November 25, 2020 - The latest news for flights to Croatia as Qatar Airways increases traffic to Zagreb in December.

Croatian AviationCroatian Aviation reports that Qatar Airways, the national carrier of Qatar, will increase the number of weekly flights on the Doha - Zagreb route in December.

Qatar Airways currently operates on the Doha - Zagreb - Doha route only once a week, every Friday, on A320 aircraft. These are drastically fewer weekly flights as a direct result of weak demand caused by the global pandemic.

Last summer, Qatar Airways operated on this route as many as 14 times a week, and this summer the route to Dubrovnik was supposed to begin.

Qatar Airways stopped traffic to Zagreb during the pandemic, and the airline brought back the route on July 1 with three flights per week. Due to low demand, flights were suspended even during the summer season for two weeks, in August and September. Qatar has since stayed on one flight a week to Zagreb.

An extra flight on Wednesdays in December

The airline will briefly increase the number of weekly flights on this route. In addition to the flight on Friday, a flight is reintroduced on Wednesdays in December. Both flights will be operated weekly by A320 aircraft with a capacity of 132 seats in the carrier's fleet; 12 in business and 120 in economy class. The extra flight will operate according to the same schedule, with an afternoon departure from Zagreb Airport.

Doha 07:45 - 11:45 Zagreb 15:35 - 23:00 Doha

The temporary increase of Qatar Airways during the Christmas and New Year holidays is certainly a logical move by the company, considering that Croatian citizens will want to travel to Croatia at this time, and it is generally known that a large number of Slovenian citizens use this line.

From 1,188 to 2,376 available seats on this line in December

The question remains what Qatar Airways will do with the Zagreb route in January and February, or the traditionally bad months when demand is relatively low even under normal circumstances. The airline planned to connect the Zagreb line with Vienna, but that did not happen.

One thing is for sure - if Croatia's biggest markets, primarily from Asia, are reactivated in the summer flight schedule next year, Qatar Airways will certainly react by increasing the weekly frequencies on this route. A minimum of four flights a week should not be in question, especially when we take into account that Emirates will not fly to Zagreb next summer, and probably not Korean Air either.

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.

November 25, 2020 - The latest news for flights to Croatia as Aegean returns to three Croatian airports next spring. 

Croatian Aviation reports that Greek national airline Aegean Airlines has announced its return to Croatian airports next year.

Aegean Airlines did not operate to Croatian airports this year. In the original plan, before the outbreak of the global pandemic, they planned to operate to Zagreb, Split, and Dubrovnik, but all flights were canceled in April for this year. 

The airline then completely withdrew from selling all routes to Croatia for the summer flight schedule in 2021, so at one point, the Aegean Airlines return to Croatian airports was questionable. The worst-case scenario, however, will not materialize - the Greek airline has returned three routes for sale; from Athens to Dubrovnik, Split, and Zagreb.

In the peak of the 2021 summer season, Aegean Airlines announces 22 weeks of flights to and from Croatia!

On all routes to Croatia, Aegean Airlines is announcing aircraft from the A320 family, which will lead to an increase in capacity, given that in the summer flight schedule in 2019, a certain number of flights were operated by DashQ400 aircraft.

Athens - Zagreb

Aegean Airlines introduced the Athens-Zagreb-Athens route in May 2018, operating on it with the mentioned DashQ400 aircraft 3 times a week. Although the line was supposed to operate only in the summer flight schedule, the company left it in traffic in the winter as well, with two flights a week, except in January and February when it was briefly interrupted due to low demand. In the summer of 2019, this line operated four times a week, which was the plan for the summer of this year, but with larger aircraft from the A320 family.

Aegean Airlines has released tickets on this route for the summer of next year. It will be in operation from the very beginning of the summer flight schedule, on March 31, and the flights are on sale until the end of October, more precisely, on October 30, 2021.

On the route between Zagreb and Athens, two flights a week will be available, every Wednesday and Saturday, on A319 aircraft, which have a significantly higher capacity compared to the DashQ400 (144 versus 78 seats).

Thus, in the summer of 2021, Aegean Airlines will offer as many as 17,856 seats between Athens and Zagreb!

Although the capacity is significantly higher due to the change in aircraft type compared to 2019, while the number of weekly flights has been reduced, the total number of seats offered between the two capitals will be only slightly reduced. The planes will operate on this line in the morning. Arrival in Zagreb is planned at 09 hours and 5 minutes, and departure to Athens at 9 hours and 50 minutes.

Athens - Split

Aegean launched the line to Split in the summer of 2016 and has been systematically increasing its capacity ever since, mostly increasing the number of weekly flights. For example, in the summer of 2018, this line had four flights a week, while in the summer of 2019, a fifth flight was added. DashQ400 aircraft operated on the route.

In the summer of 2021, Aegean Airlines announces four flights a week on the Athens-Split-Athens route. The line will operate from May 18 to October 7, 2021, with A319 aircraft that have the already mentioned capacity of 144 passengers in the fleet of this carrier. 

Split and Athens will be connected by direct flights on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays; on Mondays and Fridays in the afternoon, and Tuesdays and Thursdays in the morning.

Given that there is a change in the type of aircraft on this route, and consequently a significantly higher capacity on each flight to and from Split Airport, Aegean Airlines will have almost 24 thousand seats on sale in the summer of 2021!

Athens - Dubrovnik

Aegean introduced the line to Dubrovnik in the summer of 2015, continuously increasing the number of weekly flights from season to season, just as is the case with the line to Split. In the peak summer season in 2019, the line operated 5 times a week, with A320 and DashQ400 aircraft.

The Greek airline plans to restart this route as early as March 29, 2021, starting with two flights a week, Mondays and Saturdays. From May 20, the third flight is added weekly, every Thursday, and from June 4, flights on Fridays and Sundays.

Aegean will thus increase its capacity to Dubrovnik, considering that A319 and A320 aircraft were announced on the flights, while in the summer of 2019, smaller capacity aircraft - DashQ400 - also operated on the route.

The line to Dubrovnik will be reduced in the postseason. Namely, from September 30 to October 30, it should operate three times a week, on Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.

Aegean will monitor the status of bookings on all routes and, if necessary, react by increasing weekly flights in the next summer season, with Zagreb having the best chances for another flight per week.

In addition to a direct line to Athens, Aegean has a wide network of destinations throughout Greece in its fleet. Given that an increasing number of Croatian citizens spend their summer holidays in Greece, destinations such as Heraklion, Chania, Santorini, Karpathos, Rhodes, Kos, and others should be easily accessible again next summer!

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.

November 23, 2020 - The latest news for flights to Croatia as Turkish Airlines is selling over 5,700 seats on the Istanbul-Zagreb route this December.

Croatian Aviation reports that in December, Turkish Airlines will operate four times a week on the Istanbul-Zagreb route.

The Turkish national airline has stabilized the number of operations to the Croatian capital, with four flights a week available since mid-September this year. 

In the last month of this year, Turkish Airlines will keep the same number of weekly flights as before, operating between Zagreb and Istanbul on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays.

The B737-800 and A321 aircraft, which have a capacity of 151 and 188 seats, respectively, will operate on the route between Zagreb and Istanbul. Given the announced 17 flights between the two mentioned cities, Turkish will offer as many as 5,726 seats in both directions in December, which, given the current situation, is more than satisfactory.

Turkish Airlines currently offers daily flights to Zagreb from January 2021, but it is actually an old schedule that the airline has not yet revised. It is expected that the number of flights in the coming winter months will be reduced between three to four flights a week.

The Turkish airline operates regularly to Zagreb and there have been no ad-hoc flight cancellations on this route, given that there are no restrictions on travel to Turkey, and a number of people travel to Istanbul for a short vacation. 

Turkish Airlines continues to monitor the situation with the coronavirus pandemic. It is expected that in the spring of next year, the growth of demand will result in more weekly flights on this international route, with the possible return of this airline to Dubrovnik Airport.

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.

November 19, 2020 - The latest news for flights to Croatia as LOT regularly operates to Zagreb in December this year. 

Croatian Aviation reports that Polish national airline LOT has announced its flight schedule for December. There will be only one active line to Croatia, between Warsaw and Zagreb.

LOT's winter flight schedule in 2019 operated on the Warsaw - Dubrovnik line. However, this year, that line will not be in operation. As confirmed to Croatian Aviation by the Polish airline, there was an option of direct flights to Dubrovnik during the Christmas and New Year holidays, but due to the spread of the pandemic, the line will remain out of service.

LOT will thus maintain their presence on the Croatian market with one line, operating between the capitals of Poland and Croatia, Warsaw and Zagreb.

The airline will not increase the number of weekly flights on this route from mid-December, as is the case with many airlines, and one more flight per week is available only between December 7 and 12.

In the first week of December, LOT will operate to Zagreb on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, and in the second week, additionally on Saturdays.

In the last two weeks of December, four flights a week have also been announced. Depending on the day, departures are available in the morning and afternoon.

LOT has significantly increased the number of routes to Croatia in this year's summer flight schedule and plans to operate on them next year as well. We will have to wait until January for the final confirmation of the flight schedule for the summer of 2021. Still, the number of Polish tourists in Croatia was relatively high even in the season behind us, marked by a global pandemic and declining demand in tourism and transport.

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.

November 18, 2020 - The latest news for flights to Croatia as Eurowings boosts traffic to Croatia in December.

Croatian Aviation reports that Eurowings has announced its flight schedule for December this year, in which there are operational changes on the routes to Croatia.

With the end of the summer flight schedule at the end of October, Eurowings withdrew from Pula, Rijeka, and Zadar, leaving only two destinations active in the winter months - Zagreb and Split.

The airline announced four flights a week on the routes to Zagreb for November, but they operated fewer, only twice a week, due to reduced demand. 

During the holidays, Eurowings increases traffic to Croatia

During the Christmas and New Year holidays, Eurowings plans to increase its presence in Croatia. Given that many Croatian citizens live in Germany and want to come to Croatia just in time for the holidays, this increase in traffic certainly makes sense. And Eurowings is not the first to announce an increase in flights at this time of year.

On the Stuttgart - Zagreb line, Eurowings currently operates twice a week, on Fridays and Sundays. From December 23, 2020, to January 6, 2021, another flight per week is added, on Wednesdays.

The Zagreb - Cologne line currently operates two flights a week, on Fridays and Sundays. From December 21, 2020, to January 6, 2021, they have added two more flights a week, on Mondays and Wednesdays.

Eurowings will increase the number of weekly flights to Split, temporarily introducing another route

The Split - Dusseldorf line currently operates once a week, on Saturdays. From December 23, 2020, to January 6, 2021, another flight has been added, on Wednesdays.

The Split - Stuttgart line currently operates twice a week, on Mondays and Fridays. From December 22, 2020, to January 10, it will operate three times a week, on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays.

Eurowings will temporarily introduce the Split - Cologne line, which will operate twice a week, on Tuesdays and Sundays, from December 22, 2020, to January 10, 2021.

Increasing traffic to Croatia just in time for the holidays was an expected move by Eurowings. Apart from direct destinations, passengers will make excellent connections to other German cities, such as Hamburg and Berlin.

Recall that German Lufthansa has canceled the Munich - Zagreb line, and it will not operate from December 1 to the spring of 2021.

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.

November 17, 2020 - The latest news for flights to Croatia as Ryanair pulls 15 lines to Croatia in the 2021 summer flight schedule. 

Croatian Aviation reports that Irish low-cost carrier Ryanair has pulled 15 international routes to Croatia for the summer of 2021. These are lines to Pula, Rijeka, Zadar, and Split.

Namely, Ryanair has revised its flight schedule for the 2021 summer season and has stopped sales on numerous international routes, including as many as 15 to and from Croatian airports - Pula, Rijeka, Zadar, and Split.

Only one line less to Pula and Split

Until the beginning of November, Ryanair had Berlin-Pula and Vienna-Split routes on sale, but they have been withdrawn from sale, and it is currently not possible to buy tickets on this airline for next summer. In the 2021 summer flight schedule, Ryanair will operate on some lines to Pula and one to Split (from Dublin).

Two long-standing lines to Rijeka are no longer for sale

The airline currently offers only one line to Rijeka Airport for the summer of 2021. This is the Frankfurt Hahn-Rijeka line, which also operated this summer season. In 2019, Ryanair operated from Frankfurt's main airport to Rijeka, a far better option for passengers than Hahn, 115 kilometers away.

There are currently no lines from London and Brussels to Rijeka on sale for the next summer season, while the long-standing Stockholm-Rijeka line was canceled earlier. According to the currently available flight schedule, only the Frankfurt Hahn to Rijeka route will be in traffic.

As many as 11 lines to Zadar were withdrawn from sale

Zadar Airport had big announcements from Ryanair and partner company Laudamotion for the 2020 summer season. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, most of the previously announced routes were not launched. The company offered all lines for the next summer season, thus leaving space for aircraft bases in Zadar and great expansion in the Croatian market.

At the beginning of November, Ryanair withdrew 11 lines from Zadar for next year. The following lines are no longer on sale:

Aarhus - Zadar,

Hamburg - Zadar,

Maastricht - Zadar,

Bremen - Zadar,

Toulouse - Zadar,

Riga - Zadar,

Kaunas - Zadar,

Liverpool - Zadar,

Cork - Zadar,

Dublin - Zadar,

London - Zadar.

Most of these lines were supposed to start operating in the summer flight schedule this year, but this did not happen for obvious reasons. Ryanair obviously has no plans to base aircraft in Zadar next year. It is even more surprising that there are no flights from Dublin and London to Zadar, which did not operate this summer either. This airline had an excellent occupancy on these lines in previous years, and ticket prices were often high, especially in the peak season.

The flight schedule is available on the Ryanair website and is still subject to change. This has been confirmed to Croatian Aviation from the airline's headquarters, and we will have to wait until January when the final 2021 summer flight schedule for Croatia is announced to see if there will be any further changes. 

This will certainly depend on the epidemiological situation and the demand itself.

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.

November 16, 2020 - The latest news for flights to Croatia as SAS plans Copenhagen - Zadar next summer. 

Croatian Aviation reports that SAS Scandinavian Airlines plans to introduce a new route to Croatia next summer.

Namely, it is a line between Copenhagen and Zadar, which was originally supposed to operate this summer, but due to the global coronavirus pandemic, the airline gave up on its launch.

SAS has now announced this new route for the summer of 2021. It should be in operation from the end of June to mid-August, very short compared to other lines of this airline that operate to Croatia mainly from April to the end of September.

The Copenhagen - Zadar route will operate twice a week, every Tuesday and Saturday, on CRJ900 aircraft with a capacity of 90 seats in this carrier's fleet.

Next summer, SAS plans to operate to Pula, Split, and Dubrovnik from numerous Scandinavian cities (Copenhagen, Oslo, Stavanger, Gothenburg, Stockholm, Aarhus, Bergen, and Kristiansand), but the realization of flights will primarily depend on the epidemiological situation and demand.

It is important that SAS's summer flight schedule for next year maintained all routes to Croatia from the summer season of 2019, estimating at this time that next summer season, the demand for Croatia will be significantly better than this year.

Like all other airlines, SAS also records a significant decline in passengers and revenue. The occupancy of Scandinavian Airlines aircraft was 50.6% in July, 46.7% in August, only 35.8% in September, and 37.3% in October.

This summer, SAS had reduced traffic to Pula and Split, while there were no regular lines to Dubrovnik. Pula had a direct connection with Copenhagen, while Split had four lines; to Stockholm, Copenhagen, Oslo, and Gothenburg.

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.

November 14, 2020 - The latest flight news for Croatia, as Korean low-cost carrier T’Way Air plans to launch Seoul-Zagreb in the near future. 

Because around half a million Korean tourists visit Croatia annually, it's not a surprise that Korean low-cost carrier T’Way Air is looking to launch a service from Seoul to Croatia soon.

Namely, Ex Yu Aviation reports that by marking its tenth anniversary, CEO Hong-Geun Jung announced that he wants the airline to react quickly in the post-pandemic world once international travel resumes and acquire wide-body aircraft to launch medium and long-haul routes to Croatia, Australia, and Kyrgyzstan.

"T’Way has received all necessary permits from the Korean Ministry for Land, Infrastructure, and Transport to launch up to four weekly commercial flights between Seoul and Croatia," Hong-Geun Jung said.

T’Way Air currently has around thirty narrow-body Boeing aircraft in its fleet, and before the coronavirus pandemic, they operated flights to Asia and Russia. 

Currently, Korean Air operates seasonal flights between Seoul and Zagreb, apart from this year, for obvious reasons. However, Korean Air tentatively should return to Zagreb on March 29, 2021, and plans to run three flights a week next summer, on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Korean Air will operate this route using a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft.

Ex Yu Aviation adds that Korean Air registered 43,123 passengers between Seoul and Zagreb in 2019. However, while the capital city Zagreb is where most Korean tourists enter Croatia, Dubrovnik is the real pull for tourists, so much so that local authorities have already discussed launching flights to the 'Adriatic Pearl' from South Korea. 

“It is imperative for us to improve connectivity with Korea. It is a big market, and we could attract even more tourists," the Mayor of Dubrovnik revealed then. 

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.

November 13, 2020 - The latest news for flights to Croatia as KLM operates between Amsterdam and Split during the Christmas and New Year's holidays.

Croatian Aviation reports that Dutch national airline KLM will briefly operate the Amsterdam-Split route in December this year and January next year.

Namely, the oldest airline in the world will operate on the Amsterdam-Split route during the Christmas and New Year holidays.

Until now, KLM has not operated to Split in winter, but the introduction of this line is completely logical, especially now at the time of a global pandemic when the number of international routes is significantly reduced, and passengers do not have a large selection of connecting flights.

The Amsterdam-Split route was launched by KLM on July 4, operating 7 times a week, and since the beginning of August, there have been as many as 13 flights a week on the line. In September and October, operations were reduced to 3 flights per week, and by the end of October, the line was closed for this summer season.

In December this year and January next year, KLM will run 14 flights between Amsterdam and Split.

KLM will briefly restart this line in December this year and January next year. Four flights have been announced for the end of December, and three for the very beginning of January.

Direct flights will connect Amsterdam and Split on Saturday, December 19, Sunday, December 20, Wednesday, December 23, Sunday, December 27, Saturday, January 1, Sunday, January 3, and Thursday, January 7. E190 aircraft with a capacity of 100 seats in KLM's fleet has been announced on all flights. The planes will land in Split around noon.

This is the second airline that will briefly return to Split during the holidays. Two days ago, Edelweiss announced it would operate on the Zurich - Split route at the same time.

KLM will withdraw from Split after January 7, 2021, and re-establish the line from Amsterdam on May 1. It has been announced until the end of the summer flight schedule next year, and tickets are on sale on the airline's official website.

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.

November 12, 2020 - The latest news for flights to Croatia as easyJet operates between Glasgow and Pula next summer. 

Croatian Aviation reports that British low-cost airline easyJet has announced it is introducing a new route to Pula Airport in the summer flight schedule next year.

easyJet announced that in the summer of 2021, it currently plans to launch a new line to Croatia. If the situation with the global pandemic calms by next summer, it is to be expected that this well-known British airline will be present in Croatian airports (Pula, Zadar, Split, and Dubrovnik) with far more weekly operations and routes than this summer.

Despite the current situation, easyJet has confirmed the introduction of a new line to Croatia - the Glasgow - Pula line will be introduced on June 28. Originally, this line was supposed to operate in the summer of 2020, but this did not happen for obvious reasons.

Thus, easyJet announces two flights a week from June 28 to September 3, 20201, every Monday and Friday.

A319 aircraft has been announced on the route, which has a capacity of 156 seats in the fleet of this low-cost carrier. easyJet has more than 130 A319 aircraft in its fleet. easyJet is planning 10 routes to Pula Airport in the summer of 2021.

With the announced Glasgow - Pula line, where they will have no competition, easyJet is already selling tickets on direct lines from London (Luton and Gatwick), Liverpool, Bristol, Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin, Geneva and Basel for next summer season.

Lines from London (Luton) and Bristol should start operating to Pula at the end of April, specifically from April 27. Operational changes are possible, and operations will depend on the epidemiological situation and the demand itself. Croatian Aviation will continue to monitor easyJet's flight schedule to Croatia and report any changes in a timely manner, which TCN will then report to its readers. 

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.