September 16, 2020 - The latest news for flights to Croatia as Air France announces to Zagreb and Dubrovnik this October, and AirBaltic launches postseason routes to Split and Dubrovnik. 

Croatian Aviation reports that AirBaltic has announced a line to Split and Dubrovnik in the postseason.

As we wrote earlier, the company made its last flight from Riga to Split in August (more precisely, on August 21) and canceled all flights after that date for this season.

However, AirBaltic announced that from this week, it would offer flights to as many as 37 destinations in Europe, including Dubrovnik and Split. Judging by the new flight schedule, AirBaltic will operate on the Riga - Split line from this Friday, September 18, once a week until the end of the month. Direct flights on this line are announced even in October, also on Fridays, until October 23, when this line should stop operating for this year.

The same goes for the Riga - Dubrovnik line. The company made its last flight on August 20 and canceled all flights after that date. But on September 14, the connection between the two airports was re-established. Flights in the post-season should operate once a week, every Monday, until October 19 this year.

The Riga - Rijeka line is not in traffic, while the Vilnius - Dubrovnik line has been operating regularly all this time. The last flight on this line has been announced for September 25. 

Furthermore, Croatian Aviation reports that Air France has made operational changes to its flight schedule by the end of October this year. This well-known airline will continue to operate to Dubrovnik and Zagreb next month.

In July, Air France launched its international routes from Paris (Charles de Gaulle Airport) to Zagreb, Split and Dubrovnik. Since then, the routes have operated regularly without significant cancellations of individual departures.

The traffic on the lines to Croatia increased at the end of July, and the company had 34 weekly flights until the end of August. Namely, on the last day of August, the Paris - Split route stopped operating, on which Air France ran as many as 6 times a week.

Even before the outbreak of the pandemic, the company announced the introduction of a second flight a day to Zagreb (a total of 14 flights a week), but the plan was suspended after the lockdown. The company then planned to fly twice a day to Zagreb four times a week, but only a few flights were made and after that, they were withdrawn from sale.

At the beginning of September, Air France reduced its traffic to Dubrovnik (from 4 to 3 weeks of flight), while traffic to Zagreb remained the same, with one flight a day. According to current announcements, this flight schedule will be in effect until the end of October.

Namely, the Paris - Dubrovnik line is on sale 3 times a week through October, Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday (until October 24 this year). The Paris - Zagreb route should operate daily through October, but it remains to be seen whether Air France will reduce the number of weekly flights on this route in the winter flight schedule, which will be in effect from the end of next month.

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February 17, 2020 - The latest news from around Croatia’s airports for new flights to Croatia with updates from Rijeka, Dubrovnik, and Zadar. 

Avio Radar reports that Latvian national carrier AirBaltic has announced that is will reinforce the new route from Lithuania to Rijeka - Vilnius-Rijeka, which has already been scheduled for one flight per week, on Thursdays, with traffic starting in May this year. 

However, the airline has strengthened the new route before it has even launched, with an additional second flight per week, on Saturdays, from June 6 to September 26, 2020.  The Airbus A220-300 will service this line. 

Furthermore, Avio Radar adds that Irish national carrier Are Lingus will strengthen the Cork-Dubrovnik route in the 2020 summer fight schedule. The line first began operating last year with two flights a week, on Tuesdays and Saturdays. 

In the peak season, the third flight per week has been introduced, on Thursdays, from July 2 to August 27. An Airbus A320 aircraft will fly on this line. 

Finally, Avio Radar reports that German low-cost carrier Eurowings will fly four flights from Germany to Zadar instead of Split over the next two weeks. This is because of the reconstruction of the runway in Split. 

Thus, Eurowings has decided to divert all its lines to Zadar from February 17 to March 1, 2020. Tickets for all diverted routes from Dusseldorf, Cologne, Munich and Stuttgart to Zadar are on sale in booking systems. 

Recall, Avio Radar reported last week that regular international flights from Zagreb to Sofia are scheduled from May 1 to the end of October this year. This service will run three times a week, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and will operate using the 76-seater Dash 8-Q400 aircraft. 

Two days later, on May 3,  2020,regular international flights on the Zagreb-Podgorica route will be introduced on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays. Flights will also be operated by the Dash 8-Q400 aircraft. As of today, return airline tickets are sold on both routes. 

Compared to the last tourist season, where Croatia Airlines had a fleet of 14 aircraft (12 of their own and 2 chartered CRJ 1000 aircraft), they will enter this season with one additional aircraft. Based on a long-term dry lease, the fleet will include a 150-seat Airbus 319 in late March and an additional 76-seat Dash 8-Q400 in late April to support unplanned traffic disruptions. In addition, from April to October, a short lease (wet-lease) of one CRJ 1000 aircraft by the Spanish air carrier Air Nostrum is also planned. 

To read more about travel in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page.

December 13, 2019 -The latest news from around Croatia’s airports for new flights to Croatia with updates from Rijeka, Dubrovnik, and Zadar. 

HRTurizam reports that Dubrovnik and Rijeka will be directly connected to Vilnius, Lithuania's capital, in the coming year thanks to AirBaltic.

These flights will be active from the beginning of May until the end of October, i.e., the line for Rijeka will operate once a week on Thursdays, while the line for Dubrovnik will operate twice a week, on Thursdays and Saturdays.

Martin Gauss, CEO of AirBaltic, said they aim to provide the best connection in both directions for all three Baltic capitals. “When assessing which destinations will depart from the Baltic capitals, we first look for the most sought after among local travelers. This is why we provide additional input to local airports, offering new travel options. By next summer, we will already serve 16 destinations from Estonia, 11 from Lithuania and over 70 destinations from Latvia."

"This is great news and an announcement that supports further increasing the number of airlines and further enhancing the accessibility of Croatian destinations. The first flight will feature a large number of travel agents and journalists from the Baltics and Scandinavia to whom we will present Rijeka, Dubrovnik and Split,” said Croatian Tourist Board Director Kristjan Stanicic, adding that the new Airbus A220-300 fleet will operate on these routes. 

HTZ added that the AirBaltic presentation brought together more than 100 agents and partners, including Kresimir Kedmenec, Ambassador of the Republic of Croatia to Lithuania, and Vedran Susic, Director of the HTZ Representative Office for Scandinavia, who organized a special presentation of the Croatian tourist agency deals with a focus on Rijeka and Dubrovnik.

In other flight news, Avio Radar reports that Europe’s largest carrier Ryanair announced a new base and 11 new routes from Zadar for the 2020 season. Namely, there are a total of 31 lines in the 2020 summer flight schedule, including 11 new routes to exciting destinations such as Aarhus, Cork, and Riga. The flight schedule begins in April 2020, is estimated to carry a total of 672,000 passengers annually, and create around 500 jobs in the various activities and services provided at Zadar Airport. 

Ryanair is also opening a base with three Laudamotion aircraft in Zadar, representing an investment of about $300 million and directly creating 90 new jobs in Ryanair. 

Ryanair’s 2020 summer flight schedule in Zadar brings:

- 3 Laudamotion base planes ($300 million investment)

- 11 new lines for Aarhus. (2), Bremen (3), Cork (2), Paris Beauvais (2), Kaunas (2), Liverpool (2), Maastricht (2), Riga (2), Toulouse (2), & Wroclaw (2)

- 31 lines in total

- 672,000 passengers annually (+50%)

- 90 new Ryanair jobs

- 500 on-site jobs

Eddie Wilson, CEO of Ryanair said: 

“We are delighted to be opening our base in Zadar next summer as part of our efforts to contribute to the growth of transport, tourism, and jobs. Our 2020 flight schedule brings 31 lines, including 11 new lines, and we plan to carry a total of 672,000 passengers a year and generate 500 jobs in various industries in Zadar. Zadar and their guests can now buy the cheapest tickets and fly with the greenest/cleanest European airline on a total of 31 flights until the end of October 2020.”

Josip Klismanic, director of Zadar Airport added:

“The return of Ryanair’s base to Zadar with three aircraft is a great tribute to Zadar, both as an airport and as a destination. The growth of Ryanair’s offer to Zadar from all over Europe in recent years shows that Zadar and Croatia have something to offer our guests. Ryanair makes Zadar and Croatia much more accessible to Europe, but let’s not forget, it also makes Europe much closer to Zadar and Croatia. The announcements for 2020 justify our efforts to increase the level of service for our passengers by expanding the capacity of Zadar Airport and providing the preconditions for further growth. I do not doubt that Ryanair will play an essential role in that. 

To read more about travel in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page.