ReplyDeleteHa! Thats funny actually!😃
Delete@09:18
DeleteIt's the only way to reduce costs unfortunately. Having shiny new olanes sitting on groud is disaster.
Makes sense because as a result of terrible planning PRG and OTP barley catch connections
ReplyDeleteBut they do, don't they?
DeleteHAM and MXP are great for connections while OTP does catch some, MAD and PRG connections are non-existent
Delete"while from August 5 no flights are planned for nine days until August 14"
ReplyDeleteWTF? In peak season
Cutting frequencies is never a good look, but I wonder if these changes are due to crew or aircraft availability during the peak season. Could be outside their control.
Delete@09:47
Delete50% due to those two and
100% due to poor ticket sales.
E bre...
ReplyDeleteWhat a surprise
ReplyDeleteThis is what happens when you have poor management. The A220s did not solve all the airline's problems, which have nothing to do with the fleet they had.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteCroatia Airlines really needs to sort out its planning. How can they announce a major expansion and then immediately scale it back? It's not giving passengers or partners much confidence.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteLast year there where news that Tirana was reduced to 1pw and nothing happened.
ReplyDeleteBut it was reduced to 1 per week
DeleteAlso you can see this all this on their site when trying to book. Flights are removed on the days mentioned.
DeleteTIA last year was suspended for over a month. It then started 1 weekly for several weeks.
DeleteSame shit last year and nothing later happened.
Delete^ but it did happen. Different thing if you don't remember.
Delete@9.58 it's a new form of denial lol
DeleteIt didn't. Here was reported how Tirana will be reduced to 1pw and it never happened.
DeletePlease do not fabricate what was reported. This site reported that flights would launch, as they did, on June 14, 2024 after which they would be suspnded until June 28, 2024 which was indeed the case. You can view the original article here.
DeleteThe changes listed in this article are live in the Global Distribution System after the carrier made modifications to its network this week. They are not a work of fiction or someone's imgination. There is a possibility for further changes, which is indicated at the end of the article.
OU was counting on high loads during the prak season, however Croatian tourism is experiencing bad marketing due to extremely high prices. Potential tourists are looking at other more affordable options in Spain/Greece and Italy.
ReplyDeleteNonsense!
DeleteI flew CDG-ZAG theee times in a month and all flights were full, mostly American and Korean tourists. My flights to AMS and SPU have also been full
DeleteKorean and American? I wonder how when official statistics say more than ONE MILLION visitors annually to Croatia only from the USA and Korea. Plus all other markets, combined more than two million travelers every year between Croatia and distant markets. And they go for single type regional aircraft. The worst and the most expensive on the market. Which they can't fill because people travel to Italy, Austria, Germany, Czech R., Romania.... by car, bus, train.... especially with their prices which are double than competitor's. And nobody is in prison yet. Starting with Ivan Mišetić, gravedigger of croatian civil aviation and Croatia Airlines in particular.
Delete@15.27 It's not nonsense. THIRTY percent less tourists from the biggest market, Germany, during first five months of 2025. Official data.
DeleteI’d rather they reduce frequencies temporarily than cancel the route entirely. It’s a smart way to test the market.
ReplyDeleteyeah, very smart to fly sometimes and don't fly sometimes without any system. definitely building trust
DeleteThis irregular schedule in peak summer is crazy. I have no idea what are they doing. Tirana is booming, yet they are reducing it?
ReplyDeletePlease prove how TIA is booming, I would love for that to be the truth but last years LF stood at 55%
DeleteThey are sending too big planes for such destination. I think they would make money if they wet leased atr72 on that route. You can fill the plane every week with 70-90€ tickets one way.
DeleteZAG TIA twice a day via BEG....
DeleteOf course it takes longer, no shiny A220 , bur affordable and reliable route with JU
ZAG-TIA is being operated by 25 year old A319s and 15 year old Dash 8s. The A220 was sent once.
DeleteOU needs to codeshare with Austrian and Lufthansa for these routes, especially TIA.
ReplyDeleteAny info on when will the A220 be used for OU460 (ZAG - ZRH)?
ReplyDeleteIt was originally planned for WITT 2025 but now DH4 is scheduled until end March 2026, except for some period on day 6, where one A223 is planned
DeleteMorons.
Deleteimagine reducing services with TIA , while TIA is booming
ReplyDeleteInterestingly is to see that OU basically doesnt connects half of their own potential to foreign destinations. ZAD RJK PUY have almost none international connections and are not even well connected to ZAG. There is business to grab, as otherwise foreign carriers wouldnt go there. In my opinion even SPU and DBV hve more potential for OU. A pity that so much business is left to foreign companies.
ReplyDeleteNo, com'n, 13 % market share is more than enough. But, hey, they have bright and shiny (ok, here and there with some corrosion) to go to Minken and Vrankvurt. What better could you wish for?
Delete