February 11, 2022 - The latest flight news to Croatia as Croatia Airlines international Zagreb flights could resume by this summer, if all goes to plan. 

Croatia Airlines flights from Zagreb may be restored to a number of international markets this summer after they were discontinued in 2020 due to the pandemic, reports Ex Yu Aviation. Recall, Croatia Airlines stopped operations to Barcelona, Bucharest, Helsinki, Lisbon, Milan, Mostar, Oslo, Prague, St. Petersburg, Stockholm, and Tel Aviv, and never launched flights to Sofia and Podgorica as planned. The Croatian national carrier has announced that it would resume flights to Barcelona in June (originally planned for March) and hopes to restore operations to these other destinations by the 2022 summer season.

“Traffic will continue to be contingent on external factors, beyond the company’s control, such as restrictions, bans, and other measures, which directly impact on people’s ability to travel both domestically and internationally. Accordingly, we will focus on the flexible planning of our network. Our goal is to achieve optimal load factors with average fares in existing conditions of reduced capacity. Therefore, in 2022 our focus will be on greater rationalization of costs and the implementation of the company’s defined post-Covid strategy," Croatia Airlines’ CEO Jasmin Bajić said about maintaining flexibility for its summer network while basing operations on demand. 

Ex Yu Aviation adds that many international airlines have taken advantage of Croatia Airlines' absence from Zagreb, launching their own flights from many of these destinations. For example, TAP Portugal will run 4-weekly flights between Zagreb and Lisbon from next month and has maintained this seasonal line since last summer. Finnair's Helsinki-Zagreb flights will begin on May 1, with three flights a week until September. Aeroflot and Rossiya Airlines operate on the St Petersburg-Zagreb route, and Ryanair offers services to both Podgorica and Sofia.

For more on flights to Croatia and other travel announcements, make sure to check out our dedicated travel section.

February 5, 2022 - The latest flight news to Croatia as the second EasyJet Rijeka line has been announced, connecting Kvarner and Berlin this summer. 

After announcing its return to Rijeka after 15 years and establishing a regular line between London (Gatwick) and Rijeka, EasyJet now offers a second line from Rijeka Airport - a seasonal line to Berlin!

Namely, Croatian Aviation reports that from June 28 this year, EasyJet will introduce a direct line between Rijeka and Berlin, which will operate twice a week, every Tuesday and Saturday, departing from Rijeka to the German capital in the evening.

Airbus A320 aircraft have been announced on this route, which has a capacity of up to 180 passengers. Unlike the route to London announced until the end of the summer flight schedule, the Berlin line should be in service until September 3, 2022. 

Eurowings thus gains competition considering that it already operates in the season between Berlin and Rijeka. This line is also chosen by many Zagreb passengers who do not have a direct flight from Zagreb to Berlin. 

Recall, after fifteen years of absence, EasyJet confirmed earlier this week that it would operate with two weekly flights on Tuesdays and Saturdays between May and October 2022. Rijeka airport welcomed the news after announcing the return of Ryanair, Condor Airlines, and AirSerbia.

As EasyJet returns to Rijeka airport, the city expects the recovery of international traffic in the region and a record number of passengers arriving between May and October this year.

After many years of negotiations between Rijeka Airport and EasyJet, a consensus was reached. Furthermore, in talks with representatives of the relevant ministry, county, local units, hotels, and tourist boards, support and guarantees for promotional activities in the region were provided.

These activities are necessary to position Kvarner in the British market better, so it is planned to encourage and increase the number of arrivals from that market, which now accounts for less than 1 percent of overnight stays in Kvarner, said Rijeka Airport.

The city of Rijeka considers it necessary to reinforce its tourist offer and strategy to attract international guests after the pandemic that affected the development of the activities planned for Rijeka 2020: European Capital of Culture and the traditional carnival of the city canceled in both 2021 and 2022.

For more on flights to Croatia and other travel announcements, make sure to check out our dedicated travel section.

February 4, 2022 - The latest news about flights to Croatia as the Ukraine International Airlines Kyiv-Split line has been boosted for the 2022 summer season. 

Croatian Aviation reports that Ukraine International Airlines has announced a number of weekly flights between Kyiv and Split in the upcoming summer flight schedule.

Namely, Ukraine International plans to increase the number of weekly flights to Croatia this summer. Thus, from the beginning of June to the end of September this year, three flights a week have been announced, one more than last summer season. These three-weekly flights will operate on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays.

Apart from Split, Ukraine International also flies to Pula in Croatia. For this summer season, the airline plans to keep two flights a week, as it did in the summer of 2021. B737-800 aircraft have been announced on both routes.

Windrose Airlines, Ukraine's second-largest airline, does not currently offer scheduled flights to Pula and Split this summer. Croatian Aviation adds that with the current pressure of the global pandemic on passenger demand itself, the question is how many Ukrainian tourists will travel to Croatia on vacation this summer, primarily due to the political situation in their country. Therefore, the realization of regular flights between Ukraine and Croatia in the upcoming summer months will depend on that.

In addition to many summer flight announcements, Split Airport isn't all too bleak this winter, either. Croatian Aviation reports that Split Airport has released its statistics for January, confirming great results considering the time of year and the state of the pandemic. 

Split Airport recorded a significant increase in the number of passengers compared to January last year. Namely, in January 2021, there were only 7,753 passengers in Split, while this year, there were 20,400. Split Airport also recorded more than 55% of passenger traffic from January 2020. 

The most significant credit for the number of passengers in January certainly goes to Croatia Airlines, which connects Split with Frankfurt, Rome, Zagreb, and Munich daily, and KLM flights to Amsterdam and Eurowings flights to German cities.

Given the current traffic and the results from February last year, there is no doubt that the growth in the number of passengers in Split will continue, while the percentage growth will undoubtedly be lower in the summer months. Even more new routes to Split for this summer season should also be announced in the coming weeks.

For more on flights to Croatia and other travel announcements, make sure to check out our dedicated travel section.

February 3, 2022 - The latest flight news to Croatia as Air Serbia announces Belgrade-Zadar flights from June, Aegean Airlines launches Zagreb-Athens this summer, and 13 Freebird Dubrovnik winter charter flights will run from the end of this month! 

Serbian national airline Air Serbia will re-introduce a regular flight between Zadar and Belgrade this summer, reports Croatian Aviation. 

Namely, as of June 14, the Serbian airline will operate between Belgrade and Zadar. A few days ago, the same airline announced it was restoring the route to Rijeka. 

The Zadar-Belgrade line was introduced in the 2019 summer flight schedule, and flights ran twice a week, every Friday and Sunday. The airline will also operate twice a week between the two cities this summer season.

Following the pandemic, the airline stopped traffic on this route and did not operate in the summer of 2020 and 2021.

ATR72 aircraft have been announced on the route, which has a capacity of up to 70 seats in the passenger cabin. There will be just under four thousand seats on sale between Belgrade and Zadar. 

In the summer flight schedule, Air Serbia is planning regular flights from Belgrade to six Croatian airports: Zagreb, Pula, Rijeka, Zadar, Split, and Dubrovnik, and up to 18 weekly flights have been announced in the peak summer season.

Furthermore, Croatian Aviation reports that Aegean Airlines should re-establish a regular connection between Zagreb and Athens from mid-June this year.

The scheduled flights have been announced in the summer flight schedule, from June 15 to October 8 this year. Only two flights a week have been announced, every Wednesday and Saturday, but with A320 aircraft, which have a capacity of 180 seats in this airline's fleet.

Before the pandemic, Aegean flew to Zagreb several times a week, but at that time, DashQ400 aircraft with drastically lower capacity operated on the route compared to A320 aircraft.

Aegean Airlines will offer a total of 12,240 seats between Zagreb and Athens. In the summer of 2020 and 2021, this airline did not operate to Zagreb but exclusively to Adriatic airports. However, Aegean is currently not planning to return to Split, only to Dubrovnik.

The flight schedule is still subject to change, and it is to be expected that Croatia Airlines will also operate on a regular route between Zagreb and Athens (with a technical stop in Dubrovnik).

Finally, Croatian Aviation announced that the Turkish charter airline Freebird Airlines would introduce numerous charter routes to Dubrovnik Airport at the end of this month. 

Namely, from February 21, this Turkish carrier will launch regular charter traffic on 13 lines to and from Dubrovnik Airport from:

Vienna,

Berlin,

Brussels,

Dusseldorf,

Frankfurt,

Hannover,

Hamburg,

London,

Manchester,

Munich,

Marseille,

Paris,

Stuttgart.

On the 13 listed charter lines, Freebird Airlines plans to use A320 aircraft, with a capacity of 180 seats in the passenger cabin. As a result, this airline will generate many passengers on these routes, which is also much needed in the winter months.

Dubrovnik Airport published statistics for January this year, in which a total of 9,320 passengers passed through it, which is almost 50% of the traffic from January 2020 when the pandemic was not yet present in Europe. In January 2021, there were only 3,729 passengers in Dubrovnik.

For more on flights to Croatia and other travel announcements, make sure to check out our dedicated travel section.

February 1, 2022 - The latest flight news to Croatia as there is a slight reduction in Istanbul-Zagreb flights in February, while Animawings announces another seasonal line between Bucharest and Dubrovnik after Blue Air. 

Animawings, the Romanian subsidiary of Greek Aegean Airlines, introduces seasonal flights between Bucharest and Dubrovnik.

Namely, Ex Yu Aviation reports that the first flight between Dubrovnik and Bucharest has been announced for Saturday, June 18. Fights will run until the second half of September (September 17) using A320 aircraft with a capacity of 174 seats in the passenger cabin. Animawings will thus offer a total of 4,872 seats between the two cities.

Croatian Aviation reports that Blue Air will also operate twice a week on this route from June 28. 

Furthermore, Croatian Aviation reports that Turkish Airlines plans to operate 10 times a week between Istanbul and Zagreb in February this year. 

Although there were 13 weekly Turkish Airlines flights on the Istanbul-Zagreb route in January, there will be three fewer weekly flights in February. This reduction is expected given the state of the pandemic in Europe, but also the fact that passenger traffic in February is relatively low.

Turkish will thus maintain daily operations to Zagreb, with two flights a day announced every Monday, Thursday, and Sunday.

A321, B737-800, B737-900ER, B737 MAX8, and MAX9 aircraft with a capacity of 151 to 188 seats in the passenger cabin have been announced. In addition, Turkish Airlines is offering 12,558 seats between Zagreb and Istanbul in February.

Turkish Airlines also plans to operate to Dubrovnik Airport in February. Two flights a week have been announced, on Wednesdays and Saturdays, from February 5 to February 26. This makes up 7 return flights on which Turkish Airlines offers 2,266 seats to and from Dubrovnik Airport.

At the very end of last year, this airline also used wide-body aircraft type A330-200 and A330-300 to Zagreb, mainly due to additional ad-hoc demand for cargo.

For more on flights to Croatia and other travel announcements, make sure to check out our dedicated travel section.

January the 29th, 2022 - Ryanair's arrival in the City of Zagreb has been a fantastic move for all of us residents of the capital who are keen to travel elsewhere in Europe for next to nothing. With only Croatia Airlines and their often unjustified ticket prices for basic economy flights being the only option for many for years, the Irish low-cost carrier's presence is reassuring for frequent flyers. David O'Brien of Ryanair has stated that the company has opened more than 80 new Croatian routes, and hired 180 new staff members.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Darko Bicak writes, although the ongoing global coronavirus pandemic has led to changes and temporary reductions in some Croatian routes, Ryanair has almost fully met its expectations since last year's opening of its Zagreb Airport base.

This was confirmed by David O’Brien, who is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ryanair Group for Lauda and Malta Air - the aircraft under this brand have been stationed by Ryanair at Zagreb Airport.

"Zagreb is a metropolis of one million inhabitants within its surroundings, and so many more people gravitate to it. Based on our rich experience I can say with certainty that the planned 3.5 million passengers per year is a very conservative estimate. It will probably grow even more in the coming period,'' said O'Brien, who visited Zagreb recently and announced some new Croatian routes and three more aircraft to be based there.

Ryanair were observing Zagreb for a very long time...

He added that the Croatian capital has been in Ryanair's focus for a long time now and that he is happy that they finally managed to open up a base here, not only the route, but also the base.

"We've long viewed Zagreb as Lufthansa's backyard because the fact is that, although there are other carriers, you actually have to use Lufthansa and its partners to go anywhere in Europe. Ryanair wants to change that and be a quality competition that will give Croatia's residents and passengers coming to Zagreb a much better and cheaper service,'' stated O’Brien.

He added that Ryanair currently has six routes to Croatia country this year - Zagreb, Zadar, Rijeka, Pula, Split, Dubrovnik, of which there are bases in Zagreb and Zadar where it holds three aircraft.

“We've opened more than 80 Croatian routes and created 180 direct jobs. This is a total investment of 600 million US dollars from Ryanair in Croatia, and all this without a single euro of any state subsidies from the government, unlike the 12 million euros that Croatia Airlines receives annually,'' he explained.

He added that Zagreb as an air destination differs from the other five in Croatia because it is the capital city, which is a model that, for airlines, means that it has a year-round interest in travel, and also that it can represent a short trip of just several days.

For the base in Zagreb itself, O'Brien pointed out that this is an investment totalling 300 million US dollars, given that three aircraft are or will be based there, each worth about 100 million dollars

"We've remained in operation throughout the entire coronavirus pandemic and our aircraft occupancy is solid, standing at over 85 percent. However, the emergence of the Omicron strain has led to certain disorders - France and Germany previously banned arrivals from the United Kingdom, Morocco banned arrivals from many European countries, and many other European countries introduced their own individual travel restrictions.

Therefore, we had to temporarily reduce the number of flights by about 30 percent, which was followed by reductions in flights related to Zagreb, but we expect a recovery from March onwards and that in the summer of 2022, we should reach 100 million passengers,'' assured David O 'Brien.

For more on Croatian routes by air, land and sea, check out our travel section.

January 28, 2022 - The latest flight news to Croatia as 27 Ryanair Zagreb summer routes will run this year, which is 13 more than in 2021. 

Ryanair, Europe's largest airline, announced the largest summer flight schedule in Zagreb to date, including 27 routes and more than 70 weekly flights to exciting European destinations such as London, Paris, Milan, Vienna, Frankfurt, and Dublin.

Namely, Putoholicari.hr reports that last summer, Ryanair opened its base with the first aircraft in Zagreb to support strong demand for flights to/from Croatia. This increased connectivity will support tourist arrivals and also provide international tourists and business travelers with plenty of travel choices to leading European markets like Spain, Italy, Greece, Germany, France, and Austria.

While other airlines are reducing the number of routes, Ryanair is increasing capacity to a significant extent in Croatia. With an additional 13 lines compared to the 2021 summer season, including the recently announced for Bratislava, Corfu, and Lviv, travelers from Croatia now have 27 routes available for their next summer trip. This growth was driven by the delivery of 67 new so-called Gamechanger aircraft (which emit 40% less noise, 16% less fuel, and have 4% more seats available) before the start of the 2022 summer season.

A list of the flight destinations:

Baden - Baden
Basel
Bratislava
Brussels Charleroi
Corfu
Dortmund
Dublin
Eindhoven
Frankfurt - Hahn
Gothenburg
London Stansted
Lviv
Malaga
Malmo
Malta
Manchester
Memmingen
Milan - Bergamo
Naples
Paphos
Paris Beauvais
Podgorica
Rome Fiumicino
Sofia
Thessaloniki
Oslo - Torp
Dusseldorf - Weeze
*Note: 13 new lines during the summer of 2022 compared to the summer of 2021.

A statement was made by Lauda Europe CEO David O’Brien, on behalf of the Ryanair Group: 

"We are pleased to announce our largest summer flight schedule ever in Zagreb, where Ryanair will operate more than 70 weekly flights to 27 destinations, giving incoming tourism a much-needed boost, and Croatian consumers the widest choice of great destinations, both for leisure and for business travel. Ryanair is investing in Croatia to help the tourism industry recover from the coronavirus pandemic and strengthen ties with the rest of Europe, while Ryanair itself continues to grow and air traffic returns to pre-pandemic levels.

To celebrate these 27 summer lines, we are launching a seat sale with ticket prices of just 152 kn (€19.99) for a one-way trip until the end of April 2022. Take advantage of promotional prices until Saturday, January 29, at midnight. As these incredibly low ticket prices will sell out quickly, we advise you to book your seat at www.ryanair.com today."

For more on flights to Croatia and other travel announcements, make sure to check out our dedicated travel section.

January 27, 2022 - The latest flight news to Croatia brings more bad news to Zagreb Airport, as Air Serbia Belgrade-Zagreb winter flights have been further reduced in February, following Austrian Airlines, British Airways, Ryanair, and KLM.

The Serbian national airline Air Serbia will operate on a reduced basis on its only year-round route to Croatia - between Belgrade and Zagreb, this February, reports Croatian Aviation.

Thus, Air Serbia will mainly operate three times a week between Belgrade and Zagreb, on Mondays, Fridays, and Sundays. This is a consequence of the low demand caused by the coronavirus pandemic in Europe. A month ago, it was clear that the airline wanted to operate on this line with significantly more weekly departures, however, there is no need. 

The airline planned daily flights on this route (28 return flights in February), but by February 24, as many as 14 return flights had been canceled, resulting in the withdrawal of 1,960 seats. 

In March this year, Air Serbia currently offers 5 weekly flights on this route, every day except Tuesdays and Wednesdays, but there is no doubt that the airline will still revise its flight schedule and, in case of low demand, additionally cancel certain departures.

After Austrian Airlines, British Airways, Ryanair, and KLM, Air Serbia is just another airline in a series that has reduced the number of available seats to Zagreb.

However, Croatian Aviation believes that 1,960 fewer seats aren’t too big a number, especially compared to the aforementioned carriers. Austrian withdrew 3,600 seats to/from Zagreb, British Airways almost 5,300, Eurowings over 5,500, and Ryanair more than 23,000 seats!

There are 40,000 seats on sale, but due to low demand, flights were canceled, which led to the withdrawal of this capacity.

Last year, Zagreb Airport justified the suspension of flights by reduced demand, claiming that the same was happening in the region and Europe. Croatian Aviation adds that this is not an accurate figure, as Austrian was present last winter in Belgrade, Skopje, Sarajevo, Pristina, Podgorica, but not at Zagreb Airport. This winter, the airline again suspended flights between Vienna and Zagreb. The same could also apply to Eurowings, which is present in the region, while the number of weekly flights to Zagreb has been drastically reduced.

For more on flights to Croatia and other travel announcements, make sure to check out our dedicated travel section.

January 26, 2022 - The latest flight news to Croatia as British Airways London-Zagreb flights in February have been canceled. 

Croatian Aviation reports that British Airways has canceled all flights between London and Zagreb in February this year. 

Namely, British Airways has canceled 15 return flights in February between London and Zagreb, justifying the move by low demand, which is directly affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

British Airways is currently planning to return to Zagreb on the last day of February, from which four flights a week, on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays, have been announced again. As a reminder, as of January 27, the United Kingdom will abolish most of the strict measures, and testing on the second day after arriving in the country will no longer be mandatory. The easing of austerity measures is expected to allow more passenger movement, but it is hard to expect demand to rise so drastically in these winter months, which were mostly bad even in the years before the pandemic.

Irish Ryanair currently connects London Stansted and Zagreb 5 times a week, every day of the week except Tuesdays and Wednesdays, while Croatia Airlines connects London Heathrow and Zagreb 4 times a week, every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday.

Regular British Airways operations between Zagreb and London can be expected only in the summer flight schedule, but then the focus of this airline moves to the coast, to Dubrovnik, Split, and Pula.

Furthermore, Croatian Aviation reported earlier this week that Eurowings drastically cut the number of flights to Zagreb Airport since the beginning of this year due to reduced demand. January and February are traditionally the two worst months of the year regarding air traffic in Croatia and the region. This year, demand is adversely affected by the coronavirus pandemic in Europe and the world.

For this reason, Eurowings has canceled numerous departures to and from Zagreb International Airport. 

On the Stuttgart - Zagreb - Stuttgart line, Eurowings made its last flight on January 9 this year, and there are no regular flights between the two cities until February 7. Furthermore, 14 return flights were canceled in the mentioned period, which is 4,368 fewer seats to and from Zagreb.

On the Cologne - Zagreb - Cologne route, Eurowings operates regularly, twice a week, but some weekly flights have been canceled, as many as 10, which is 3,120 seats less than planned!

The Dusseldorf - Zagreb line last operated on December 28, 2021, as all flights for January and February were canceled. The next flight is announced for March 1. Zagreb lost an additional 6,120 seats from 17 canceled rotations.

The Prague - Zagreb line was supposed to start operating in the winter flight schedule this year, but it did not happen. Eurowings has already extended the start of operations on this line several times, and the first flight has been announced for March 8. A total of 6 rotations planned for January and February were canceled, which is an additional 1,872 fewer seats.

From the beginning of the year to March, Eurowings canceled 47 return flights on four international routes, which caused Zagreb to lose 15,480 seats.

For more on flights to Croatia and other travel announcements, make sure to check out our dedicated travel section.

January 24, 2022 - The latest flight news to Croatia as S7 Moscow-Zagreb winter flights have been dropped, and Eurowings drastically reduced winter operations to the capital city.

In mid-December last year, Russian S7 Airlines announced a new route between Moscow and Zagreb. The first flight was announced for January 23, 2022, reports Croatian Aviation. 

Although the airline exclusively confirmed this news to Croatian Aviation, the flights did not operate. Namely, only 6 days ago, the airline withdrew regular flights between Moscow and Zagreb, justifying the move with demand below expectations.

Flights were announced from January 23 until the end of the winter flight schedule, i.e., until the end of March this year, with the possibility of continuing operations in the summer flight schedule. However, this will not happen, and this Russian airline will continue to operate on seasonal flights from Moscow to Pula, Zadar, and Split.

Russian Azur Air announced regular operations to Zagreb, at one point, even with wide-body aircraft, but the line was canceled after only a few rotations.

On the other hand, on Friday, January 21, the new regular Aeroflot and Rossiya Airlines line between Zagreb and St. Petersburg was launched. The first flight from St. Petersburg carried 97 passengers to Zagreb (Load Factor 61%), and flights take place according to the announced flight schedule, twice a week, on Fridays and Sundays.

Furthermore, Croatian Aviation reports that German low-cost airline, Eurowings, has drastically cut the number of flights to Zagreb Airport since the beginning of this year due to reduced demand. January and February are traditionally the two worst months of the year regarding air traffic in Croatia and the region. Still, this year, just like the previous ones, demand is adversely affected by the coronavirus pandemic in Europe and the world.

For this reason, Eurowings has canceled numerous departures to and from Zagreb International Airport. 

On the Stuttgart - Zagreb - Stuttgart line, Eurowings made its last flight on January 9 this year, and there are no regular flights between the two cities until February 7. Furthermore, 14 return flights were canceled in the mentioned period, which is 4,368 fewer seats to and from Zagreb.

On the Cologne - Zagreb - Cologne route, Eurowings operates regularly, twice a week, but some weekly flights have been canceled, as many as 10, which is 3,120 seats less than planned!

The Dusseldorf - Zagreb line last operated on December 28, 2021, as all flights for January and February were canceled. The next flight is announced for March 1. Zagreb lost an additional 6,120 seats from 17 canceled rotations.

The Prague - Zagreb line was supposed to start operating in the winter flight schedule this year, but it did not happen. Eurowings has already extended the start of operations on this line several times, and the first flight has been announced for March 8. A total of 6 rotations planned for January and February were canceled, which is an additional 1,872 fewer seats.

From the beginning of the year to March, Eurowings canceled 47 return flights on four international routes, which caused Zagreb to lose 15,480 seats.

The number of lost seats is relatively small compared to Ryanair's canceled flights, of which there are significantly more. Namely, from the beginning of January to the end of February, Ryanair withdrew more than 45,000 seats to and from Zagreb International Airport!

For more on flights to Croatia and other travel announcements, make sure to check out our dedicated travel section.