April 7, 2021 - The latest flight news for Croatia as there will be no FlyDubai flights to Zagreb until September 1, 2021, and none to Dubrovnik at all this year. 

Croatian Aviation reports that the low-cost company from the United Arab Emirates will not resume traffic between Zagreb Airport and Dubai this summer.

FlyDubai had initially announced that it would resume traffic between Dubai and Zagreb in the summer flight schedule in 2021, as a replacement for Emirates, which has permanently withdrawn from the same route due to the pandemic.

The airline originally planned to resume traffic beginning the year, and flights were then delayed from month to month. The last announcement from the airline was that the traffic on this line would be resumed from the end of May, but as of today, all flights have been canceled until September 1 this year. 

The airline was to offer 57,000 seats between Dubai and Zagreb in the summer of 2021, however, significantly less than in 2019 when Emirates operated on this route with a B777-300ER wide-body aircraft and an average capacity of 358 seats per flight. Recall, in 2019, more than 152 thousand seats were available on this line.

Apart from the smaller capacity, the Dubai - Zagreb line will also no longer have a first-class seat offer for which Emirates is world-famous. The number of offered seats in business and economy class is also drastically reduced. 

But Zagreb isn't the only victim this summer, as all planned flights between Dubai and Dubrovnik for this year have also been canceled. Recall, Flydubai planned on operating the Dubai - Dubrovnik route from May 13, twice a week, on Thursdays and Sundays. From June 25, the airline was to add a third weekly flight (Fridays), with scheduled flights until the end of September. 

FlyDubai's return to Zagreb on September 1 is not yet certain. If the airline is not able to fill its capacity on narrow-body aircraft in the summer months, then the occupancy of this line is even riskier after September 1, when demand is usually lower. 

As a reminder, in the summer months of 2019, Emirates connected Zagreb and Dubai daily with wide-body aircraft type B777-300ER, while FlyDubai operated on the same route in the winter months.

Nevertheless, the return of Flydubai to Zagreb will eventually enable Emirates passengers to continue their journey to Zagreb with a partner company. 

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.

April 6, 2021 - The latest flight news for Croatia as there could be 10 fewer international Croatia Airlines flights from Zagreb this summer. 

Croatian Aviation reports that the Croatian national airline will no longer sell 10 international routes on which the company operated from Zagreb in the summer of 2019, before the outbreak of the global pandemic.

These are international routes from Zagreb Airport that the airline has gradually introduced since the summer of 2016 and on which it operated seasonally in the summer flight schedule. Most of the lines were in operation from April to October, but certain lines started operations earlier, in March, and continued until December.

The airline will likely not resume traffic on as many as 10 international routes from Zagreb Airport in the upcoming summer flight schedule:

Barcelona,

Bucharest,

Lisbon,

Mostar,

Milan,

Prague,

Oslo,

Stockholm,

Helsinki,

St. Petersburg.

Vueling and TAP Portugal should operate on the routes from Barcelona and Lisbon, Ryanair will operate to Milan, and Zagreb Airport will not have direct flights to other destinations (Bucharest, Mostar, Prague, Oslo, Stockholm, Helsinki, and St. Petersburg).

Only flights from Zagreb to Dublin and Athens are on sale (with a stop in Dubrovnik). Still, the question is whether Croatia Airlines will withdraw the route to Dublin in the coming weeks, which the airline briefly introduced around the Easter holidays.

In the summer flight schedule, the Croatian national airline will continue to operate to several European destinations from Zagreb, mainly to major European hubs (such as Amsterdam, Paris, Frankfurt, London, etc.). Still, the question arises as to why the airline did not choose to operate on certain routes on which there is no competition, at least with a minimum of two flights a week in the peak season.

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.

April 2, 2021 - The latest flight news in Croatia with the announcement of Condor flights to Split and Aeroflot flights to Pula and Dubrovnik this summer!

Croatian Aviation reports that German leisure airline, Condor Airlines, will operate only to Split Airport this summer.

Before the pandemic, Condor Airlines operated to four Croatian airports: Rijeka, Zadar, Split, and Dubrovnik. In the summer of 2020, Condor operated only to Split, and although there were flights to Zadar in the announcements for only a month, this will no longer happen.

Condor previously announced the Zurich - Split line for this summer season, but tickets have been withdrawn from sale.

This year, the company will not fly to Rijeka, Zadar, and Dubrovnik

In the summer season, from mid-May, Condor will launch three routes to Split Airport:

Munich - Split will be in traffic once a week, on Saturdays,

Dusseldorf - Split will be in traffic three times a week, on Tuesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays,

Frankfurt - Split line will be open three times a week, on Tuesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays.

Previously, Condor offered tickets on the line from Frankfurt to Zadar, and in 2019 it operated on the line from Frankfurt to Rijeka. However, low demand has forced this carrier to reduce the flight schedule to Croatia, and Condor Airlines will only fly to Split.

Furthermore, Croatian Aviation reports that the Russian national airline Aeroflot will introduce a line to Pula in June this year and renew the line between Moscow and Dubrovnik!

The Moscow - Pula - Moscow line will run from June 1 to September 30, every day! The airline will perform 122 return flights between Pula and Moscow this summer with B737-800 aircraft with a capacity of 158 seats in the Aeroflot fleet. Almost 40,000 seats will be available in both directions!

The Moscow - Dubrovnik - Moscow line will operate in the same period as the line to Pula, with the same type of aircraft, so almost 40 thousand additional seats will be available here.

The company has withdrawn the Moscow-Split-Moscow line from sale, and it is not yet clear whether it will operate on this line in the upcoming summer season. In the summer of 2020, this Russian airline did not operate in Croatia. 

The number of weekly flights to Zagreb has been reduced. Aeroflot currently operates once a week between Moscow and Zagreb. And from May 1, a second weekly flight is available (Thursdays and Saturdays).

From June 7, the line between Moscow and Zagreb will operate three times a week (Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays), which will continue throughout the summer (July, August, and September). This is a significantly smaller number of weekly operations, given that Aeroflot announced daily flights in the peak of the summer season until a few days ago. Still, the reduction is logical given that the company will operate directly to Dubrovnik and Pula. On the route to Zagreb, Aeroflot will use A320 aircraft.

The company was in Zagreb only once in 2020, on a charter flight from Moscow with a B777-300ER aircraft, transporting medical equipment from Shanghai.

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.

April 2, 2021 - "Tailored travel products and an airline for the globetrotters!" New Croatian start-up carrier Pragusa.One revealed its plans for launching premium economy long-haul flights from Dubrovnik to North America, Africa, and Asia.

Will there be flights from Dubrovnik to New York, Beijing, and more international destinations in the near future? According to Pragusa.One there will be, as the new Croatian start-up is looking to serve the United States, China, Japan, and more from bases in Dubrovnik and Prague.

You may recall us announcing the news at the beginning of March, and now, Ex Yu Aviation has even more details on the Pragusa.One network, fleet, and plans 

“We are going to start as a travel agency but in the next three years, we will make the transition towards becoming an airline, since AOC [Air Operator’s Certificate] certification will take some time. In Croatia, we are going to apply for an AOC which will take ten to twelve months. Until then, we will operate with our partner on a full charter basis. We expect to sign an agreement with them in the next couple of days. We will convert the wet-lease into a dry-lease by 2024. We expect to launch our booking and reservation system by the end of April, but the start of operations will depend on travel restrictions," said the Pragusa.One CEO, Krešimir Budinski.

Namely, Pragusa.One will sell seven and fourteen-day tour packages to Dubrovnik and Prague, while offering point-to-point flights through a wet-lease arrangement with a partner.

“We have hired a former CEO from one big airline. We will be releasing more information on that soon. We will initially start operations with wet-leased A330s and A350s. We are in advanced talks with Airbus to get brand new A350s in a single class all premium economy configuration by 2024. The A330s will be used for medium-haul destinations and the A350s will be utilized for long-haul flights. We decided to launch an all premium economy airline because there is a team of aviation and travel professionals behind Pragusa.One who have studied how airlines used this configuration in the past. We saw an opportunity, especially after the Covid-19 pandemic hit, to offer point-to-point flights for premium passengers, which is why the A350s will have an all-economy layout”, Budinski said.

Fights from New York and Los Angeles to Dubrovnik could be the first to launch. 

“New York and LA to Croatia may be launched first. There is big demand from South Africa and China too. We also have partners in China supporting this project, among which are tour operators and the Chinese Civil Aviation Authority. At this point, fifteen people, mostly aviation and travel professionals, have been working on this project since last summer. It is backed by private investors from the aviation industry. Our investors have over twenty years of experience in aviation investments. We also conducted market research and saw a small niche of travelers who are keen to pay more to get premium service, which is what we are aiming to offer. We will provide seven and fourteen-day trips to Prague and Dubrovnik, which will be our main source of revenue, but we will also sell long-haul flights which will be available in major GDS systems," Budinski concluded.

You can follow Pragusa.One HERE.

To see more flights to Croatia, CLICK HERE.

For the latest travel updates and COVID-19 news from Croatia, CLICK HERE.

Flying to Dubrovnik or want to learn more about the Adriatic Pearl? CLICK HERE.

April 1, 2021 - The latest flight news for Croatia as two more WizzAir flights to Split have been added this summer!

While all eyes have been on Ryanair for the last two days, WizzAir has meanwhile launched two more routes to Split Airport.

Namely, Croatian Aviation reports that the Hungarian airline WizzAir has launched two new routes to Split in the upcoming summer flight schedule. In the last month alone, this well-known airline has announced the introduction of as many as 6 new routes to Split Airport this summer!

In addition to the previously announced new lines from Split to Oslo, Gdansk, Wroclaw, and Krakow, the airline will introduce two more new lines from Poland from mid-June. These are lines from Lublin and Poznan that will run to Split twice a week.

Although WizzAir will not base the aircraft in Split as Ryanair will in Zagreb and Zadar, the number of weekly operations and routes is large, and it is obvious that this Hungarian airline has decided to develop its network from this Croatian city. Split is currently the only WizzAir destination in the Republic of Croatia.

From June 13, WizzAir will operate on the Lublin - Split - Lublin line twice a week, on Thursdays and Sundays, until mid-September.

From June 11, the Poznan - Split - Poznan line will be introduced, which will also be in traffic twice a week, every Monday and Friday, until the end of September.

Currently, WizzAir offers 10 international routes to Split (of which as many as 6 new ones), and by the beginning of the season, they will announce more new routes to Split Airport. 

According to available information, three new lines have not been announced yet. WizzAir will soon release tickets on the lines from Vienna, Budapest, and London (Gatwick) in the coming weeks, which will give the airline as many as 13 international lines to Split during the peak summer season!

Considering that WizzAir connected Split with only four international destinations in the summer of 2020, this is a huge increase in capacity and lines.

The arrival of Ryanair in Zagreb can certainly be called the news of the year in terms of aviation in Croatia, and this category includes their summer base in Zadar. WizzAir is slowly but surely adding new destinations from Split and practically building its fortress in one Croatian airport. The number of international routes on which it will operate from Split Airport this year is really impressive.

If WizzAir's existing plan for this summer is realized, the Hungarian airline will offer almost 100,000 seats from Split in the upcoming season. Split will, in a way, become the WizzAir 'base', and Zagreb and Zadar the base of Ryanair.

To see more flights to Croatia, CLICK HERE.

For the latest travel updates and COVID-19 news from Croatia, CLICK HERE.

If you're flying to Split Aiport, CLICK HERE, and to learn more about Split, CLICK HERE. 

March 31, 2021 - The latest flight news to Croatia as 17 new Ryanair flights to Zadar this summer have been announced, for a total of 37 international lines flying to the new Ryanair Zadar base! 

Croatian Aviation reports that Ryanair held two press conferences yesterday, both virtual, for Zagreb and Zadar airports. 

At the press conference, Europe's largest airline announced the reopening of its base at Zadar Airport. With two base aircraft, on as many as 78 weekly flights, it will connect Zadar with 37 destinations, of which as many as 17 are new, giving passengers the opportunity to choose from a number of European destinations from July 2021.

Ryanair's new destinations from Zadar Airport announced for this summer season are:

Aarhus,

Bari,

Bologna,

Bremen,

Bucharest,

Budapest,

Edinburgh,

Gdańsk,

Liverpool,

Maastricht,

Naples,

Newcastle,

Paris,

Rome,

Vaxjo,

Warsaw,

Wroclaw.

In addition to the 17 new lines, Ryanair will operate from Zadar on 20 more previously introduced lines, bringing a total of 37 international destinations to Zadar!

Given the number of announced routes, Ryanair will open a base at Zadar Airport this summer and base 2 of its aircraft there. In total, on a weekly basis, the Irish carrier will have as many as 78 return flights to 15 European countries.

According to Croatian Aviation, there will also be 12 Ryanair flights to Zagreb from eight countries. Thus, the Croatian metropolis will be connected with Paris, Brussels, Dortmund, Frankfurt, Karlsruhe, Memmingen, Milan, Rome, Podgorica, Oslo, Gothenburg, and London.

Already this autumn, Ryanair will perform as many as 36 weekly flights from Zagreb Airport to the following destinations:

Brussels Charleroi, from June 2, 3 times a week,

Dortmund, from September 3, 2 times a week,

Frankfurt-Hahn, from September 3, 3 times a week,

Gothenburg, from September 3, 3 times a week,

Karlsruhe, from September 2, 2 times a week,

London, from September 1, daily,

Memmingen, from September 3, 2 times a week,

Milan, from July 1, 4 times a week,

Paris, from September 2, 2 times a week,

Podgorica, from September 4, 2 times a week,

Rome, from September 3, 3 times a week,

Torp Sandefjord, from September 1, 2 times a week.

For the latest travel updates and COVID-19 news from Croatia, CLICK HERE.

March the 31st, 2021 - The Zagreb Ryanair arrival confirmation which was confirmed very recently from the popular Irish air company is set to not only end reliance on often extremely expensive Croatia Airlines flights to large European capitals like London (given British Airways' current absence), but also transform the city's tourist picture and create much needed jobs.

As Ana Blaskovic/Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the much talked about Zagreb Ryanair arrival was finally confirmed recently following months of speculation, but the Irish company's arrival in the Croatian capital is also going to take matters a step further because Zagreb is set to become one of the airline's bases. The investment is worth a massive 200 million dollars, but the company didn't want to talk about such details, including whether or not this "deal" includes possible subsidies.

The outlines of the initial plan imply that two aircraft will be stationed in Zagreb, which will fly on twelve new routes on up to 36 flights a week. As such, sixty new local jobs in Zagreb will be created.

For now, the only plan is to connect with other international airports, but not domestic flights, although Ryanair isn't explicitly ruling out this possibility.

The state-owned national airline, Croatia Airlines, which has been suffering since long before the pandemic struck and is frequently accused of charging far, far too much for very basic economy flights, can still breathe a sigh of relief for now. This is because the arrival of such low-cost competition, whose flights from Zagreb will be significantly cheaper for European destinations, will not, at least for the time being, erode domestic revenues.

"With our arrival, the number of passengers is going to increase, and for Zagreb that means more new tourists and new niche tourism as a ''weekend break'' destination or a door to other cities. This opens the way for small enterprises to other markets as well, and I believe that this will transform Zagreb,'' said the President of the Management Board of Ryanair DAC, Eddie Wilson, at a virtual press conference.

"We're delighted to have launched a new Croatian base. This development will create more than sixty jobs directly and we're going to be able to offer our Croatian customers routes to many attractive European destinations this summer, including popular destinations such as Rome, Milan, Paris and London,'' said Wilson.

The Zagreb Ryanair arrival will create an impressive twelve new routes

The twelve new routes opening from Zagreb will be to various European destinations, including Paris, London, Rome, Milan, Brussels, Frankfurt Han, then Memmimgem (115 kilometres east of Munich), Karlsruhe, Dortmund, Gothenburg, Oslo Torp and Podgorica. Ryanair's planes will fly from the new terminal of Zagreb Airport, confirmed the President of the Management Board of Zagreb International Airport, Huseyin Bahadir Bedir.

Along with Zadar, Zagreb is now set to become Ryanair's second Croatian base, and the total investment here in Croatia reaches about 400 million dollars. In total, Ryanair will have four planes stationed in Croatia, covering Zagreb, Pula, Zadar, Split and Dubrovnik.

The Irish airline flies to 240 airports, covers 40 countries on more than 2,000 routes, and by 2026, it expects 200 million passengers and its fleet growth to reach about 600 aircraft.

Back in December last year, 75 new Boeing 737-8200 aircraft were ordered, and the delivery of the first is expected soon. These are the aircraft that Ryanair calls "gamechangers": with 4 percent more seats, 16 percent less fuel consumption and 40 percent less noise when flying.

Flexibility because of the pandemic

The Zagreb Ryanair arrival and the opening of the Irish company's new base follows the marketing campaign of the promotional sale of seats at a price of just 151 kuna for travel until the end of March 2022, for which reservations are open until Thursday, April the 1st, 2021, at midnight.

Given the great uncertainty surrounding the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Ryanair has left the option of a free flight change in the event of a change of plans until October 2021.

“Keeping in mind that restrictions due to coronavirus change regularly, customers can now book flights for their well-deserved breaks, knowing that if they need to postpone or change their travel date, they can do so twice if they need to with a free flight change until the end of October 2021,'' confirmed Wilson.

For all current coronavirus information specific to Croatia, including travel and border rules, as well as testing centres across the country, make sure to bookmark this page.

March 29, 2021 - The latest flight news as Croatia Airlines flights to Osijek and Brac have been canceled until mid-April. 

Croatian Aviation reports that the Croatian national airline has announced the introduction of seasonal PSO routes within Croatia at the beginning of the summer flight schedule. However, flights on three PSO lines have been canceled until mid-April.

Croatia Airlines has canceled flights between Osijek and Split, Osijek and Dubrovnik, and Zagreb and Brac until the second half of April. Considering that these are PSO routes, on which the Republic of Croatia compensates for the difference between the realized revenues and direct flight costs, it is not clear why the national airline canceled the already announced flights.

Croatia Airlines offered flights on Sundays on the Split - Osijek - Split route starting March 28, but the first two announced rotations were canceled. Currently, the first direct flight on this line is on offer for April 11, but the company may cancel that flight as well.

The Dubrovnik - Osijek - Dubrovnik line was supposed to start operating today (March 29), but that flight was canceled, and other flights on Mondays until April 19.

According to the PSO program, the seasonal Zagreb - Brac - Zagreb service should operate twice a week. Still, the company canceled flights on Tuesdays until May and scheduled flights on Saturdays until April 24 were also canceled, which obviously will not meet the minimum prescribed number of available seats on the line this year.

Passenger demand is very low during the pandemic. Still, given that these are routes on which the state bears the difference between revenues and costs, it is not clear why Croatia Airlines canceled these flights, especially around the Easter holidays, when a certain number of Croatian citizens will surely travel between distant regions.

The purpose of the PSO is to enable rapid connectivity between the outermost regions. A flight lasting less than an hour between Zagreb and Brač or Osijek and Dubrovnik can in no way have an alternative in road transport, which takes many times longer, and which a certain number of passengers will now be forced to do since there are no direct flights at the moment, or they will cancel the planned trip.

Passengers from Osijek have an alternative to travel to Dubrovnik and Split with Trade Air, which opened sales in the summer flight schedule a few days ago, so travel by plane from Osijek to Split is possible four times a week, every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. In contrast, flights to Dubrovnik are available twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Tickets can be purchased on the airline's website.

The PSO program will continue to apply until the end of this year's summer flight schedule according to the items from the contract in force from 2016 to 2020. The Ministry of the Sea, Transport, and Infrastructure said that the tender for the new contract period was not announced due to the outbreak of a global pandemic. When asked how the pandemic was justified when the tender was supposed to be announced a few months before the virus appeared in China, the competent Ministry did not answer.

For the latest travel updates and COVID-19 news from Croatia, CLICK HERE.

March 26, 2021 - The latest flight news to Croatia as Austrian flights to Split and Dubrovnik are further delayed, while Vienna-Zagreb will resume today for the first time in two months.  

Croatian Aviation reports that Austrian Airlines will operate its first flight on the Vienna-Zagreb-Vienna route today, Friday, March 26, after almost 2 months.

Namely, today at 13:55, after an almost 2-month break, an E195 Austrian Airlines aircraft will land at Zagreb Airport. The company will thus resume traffic on this line and continue to operate throughout the summer season. 

Four flights a week (Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays) have been announced for the first part of April, and the company plans to increase the number of operations in the second half of April.

At the same time, the company canceled flights to Split and Dubrovnik, which were also scheduled to start operating in the next few days, solely due to low demand and insufficient bookings.

Although flights to Dubrovnik were announced as early as the end of March, the first currently available flight between Vienna and Dubrovnik can be booked from Friday, April 23, meaning the route delay has been extended by almost a month.

Flights on the Vienna-Split-Vienna route have also been delayed, although they have been announced since March 28. The new planned start of operations for this Austrian carrier is now scheduled for April 30!

Given the epidemiological situation and restrictions, it is really not surprising that airlines are making ad-hoc changes and canceling already announced flights, and many airlines in addition to Austrian are doing the same. It is clear that we will have to wait until the end of May or the beginning of June for the return of a larger number of carriers to Croatia.

Stay updated with us and Croatian Aviation.

For the latest travel updates and COVID-19 news from Croatia, CLICK HERE.

March 25, 2021 -The latest flight news to Croatia, as there will be only 3 Eurowings lines from Germany to Croatia in April. 

Croatian Aviation reports that the well-known German low-cost airline plans only three routes to Croatian airports in April.

Namely, in April, Eurowings will operate on three international routes from Germany to Croatia. Under normal circumstances, the company launched several international routes to Croatia at the end of March, but this did not happen last year or this year due to reduced demand and passenger restrictions.

However, Eurowings will resume traffic on one line to Croatia in April. This is the Stuttgart - Split - Stuttgart line, which will operate once a week from April 3, every Saturday.

The second Eurowings line to Split Airport is the one from Dusseldorf, which was supposed to operate all winter but was also temporarily suspended due to low demand. This line runs once a week, also on Saturdays.

Eurowings operates on two lines to Zagreb (Cologne and Stuttgart). However, the Stuttgart - Zagreb - Stuttgart line is currently suspended, and the airline does not plan to operate on it in April. Booking is open for flights from May.

The Cologne - Zagreb - Cologne line from April 5 to 11 will have four flights a week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday). Until the end of April, three flights a week are available, without flights on Mondays.

Other Eurowings destinations in Croatia (Pula, Rijeka, Zadar, Dubrovnik, and Osijek) have no announced flights in April. Eurowings currently does not have a line to Osijek on sale, and the company will likely not operate to Osijek this year.

The Stuttgart line was the only international route to Osijek Airport in the 2020 summer season. According to currently available data, if there are no positive changes, this airport could be without regular international routes in the summer of 2021. 

For the latest travel updates and COVID-19 news from Croatia, CLICK HERE.