Croatia Airlines has scheduled the launch of a new service from Split and Dubrovnik for the 2026 summer season. The flag carrier will introduce operations between Dubrovnik and Stuttgart starting May 4. The route will be maintained twice per week, on Mondays and Fridays, with the Airbus A319 aircraft, although the carrier will deploy the A220-300 during the first week of operations. Croatia Airlines faces no direct competition on the route. The two cities were previously linked by Germanwings and its successor Eurowings from 2012 until 2019. Prior to that, the route was also briefly served by Air Berlin and TUIfly. Further flight details can be found here.
Croatia Airlines also plans to inaugurate flights between Split and Nantes during the 2026 summer season. Flights will launch on May 5 and run twice per week, on Tuesdays and Fridays, with a mix of A220-100 and A220-300 aircraft. Additional details are available here. The Croatian flag carrier will compete directly against Volotea on the route, which will maintain two weekly rotations between the two cities with its A319 aircraft this upcoming summer. Nantes becomes a new destination for Croatia Airlines in France and its third in the country, complementing Paris and Lyon. The carrier will now serve five routes to France, including Zagreb - Paris, Split - Paris, Dubrovnik - Paris Split - Lyon, and the newly added Split - Nantes.
For the upcoming summer season, Croatia Airlines also plans to bring forward the resumption of a number of seasonal routes. These include services from Zagreb to Madrid, Hamburg and Prague, which were launched in July 2025 and will now be restored from the start of the summer season, in late March and early April. Services between Zagreb and Bucharest, launched in July, will resume in June, while Tirana will be restored in early rather than late May. However, at this point, the carrier does not plan to bring back its seasonal two weekly Split - Bucharest or its weekly Split - Amsterdam routes. This is subject to change.
Frequencies on several routes will be increased next summer. During the height of the summer season, these include Zagreb - Vienna, from five to ten weekly flights, Zagreb - Munich, from ten to twelve weekly, Osijek - Munich, from two to three weekly, and Osijek - Split, from one to two weekly.
Is there any possibility of them launching DBV-LJU? Some people here have been talking about it.
ReplyDeleteI think that is a very good route for an ATR.
DeleteThis could only work in cooperation with travel agencies, so certainly not with ATR.
DeleteGood news! I'm assuming we will also get new routes from Zagreb next year.
ReplyDeleteThat's a big increase for ZAG-VIE!
ReplyDeleteI think they will completely replace OS in due time.
DeleteThat would be very bad.
Delete^ Not for OU.
DeleteWhat is there to look forward to? Passengers travelling to Vienna mostly continue on other airlines... What's the cut that Croatia Airlines gets here? Their segment is 35 minutes?
DeleteThey should also try DTM-SPU which has been successfully served by Germanwings and Eurowings for years.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteBravo OU!
ReplyDeleteStuttgart should perform well with all the diaspora and tourism links. Long overdue!
ReplyDeleteNice to see Nantes added! Western France has a solid market for Croatian coast tourism. Curious how they’ll compete against Volotea though
ReplyDeleteNantes is a very smart pick. France remains Croatia’s top high-spending tourism market after Germans and Brits. Good to see them diversifying beyond the obvious choices.
Delete@9.40 I assume most seats are bought by tour operators so the competition is not too relevant.
DeleteThe Osijek boosts are interesting. Small but every additional flight is meaningful for OSI. Now let’s see more strategic development there.
ReplyDeleteWhat strategic development? How many inhabitants gravitate to Osijek? What's their purchasing power?
DeleteAn increasing number for sure. Osijek and the surrounding region are only being discovered as a tourist destination, but the potential is great.
DeleteThe city itself is beautiful and well functioning, Kopacki Rit natural park and a wildlife sanctuary, is nearby, as are interesting wine roads, Drava cruises...etc.
In addition, Osijek has started to develop as an important industrial and logistics hub at a national level, which draws in business travelers and investors.
All in all, Osijek even just 6 - 7 years ago, and today, is a completely different story.
Positive developments overall
ReplyDeleteSplit-Nantes is suicide.
DeleteIt is not- on the contrary- market boost supported by tourist agencies.
DeleteBravo Hrvatska!
ReplyDeleteThis is great but OU really needs to introduce some new year round routes.
ReplyDeleteI'd rather see them fly with over 80-85% capacity from May to September first and then go for more year round routes.
DeleteThat would be smart.
DeleteI'm shocked anyone at OU knew where Nantes was.
ReplyDeleteIf it wasn't for volotea, they wouldn't know
DeleteDalmatia is getting more and more visitors each year.
ReplyDeleteIt is an amazing place, certainly the most beautiful part of our region.
DeleteAdmin do we know or have they announced what the capacity increase for next year will be? Either in no. of seats or in percentage terms?
ReplyDeleteMany thanks for any info.
For sure double digit growth.
DeleteCapacity growth currently varies month to month, with April up 15%, May up 17% and June around 11%. July and August are up approximately 3%. In 2025, Croatia Airlines shifted most of its planned frequency additions and new route launches to July, which is why there are such discrepancies. Further adjustments to the network are still expected.
DeleteHow many aircraft do they expect to have for summer 2026?
ReplyDeleteAre they gonna lease capacity?
They going to lease all fleet.
DeleteImpressive!
ReplyDeleteTwo new seasonal routes?
DeleteSome people are easily pleased.
DeleteYet another year with double digit growth is impressive indeed.
DeleteHow are two new seasonal routes double digit growth?
DeleteAs you know but choose to ignore the growth will be from increased capacity on existing routes.
DeletePlus earlier start and later stop of seasonal routes.
The same thing happened this year.
If the LF is still 65% what is the point?
DeleteFinally they are launching routes a couple of months before beginning summer time table. OU used to launch new routes always a month before starting 🙃
ReplyDeleteJU too.
DeleteBoth of you are wrong
DeleteLast year, JU announced its new routes in December 2024 for the following year while OU announced its new routes in February 2025.
Croatia Airlines has such high prices that it makes no difference when they launch. People won't be buying tickets.
Delete^ Hoping and praying that it doesn't, right?
DeleteAnonymous @11.56 I always find easyJet much more expensive then OU on Lon-SPU route.
DeleteIt's impressive how late they announce routes, they are a feeder airline, I live in Germany, I got my Vacation calendar for 2026 90% planned in November! If I plan going somewhere far, I start planing a year before, most major airlines I book flights 1 year in advance, if OU plans routes in December or later, losses traffic; early booking is cheaper but with LF 65% there is enough seats to fill!!!
DeleteYeah sure, normally people no longer plan vacations a decade in advance. This ain't 1995.
DeleteSuper.
ReplyDeletePlease DBV-HAM
ReplyDeleteWhat about ZAG-MXP?
ReplyDeleteSo, except for bigger increase of LHG feeder flights, they are raising offer for 4 weekly flights over peak season. Which actually means: no news, no real change, everything remains the same, iz supljeg u prazno. And it's hilarious how 4 weekly flights over peak season cause extasy with some people here. No comment.
ReplyDeleteecstasy, typo
DeleteThere are almost no overall frequency increases to LH hubs.
DeleteReally? 8 more, compared to 4 for all others.
DeleteOnly way to make Pozdrav happy is to launch flights to Bangkok and Buenos Aires (big diaspora there) with Boeing 767.
DeleteThe only way to make uhljebs happy is letting them continue kissing fat asses of their Masters
DeleteHope they start new routes from ZAG
ReplyDeleteEvo dok Jasmin ispije kahvu
Delete