It is the news that many have been waiting for, and it seems that the United States and Croatia could be directly connected as early as 2017, reports ExYuAviation on October 24, 2016.
With an increasing interest from the North American tourism market, in addition to a Croatian diaspora of an estimated 1.2 million, calls for driect flights between Croatia and the United States have been increasing in recent months. The successful introduction of Air Transat's service from Toronto to Zagreb this summer (a service which will be expanded next year) was an important first step, and now it appears that things are progressing in discussions to develop a direct flight with the United States, with New York a potential destination. Last year TCN interviewed Croatia's Ambasador to Washingon, Josip Paro, who had this to say on the subject of direct flights:
"The Embassy has this month again re-started discussions with various players in order to again explore realistic possibility to establish direct flights to Croatia. However, this will require, among others, a conclusion of a serious independent market study in the US that can verify the passenger interest and establish a credible passenger load for the aircraft that is essential to properly calculate the economics of these direct flights. We will do all we can to spearhead and facilitate this effort, and achieve direct flights as soon as it is economically possible." Read the follow interview here.
ExYuAviation is reporting progress this morning:
"Zagreb Airport is close to securing flights to the United States, which, if launched, would mark the resumption of services between the two countries after 22 years. A European carrier is currently in talks with Zagreb Airport over possible seasonal services to New York, which would run during the 2017 summer season. However, a final agreement is yet to be reached. The General Manager of Zagreb Airport, Jacques Feron, previously said it would be "fantastic" for the Croatian capital to offer direct flights to the United States. "In the US, New York would be an excellent destination, although it is true that this metropolis is well connected to all major European airports", Mr Feron said. His words echoed that of Sani Sener, the CEO and founder of TAV Airports Holding and TAV Construction, which forms part of the consortium running Zagreb Airport. He recently noted that the most desired route from the Croatian capital would be New York."
