November 6, 2021 - General Manager Huseyin Bahadir Bedir believes that Zagreb Airport long-haul flights will be restored between 2022-2025, with nonstop flights from the US in focus.

After the summer success of Dubrovnik Airport's nonstop flights to New York, it's no surprise that the Croatian capital wants to get on board. But given the pandemic conditions and losing out on Croatia's busiest airport title this year (which will go to Split), Zagreb Airport will take some time to get back on its feet. The Ryanair Zagreb base, however, is definitely a step in the right direction.

But even after a few challenging Covid years, Zagreb Airport General Manager Huseyin Bahadir Bedir believes that long-haul flights will return to the capital between 2022 and 2025, reports Ex Yu Aviation. 

"We are in constant contact with carriers across the world to negotiate and reach an agreement to increase airport traffic. The US market is no exception. We are working on the establishment of nonstop flights between the United States and Zagreb. However, ultimately, whether these services will be introduced depends on the commercial decision of the individual carrier”.

The United States should be on Zagreb's radar, especially after the announcement that Croatian citizens can travel visa-free as part of the US visa waiver program. But the reality is that Zagreb has not been connected with the United States since the summer of 1991 through a nonstop Pan Am flight from New York. Of course, Zagreb was also connected to the cities of New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles through JAT Yugoslav Airlines when Croatia was part of Yugoslavia, but that was a very long time ago.

Ex Yu Aviation adds that before the pandemic in 2019, 136,638 people flew indirectly between Zagreb and the United States. Most flew between Zagreb and New York (21% of all passengers between Zagreb and the US), followed by Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, Miami, Boston, and Houston. 

Zagreb Airport likely won't fully restore its long-haul flight network until 2025, though we will already see some airlines return next year, like Air Canada and Air Transat with seasonal operations from Canada. 

“It is no secret the resumption of medium, and long haul flights primarily depend on travel restriction imposed by different countries. Zagreb Airport had a considerable number of passengers from the Far East, Australia, and North America. The return of these flights will depend on border restrictions. We expect the gradual resumption of these services between 2022 and 2025”, Bedir concluded. 

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

November the 3rd, 2021 - The well known flight company EasyJet is considering introducing flights to two more Croatian cities for the very first time as the World Travel Market kicks off in the British capital. Could EasyJet Rijeka and even Osijek flights be on the cards in the not so distant future? Maybe.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, promising announcements for Croatian tourism are coming from the World Travel Market (WTM), which started a couple of days ago in London. According to the director of the Croatian National Tourist Board (HTZ), Kristjan Stanicic, who met with representatives of some of the most important partners such as easyJet, TUI, SAGA, Jet2.com & Jet2Holidays during the first day of the fair, Croatia looks as if it will be a hit destination next year as well.

"We've achieved some exceptionally good results this year, and there's also been great announcements for next year from the representatives of Jet2.com, our most important partners on the British market, which, along with TUI, brings us the largest number of British tourists each year.

These partners have announced an increase in demand for Croatia and a larger number of airlines, but we also have a great responsibility ahead of us because the basic precondition for a successful tourist season will be a stable epidemiological situation,'' said Stanicic.

EasyJet is also satisfied with the achieved results and notes that in 2021 they have almost completely returned to the trends from the pre-pandemic record year of 2019.

"Speaking of Croatia, next year we plan to increase capacities and introduce some new flights, and for the first time we're considering the introduction of flights to the airports of Rijeka and Osijek," revealed Richard Owens, the development manager at easyJet.

EasyJet Rijeka and certainly Osijek flights would bring even higher numbers of visitors to Croatia and finally shine the spotlight on the commonly overlooked Eastern Croatian region, which has a lot to boast about but is still very much stuck living in its coastal cousins' shadows.

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

October 26, 2021 - The 2021 Croatia Airlines winter schedule has been announced, while Ryanair has begun announcing even more spring flights from its Zagreb base next year. 

Croatia Airlines has announced its winter flight schedule, which will take effect on the last day of October and run until the end of March next year, reports Croatian Aviation.

Croatia Airlines has thus announced 13 international routes from Zagreb, 3 from Split, and one from Osijek, a total of 17 international routes to and from Croatia.

Lines from Zagreb

Croatia Airlines will have the largest number of flights and weekly flights from Zagreb Airport, its main base. Flights to the following European destinations have been announced:

Amsterdam, 7 times a week, daily,

Vienna, 3 times a week, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays,

Brussels, 6 times a week, every day except Saturday,

Dublin, 2 times a week, Thursdays and Sundays,

Frankfurt, 3 to 4 daily flights

Copenhagen, 5 times a week, every day except Tuesdays and Saturdays,

London, 4 times a week, Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays,

Munich, 5 times a week, every day except Wednesday and Saturday,

Paris, 7 times a week, daily,

Rome (via Split), 7 times a week, daily,

Sarajevo, 6 times a week, every day except Saturday,

Skopje, 4 times a week, Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays,

Zurich, 11 times a week, daily, two daily flights on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays.

Lines from Split

Croatia Airlines will operate on three routes from Split Airport to two destinations in Germany and one in Italy; scheduled flights to Munich, Frankfurt, and Rome have been announced:

Frankfurt, 7 times a week, daily,

Munich, 7 times a week, daily,

Rome, 7 times a week, daily.

Flights from Osijek

Croatia Airlines will introduce a regular flight between Munich and Osijek on November 15 this year. Aircraft will operate on this route twice a week, every Monday and Friday. Thus, passengers will be able to continue their journey to 6 European destinations via Munich.

On most routes, the Croatian national airline will use DashQ400 aircraft with a capacity of 76 seats, but in a much smaller proportion than last winter. Airbus A319 and A320 aircraft have been announced from Zagreb to Amsterdam, Dublin, London, Frankfurt, Paris, and Copenhagen and from Split to Frankfurt. 

There will be no regular international flights to Rijeka and Dubrovnik this winter, as before the pandemic. Still, Croatia Airlines continues to operate on domestic routes to Pula, Zadar, and Dubrovnik and PSO routes from Zagreb Airport in the upcoming winter flight schedule.

Furthermore, Ryanair has launched additional departures on several international routes from Zagreb Airport next spring, adds Croatian Aviation.

Namely, the Irish low-cost carrier released tickets for next year's summer flight schedule, including flights from Zagreb Airport, with additional departures on 9 international lines from the new Zagreb base, allowing flexibility for travelers to and from Zagreb.

The following lines have increased from 2 to 3 flights per week: 

Zagreb - Memmingen - Zagreb (March 2022),

Zagreb - Malta - Zagreb (March 2022),

Zagreb - Paphos - Zagreb (March 2022),

Zagreb - Weeze - Zagreb (March 2022),

Zagreb - Basel - Zagreb (March 2022).

The following lines will operate four times a week instead of three times a week:

Zagreb - Frankfurt Hahn - Zagreb (March 2022),

Zagreb - Gothenburg - Zagreb (May 2022).

Lines to Bergamo and Brussels are in the highest demand, so Ryanair is introducing additional flights on these routes:

Zagreb - Milan Bergamo - Zagreb, from 4 to 5 weekly flights (April 2022),

Zagreb - Brussels Charleroi - Zagreb, from 4 to 5 weekly flights (April 2022).

For more on travel in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

October 11, 2021 - United Airlines flights to Dubrovnik have been extended until the end of October next year!

After an extremely successful summer season in which United Airlines launched a route between New York and Dubrovnik (from July to early October), they have announced more flights to Dubrovnik Airport next summer, reports Croatian Aviation.

United introduced a regular line between Dubrovnik and New York in early July this year. Three flights a week were announced which quickly increased to four times a week from the beginning of July to the beginning of October this year.

Encouraged by the great interest, the airline has already announced the continuation of traffic between Dubrovnik and New York in the summer flight schedule next year.

Unlike this year, next summer, United Airlines plans to launch the first flight between Dubrovnik and New York at the end of May (May 27, 2022). This summer season, the last flight was at the very beginning of October, and for next year, United plans regular operations until the very end of October (October 26, 2022). Thus, this line will be in traffic for a full two months longer next summer compared to this season.

Unlike United, Delta Air Lines, which also operated regularly between New York and Dubrovnik this summer, has not yet released tickets on this route for next summer season. If this route doesn't relaunch, United may increase its capacity to Dubrovnik, either by introducing a larger type of aircraft or by increasing weekly rotations.

With the announcement that Croatian citizens will no longer need visas to visit the USA from December 1 this year, and with 8 weekly operations between Dubrovnik and New York this summer, another regular line from the United States to Croatia may be announced for next summer season, concludes Croatian Aviation.

For more information about flights to Croatia, follow the dedicated TCN section.

To learn more about Osijek Airport, click here. 

September 22, 2021 - International flights are returning to Osijek, as ExYuAviation reports Croatia Airlines set to announce a new Munich route at a press conference tomorrow. 

Finally some good news for those wishing to travel to eastern Croatia, as Croatia Airlines is set to announce a new flight from Osijek to Munich. According to ExYuAviation, more details will be announced at a press conference tomorrow at 11:30 on the service, which should begin in the 2021/22 season.

The arrival of Ryanair in Zagreb has shaken up the Croatian flight market, and the Irish airline's supremo, Michael O'Leary, was in the Croatian capital yesterday explaining the low-cost carrier's plans. With some 40 Ryanair destinations from Zagreb in the pipeline by next summer, there is clearly some pressure on Croatia Airlines to respond.

In addition to the Zagreb announcement, Ryanair also announced that they are returning to Rijeka, with an initial service to Brussels Charleroi. This means that the airline will now service six out of the seven mainland Croatian airports next season. The only exception - at least for now - is Osijek, an airport that Ryanair once connected to, with flights to London and Germany. 

Currently, there are no international flights to Osijek, with only domestic routes offered by Trade Air and Croatia Airlines. 

The new Munich route will be good news not only for tourists, but also for the many local people who have emigrated to Germany in search of a better economic future. 

The potential of tourism in Slavonia and eastern Croatia is largely untapped, and improved connections to other international destinations are key to its development. Whether or not Ryanair has plans to reenter the Osijek market remains to be seen, as is whether or not there will be additional routes from Osijek Airport by the Croatian national carrier. 

TCN will being you an update of this story after tomorrow's press conference.

For more information about flights to Croatia, follow the dedicated TCN section.

To learn more about Osijek Airport, click here. 

September 22, 2021 - Could 7 million Zagreb Airport passengers be the reality by 2024? Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary thinks so. 

As TCN already reported yesterday, low-cost airline Ryanair will connect Zagreb with 24 destinations in 16 countries in the winter flight schedule. In December, it will introduce a third aircraft into the Zagreb base, expecting around one million passengers on all routes by next summer, announced Ryanair CEO, Michael O'Leary.

Three based A320 aircraft with a capacity of 180 seats will operate from Zagreb to Baden Baden, Basel, Brussels, Dortmund, Dublin, Düsseldorf, Eindhoven, Frankfurt, Gothenburg, London, Malaga, Malta, Malmö, Manchester, Memmingen, Milan, Naples, Oslo, Paris, Paphos, Podgorica, Rome, Sofia, and Sofia.

"Ryanair is investing in Croatia to help it recover from the tourism industry after Covid and strengthened connectivity with the rest of Europe as Ryanair continues to grow and air transport returns to pre-pandemic levels. As Ryanair takes over 55 new B737-8200 aircraft this winter, we are pleased to base three new aircraft in Zagreb, which will fly a total of 24 new routes during Ryanair's first Zagreb-based winter," he said. 

This is also Ryanair's first winter flight schedule from Zagreb, which starts at the end of October. O'Leary added that this is his first press conference and visit to Zagreb, reports Jutarnji List.

He emphasized that Zagreb is a great challenge for them and that they see great potential there, as in the whole of Croatia, already recognized in the world for its tourism. For Zagreb, he pointed out that it is currently one of the growing 'hot city break' destinations.

"People want to come to Zagreb, especially for the Christmas fair in winter, and it also has a lot of cultural and historical sights, good food and a growing number of foreign tourists. The recognizability of Croatia in football is also important, and as far as I was able to see, there are a lot of beautiful women," O'Leary added.

The Ryanair CEO believes that Zagreb deserves to have at least about 3.5 million air passengers a year because it is the capital, and he believes that in cooperation with Zagreb Airport, with which they share a vision of growth, these figures will be reached.

He reiterated Ryanair's earlier announcements that they would invest a total of $300 million in Zagreb to 'base' three aircraft by the end of this year, two of which are already in the base from July and September, thus directly creating 100 jobs and another 750 indirect ones throughout Croatia. However, he would be disappointed if they only brought the fourth plane to Zagreb next summer because they could have three to five of them there.

He also mentioned the excellent cooperation with other airports in Croatia - Zadar, Pula, and Dubrovnik, and that from next spring, they will fly to Rijeka. Still, only Zagreb will work in the winter, while other flights will be seasonal. 

O'Leary noted that Ryanair wants Croatia Airlines to be a "living and healthy" company, as they do not have the same passenger structure nor fly to the same destinations and airports.

"We care that Croatia Airlines lives, and we did not come here to destroy it, but we came to create healthy competition, and as the line to Dublin did not destroy the Polish LOT or AirLingus, neither will CA," O'Leary replied.

He is satisfied with the current business with Zagreb and Croatia. He expects continued strong demand for their flights, concluding that there is no reason why the number of total air passengers of all carriers will not increase to around 7 million in the next three years.

The airport should be handling 3.5 million passengers next year, six million in 2023, and over seven million travelers in 2024. We plan on carrying over ten million passengers in cooperation with Zagreb Airport over the next five to six years”, Mr O’Leary said.

Ryanair was expected to announce new routes to Zagreb at this press conference. However, the company instead used media attention to promote its lines from the new Zagreb base.

Follow the latest flights to Croatia HERE and the latest travel updates and COVID-19 news from Croatia HERE.

September 3, 2021 - After announcing 9 new Ryanair destinations from Zagreb earlier this week, a second aircraft of the low-cost carrier has been stationed at the capital city airport. Better yet, a third aircraft should be based at Zagreb Airport from December 1!

Ryanair has based its second aircraft at Zagreb Airport, following the opening of its base in July. The deployment of a third aircraft is planned for December. As travel recovers and approaches pre-pandemic coronavirus levels, Ryanair’s expansion encourages traffic and tourism recovery across Europe, reports Avio Radar.

Ryanair's total investment for Zagreb is $300 million, and the carrier will offer more than 40 outbound flights a week on 15 different routes, including 9 new routes to European destinations - Sandefjord, Baden Baden, Beauvais, Memmingen, Hahn, Dortmund, Podgorica, Weeze and Malmo,

Also, nine more new routes will be launched this winter based on the third aircraft expected on December 1. 

Travelers from Croatia can book a vacation for the end of the summer on one of Ryanair's new routes, such as Dortmund, London, Oslo, Paris, and many others.

After welcoming the second aircraft in Zagreb and announcing 9 new routes, Ryanair's head of sales and marketing for countries in Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans, Olga Pawlonka, said:

"We are delighted to base another aircraft in Zagreb as part of our expansion plan in Croatia. This is part of a $300 million investment that will play an important role in supporting tourism recovery in the Croatian capital. Ryanair provides connectivity to several Zagreb destinations throughout the year.

With nine new summer lines starting this week, or a total of 24 lines during the winter, our passengers will have a great choice when planning late summer holidays in cities like Sofia, Paris, Rome, and many others.”

Yavuz Aytis, route manager for Zagreb International Airport, said:

"We are happy to welcome another aircraft at the Ryanair base at Zagreb Airport and are proud to announce 9 new Ryanair flights to Zagreb from this week. As a result, citizens of Zagreb and the surrounding area will have more opportunities to fly directly to various destinations. We believe that the increased availability of Zagreb will lead to a faster recovery of tourism and the economy.

Zagreb International Airport will continue its efforts to expand the network of direct flights from Zagreb because the citizens and visitors of our city deserve a wide range of affordable flights. We expect these efforts to contribute to an even stronger positioning of our beautiful capital as an attractive destination for many European travelers."

Follow the latest flights to Croatia HERE and the latest travel updates and COVID-19 news from Croatia HERE.

For all you need to know about coronavirus specific to Croatia, make sure to bookmark our dedicated COVID-19 section and select your preferred language.

August 18, 2021 - The latest flight news to Croatia as the Ryanair Zagreb base boosts operations on two lines, and Blue Air Split and Dubrovnik routes are on the horizon. 

The newly launched Ryanair Zagreb base will boost operations on two routes from September 1, reports Ex Yu Aviation. 

Namely, the airline will operate four weekly flights to Charleroi compared to the existing two, while there will be four weekly rotations to Gothenburg compared to the existing three flights a week. 

Furthermore, Ryanair will station a second jet, the Airbus A320, in Zagreb from September 1, thus launching nine new routes. 

Ex Yu Aviation reports that Romanian low-cost carrier Blue Air will run seasonal flights from Bucharest to Split and Dubrovnik in 2022. The new routes will work from June 23 and June 28, with two flights per week on the 189-seat Boeing 737-800 aircraft.

The airline is introducing seven new routes next summer, with Split and Dubrovnik included. 

Eurowings has also announced that it will introduce its third route to Zagreb Airport, a year-round flight between Dusseldorf and Zagreb, which was canceled in 2019. The route will run on Tuesdays and Saturdays beginning August 31.

Follow the latest on flights to Croatia HERE and the latest travel updates and COVID-19 news from Croatia HERE.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated travel section.

August the 13th, 2021 - Croatian air traffic has well and truly outshined the dire situation we experienced last year as the vaccination rollout continues globally and restrictions on travel and tourism slowly but steadily allow for more flexibility. 285 percent more air passengers arrived in June 2021 when compared to the same month in 2020.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Darko Bicak writes, although the ongoing coronavirus pandemic is far from totally over, all indicators suggest that almost all trends and figures in terms of freight and passenger traffic in national and international traffic, if not already returned to their pre-pandemic levels, are very much on track for a safe recovery.

The data from the Central Bureau of Statistics on traffic in Croatian seaports and airports also confirm this. According to that data, traffic in seaports doubled in June this year, and tripled in airports when compared to last year. Croatian air traffic has certainly been on the rebound, and it hasn't come a moment too late.

According to the aforementioned CBS data, 5.43 million passengers embarked and disembarked in Croatian seaports during the second quarter of 2021, which is an increase of 81.8 percent compared to the same period last year.

Compared to pre-pandemic, record 2019, this is still a drop of 41.9 percent, but that isn't really surprising. Circumstances caused by the spread of the novel coronavirus back in 2020 directly affected the decline in passenger and vehicle traffic across all Croatian seaports, and things are now finally showing signs of steady and sure recovery.

After a six-month break, in the second quarter of 2021, the return of passengers on cruise ships began. There have so far been 12 thousand passengers, but compared to the same quarter of 2019, traffic in that sector fell by a depressing 97.6 percent.

In the second quarter of 2021, there was an increase in vehicles on Croatia's roads when compared to 2020, but compared to 2019, 19.5 percent fewer passenger vehicles and 78.6 percent fewer buses were loaded and unloaded on/from vessels.

The total turnover of goods at the level of the Republic of Croatia increased by 10.2 percent when compared to the same period back in 2020, which was caused by the increase in the turnover of dry bulk goods by 42.5 percent, which has a share in the total turnover of goods of 26 percent.

Current cargo turnover, with a share in the total turnover of goods of 51 percent, decreased by 2.6 percent when compared to the same period back in 2020. Of the five ports that account for 92 percent of the total turnover of goods in seaports, the Port of Ploce (57.7 percent), the Port of Rijeka (18.1 percent) and the Port of Split (18.1 percent) all saw increases in 2021's second quarter.

In the first half of 2021, compared to the same period in 2020, the total number of ships arriving in Croatian seaports increased by 30.3 percent, the total passenger traffic by 40.7 percent, and the total cargo traffic by 12.5 percent.

A similar situation, but with more pronounced growth, can be seen in Croatian air traffic, which suffered tremendously throughout 2020.

In June 2021, the total passenger traffic at Croatian airports amounted to 320 thousand or 285.4 percent more than in June 2020, when Croatian air traffic brought only 83 thousand passengers into the country. For comparison, back in June 2019, the turnover was 1.56 million passengers.

In June 2021, 20.6 percent of passenger traffic from June 2019 was realised. The largest amount of passenger traffic was realised by Split Airport, with 115 thousand passengers, which is 360.1 percent more than in June 2020, followed by Zagreb Airport with 100 thousand passengers and Dubrovnik Airport with 59 thousand passengers.

For more, follow our travel section.

August 6, 2021 - As announced in previous months, and now added to the flexibility of travel measures and restrictions between England and Croatia, British Airways flights to Croatia will have around 11,000 seats available for passengers arriving in August from English territory.

Jutarnji List reports that, with the abolition of corona measures in Great Britain, the expansion of flights of local airlines to Croatia began. As of yesterday, British Airways flights to Croatia between London City and Split have started.

Flights on this route will operate three times a week with an E190 aircraft. But that is just the beginning. According to the announcements, British Airways will soon connect Split and London Heathrow nine times a week.

Starting tomorrow, the two-week flight of this company between London (Heathrow) and Pula will start. The company is reintroducing a two-week flight. This week, 12 weekly flights between Heathrow and Dubrovnik should start. Towards Dubrovnik, it will use A321 aircraft and will offer up to 5,232 seats between the two cities on a weekly basis.

The number of flights on the route from London to Zagreb will not increase and BA will still have five weekly flights to the Croatian capital. Given this increase in the number of flights, BA will have 31 flights this month to four Croatian airports with more than 11,000 seats available.

It will operate to Croatia on 6 routes with a total of 9 weekly flights. Apart from the British, this month the number of international flights to Croatian airports will be further strengthened by the German low-cost company Eurowings.

Thus, in addition to Rijeka, Split, Pula, Zagreb, Dubrovnik, Split, and Zadar, this month it will open a new line between Düsseldorf and Zagreb. Given the new route, the company will have 57 weekly flights on 25 routes to six of our airports this month.

Follow the latest on flights to Croatia HERE and the latest travel updates and COVID-19 news from Croatia HERE.

For more on travel in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.