January 18, 2020 - The latest news from around Croatia’s airports for new flights to Croatia with updates from Zagreb, Zadar, Pula, and Split. 

HRTurizam reports that the Vakantiebeurs Tourism Fair is held in the Dutch city of Utrecht from January 15 to 19, 2020. It is the largest tourism fair for business and general audiences in the Benelux area, with more than 1000 exhibitors attending the jubilee 50th edition of the fair this year, as well as the Croatian Tourist Board with 18 local co-exhibitors.

It is at the Vakantiebeurs Fair that new lines from the Netherlands and Belgium to Croatia have been announced.

"We are very pleased with the growing interest of airlines in Croatia, as is evidenced by the announcement of three new flights from the Netherlands and Belgium to Croatia this year, namely Easyjet from Amsterdam to Zadar, Ryanair from Maastricht to Zadar and TUIfly airlines from Brussels to Pula,”  said Ivan Novak, Director of the HTZ Representation for Benelux.

During 2019, nearly 500,000 arrivals and approximately 3 million overnight stays were made from the Dutch market.

In other news, Ex Yu Aviation News reports that Croatia Airlines is planning to launch a service between Zagreb and Tirana this summer. Recall, while the Croatian national carrier used to operate on the Zagreb-Tirana route, the two cities haven’t been connected by the airline in years. 

Namely, the airline's CEO Jasmin Bajić and Director of its Commercial Division, Slaven Žabo, discussed the potential new line with Albania’s Ambassador to Croatia, Riza Poda.

“Both parties agreed for talks between Croatia Airlines and relevant authorities in Albania to commence immediately in order for this important project to be realized as soon as possible,” the Albanian Embassy in Zagreb said. 

Ex Yu Aviation adds that the Croatian carrier hoped to establish a base in Tirana back in 2016, though the project never came to fruition. Albanian national carrier Air Albania said it would launch flights to Croatia back in 2017, though they have yet to do so. The aviation portal added that an average of 24,000 Albanian passport holders visited Croatia annually over the last few years. 

Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and a large delegation of Croatian investors will visit Tirana in May. The Croatian national carrier also plans to service Sofia and Podgorica this summer. 

To end this week of flight news, Avio Radar reports that FlygBRA-Braathens Regional Airlines announced the first regular flight from Sweden to Croatia this summer. The new Malmo-Split route will run once a week, on Saturdays, from May 30 to September 26, 2020.

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

December 15, 2019 - The latest news from around Croatia’s airports for new flights to Croatia with updates from Pula, Zadar and Dubrovnik.

Avio Radar reports that low-cost carrier easyJet announced four new routes to Croatia in their 2020 summer flight schedule. Namely, Pula and Zadar will both receive new lines. 

Both new lines to Pula arrive from the UK. Glasgow-Pula will run with two flights per week, on Mondays and Fridays, from June 22 to August 28, 2020, while London (Luton)-Pula will operate three times a week, on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, from April 28 to October 2, 2020. Easyjet already flies to Pula from London’s Gatwick Airport and Southend Airport. The line from Luton Airport will be the third from London to Pula. 

There are also new arrivals between Zadar and the Netherlands and Switzerland. Namely, Amsterdam-Zadar will run twice a week, on Tuesdays and Sundays, from June 23 to August 30, 2020. The Basel/Mulhouse-Zadar route will run three times a week, on Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays from June 22 to August 29, 2020. 

The Airbus A319 or larger Airbus A32- aircraft will fly on all new lines. 

Furthermore, Avio Radar reports that Swiss national carrier Swiss International Air Lines, a member of the Star Alliance global airline association, has announced its first line to Dubrovnik in its 2020 summer flight schedule. The. Geneva-Dubrovnik route will run once a week, on Saturdays, from July 4 to August 29, 2020. The new Airbus 220-300 aircraft will service this line. 

Finally, Ex Yu Aviation reports that Croatia Airlines and LOT Polish Airlines, both Star Alliance members, will expand their codeshare agreement.

Namely, LOT will add its code and flight numbers on routes from Zagreb to Sarajevo and Mostar starting January 1, 2020. Recall, Croatia Airlines already codeshares on LOT flights from Warsaw to Zagreb, Frankfurt, Vienna and Munich. LOT also has its flight numbers on Croatia Airlines' services from Zagreb to Dubrovnik, Split, Frankfurt, Munich and Vienna, Ex Yu Aviation adds. LOT also announced new lines to Croatia for 2020, with seasonal services between Warsaw-Rijeka and Budapest-Dubrovnik.

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

Three new flights to Croatia are on the cards as Croatia's rich tourist offer impresses the Dutch in Utrecht.

As Morski writes on the 10th of January, 2019, the Croatian National Tourist Board (HTZ) has been presenting the Croatian tourist offer at the Vakantiebeurs fair, which takes place in the Dutch town of Utrecht from January 9th to the 13th, 2019. The fair is intended for both a business and a wider audience, and on the first day of the fair alone, the Dutch have shown huge interest for various Croatian destinations, especially for the Croatia's camping segment. Owing to the level of interest from the Netherlands, three new flights to Croatia from Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Einhoven are ready to take off in 2019.

''The presentation at the Utrecht fair starts with the presentation of the Croatian tourist offer at the most important fairs with key emission markets. The Croatian National Tourist Board will organise the presentation of the Croatian tourist offer at a total of 22 fairs in 2019, of which there are 17 general ones, and five specialised ones, including three nautical fairs and two camping fairs,'' said the Croatian National Tourist Board's director Kristjan Staničić, adding that during 2018, almost 500,000 arrivals and about 3.2 million overnight stays were realised by Dutch tourists, representing fairly significant growth of nine percent in terms of arrivals and of five percent in terms of overnight stays made by the Dutch back in 2017.

Within the scope of the current Utrecht fair, numerous meetings with representatives of various tour operators, travel agents and airline companies such as TUI, Thomas Cook, Transavia, D-Reizen, Rotterdam-Den Haag Airport, Travel Counselors Association and others are also taking place.

Such meetings are aimed at discussing activities and better cooperation in the upcoming period. The first information which can be concluded from Dutch tour operators is that the interest level of the Dutch for Croatia is currently at last year's level, but the real period of intensification lies not too far ahead.

''We're extremely pleased with the increasing interest of air carriers for Croatia, as evidenced by the announcement of the introduction of three new air lines from the Netherlands to Croatia, more precisely to Zadar in 2019. The Transavie line will connect Zadar with Rotterdam, Ryanair will link Zadar with Eindhoven, and Easyjet will link Zadar to Amsterdam,'' said Ivan Novak, director of the Croatian National Tourist Board's representation for the Benelux countries.

Make sure to atay up to date with flights to Croatia and other travel trends by following our dedicated travel page.

From today, easyJet passengers in Croatia who use Zadar as a starting airport can purchase tickets to London at fantastic prices.