Ryanair will be VERY mad if ZAG welcomes Wizz Air, as it is speculated.

I think this Wizz talk is to put pressure on Ryanair. I remember very well there was the same talk 5 years ago when Ryanair was coming.

Wizz coming to ZAG is just a rumour, wet dreams.
And yes, I do agree it is just the way to put pressure on FR.

Well, Wizz is significantly expanding this summer in Croatia, and therefore Zagreb makes even more sense.

No, Zagreb does not make "even more sense". What difference does it make to Zagreb that Wizz is launching some routes to Zadar and Dubrovnik? These are totally different markets.

If Wizz ever decides to fly from ZAG expect them to: LCA, NCE, LYS, GNB, HAM, STR, DTM, FDH, NYO, MLH. That is 10 routes without Ryanair competition, other airlines are less competitive to Wizz.

Zagreb to Grenoble? You must be kidding...

More than 200.000 people regularly go skiing in winter from Croatia, mostly Zagreb to several countries, including France and Switzerland. Btw, I remember comments here from few years ago: Zagreb-Paphos, you must be kidding...

Aim to/hope for.

Zagreb is closer to Grenoble and it makes sense to go by car or bus. Zagreb to Grenoble is 10:30 drive which is quite okay for ski trip. Compare with Belgrade to Grenoble which is over 14 hours.

Paphos is not comparable. It is an island and air travel is logical options. You read suspition about Paphos only because there is a myth that Croats only go to domestic Adriatic coast for vacation.

Time is coming for expansion and that's a fact as prescribed by the contract.

Because "interim solution" is against the aims of the contract.
But seeing that ZAG was projected to serve 8mil, there is no hope in developing it into a serious hub. Once again Zagreb becomes a european suburb and nothing more.

^
ZAG is perfectly adequate for the size of its market.
Concerned commenters opinions are irrelevant. Especially when they are not even locals.

Zagreb could achieve more. Without a serious national company that can organize a good hub, it will not happen, and Zagreb will reach it's upper limit of 7mil, and that is it.

Croatia Airlines is a disaster and so the airport is nearing its limit because there is only so much traffic you can have without transfer passengers and a proper hub.

Therefore it makes sense to open the old terminal and allow the airport to peak at around 7 million passengers. I don't think it can get higher than that, especially as the coastal airports are growing so much.

It depends on the passengers numbers of LCC and other carriers. I believe they are 50/50 and I doubt old terminal would be okay for long to hold all LCC traffic.

Zagreb already reached its limit. That is very clear, looking at the summer timetable

@anon10:57 real limit is about 7mil passangers it it continues to be kinda-hub and point-to point airport. with a proper hub, where a company would have 2-3 daily long haul departures, and 20 planes feeding them (and each other) it could go up to 10. but that is only a hope.

That ship sailed away. It’s too late to build a hub now, with strong BEG so close. After covid, there was an aviation reset. No one in Croatia understood that in time

Zagreb and Belgrade have their comparative advantages. Too bad noone will know, or have the will, to use them. Yes, the aviation reset was apparent, and yes, Zagreb missed its chance, mostly because OU management.

No, no, no 13.16. It's because of Mafia ruling Croatia, which surrendered the market to LHG mostly and other foreigners, and which places aparatchiks to be OU management in order to prevent OU becoming real airline and ZAG becoming real hub for SE Europe.

Yes, PIR, i am just trying to be polite here. you're hell-bent on calling them out as mafia, while i see them as meager low-level thieves and nogoods.

BEG should not develope because BUD is so close...

Nonsense. BUD is not a hub, since LO left it

USA is the obvious missing link. Even a 3–4 weekly seasonal route could test the market before committing to something larger.

3-4 weekly is a serious frequency not the testing one. ZAG itself has no tourist potential other than Adriatic coast. And US carriers fly to the coast directly. If OU would be a serious and LH-free airline it could try US flights. But it isn't.

I don't think Zagreb can get North America routes. And it really isn't such a priority because there are something like 35 daily flights to European hubs of FRA, MUC, ZRH, LHR, CDG, AMS, MAD, VIE, WAW and CPH through which you can get to all of the US in a flexible way at any time of day you want any day of the week. I don't think people would start using direct flights very much even if it was an option.

10.06
ZAG used to have average of TWO DAILY flights to North America by JAT, Pan Am and Air Canada 40 years ago with destinations New York, Chicago, Montreal, Toronto, Detroit and Cleveland. There was an article in Simple Flying few days ago where Zagreb was identified as number one european directly unserved destination. ZAG could overtake both touristic and ethnic trafic to North Adriatic and Istria now operated through Venice. Slovenia and Zagreb itself are also pool for direct traffic. Some people will for sure continue using one stop option but there are definitely enough of those who prefer nonstop routes even if more expensive. Next, ZAG could be combined with existing coastal services, using one airport for entry and the other for exit points. US tourists normally don't come to Europe to spend 7, 10 or 14 days on the beach in one city. And as someone before me has said, if Croatia had decent flag carrier instead of humiliated feeder, services from Zagreb to New York, Chicago, Delhi, and at least another Asian destination should have been reality long ago. Anyhow, I expect flights to some of the mentioned destinations to commence within a year or two, operated by foreign carriers, instead of useless, pointless, senseless money waster and LHG feeder OU

Number one european unserved from New York/ Newark

"There was an article in Simple Flying few days ago where Zagreb was identified as number one european directly unserved destination."

Simple Flying should not taken seriously. They are unprofessional.

Btw no one prohibits no one from starting long haul flight to Zagreb. Problem is... There is no market.

LOL

LOL to you.

Times have changed and 40 years ago multiple stops on a route were the norm.
Today it's different, the hub and spokes model is (still) the dominant one excluding the LCCs.
There are airports with more passengers than ZAG and that are not hubs and no-one is ashamed of that.
ZAG should develop realistically and economically and not try route be a mega hub that for many reason it would never be.

Anon 12:02 why do you hate ZAG this much, not believing it could do better?

Its not hate, rather realism

well, realism is ok for unambitious people and OU, because they have nothing to strive at. lowballing the expectations like that lead to self-fulfilling prophecy, and basically kills the country slowly. i mean, it is the easiest to live of the rent, yes? well, if one wants to go forward, one must move. not sit in place.

No. It is pure hate. And refusal to admit ZAG today had similar situation like BEG some 10-15 years ago when locally based flag carrier was not capable of taking its part in base airport becoming proper hub. With its geography, tourism and ethnic traffic, ZAG has minimum the same potential as BEG. Some people just refuse to see it.

No one prohibits private individuals to launch their own hubs in ZAG.

Anon14:28 true, but false.
Why not insist on making existing company actually perform good?

@14:18 'had'. The ship has sailed

49'

What company? Why should OU risk public money on really questionable long haul routes?

@15:12 still has
@16:10 well, they are losing money as it is. There is no way on earth a company can be this small and this profitable with this type of fleet for the market without developing a hub, and run with this management.
It is paramount to react. If they dont, they will die.

true

Beggars can't be choosers.

09:22
We are not talking about your country here.

Yes, we talk about Zagreb that does not have any US / China flight.
So, beggars for sure.

You did not have them until two or three years ago either, so you are a recent beggar too.

Flights to the US have been operating for a decade.

Let him be. It's the same guy who was hysterically claiming that Athens has no flights to the US. Instead of suggesting why ZAG has none and what can be done to get it, his only argument is to try to prove that someone else is like ZAG but failing to choose the right examples each and every time.

Zagreb has not been trying to get US flights for decades. Occasionally someone makes press releases mentioning that it is a priority, and there was once one tourism unit that held some meetings, but that's it. I am convinced that the airport does not care about these flights because of the operational hassle. They are very lazy.

Really?
"On the other hand, Zagreb Airport’s operator noted that one of its main tasks will be connecting the Croatian capital to the United States and is said to be negotiating with potential carriers."
Date: 19.03.2015
https://www.exyuaviation.com/2015/03/ambassador-hints-at-us-croatia-service.html

If Croatia is such a strong global tourism brand, then perhaps a US route should already exist year-round.

It is a summer destination. Like Greece so what are you talking about?

We are talking about Zagreb here.

You claimed that if Croatia is such a strong global tourism brand, then perhaps a US route should already exist year-round.
Well it doesn't exist in Greece!
Isn't Greece a strong global tourism brand?
Make up your mind.

According to Anon 09:36 Athens is not a global tourist powerhouse because it doesn't have year round service to the US.
SMFH

What are you talking about? Athens has year round flights to Newark for 9 years now.

Anon 9.44 and 9.48 stop embarrassing yourself.

Greece has a huge diaspora in the US (and I mean HUGE) and Athens is a sunny destination in southern Europe year-round. It is also a huge port, a hub gateway to loads of Greek islands and the Middle East, and it is the starting point of cruise ships across the Mediterranean which go all winter.

Zagreb has precisely 0 of these things. And it is a significantly smaller city too.

^
Athens alone is bigger than Croatia btw

Wet dreams as always.

What do you mean with "as always"?

As always when someone speaks about W6 in ZAG.

That could work too.

That wouldn't make much sense because it takes so much preparation to make the terminal ready for operations. Once it's done, they may as well keep it open year-round. Ryanair doesn't fly much in the winter between Tuesday and Thursday anyway.

Air India or Indigo could do an India route, but Japan and China are pretty much impossible I think. US too is unlikely.

There is no airline which could start all of these routes because the one that was supposed to do it is prohibited to do it following Ivan Mišetić deal with LHG for OU to become and remain shameful feeder. There are several airlines from US, India, China and Japan which could start some or all of the routes mentioned, and it will happen, sooner or later, the same as it already happened with Canada and Korea

Airlines from US and Japan are going to start Zagreb? Lol. Japanese companies barely fly anywhere. JAL is not flying to Italy.

@12:01 you are obsessed with 'shame' its quite strange tbh

13.14
I am not obsessed with anything. I am just saying loudly simple fact forbidden to be published in Croatia about its flag carrier being tiny, miserable, lost in space, loss making and full of corruption and incompetence. Could you help me and find the word that describes all of the above better than shame or shameful?

12.21
Oh, good to know JAL is the only airline in Japan that flies long-haul 🙂

Ok big expert. ANA will for sure introduce ZAG flights considering how intensively they fly to Europe.

@14:01 obsessivness with a streak of reputational risk sensitivity clearly runs through your views of shame and its quite bizarre.
I fear even if people as passionate as you clearly are were given OU to run it would remain a pigs-ear of an operation

For a city of 3/4 of a million residents it is great!

^
Bristol has a population of around 700,000 and an airport that serves 12million...puts things into perspective.

Bristol serves a greater catchment area.
In Bristol for sunshine, snow or fun you have to fly.
From ZAG on a daytrip by car you can go skiing in the Alps or sailing/swimming in the Adriatic....
The geography makes that locals don't need to fly so much.

@12:07 although Bristol is 1hour 20 from Heathrow and isnt a capital city of a state.

Bristol serves the whole of south-west England, all of southern Wales, one of the most affluent areas of England which is Sommerset, all of Bath, all of the Cotswolds which is hugely affluent etc. You cannot compare it to Zagreb.

Also, almost all of Bristol's traffic is year-round holiday traffic for English and Welsh people to get some sunshine or go skiing or city break destinations. And then there is a bunch of migrant routes to Poland and Bulgaria.

Even Lufthansa does not fly to Bristol. No Air France either. No Iberia. No British Airways. No TAP. No ITA. It is literally an airport for holidays and migrants dominated by easyJet, Ryanair and Jet2 which have around 30 aircraft based at Bristol.

@13:12 Bristol Airport serves Cardiff which literally IS the capital of a state (Wales). People on here write the most ridiculous comments honestly XD

Like the idea that Zagreb might ever become a functional hub and spoke airport

Let's be realistic.
ZAG can't sustain to have flights to Portugal, Norwegian is closing CPH and leaving Zagreb, Vueling closed BCN and left, Finnair closed HEL and left ZAG, Austrian reduced ZAG, FR closed MRS, HHN, SOF, PSA, T'Way and Air Transat have this year less flights to ZAG than last year, Wizzair and easyJet as second and third European LCC do not fly to ZAG at all...and we are talking about China, USA and India.
Really.

Your comment makes no sense because pre-Covid Zagreb had flights to Korea and all of the things you wrote above were still true.

Pre-Covid is the history.
Now the reality is as described by anon 09:53.

Who said it wasn't history? It's literally a historical comparison. Why do some people want to argue in these comments at any cost?

Finnair is pre-covid?
Vueling is pre-covid?
FR cancelling 4 routes are pre-covid?
Norwegian leaving ZAG pre-covid?
No, amigo these things happen now.

That should be BEG's goal.

^ The topic is Zagreb. Are you saying Zagreb should not have flights to those regions? As far as I am aware BEG has year round flights to North Africa. Zagreb has none.

Routes to New York, Delhi or Beijing are not ultra-long-haul. Once you learn what's long-haul and what ULR, we can continue discussion

@12:04 no need to be bitchy

09:35, do you think Zagreb-Egypt would be long-haul if you think Zagreb-Delhi is ultra-long-haul? LOL

For what? For not having Zagreb to New York service which we had 40 years ago? For ZAG looking at the back of Vilnius, Riga, Tirana, Malta, Larnaca...? Shame on you for hailing bravo to crime, corruption and incompetence

We don't necessarily need flights from NYC to Zagreb when we have 10pw to DBV and SPU. Realistically, we need more connections to the coast.

VIE, MXP, BUD, VCE probably for direct long distance connectivity.

Budapest is a big one for Zagreb residents. And Venice take away passengers that would be using Zagreb from all of western Croatia. Belgrade takes away all of Slavonia.

Why doesn't ZAG position itself on the way that it takes the passengers from BUD / VIE / BEG instead of crying around?

And Ljubljana destroyed ZAG charter market with their charter hub.

10.36
You forgot smiley at the end of your post 🙂

:-)

"Why doesn't ZAG position itself on the way that it takes the passengers from BUD / VIE / BEG instead of crying around?"

1. Who is crying around? The management literally couldn't care less.
2. You want Zagreb to take passengers away from Vienna? You want someone who lives in Vienna to drive to Zagreb to take a flight? Are you ok?

@10:36 Bravo Fraport!

Stvarno?

Iz SAD dolazi deset puta više putnika pa nema letova!