March 10, 2021 - The latest flight news as Croatia Airlines removes 14 summer routes in 2021.

Ex Yu Aviation reports that just two weeks away from the start of the summer flight schedule, Croatia Airlines removed flights from Zagreb to Barcelona, Bucharest, Dublin, Helsinki, Lisbon, Milan, Mostar, Oslo, Prague, St Petersburg, Stockholm, and Tel Aviv, all of which operated in the 2019 summer schedule, as well as services between Dubrovnik - Dusseldorf, and Split - Belgrade. 

The aviation portal reveals that bookings should not really pick up until later this spring, even though a better season is expected in Croatia this year. 

“We have drafted several scenarios for the summer season, but considering the circumstances, which are changing on a daily basis, we will completely optimise our timetable in accordance to existing conditions and demand. We anticipate a better tourist season compared to 2020, but the question is when exactly it will start. It is already apparent it will not begin at the start of the 2021 summer flight season but rather in mid-May or early June. In line with those circumstances, we will optimise our capacity and will have to undertake a permanent optimisation process," said the head of Croatia Airlines’ Commercial Division, Slaven Žabo, at the Aviation Arena summit.  

“Unfortunately, we cannot talk about the post-Covid strategy for this summer because the coronavirus pandemic is still having a significant impact on aviation, primarily because of entry restrictions at border crossings within the European Union. Under normal circumstances we would already be taking bookings for the summer season and selling our capacity, however, these bookings are completely lacking this year. Already in February we saw a significant impact on bookings for the summer. We expect that late bookings will come, and we are ready for them at Croatia Airlines. However, it is questionable whether those late booking will be able to substitute the lack of bookings we are seeing now. It is obvious that the expected increase in demand at the start of the summer season, which coincides with the Easter holidays this year, is completely absent and we were forced to modify our planned timetable for this period," Žabo said about reduced summer bookings thus far. 

Further changes in the summer flight schedule are possible, considering demand and the endlessly evolving COVID-19 regulations in place. 

For the latest travel info, bookmark our main travel info article, which is updated daily. 

Read the Croatian Travel Update in your language - now available in 24 languages.

Join the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community.

ZAGREB, 5 March, 2021 - There will not be any significant recovery in air traffic in March and April in Croatia despite the summer timetable which beings in those two months, it was said on Friday during an online webinar  organised by the BSEA agency and several experts in the air industry in Croatia.

Passenger traffic by air might intensify late May or early June depending on the course of the pandemic, extent of inoculation, and travel restrictions by individual countries, said participants in the Aviation Arena webinar on prospects and challenges in the air industry in 2021.

Participants underlined that the early optimism in that industry for this year has deflated with the spike in cases of new variants of COVID-19 and a slow process of inoculation in Croatia and Europe.

They agreed that 2020 was the hardest year ever in the history of the air industry and that a lot of time will be required for its recovery and the question is whether it will ever achieve record numbers like those recorded in 2019. With the first cancellations of announced flights in Europe for March and April the agony is just being prolonged.

Difficulty to forecast recovery

The prospects do not appear at all promising and optimism is declining and no one dares forecast anything for the industry in light of the pandemic. There is a problem with flexibility and how to quickly adapt flights and personnel once traffic is restored, as well as the permanent costs and liquidity of companies, Tomislav Mihetec from the Croatian air traffic control said.

He said that Eurocontrol has three scenarios for recovery in the sector in relation to faster inoculation in 2021.

The first scenario takes into consideration that the level of air traffic recorded in 2019 could be achieved in 2024. However, that is already unlikely due to a slow pace of giving COVID jabs to population.

The second scenario foresees that if a greater portion of people are immunised against the covid infection in 2022, recovery could be achieved in 2025 or 2026. If the situation with vaccines does not improve in 2022, then recovery cannot be expected before 2030. 

Croatia has similar forecasts, said Mihetec, adding that June and July seem to be the most optimistic and that 1,200 flights a day could be expected whereas in 2019 that number was around 2,700 and in August 1,800 flights can be expected compared to 3,200 in 2019.

Mihetec said that there were 760 million fewer passengers in 2020 compared to 2019 and that in 2020 the industry lost almost USD eight billion in Europe alone.

 "Croatia had only 42% of flights in 2020 on the year or 300,000 flights which took it back to 15 years ago and the level of 2004 and 2005 and one example of the poor season can be seen that in the peak summer day when there were 1,900 flights whereas in 2019 on that day there were more than 3,500 flights," he said.

March 5, 2021 - Aer Lingus flights to Split, Dubrovnik, and Pula have been announced in the Irish carrier's 2021 summer flight schedule! 

Croatian Aviation reports that the well-known Irish carrier Aer Lingus plans to return to three Croatian airports in the upcoming summer flight schedule, which will take effect at the end of March.

In the 2020 summer season, AerLingus did not operate to Dubrovnik and Pula, while the airline had relatively short and reduced traffic to Split Airport. In the upcoming summer flight schedule, Aer Lingus plans to renew all routes to Croatia, but this will primarily depend on restrictive measures between Ireland and Croatia, which in turn directly affects bookings.

From May 1, Aer Lingus plans to operate again on the Dublin - Pula - Dublin route. The line is scheduled to operate twice a week, on Tuesdays and Saturdays, until September 28. A320 aircraft have been announced on the route.

On 45 announced return flights to Pula, Aer Lingus currently offers as many as 15,660 seats.

The Dublin - Dubrovnik - Dublin line has been announced from March 30, but it is expected that Aer Lingus won't begin operating on this line until May. From May to the end of September, five flights a week have been announced, every day except Tuesday and Thursday, also with A320 aircraft. In October, the airline will reduce the number of rotations to three flights a week.

The Dublin - Split - Dublin line should also operate from May 1 to October 1, with two flights a week, every Tuesday and Thursday. This is also the only line on which Aer Lingus operated last year after the lockdown was lifted in European countries.

From the beginning of May, the airline also offers the Cork - Dubrovnik - Cork line, but there is a great possibility that flights will be withdrawn from sale and that this line will not be in operation in the 2021 summer season. Two weekly flights are available from May 5 to the end of September, on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

For the latest travel info, bookmark our main travel info article, which is updated daily. 

Read the Croatian Travel Update in your language - now available in 24 languages.

Join the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community.

March 4, 2021 - After TAP Portugal delayed the start of operations between Lisbon and Zagreb, Spanish national airline Iberia has postponed the start of flights from Madrid to Zagreb.

Croatian Aviation reports that Iberia and TAP Portugal have postponed the start of traffic on their lines to Zagreb. Obviously, the growth of passenger demand is not expected, which is logical given all the current restrictive measures and recommendations not to travel to other countries to curb the spread of the pandemic.

Iberia planned to resume traffic to Zagreb from Madrid as early as the first day of the summer flight schedule (March 28), but this will no longer happen. All announced flights for March and April have been canceled, and the first flights on this route are now announced from May 1. As a reminder, Iberia did not operate on this line in the summer season of 2020 due to the pandemic. Iberia plans to fly to Dubrovnik from March 28 and has not canceled certain departures to Dubrovnik as of yet.

Recall, TAP Portugal has also postponed the start of traffic from Lisbon to Zagreb. The line was supposed to operate from the first day of the flight schedule (March 28), but it has been postponed until June due to weak demand. The first flight between Lisbon and Zagreb has now been announced for June 2. Flights to Zagreb will operate three times a week, on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays.

The delay in the start of operations of two well-known carriers is not surprising, as the same is being done by many other airlines not only to Zagreb but also to the coastal Croatian airports. The reality is that Croatia will probably only have an adequate number of weekly flights to a number of European destinations during the peak summer season; when the pandemic subsides again and the current passenger restrictions between countries are lifted.

For the latest travel info, bookmark our main travel info article, which is updated daily. 

Read the Croatian Travel Update in your language - now available in 24 languages.

Join the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community.

March 3, 2021 - Despite the announcements, Lufthansa has canceled all flights from Munich to Zagreb this summer. 

Croatian Aviation reports that just two weeks ago, Lufthansa announced plans to fly to several destinations in Croatia in the summer flight schedule, including two routes to Zagreb, from Frankfurt and Munich.

Lufthansa suspended the Frankfurt - Zagreb route in March 2020, after the pandemic outbreak, and has not operated on it for a year. Under the current flight schedule, the airline was to resume traffic on this route with the start of the summer flight schedule effective March 28. But that will no longer happen. 

Lufthansa suspended traffic on the Munich - Zagreb route on December 1, and because Croatia Airlines has not operated on it for a long time, Zagreb Airport has been without a direct line with the Bavarian capital for 3 months.

Many Lufthansa lines from Munich are currently suspended, as the airline has decided to keep its wide network of destinations mainly from the hub in Frankfurt. Thus, a larger number of lines are available from that German city to keep Frankfurt's functionality as a big "hub."

Croatia Airlines has not yet confirmed its summer flight schedule. Still, in the current reservation calendar, it is possible to buy tickets for a direct flight between Zagreb and Munich from the first day of the summer flight schedule (March 28, 2021). Flights are available daily, in the morning or evening, depending on the date of travel, throughout the summer, which is a significant reduction in capacity and number of flights, given that Croatia Airlines had two daily flights on this route in the summer of 2019. If Croatia Airlines stays with the current schedule, it will have no competition on the route to Munich this summer, which is certainly good news for the Croatian carrier.

From Sunday, May 2, Croatia Airlines plans to re-establish the Rijeka - Munich route with three flights a week (Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday), and the Dubrovnik - Munich route with two flights a week (Friday, Sunday). The Split - Munich line has been in operation since May 2020 and will continue to operate in the upcoming summer season.

Lufthansa also plans to connect Munich and Frankfurt with Croatia's coastal airports from the beginning of the summer flight schedule, which should be finalized in mid-March. However, there is still a great possibility of reductions.

For the latest travel info, bookmark our main travel info article, which is updated daily. 

Read the Croatian Travel Update in your language - now available in 24 languages.

Join the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community.

March 2, 2021 - The latest news for flights to Croatia as TAP Portugal delays flights from Lisbon to Zagreb until June.

As we previously reported, Portuguese national airline TAP will operate on the direct line Lisbon-Zagreb this year, but not as early as originally planned. 

Namely, the two capitals were to be connected from the first day of the summer flight schedule (Sunday, March 28), and on a planned 94 return flights in the summer flight schedule, the airline was to offer more than 32,700 seats between the two cities.

However, Ex Yu Aviation reports that the Portuguese airline has delayed the new seasonal service until June 2. 

Three flights a week have been announced, on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays, with afternoon departures from Zagreb Airport. On all flights to Zagreb, A320 aircraft (previously planned and smaller A319) with a capacity of 174 passengers have been announced.

As a reminder, TAP Portugal connected Zagreb and Lisbon in the past, but the line was suspended in the spring of 2016. In the winter flight schedule, the flight between Zagreb and Lisbon had a stop in Bologna.

Returning to Zagreb in the spring of 2021, TAP Portugal wants to regain its position on the Croatian market, counting on Croatia Airlines not to resume traffic on its seasonal route between the two mentioned cities. Given that the Croatian national airline is unlikely to operate on this route in this year's summer flight schedule (as it did not operate even in the summer of 2020), TAP Portugal will not have direct competition on the route between the capitals of Portugal and Croatia.

This is a very welcome return of another large airline to Zagreb Airport, which has not been present at Croatian airports for almost 5 years. It is currently possible to buy return tickets on this line for less than 130 euros. In addition to passengers who can choose the direct line between Zagreb and Lisbon, TAP Portugal is counting on a larger number of transfer passengers, primarily from the United States, who will have an excellent connection to and from Zagreb with the introduction of this line.

For the latest travel info, bookmark our main travel info article, which is updated daily. 

Read the Croatian Travel Update in your language - now available in 24 languages.

Join the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community.

March 1, 2021- The Swiss national airline is readying for summer with the announcement of flights from Geneva to Split, scheduled to operate during the peak season, from the beginning of July to the end of August. 

Croatian Aviation reports that Swiss national airline will introduce a new route to Croatia in this year's summer flight schedule, with flights from Geneva to Split!

The Swiss national airline has announced its summer flight schedule for this year and announced the introduction of a number of new routes from Geneva. In a series of new lines, there is one to Croatia, to Split Airport.

Namely, from July 3, Swiss will introduce the Geneva-Split-Geneva line, which will operate twice a week. A220-300 aircraft with a capacity of 145 seats will operate on the route, and tickets are not on sale yet. The company announced that booking on the new lines from Geneva will be possible at the beginning of this month, i.e., in the next few days.

There is already a direct airline between Geneva and Split, as easyJet operated on this route in the previous seasons. The well-known low-cost carrier has announced flights between the two mentioned cities this summer season as well, as early as April.

Swiss used to travel to Zagreb from Zurich, but that line was canceled even before the pandemic, and also from Geneva to Pula and Dubrovnik. The Pula-Geneva line will not operate in the summer of 2021, while the line to Dubrovnik has been announced from Saturday, July 3, only once a week.

The new Swiss line from Geneva to Split, as well as the line to Dubrovnik, will operate briefly, until the last Saturday in August, i.e., only in the peak of the summer season. EasyJet, on the other hand, plans to operate on lines from Switzerland to Croatia until the end of October.

For the latest travel info, bookmark our main travel info article, which is updated daily. 

Read the Croatian Travel Update in your language - now available in 24 languages.

Join the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community.

February 26, 2021 - Smartwings flights from Prague to Split and Dubrovnik will operate this summer! 

Croatian Aviation reports that the Czech low-cost airline Smartwings has announced two routes to Croatia in the upcoming summer flight schedule.

Namely, Smartwings plans to connect Prague with Split and Dubrovnik this summer. In 2020, the company operated between Prague and Split, while the line to Dubrovnik was suspended for obvious reasons.

In the 2021 summer flight schedule, the company plans to resume traffic to both mentioned destinations later than in 2019. 

The Prague-Split-Prague line will operate from May 1, once a week, every Saturday. From June 1 to October 10, daily flights on this line have been announced.

Smartwings will operate B737-800, B737-900ER aircraft to Split, and B737-MAX-8 aircraft have also been announced, or aircraft that received a permit for re-operation less than a month ago. Just yesterday, February 25, the company made its first commercial flight with this type of aircraft after the “MAX” aircraft's airworthiness approval was issued.

The Prague-Dubrovnik-Prague line will operate from the beginning of June to the beginning of October (June 1 to October 3). Smartwings currently plans to operate daily on this route, mainly with B737-800 aircraft.

In 2019, Croatia Airlines regularly operated for the last time in the summer flight schedule between Zagreb and Prague. This line did not work in 2020 and is currently not on sale for this summer season either.

It will still be possible to fly directly from Prague to Zadar. Ryanair introduced the Zadar-Prague line last summer, and this season it plans to operate twice a week, every Tuesday and Saturday, from May 1 to October 30. This well-known low-cost carrier alone will offer over 20,000 seats on the direct line between Zadar and Prague. At the same time, Smartwings will have a significantly higher capacity at its disposal to Split and Dubrovnik.

For the latest travel info, bookmark our main travel info article, which is updated daily. 

Read the Croatian Travel Update in your language - now available in 24 languages.

Join the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community.

February 25, 2021 - Summer is well on its way, with the announcement of Aeroflot flights to Zagreb, Split, Dubrovnik, and maybe Pula!

Croatian Aviation reports that Russian national airline Aeroflot plans to resume traffic to Croatia at the end of April.

Russian airline Aeroflot suspended traffic to Croatia in the spring of 2020 and has not operated on regular flights to Croatian airports since. However, in the summer of 2021, the company plans to return to Croatia, with the announcement of a new route to boot. 

The company currently plans to resume traffic on the Moscow-Zagreb-Moscow line from Thursday, March 11, once a week. From Thursday, April 29, daily flights are available between the two cities with A320 aircraft.

Aeroflot previously announced the start of traffic on this route and then postponed it, but this summer there should be a direct airline between the capitals of Moscow and Croatia. Interestingly, Aeroflot resumed traffic to Ljubljana a few days ago and has been operating to Belgrade for a long time.

From June 1, the Moscow-Split-Moscow should be in traffic again, also daily in the summer flight schedule. As in previous years, Aeroflot will use a larger aircraft on this route - A321. 

The company plans to re-establish the Moscow-Dubrovnik-Moscow route in the upcoming summer flight schedule, but the schedule has not yet been confirmed and tickets on this route are not yet on sale on the company's official website.

A positive surprise could be a Moscow-Pula-Moscow line, but Pula airport confirmed that negotiations are currently underway and that they hope that Russia's national carrier will decide to establish a line to and from Pula this summer. As soon as the traffic on this line is confirmed and the tickets are on sale, Croatian Aviation will announce the news. 

Aeroflot is the national and largest airline in the Russian Federation. The company was founded in 1923, which makes it one of the oldest in the world. According to the announcement from February 1, 2021, the company's fleet consists of as many as 236 aircraft with an average age of only 5.7 years. The fleet consists of:

19 B777,

47 B737,

01 A350,

16 A330,

33 A321,

72 A320,

48 SSJ100.

The company mainly uses A320 and A321 aircraft on the routes to Croatia, while on the route to Zagreb, the Russian SSJ100 is mainly planned in the winter months. In addition to point-to-point passengers, Aeroflot transports a significant number of passengers (mostly tourists) from China, South Korea, and Japan, so the occupancy of aircraft to Croatia will largely depend on passenger restrictions to and from these countries and their ability to travel.

Under normal circumstances, Croatia Airlines operates in the summer flight schedule on the Zagreb-St. Petersburg-Zagreb route. However, this route has not yet been announced by the Croatian national airline for this year's summer flight schedule.

For the latest travel info, bookmark our main travel info article, which is updated daily. 

Read the Croatian Travel Update in your language - now available in 24 languages.

Join the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community.

February 23, 2021 - There seems to be a summer flight schedule delay to Croatian airports, as some airlines have pushed back the start of operations from March to May this year. 

Croatian Aviation reports that though many airlines have announced traffic to Croatian airports from the first day of the summer flight schedule, this likely will not happen. Namely, numerous carriers have canceled all departures until the beginning of May and June, respectively.

Given that the vaccine is slowly distributed in European countries, that the epidemiological picture in many EU member states is still unfavorable, and that the demand for international travel is very low, airlines are delaying the start of traffic on many routes, including those to Croatian airports. 

For example, before the pandemic outbreak, Air France announced a second daily flight to Zagreb. Until a few days ago, that second daily flight was available for booking as early as March and April, but now it has been withdrawn from sale and is only available for booking from May 31. Realistically, we can expect a further delay in the implementation of these operations. Passengers who have purchased tickets for that flight will be recruited on an existing Air France flight from Zagreb to Paris.

Germany's Lufthansa boasted that it plans to introduce several routes that were canceled earlier due to the pandemic as early as the beginning of the summer flight schedule, including the line from Munich to Zagreb. The airline subsequently updated its flight schedule and again canceled all announced flights on this route until May 1. Although Croatia Airlines offers flights on this route, Croatian Aviation believes that they will also be canceled, which has been the case since the pandemic outbreak.

However, Lufthansa is offering flights from the first day of the summer flight schedule (March 28) on the Frankfurt - Zagreb route, but in the next month, these flights may also be withdrawn from sale.

Austrian Airlines is the only one to announce its flight schedule to Croatia and claim that they do not intend to cancel flights to Croatian destinations again but have reduced the number of weekly flights until the peak season.

KLM previously announced a second daily flight to Zagreb from mid-February, but that also failed to take off. The airline is currently offering a second daily flight to the Croatian capital from March 2, but currently only on certain days, not every day as originally announced.

British Airways first offered direct flights between London and Zagreb for February before all flights were canceled and withdrawn from sale. Now, the first flight is available for booking only on March 29. The chances that BA will further delay the start of traffic to Zagreb are high.

Low-cost carriers are also delaying the start of operations. Ryanair, for example, has postponed traffic on almost all lines to Croatia until May, and Volotea plans to do the same.

There is no doubt that all flights of the mentioned airlines will come to fruition, but obviously only in the peak of the summer season when the tourist demand for Croatia can fill the carriers' offered capacities.

For the latest travel info, bookmark our main travel info article, which is updated daily. 

Read the Croatian Travel Update in your language - now available in 24 languages.

Join the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community.