Croatia Airlines has confirmed it will discontinue two seasonal routes from its network. Flights from Split to both Bucharest and Amsterdam will no longer be operated. Services linking Split with the Romanian capital and Amsterdam were introduced in the summer of 2022 and were maintained twice and once per week, respectively. While the airline faced no competition on the Bucharest route, it went head-to-head with KLM, Transavia and easyJet on services to Amsterdam. As previously reported, Croatia Airlines will introduce a new seasonal service from Split to Nantes this summer. Flights are scheduled to commence on May 5 and will run twice per week. The Croatian flag carrier will compete directly with Volotea, which also maintains two weekly rotations between the two cities.
Overall, during the upcoming summer season, Croatia Airlines plans to operate 5.368 scheduled flights from Split, offering 746.344 seats on the market. This represents a 3.3% decrease in the number of operations but a 7% increase in overall capacity, driven by the greater utilisation of the larger Airbus A220 aircraft. In addition to the new Nantes service, the airline will extend the operational period of its flights between Split and Istanbul. However, frequencies will be reduced on two routes. Services to Vienna will operate three times per week, down from seven weekly last year, and will conclude on October 11, a week earlier than in 2025. Furthermore, Croatia Airlines will reduce frequencies on the Split - Berlin route during the peak summer months of July and August, cutting operations from two weekly flights to one.
Despite the discontinuation of two routes, Croatia Airlines is expected to register notable growth during the upcoming summer season. The airline will operate more than 19.290 flights, representing a 6% increase year-on-year, while offering over 2.396.000 seats, up 9%. During this period, the flag carrier will link Croatia with 32 international destinations, or 33 European airports, with its aircraft operating 55 scheduled international routes. Much of this summer’s growth will be generated at its Zagreb base, through additional capacity, frequencies and longer operating period on seasonal routes.
Croatia will probably benefit from the current war in Middle East and less people going far away and to places like Egypt. Unfortunately, I doubt Croatia Airlines will use that opportunity.
ReplyDeleteI think the high season for Egypt are the shoulder seasons and Croatia is not warm enough to be a substitute.
DeleteThat is what I think too. Egypt is highly popular in April and October from emitting markets like Germany and UK, and Croatia can be super cold in April and very rainy/windy in October.
DeleteThe Canary islands will profit a lot more, and so will Malta. And probably Morocco too. And Sicily.
It's not like Croatia is in desperate need of more tourists. If you ask me, we have too much tourists and locals are starting to complain.
DeleteTell us that boduli and Vlaji do not like šolde from them.
Delete09.08
DeleteMy first swim of the year, Crikvenica, North Adriatic, Apr 19
My last swim of the year, Krk, North Adriatic, Nov 7
Yes, spring and autumn can be cold, windy and/or rainy.
But can also be warm, dry, sunny and in addition to that perfectly peaceful without tons of tourists everywhere around
It's not the weather that is the problem in Croatia, it's lack of strategy or wrong strategy, slow administration, corruption, territorial organization and mentality.
Amsterdam was always going to be difficult with KLM, Transavia and easyJet on the same route. One weekly flight simply cannot compete with airlines offering daily services and strong connectivity. Not surprising it’s being dropped.
ReplyDeleteI’m actually more surprised about Bucharest. There was no competition and Romania is a growing tourism market for Croatia. Perhaps the demand just wasn’t there.
ReplyDeleteThe dash was perfect for this route. The A220 is not.
DeleteRyanair flies to Zadar so there is some competition
Reducing Vienna from 7 weekly to just 3 is quite drastic.
ReplyDeleteAt the same time they are increasing ZAG-VIE.
Deletethe network from Split actually looks weaker than before.
ReplyDeleteThe strategy seems to be consolidation rather than expansion in Split.
DeleteAt least JU is increasing SPU in winter.
DeleteIs OU doing ACMI or where will deply all this capacity?
ReplyDeleteThe A220 is a disaster for Croatia Airlines.
ReplyDeleteOverall numbers look positive though. More seats and more flights across the network suggests the fleet transition is finally starting to show results.
DeleteAlthough no growth in ambition or vision
Delete@9.07 The issue is, most of that growth just comes from larger aircraft. Not because they significantly grew their network or made some major changes to their strategy
DeleteThe A220 will help them improve efficiency but they still need stronger route planning. Competing with LCCs on thin seasonal routes rarely works.
ReplyDeleteHow can they compete with less seats on same routes? A220-300 is 149 seats and Lauda(FR) flies with 320s with 180 seats on some routes in ZAG im not sure what the seats on the 737s Look like but im curious how they could compete
DeleteExtending Istanbul is a smart move. That route has good year-round demand thanks to Turkish Airlines’ hub connections.
ReplyDeleteI still think Split could support more direct links to Eastern Europe. Maybe Prague, Budapest or Warsaw instead of cutting Bucharest.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteWizz and Ryanair and covering those now.
DeleteThere is a connection to Prague and Budapest with Air Serbia / BEG.
DeleteLarger aircraft mean fewer flights but more seats, which is exactly what we’re seeing in Split.
ReplyDeleteThey should just shit it down and use the Macedonian model, this is totally useless.
ReplyDeleteThey should do what?
Delete@09:11 rather a graphic image for 9am :)
DeleteNantes won't work either against Volotea, unless they have some deal with tour operators.
ReplyDeleteNantes is an interesting choice. Western France has strong interest in Croatia during summer
DeleteNantes is quite a niche destination but sometimes these smaller French cities perform better than the big hubs.
DeleteI don't get it. OU is supposed to get 7 A220s this year but none have arrived so far and don't seem like they will arrive in summer. So they are going to get 7 planes in the last three months of the year?
ReplyDeleteI think there are delivery delays and most likely some deliveries will be pushed into next year.
DeleteFinally they are focusing on Zagreb where they can make money.
ReplyDeleteYou are saying they can't make money in Split in summer?
DeleteMaking money during the summer while not taking into account the rest of the year is typical Dalmatian mentality. It's a pity that it takes a long while for the natural selection to do its job.
DeleteOverall capacity up 9% is quite impressive.
ReplyDeleteFor passengers it may not feel like growth if frequencies are being cut. Convenience matters more than aircraft size.
DeleteDespite some cuts the overall summer network still looks solid.
DeleteOf course they have growth of 9% as they have larger aircraft. But in a year or two, you will see many routes dropped like this Split-Bucharest one because A220 is simply too large.
DeleteWhats the point if LF is going to be 65% or lower?
ReplyDeleteReducing frequencies might actually help improve load factors.
DeleteIt would be nice to see more routes from Split that operate beyond the peak summer months.
ReplyDeleteI’m surprised there isn’t a stronger push into the Scandinavian market from Split.
ReplyDeleteWell covered by SAS, TUI and charter operators from Scandinavia.
DeleteOU didn't even fly year round to Stockholm from Zagreb until last year.
DeleteThe airline seems to be experimenting less compared to a few years ago when we saw more new seasonal routes.
ReplyDeleteIf these are the experiments....
DeleteAn experiment would be them launching something like Zagreb-Tromso or Zagreb-Tenerife like JU is doing.
DeleteThe airline is clearly prioritising routes with higher yields rather than simply adding more destinations.
Delete@anon 09:44
DeleteI think JU's Tenerife isn't an experiment.
Even with these adjustments Split still has a very diverse network during the summer season.
ReplyDeleteTrue
DeleteBravo Hrvatska!
ReplyDelete^ Do you ever get tired of that comment?
DeleteDropping Bucharest is a shame. Romania is one of the fastest growing tourism markets in the region.
ReplyDeleteCroatia Airlines seems to be adjusting its network every year. Hard to tell what the long-term strategy actually is.
ReplyDeleteLong term strategy is to remain humiliated feeder for LHG, operating 11 daily Minken and Vrankvurt and 6 daily to Vienna and Zurich. And starting and cutting something else, insignificant, here and there, to make impression they actually do something and to have arguments against those who criticize
DeleteLuckily they got brand new planes, now it is easier to discontinue routes.
ReplyDelete🙂
DeleteGood to see the airline still growing overall despite some route cancellations.
ReplyDeleteGood to see the airline still growing overall despite getting new planes.
Deletehaha
DeleteGreetings to the third floor in Buzin! Enjoy your coffee!
DeleteSo they'll park a few a220s?
ReplyDelete