PREMIUM
Croatia Airlines has said it is looking at redefining new market opportunities for connecting European destinations with the region of Southeast Europe in order to maximise future revenue potential and increase aircraft productivity. The airline has a limited presence in the region outside of Croatia. It maintains year-round flights to Skopje and seasonal operations to Bucharest, the latter having been suspended since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. The airline has also suspended several other seasonal regional routes including Zagreb - Mostar, Split - Belgrade and Split - Athens. In late 2019 Croatia Airlines said it was looking to establish a greater presence in the region following the collapse of Adria Airways, which had a developed regional network. Its bankruptcy opened up opportunities in several markets previously served by the Slovenian carrier. However, even though the Croatian airline said it would be “good to expand” as a result of Adria’s demise, it noted it was too early to react at that point in time.
Today, the carrier is feeling increased pressure from competitors, particularly Ryanair which plans to launch operations to the Croatian capital next week. The budget airline will run services from Zagreb to Podgorica as of September. Ryanair said it was eying other short regional routes from Zagreb in order increase its aircraft utilisation.
Zagreb Airport's busiest unserved regional routes in 2019
The busiest unserved regional destination from Zagreb Airport in the pre-pandemic 2019 was Sofia. With almost 15.000 passengers flying indirectly between the two cities under a single itinerary, Croatia Airlines initially recognised the opportunity and planned to launch a two weekly service between the two cities back in 2014, however, those were shelved as the company embarked on a restructuring process, barring it from introducing new routes at the time. In 2020, it revisited plans to introduce operations to Sofia and scheduled a seasonal three weekly service. The flights were ultimately cancelled as a result of Covid-19. Unlike many other European carriers, which have launched a slew of new routes this summer where there are no travel restrictions in place, Croatia Airlines has, for the most part, been inert on the market.
Tirana is another unserved destination from Zagreb Airport with healthy indirect traffic. Croatia Airlines considered launching the route in 2020 but in the end decided against it. Croatia Airlines used to maintain flights between Zagreb and Tirana decades ago, however, there have been no services between the two capital cities in years. In 2016, Croatia Airlines outlined plans to establish a base in Tirana, along with several other cities in the region, but the strategy never materialised. In 2017 the Albanian Prime Minister, Edi Rama, said the country’s newly established national airline, Air Albania, would launch operations to Croatia, although it is yet to do so four years on. Over the past few years, an average of 24.000 Albanian passport holders have visited Croatia on an annual basis.
Croatia Airlines suspended operations between Zagreb and Pristina in 2016. A year earlier, the carrier handled some 10.000 passengers on the route. The airline saw strong competition from Adria Airways, which opened a base in the city and launched nonstop flights to Germany, while its high-frequency flights to Ljubljana ensured a significant chunk of transfer traffic. With Adria gone, Croatia Airlines could capitalise on Adria’s former transfer passengers.
Croatia Airlines discontinued its three weekly flights between Zagreb and the Montenegrin capital in February 2012. Plans to restore the service in 2020 were cancelled as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. “The resumption of flights between Podgorica and Zagreb would be of great importance to the Montenegrin diaspora in Croatia, but also for Croatian nationals in Montenegro. Furthermore, it would serve as an added benefit for the tourism sector which is vital for both countries”, the Ambassador of Montenegro to Croatia said recently. Ryanair plans to serve the route twice per week from early September.
Budapest was also formally served by Croatia Airlines but also various other carriers. The Croatian national airline maintained the service twice per week from both Zagreb and Rijeka with the ATR42 turboprop during the 1990s. Afterwards, both Malev and Qatar Airways flew between the two cities. Despite their proximity, over 3.000 people per year are willing to travel indirectly by air between the two capitals.