June 4, 2020 - With tourism slowly starting, who is flying to Split and Dubrovnik, and how many flights are scheduled this month?

I met with Croatian Minister of Tourism, Gari Cappelli yesterday to discuss various issues relating to tourism. Minister Cappelli gave me some official answers on EU border openings, air bridges and driving across Europe to enter Croatia. I will publish this interview once all the information in the article is double-checked, hopefully today. Croatia currently hold the EU presidency, so Minister Cappelli is speaking on behalf of the EU, so all must be 100% correct. 

One other issue I asked for is better access to current information for our readers. We start with something many people want to know - who is flying to Split, how many planes are there, and where from. PLEASE NOTE this is purely advisory and you should check everything with the relevant airline. Changes and cancellations are inevitable. 

This is what I received. 

Dear Mr. Bradbury,

following your inquiry about the number of flights, below you can find information about flight announcements.

IMPORTANT! – This information are announcements and are subject to change.

Regarding the airport in Split: There are a total of 365 active flights (39 to 15 June + 326 second half of June) with 115,365 seats. Although the announcements are still valid, it is realistic to expect the realization of about 50 percent of the announced flights (180 flights).

Destinations for Airport Split in June 2020:

At Dubrovnik Airport, in the second half of June, there are currently 10 active flights from Tel Aviv, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Oslo, Pariz, Nantes, Porto and confirmation of additional routes is expected.

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June 2, 2020 - The latest news from around Croatia’s airports for flights to Croatia with updates from Zagreb, Split and Dubrovnik, and Zadar.

Ryanair plans to resume traffic to Zadar on selected lines from July. The first line from Stuttgart to Zadar, on which Lauda operates, will run from June 28. All other lines are planned to begin operations from the first week of July. 

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There is not a single new line planned for this year with aircraft based in Zadar. Also, no routes from France, Ireland, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom are on offer. 

Furthermore, on all routes operating from the beginning of July, the number of flights per week has been significantly reduced. Most flights per week have been announced on the Vienna-Zadar route, twice a week from the beginning of July, with reinforcements to three times a week in August. 

In other flight news, Ex Yu Aviation reports that Aegean Airlines has delayed the resumption of all of its flights to Croatia until September. While the airline planned to fly from Athens to Zagreb, Dubrovnik and Split from the beginning of July, they will not resume operations until September 1 to Split, September 2 to Zagreb, and September 3 to Dubrovnik. 

Finally, Croatian Aviation reports that Austrian national carrier Austrian Airlines has confirmed it is re-establishing the Vienna-Zagreb-Vienna route from the end of June.

As announced earlier, Austrian will fly from Vienna to Split and Dubrovnik again this month, so it was logical to expect the introduction of a route to Zagreb, on which, in addition to Austrian, Croatia Airlines also operates regularly.

From June 29, Austrian Airlines will once again connect the capitals of Austria and Croatia with one flight a day.

In the morning, a departure from Vienna to Zagreb is planned at 06:40, with arrival in Zagreb at 7:35. Departure from Zagreb to Vienna is planned for 8:15 am, with arrival in Vienna at 9:15 am.

In the afternoon, the plane will take off from Vienna at 13:10, and the arrival in Zagreb is planned for 14:05. The return to Vienna is at 15:15, with arrival in the Austrian capital at 16:10. In addition to direct (p2p) demand, passengers from Vienna are being offered a large number of destinations in Europe that Austrian will restart from the end of this month.

The smaller capacity aircraft, the DashQ400 and Embraer 190, are planned for the flights.

The company is currently working on a new flight schedule for July, but Austrian is expected to continue flying once a day on the Vienna-Zagreb-Vienna route in the first half of July.

ZAGREB, May 31, 2020 - Spanish airlines Iberia and Vueling said last Thursday that as of July 1 they would be flying again from Madrid and Barcelona to some foreign destinations, including Split and Dubrovnik, after the flights had been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Since a state of emergency was declared in Spain on March 14, Iberia has been operating foreign flights to London and Paris only, so that passengers could reach their destinations in cases of emergency. Traveling for tourism purposes is prohibited, and documents and certificates of the rare foreign passengers at airports are checked by border police.

However, after the Spanish government last Monday announced that foreign tourists would be allowed to enter the country as of July 1, Iberia and Vueling stated that they would gradually restart their flights.

In July, Iberia will start operating flights from Madrid to Dubrovnik, which will be one of its 15 foreign destinations. In August, the airline will introduce flights to 28 additional destinations in Europe and North Africa.

Iberia also used to fly from Madrid to Zagreb and Zadar, but it is still unknown whether they will be resumed.

Flights between Madrid and Split are available for reservations at the Iberia website as of July 1 and passengers will be transported by the Vueling airline.

Iberia and Vueling share the same owner, the International Airlines Group.

Flights from Spain to other continents are suspended until further notice.

May 29, 2020 - The latest news from around Croatia’s airports for flights to Croatia with updates from Zagreb, Split and Dubrovnik. 

Slobodna Dalmacija reports that Spanish airlines Iberia and Vueling announced on Thursday that they would return some flights from Madrid and Barcelona to foreign destinations, including Dubrovnik and Split, from July 1, after those flights were suspended due to the coronavirus.

Since the state of emergency was declared in Spain on March 14, Iberia has only operated foreign flights to London and Paris so that passengers can reach their destinations in an emergency. Tourist travel is banned, and border police check the documents and certificates of those rare foreign passengers at airports.

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But after the Spanish government announced on Monday that it would allow foreign tourists to arrive in the country from July 1, Iberia and Vueling announced the gradual return of their flights.

In July, Iberia will fly between Madrid and Dubrovnik, which will be one of its 15 foreign destinations. It will introduce an additional 28 destinations in Europe and North Africa in August.

"In order to restore customer confidence, we will not charge penalties for changing tickets purchased from today until June 30, for flights until December 31," Iberia said in a statement posted on its website on Thursday.

Iberia also had flights between Madrid and Zagreb and Zadar, but it is unknown at this time what will happen with them. The company did not respond to the inquiry until the news was published.

Iberia's operations in July and August will be at 21 percent of capacity compared to previously forecast this summer, and in the event of increased demand, capacity could increase to 35 percent.

Flights between Madrid and Split can also be booked via Iberia's website from July 1, and passengers will be transported by Vueling Airlines.

Iberia and Vueling, in fact, have a joint owner, the company International Airlines Group.

"We can confirm that we will gradually return flights from Barcelona to Dubrovnik and Split from July," said Vueling's spokesman Xabier Martinez Serrano.

Flights from Spain to other continents have been suspended until further notice.

"We also plan to return long-haul flights to distant destinations when the situation allows it and when quarantine and travel restrictions are lifted," Iberia said.

Spain, one of Europe's most affected countries by the coronavirus, currently has closed borders, so only foreign cross-border workers, aircrew, truck drivers, healthcare professionals and patients ordered for surgery or people with a certificate of emergency entry are allowed to enter the country.

The Spanish government is easing measures of limited population movement through four phases (0 to 3) and trying to bring the country to a "new normal" by the end of June.

The largest and hardest hit cities Madrid and Barcelona are in phase 1 and most of the territories are in phase 2.

Iberia will also increase the number of domestic flights in Spain from July 1, because now its planes fly from Madrid only to the Canary and Balearic Islands, Barcelona, Bilbao and the northern provinces of Asturias and Galicia.

Furthermore, Croatian Aviation announced that Austrian Airlines announced the relaunch of international routes, after all the company's planes were grounded for almost 90 days.

The establishment of international flights is expected from June 15, and in the first week of operations, Dubrovnik Airport is among the destinations.

Austrian Airlines will fly from June 21 on the Vienna-Dubrovnik route twice a week (Wednesdays and Sundays). An A321 aircraft with a capacity of 200 passengers has been announced.

As of June 24, Austrian is introducing the Vienna-Split route, which will run 4 times a week (Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays). A321 aircraft have also been announced on this route.

In a recent statement, the company announced that it would initially operate its routes with smaller capacity aircraft (Embraer 195 / DashQ400), so a change of aircraft type to Dubrovnik and Split is still possible.

Austrian Airlines is currently preparing a flight schedule for July and will be announced soon, it is expected that the company will return the Zagreb-Vienna route in July.

Finally, Croatian Aviation announced that it is re-establishing another international route. From Monday, June 8, Croatia Airlines will fly between Zagreb and Zurich.

From that date, Zagreb and Zurich will be connected four times a week (Mondays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays) with a DashQ400 aircraft with a capacity of 76 passengers. As of June 15, daily flights between the largest cities in Switzerland and Croatia are on sale.

The plane will depart from Zagreb at 09:10, the expected arrival in Zurich is at 10:45. The return flight will take off from Zurich at 11:45, and the expected landing in Zagreb is at 13:10.

After June 15, the introduction of several international lines to Croatia is expected, given that the borders of many countries should be opened from that date.

From June 8, Croatia Airlines will operate on international routes from Zagreb to Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Copenhagen and Zurich, along with domestic routes to Split and Dubrovnik.

ZAGREB, May 26, 2020 - A grant agreement was signed in Dubrovnik on Tuesday for the reconstruction and extension of the Lapad waterfront in Dubrovnik worth HRK 70 million, for the second, third and fourth phases of construction.

Attending the signing ceremony, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic underscored that the project is essential for Dubrovnik's development and that it fits into the government's policy and partnership with local authorities.

"During the meeting on the occasion of the Feast Day of St. Blaise in 2019, we adopted a set of important items for development projects in the city with a total value of HRK 4.5 billion. Of the HRK 5.8 billion in funds agreed to from EU fund, HRK 5.6 billion was agreed to during our term in government," he recalled.

He noted that measures to curb the COVID-19 pandemic, the Employment Agency received more than 4,119 applications for wage subsidies and so far HRK 90 million has been paid in the Dubrovnik-Neretva county.

"Thus, we secured jobs to be kept in Croatia's south. In addition, through fiscal decentralization, revenues generated by municipalities in this county increased by 33.28%, revenues for cities increased by 48.79% and the county's income increased by 30.17%," said Plenkovic.

Transport and Infrastructure Minister Oleg Butkovic underscored that in the past four years the government had invested HRK 6.7 billion for transport projects in Croatia's south, from the Peljesac Bridge and Dubrovnik airport to the Ploce port and other important port projects.

Dubrovnik Mayor Mato Frankovic said that this is the largest infrastructure project in the city center in the past 42 years. A two-lane modern road will divert congestion for Lapad and Babin Kuk and we will get a new promenade and additional content for citizens and visitors," underlined Frankovic.

The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has thrown global travel into disarray, with countries which rely heavily on tourism, which includes Croatia, biting their nails and wondering how they might save the remainder of the tourist season this summer in these uncertain times. The great news is that Adriatic Luxury Hotels is set to open its doors in Dubrovnik.

Croatia is well known for its seasonality. It's reliance on tourism as the strongest branch of its economy, making up around 20 percent of GDP, means that the labour market also boasts extremely seasonal tendencies. With unemployment traditionally going down in the run up to the summer season as employers snatch up waiters, reception staff, chefs and bar staff, this time of year in Croatia is usually marked by a stronger economic picture. 2020, and the coronavirus pandemic, had other plans.

Despite these incredibly tricky times, as SEEbiz writes on the 25th of May, 2020, Adriatic Luxury hotels, a well known hotel chain, will open back up in Croatia's southernmost city and tourist Mecca of Dubrovnik. 

Adriatic Luxury Hotels (JLH) have decided to open part of their hotel capacities down in Dubrovnik. The outdoor terrace of the Hotel Kompas will open tomorrow, more precisely on May the 26th, 2020, and the first hotel to open its doors on May the 30th will be the equally popular Hotel Dubrovnik Palace. Hotel Odisej on nearby Mljet opens on June the 6th, while Hotel Excelsior, boasting a famous view of the old city, won't open until mid-June.

''Other hotel capacities which belong to Adriatic Luxury Hotels chain are also preparing to open their doors to guests, and their opening will be coordinated with the establishment of connections with the British market, which is extremely important to us. The operating procedures in the hotels have been fully adjusted to comply with all of the prescribed measures and recommendations for the operation of hotels during the COVID-19 epidemic submitted by the Croatian Institute of Public Health with maximum effort ensured to maintain the expected level of a luxury hotel.''

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May 24, 2020 — German airline Lufthansa announced the resumption flights to tourist destinations, including Dubrovnik, starting in June.

"In the second half of June, Lufthansa is reintroducing flights to 20 tourist destinations," a company spokesman told HRT, confirming an article in the German daily Bild am Sonntag. A schedule of flights has not been released yet.

Dubrovnik relies heavily on airline and cruise ship travelers, seeking some sort of special categorization allowing flights to resume despite the pandemic.

The airline will resume flights to high-traffic destinations, such as Mallorca, Crete, Venice, Rhodes, Ibiza, and Dubrovnik. A total of 160 of the 760 aircraft from the Lufthansa fleet and companies such as Eurowings and Swiss, which are part of this Lufthansa Group, would fly the routes.

At the same time, negotiations are underway between the German state and Lufthansa to rescue the nation's largest airline, which has fallen into financial difficulties due to the coronavirus pandemic.

According to some information, the government plans to help with about nine billion euros. In return, the state would, at least for a time, enter the ownership structure of Lufthansa.

May 23, 2020 - The latest news from around Croatia’s airports for flights to Croatia with updates from Zagreb, Split and Dubrovnik.

Croatian Aviation reports that German leisure company, Condor, announced they'd be resuming regular international lines from several German cities to well-known tourist destinations across Europe, including Split.

Before the outbreak of the pandemic, this German airline regularly flew on seasonal routes from German airports to Rijeka, Zadar, Split and Dubrovnik, but in the current summer flight schedule, the lines have not yet started operating.

In its last announcement, the company announced the resumption of operations, and the first line to Croatia will be introduced from the end of June.

From June 26, Condor will fly on two routes to Split:

Frankfurt - Split, from June 26, twice a week (Fridays and Sundays),

Dusseldorf - Split, from June 26, twice a week (Fridays and Sundays).

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In addition to these two direct routes, the company, in cooperation with Lufthansa, also offers flights to Hamburg and Munich with short transfers. The mentioned lines will be operated by A320 aircraft, with a capacity of 180 seats.

Tickets are already on sale on the airline's official website. Split will thus be connected to Dusseldorf 3 times a week, considering that Eurowings, as we announced earlier, will fly between these two cities from June 20.

The airline has not yet confirmed the start of traffic from German cities to Zadar, Rijeka and Dubrovnik.

Furthermore, Croatian Aviation reported that Aegean Airlines announced new start dates for operations to destinations in Croatia.

The Greek airline plans to fly to 3 destinations in Croatia: Dubrovnik, Split and Zagreb in the current summer flight schedule. The line to Zadar was canceled in 2019.

Athens-Dubrovnik will be in operation twice a week from June 25, wit A320 aircraft. Aircraft of this type at Aegean has a capacity of 174 seats. The increase to five-week flights is planned for July 3.

The Athens-Split line has been announced four times a week from July 6, with the A319 aircraft, with a capacity of 144 seats.

The Athens-Zagreb route will again operate from July 1, three times a week, on A319 and A320 aircraft (capacity 144 and 174 seats, respectively).

Finally, Croatian Aviation reports that Emirates, an airline from the United Arab Emirates, has additionally canceled the start of operations on the Zagreb-Dubai route.

Although this seasonal line was supposed to start operating on the first day of the summer flight schedule, this did not happen due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

After that, the company repeatedly delayed the start of operations on this line, and the latest information was that this well-known company would come to the Croatian capital again from July 1 this year.

Emirates usually flies on the Dubai-Zagreb route every day, but due to reduced demand, flights are now postponed until August 1, when the line should start operating with only four flights per week (Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays). B47-300ER aircraft with a capacity of 354 seats have been announced on the route.

Given that this is the only seasonal Emirates route in the entire destination network, there is a high probability that this airline will not return to Zagreb this season.

The introduction of a high speed maritime connection between Lastovo-Korcula-Dubrovnik that will operate throughout the entire year is sure to bring relief to many, especially to southern Dalmatia's island inhabitants who often have to deal with irregularities in maritime connections with the mainland and indeed other islands.

As Morski writes on the 21st of May, 2020, at a recently held session, the Croatian Government adopted an amendment to a previously taken decision on determining state lines in terms of public transport, with its focus on this occasion on regular coastal maritime transport.

This decision will see the very welcome introduction a new year-round high speed line operating along the route: Lastovo-Korcula-Dubrovnik, and vice versa, with the aim of better connecting beautiful Lastovo with its county centre - the City of Dubrovnik.

The introduction of this brand new line will contribute to the improvement of the economic and tourist development of Dubrovnik-Neretva County as a whole and will ensure the better connection of the popular islands of Lastovo and Korcula with Dubrovnik, as well as the proper and constant interconnection of these two islands.

Regular public transport in what is referred to as regular coastal maritime transport in the Republic of Croatia includes 53 state lines, with a total fleet of 77 ships in operation along them.

Funds for the new high speed Lastovo-Korcula-Dubrovnik line, as well as for the other 53 state lines which exist in this segment of public transport in the Republic of Croatia, are provided for in the state budget, in the total amount of 329.5 million kuna for the year 2020, with projections of the required annual funds for 2021 and 2022 in the amount of 340 million kuna foreseen.

For more on maritime connections, islands, border crossings, destinations along the coast, the islands and in the continental part of the country, follow our dedicated travel page.

The New York Times has published something about the famous Dalmatian city that nobody would have ever expected before coronavirus became a reality.

Before the coronavirus pandemic struck, the most frequent complaints you'd hear from residents of Croatia's tourist Mecca of Dubrovnik all involved too many tourists, a lack of proper infrastructure to cope with the crowds, damage to the UNESCO protected historic core, too many harmful cruise ships, and too much traffic.

Since coronavirus penetrated Croatia's borders, however, the situation has rather incredibly reversed almost entirely. What Dubrovnik strived for for many years has been acheived by no less than something invisible - a virus.

As Morski writes on the 19th of May, 2020, the popular and highly respected American publication the New York Times ranked Croatia's southernmost city of Dubrovnik among the eleven top global destinations that suddenly became peaceful places to live in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, and until that crisis, they ''fought'' with excessive numbers of tourists, a situation which saw the coining of a brand new term - overtourism.

"The eleven most visited tourist destinations in the world have recently completely changed. In Venice, for example, there are currently more locals than there are tourists, which is an extremely rare situation for a city that has been struggling with overcrowding for years,'' writes the New York Times, whose online edition is followed by more than five million subscribers.

In addition to Dubrovnik and Venice, the list of such "changed" destinations also includes Rome, Bali, Iceland, Amsterdam, Barcelona, ​​Paris, Prague, Halong Bay in Vietnam and the Galapagos Islands, reports the director of the Croatian National Tourist Board's office in New York, Ina Rodin.

The article also conveys the experiences of local residents in these destinations, and the situation in his native Dubrovnik was described by Darko Perojevic, chef and owner of the Azur restaurant, emphasising that the old town of Dubrovnik, where he has lived for most of his life, has not been so empty since the 1990s, when the city was ravaged by attacks by the Yugoslav People's Army.

Still, he admitted that it is now a special pleasure to walk through the empty city centre and see children playing in the streets.

"For a moment, it seems as if we've regained the city," said Perojevic, adding that the first quarantine was introduced in Dubrovnik in the 14th century to protect the local population from the plague. You can read more about that here.

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