Croatia Airlines has once again been denied slots at Lisbon Airport for the 2026 summer season, marking the second consecutive year its request has been rejected. The carrier had applied for 180 aircraft movements in the Portuguese capital, amounting to a total of sixty planned flights next summer, as part of its broader network expansion out of Zagreb. The airline has previously outlined that most of its upcoming new routes will centre on Europe and the Mediterranean, with Lisbon intended to play a role in that strategy. However, without the necessary slots, the planned launch remains off the table for now.
Croatia Airlines previously operated seasonal flights between Zagreb and Lisbon from May 2016 until October 2019, briefly extending the service in 2018 into the winter up to January. During the peak summer months, the route ran up to four times per week. TAP Air Portugal had a longer presence on the market, maintaining year-round Zagreb - Lisbon operations from 2009 to 2016, with a stop in Bologna during the winter season. The Portuguese carrier later returned in 2022 for a single summer, operating the route three times per week. Croatia Airlines currently codeshares on TAP Air Portugal’s services between Lisbon and Barcelona, Brussels, Rome, Frankfurt, Munich and Zurich. In return, TAP places its code on Lufthansa’s Frankfurt and Munich flights to and from Zagreb, as well as on Croatia Airlines’ own services linking Zagreb with Barcelona, Brussels, Frankfurt, Munich and Zurich.
Lisbon Airport is among the most slot-constrained in Europe. Beyond its heavy traffic, its proximity to the city centre and an overnight curfew from midnight to six in the morning, and a hard curfew from one until five in the morning, further restrict capacity. The Portuguese government has tasked airport operator VINCI with developing a new airport by 2034 to address the growing demand. Croatia Airlines is among several carriers that were unable to secure slots to commence flights to Lisbon next summer, alongside Austrian Airlines, Aeromexico, Ethiopian Airlines, Jet2, GOL, Arkia Israeli Airlines and Nesma Airlines.
Porto would work... Tough luck
ReplyDeleteNonsense. Porto hardly works for JU, so no chance it would work for OU.
Delete"Hardly works"
DeleteIt's a seasonal route. How do you know if it works or doesn't work in summer. You have insight into how much money they make on this route or their load factor? Expert.
Croatia is completely different market then Serbia.
DeleteNot anymore, with Ryan they can see some other seas.
Delete60 flights... An expansion indeed. Hilarious. But that is the reality of this market. Or the lack of it
DeleteThey should look at Portugal from the other side. Maybe try Faro or Madeira.
DeleteThey are such a genious. Maybe if they applied for a whole year round service, not only for the seasion, maybe in that case it would be more interest for LIS to give OU slots...
ReplyDeleteIt does not work that way.
DeleteThis isn’t on Croatia Airlines. Even Ethiopian and Aeromexico couldn’t get slots, which tells you everything. Lisbon is simply saturated beyond capacity.
DeleteIt is on OU. They had 4 weekly flights to Lisbon and pulled out like they pulled out from everywhere.
DeleteJU got new slots.
DeleteProbably another late night slot, with plane arriving at BEG around 4 AM. Many airlines do not operate red eye flights across continent.
Delete^ Yes it is a late evening flight. It was put on sale yesterday.
DeleteYou can only apply for slots for upcoming IATA season per slot allocation periods.
DeleteBetter something than nothing
DeleteI was once on an A3 LIS-ATH flights that was a red eye flight (they also had an evening option).
DeleteYes it works for markets like Greece and Serbia because of the flight time. JU also offers an afternoon option from Lisbon, arriving at around 10pm in Belgrade and connecting pax can then connect onto the regional departure wave (and Russia) departing from midnight.
DeleteOne of Europe's most beautiful cities with one of Europe's most horrible airports... especially the LCC terminal.
ReplyDeleteCouldn't agree more. Airport is terrible.
DeleteIt shows they made a mistake for discontinuing flights in the first place.
ReplyDelete+1 same like they made a mistake with selling London Heathrow slots.
DeleteThere is no need to list their mistakes one by one. It will take until tomorrow morning. Instead, it's enough to say the company itself is one big mistake since the day Ivan Mišetić handed it over to serve as a feeder for LHG
Delete😂😂😂😂
ReplyDeleteNot surprised at all. Lisbon has been a mess for years. Even big players can’t get in, so Croatia Airlines never stood a chance. Until the new airport is built, nothing will change.
ReplyDeleteThere were some rumours that Croatia Airlines could launch flights DBV-LJU. What is the realistic chance of that actually happening?
ReplyDeleteThe problem is Lisbon’s outdated infrastructure. The airport should have been replaced ten years ago. Now everyone is paying the price.
ReplyDeleteImagine being grouped with Aeromexico, Ethiopian and Austrian as airlines that also couldn’t get slots. OU fans should take that as a compliment. At least they’re applying for serious destinations.
ReplyDeleteTrue that
DeleteAnother problem the A220s didn't magically fix.
ReplyDeleteTey should never have left the airport (slot)
Deletethis route would have been perfect for OU.
ReplyDeleteWe will probably see TP return to ZAG before OU gets slots.
DeleteYes, most likely.
DeleteThey need to be more strategic. Apply earlier and not rely on wishful thinking.
ReplyDeleteTAP tried twice, OU tried once. Would it really work?
ReplyDeleteTAP flew the route for a very long time year round. It was discontinued when they entered restructuring and had to get rid of many routes.
DeleteYes
DeleteHow on earth JU managed to receive slots at LIS in such a circumstances?
ReplyDeleteBecause it applied for late evening arrival into LIS and late evening departure. And that works perfect for them because A) it catches the afternoon wave from Belgrade and B) it arrives on time for passengers to catch the morning wave from BEG.
DeletePerhaps Vinci helped a bit.
DeleteNo, read the admin's comments below. Please stop making things up.
DeleteI don’t get why they keep applying for Lisbon specifically. There are dozens of underserved markets in Europe that don’t have slot issues. Go where you can actually fly.
ReplyDeleteAir Serbia was probably helped in getting slots by VINCI.
ReplyDeleteThe airport operator is not responsible for the allocation of airport slots. It is allocated by the National Slots Coordination, an independent entity within NAV Portugal (Portugal’s air navigation service provider). Airlines apply for their preferred operating times, but aircraft movements at Lisbon are capped each hour. When an airline requests slot times that are already fully allocated, the coordinator cannot grant them, and the airline simply doesn’t receive the requested slots.
DeleteMy goodness, the way some people think here is crazy.
Delete^ for some, someone else is always to blame for OU's issues.
DeleteReally surprising how Sky express got slots from their first try, while on LIS-ATH there is also Aegean with double daily and Easyjet.. something doesn’t make sense
ReplyDeleteFor goodness sake, it depends on the TIME they applied for. Check Sky Express' departure/arrival time and you will realize why they got slots. The conspiracies some of you love to fabricate are amazing.
DeleteSky Express got slots because they operate red eye flight from Lisbon. Same reason Air Serbia got slots. That means that 11PM departures from Lisbon are not slot constrained. And why they can get slots at that time? Because few European airlines can operate an intra Europe flight in the middle of the night, first of all because many airports in western Europe are closed and second because most markets are closer to Portugal than Serbia and Greece, making flight time shorter, meaning they would arrive at their destination at 2AM.
DeleteOU should focus on higher-yield business destinations. Not tourist-heavy ones that are impossible to operate without good timing.
ReplyDeletelol business destinations usually require better timings much more than tourist heavy routes.
DeleteIn order to have business floghts you need to have business. That is not that big incroatia, just renting stuff.
DeleteShame they can’t bring it back. This would’ve been a solid route, especially with easy connections to the Americas.
ReplyDeleteThe new Lisbon airport by 2034? Right. I’ll believe it when I see it. Portugal has been ‘planning’ it since the 1990s.
ReplyDeleteIt’s telling when even Austrian Airlines gets rejected for slots.
ReplyDeleteI honestly can't believe that Austrian Airlines does not fly to Lisbon. That's pretty crazy for a major western European airline.
DeleteWhy is it crazy when they codeshare with TAP who has two flights to Lisbon?
DeleteThey still benefit from the alliance partner TAP, so it doesn't matter really at the end of the day. For example, Austrian also does not fly to IST, as well as LH from MUC. These airlines are way more flexible with capacity scheduling at partner hubs.
DeleteAustria is central Europe geographically, and politically they still have some limitations for "joining" western Europe. Not telling this just for the record, but western Europe and central Europe doesn't have same tourist streams and patterns... Obviously, Lisbon would work for Austrian but less than Belgrade works for them, for example.
DeleteThis is going to be a problem more and more across Europe.
ReplyDeleteLast year they substituted Lisbon with Hamburg I believe. Let's see what they choose now instead.
ReplyDeleteI hope Dusseldorf.
DeleteI hope Dusseldorf.
DeleteI dont think Porto would work, small market, volatile. Most of LIS slots are good, time wise. On a side note, whatever happened to Pozdrav? Anyone?
ReplyDeleteHe comments regularly under the name PIR
Deletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2025/11/klm-doubles-dubrovnik-service.html
If Croatia asked for late night slots (same like JU did) they would get them
ReplyDeleteOU is always unlucky with routes. First they get pushed out by competition, now they can’t get slots. They really need a stronger strategy for these markets.
ReplyDeleteIt’s just unfortunate that they’re running into problems everywhere. Aircraft delays, slot issues, competition...
DeleteThey had almost 20 years with little competition and they didn't make any use of it. They've got only themselves to blame.
DeleteZagreb–Lisbon deserves a nonstop flight. It’s crazy that in 2026 you still can’t fly directly between two EU capitals.
ReplyDeleteCmon, Berlin was launched this year, I think. It's not that crazy...
DeleteShame, would love to see them in LIS. They would offer good transfer options to the coast.
ReplyDeleteWonder if they will ever go for Heathrow slots again too. Considering that UK tourists are among the top in Croatia, it is beyond me how they have so few flights to London, let alone the UK.
ReplyDelete