PREMIUM
Croatia has seen the largest number of passengers travelling to and from Australia compared to the remaining markets in the former Yugoslavia. In addition to having a sizable diaspora in Australia, Croatia has seen strong passenger growth from the continent due to tourism, with the country becoming increasingly popular Down Under. In 2019, the last full year Australian nationals were permitted to head overseas, 62.888 travelled indirectly between the two countries, meaning they either started or ended their journey in Australia or Croatia on a single ticket. Based on that data, passengers travelled the most between Sydney, Melbourne and Zagreb. While these figures are similar to those in a select number of other markets in the former Yugoslavia, Croatia also saw a notable number of Australian passengers from other cities in the country, including Split and Dubrovnik.
Busiest Croatia - Australia citypairs in 2019
Qatar Airways was the overwhelming carrier of choice between the two markets. Over 40% of all travellers opted to fly with the Qatari carrier via Doha. With the airline offering double daily services to Zagreb at the time, it was also planning to introduce seasonal operations to Dubrovnik over the summer of 2020 to cater for the Asian and Australian markets. However, those plans did not materialise due to the coronavirus pandemic. Qatar Airways was followed by Emirates as the preferred airline for transfers between Croatia and Australia, while Star Alliance member carrier combinations between Croatia Airlines and Singapore Airlines were also popular. Another regional carrier, Air Serbia, profited from its codeshare cooperation with Etihad, with 1.402 passengers flying in combination between the two to reach either Croatia or Australia, making it the sixth busiest airline between the two markets.
Top airlines for indirect traffic between Croatia and Australia in 2019
Preferred connecting airports reflected the hubs of preferred airlines. Due to Zagreb Airport’s extensive connectivity with the rest of Croatia, it was among the most used feeder airports after Doha and Dubai. Gulf carriers have been hit hard by the closure of the Australian market due to Covid-19, which has had a strong impact on their performance in the former Yugoslavia. As a result, Qatar Airways has reduced its operations to Zagreb to just a single flight per week, while Emirates has terminated its operations to the Croatian capital. It will be replaced by Flydubai, which itself has delayed its service launch time and again.
Top airports for indirect traffic between Croatia and Australia in 2019
Australian citizens are not permitted to leave their country unless they receive special permission from the government - only for urgent business travel or on compassionate grounds - while Australian nationals returning to the country must endure a strict two-week quarantine during which they cannot leave their hotel rooms for which they have to fully pay. International arrivals into Australia are capped at 5.000 per week. Foreign nationals are not permitted entry. Australia is unlikely to fully open its borders in 2021 even if most of its population gets vaccinated this year as planned, a senior health official said last month. Australia’s national carrier Qantas anticipates resuming international flights to London, Singapore and Tokyo in late October, or the start of the summer season in the Southern Hemisphere.