May 29, 2020 - The latest news from around Croatia’s airports for flights to Croatia with updates from Zagreb, Split and Dubrovnik. 

Slobodna Dalmacija reports that Spanish airlines Iberia and Vueling announced on Thursday that they would return some flights from Madrid and Barcelona to foreign destinations, including Dubrovnik and Split, from July 1, after those flights were suspended due to the coronavirus.

Since the state of emergency was declared in Spain on March 14, Iberia has only operated foreign flights to London and Paris so that passengers can reach their destinations in an emergency. Tourist travel is banned, and border police check the documents and certificates of those rare foreign passengers at airports.

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But after the Spanish government announced on Monday that it would allow foreign tourists to arrive in the country from July 1, Iberia and Vueling announced the gradual return of their flights.

In July, Iberia will fly between Madrid and Dubrovnik, which will be one of its 15 foreign destinations. It will introduce an additional 28 destinations in Europe and North Africa in August.

"In order to restore customer confidence, we will not charge penalties for changing tickets purchased from today until June 30, for flights until December 31," Iberia said in a statement posted on its website on Thursday.

Iberia also had flights between Madrid and Zagreb and Zadar, but it is unknown at this time what will happen with them. The company did not respond to the inquiry until the news was published.

Iberia's operations in July and August will be at 21 percent of capacity compared to previously forecast this summer, and in the event of increased demand, capacity could increase to 35 percent.

Flights between Madrid and Split can also be booked via Iberia's website from July 1, and passengers will be transported by Vueling Airlines.

Iberia and Vueling, in fact, have a joint owner, the company International Airlines Group.

"We can confirm that we will gradually return flights from Barcelona to Dubrovnik and Split from July," said Vueling's spokesman Xabier Martinez Serrano.

Flights from Spain to other continents have been suspended until further notice.

"We also plan to return long-haul flights to distant destinations when the situation allows it and when quarantine and travel restrictions are lifted," Iberia said.

Spain, one of Europe's most affected countries by the coronavirus, currently has closed borders, so only foreign cross-border workers, aircrew, truck drivers, healthcare professionals and patients ordered for surgery or people with a certificate of emergency entry are allowed to enter the country.

The Spanish government is easing measures of limited population movement through four phases (0 to 3) and trying to bring the country to a "new normal" by the end of June.

The largest and hardest hit cities Madrid and Barcelona are in phase 1 and most of the territories are in phase 2.

Iberia will also increase the number of domestic flights in Spain from July 1, because now its planes fly from Madrid only to the Canary and Balearic Islands, Barcelona, Bilbao and the northern provinces of Asturias and Galicia.

Furthermore, Croatian Aviation announced that Austrian Airlines announced the relaunch of international routes, after all the company's planes were grounded for almost 90 days.

The establishment of international flights is expected from June 15, and in the first week of operations, Dubrovnik Airport is among the destinations.

Austrian Airlines will fly from June 21 on the Vienna-Dubrovnik route twice a week (Wednesdays and Sundays). An A321 aircraft with a capacity of 200 passengers has been announced.

As of June 24, Austrian is introducing the Vienna-Split route, which will run 4 times a week (Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays). A321 aircraft have also been announced on this route.

In a recent statement, the company announced that it would initially operate its routes with smaller capacity aircraft (Embraer 195 / DashQ400), so a change of aircraft type to Dubrovnik and Split is still possible.

Austrian Airlines is currently preparing a flight schedule for July and will be announced soon, it is expected that the company will return the Zagreb-Vienna route in July.

Finally, Croatian Aviation announced that it is re-establishing another international route. From Monday, June 8, Croatia Airlines will fly between Zagreb and Zurich.

From that date, Zagreb and Zurich will be connected four times a week (Mondays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays) with a DashQ400 aircraft with a capacity of 76 passengers. As of June 15, daily flights between the largest cities in Switzerland and Croatia are on sale.

The plane will depart from Zagreb at 09:10, the expected arrival in Zurich is at 10:45. The return flight will take off from Zurich at 11:45, and the expected landing in Zagreb is at 13:10.

After June 15, the introduction of several international lines to Croatia is expected, given that the borders of many countries should be opened from that date.

From June 8, Croatia Airlines will operate on international routes from Zagreb to Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Copenhagen and Zurich, along with domestic routes to Split and Dubrovnik.

May 27, 2020 - The latest news from around Croatia’s airports for flights to Croatia with updates from Zagreb and Zadar.

On May 25, Croatia Airlines launched regular flights from Zagreb to Amsterdam, which is currently the only EU destination the national carrier is flying to, along with Frankfurt, which was maintained during the coronavirus pandemic. 

Flight OU450 to Amsterdam from Zagreb departs every day at 8:20, while the departure from Amsterdam to Zagreb OU451 is scheduled for 11:35.

Avio Radar announced that from June 1, Croatia Airlines would also start flying to Copenhagen with five flights per week, after which it will operate daily (from June 8).

Flight OU480 to Copenhagen from Zagreb departs every day at 8:10, while the departure from Copenhagen to Zagreb OU481 is scheduled for 11:20. 

The A319/320 and DASH 8-Q400 aircraft will be exchanged on this route, depending on the demand. 

With the planned opening of borders, announced for June 15, we should expect more direct flights to other destinations. The airline will also resume nonstop flights from Split to Frankfurt on May 29.

Ex Yu Aviation reports that SAS Scandinavian Airlines has canceled its new seasonal service from Copenhagen to Zadar because of the coronavirus pandemic. The new flight was meant to begin on June 30 and was meant to run twice a week. 

Recall, we recently reported that Ukrainian airline Windrose announced a new planned start of operations on the Kyiv-Zagreb route.

The line has not existed so far, so this summer season was supposed to be the first in which there would be a direct connection between the capitals of Ukraine and Croatia, and it was originally supposed to start operating in May.

Due to the pandemic and the crisis it caused, the company initially postponed the start of operations to the end of May, then to June, but after Monday's changes, the company decided to further postpone the planned start of operations to July 21.

Windrose kept three weeks of flights on this route in the reservation system, with a small capacity aircraft (48 seats), ERJ-145.

Additional delays are also likely, as well as the complete cancellation of the line for this summer season and the start of traffic only in the summer flight schedule in 2021.

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May 26, 2020 - The latest news from around Croatia’s airports for flights to Croatia with updates from Zagreb.

Croatian Aviation reports that Ukrainian airline Windrose announced a new planned start of operations on the Kyiv-Zagreb route.

The line has not existed so far, so this summer season was supposed to be the first in which there would be a direct connection between the capitals of Ukraine and Croatia, and it was originally supposed to start operating in May.

Due to the pandemic and the crisis it caused, the company initially postponed the start of operations to the end of May, then to June, but after Monday's changes, the company decided to further postpone the planned start of operations to July 21.

Windrose kept three weeks of flights on this route in the reservation system, with a small capacity aircraft (48 seats), ERJ-145.

Additional delays are also likely, as well as the complete cancellation of the line for this summer season and the start of traffic only in the summer flight schedule in 2021.

Furthermore, on Monday, Croatia Airlines performed the first rotation on the Zagreb-Amsterdam-Zagreb service after a long break caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Although it was planned that initially smaller aircraft (76 seats) would be on the route, Croatia Airlines rotated the A319 aircraft (reg. Marks 9A-CTH) with a capacity of 144 seats.

The plane took off from Zagreb at 08:40 in the morning towards the capital of the Netherlands, with 78 passengers. The return flight from Amsterdam was delayed on arrival in Zagreb by only 12 minutes, but, interestingly, on the first day of the re-establishment of this line, there were as many as 124 passengers on the flight (load factor of 86% cabin occupancy).

After 1 hour and 20 minutes of flight through the airspace of the Netherlands, Germany, Austria and Slovenia, the plane landed at Zagreb Airport and made an afternoon flight to Frankfurt, also the first after a long break.

Following the announcements of airlines in the region and Europe in general, we can expect the normalization of air traffic soon, but certainly not to the extent that it existed before the outbreak of the pandemic.

To read more about travel in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

May 25, 2020 - The latest news from around Croatia’s airports for flights to Croatia with updates from Zagreb, Split, Dubrovnik, Pula, Zadar and Rijeka.

Croatian Aviation reports that Serbia's national airline, Air Serbia, announced its preliminary flight schedule for June. 

The Belgrade-Zagreb route is also in the adjusted flight schedule, which will be in traffic again from Tuesday, June 16.

From that date, Air Serbia will fly to Zagreb 4 to 5 times a week through June, while from July, daily flights are announced.

Reservations to other destinations in Croatia are possible as follows:

Belgrade - Pula is announced 3 times a week from July 10 (Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays),

Belgrade - Zadar is announced twice a week from July 11 (Tuesdays and Saturdays),

Belgrade - Split is announced from June 28, three times a week (Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays),

Belgrade - Dubrovnik is announced from June 26, three times a week (Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays),

Belgrade - Rijeka line is not for sale.

Recall, we recently announced that German leisure company, Condor, would be resuming regular international lines from several German cities to well-known tourist destinations across Europe, including Split.

Before the outbreak of the pandemic, this German airline regularly flew on seasonal routes from German airports to Rijeka, Zadar, Split and Dubrovnik, but in the current summer flight schedule, the lines have not yet started operating.

In its last announcement, the company announced the resumption of operations, and the first line to Croatia will be introduced from the end of June.

From June 26, Condor will fly on two routes to Split:

Frankfurt - Split, from June 26, twice a week (Fridays and Sundays),

Dusseldorf - Split, from June 26, twice a week (Fridays and Sundays).

In addition to these two direct routes, the company, in cooperation with Lufthansa, also offers flights to Hamburg and Munich with short transfers. The mentioned lines will be operated by A320 aircraft, with a capacity of 180 seats.

Tickets are already on sale on the airline's official website. Split will thus be connected to Dusseldorf 3 times a week, considering that Eurowings, as we announced earlier, will fly between these two cities from June 20.

The airline has not yet confirmed the start of traffic from German cities to Zadar, Rijeka and Dubrovnik.

Furthermore, Aegean Airlines announced new start dates for operations to destinations in Croatia.

The Greek airline plans to fly to 3 destinations in Croatia: Dubrovnik, Split and Zagreb in the current summer flight schedule. The line to Zadar was canceled in 2019.

Athens-Dubrovnik will be in operation twice a week from June 25, wit A320 aircraft. Aircraft of this type at Aegean has a capacity of 174 seats. The increase to five-week flights is planned for July 3.

The Athens-Split line has been announced four times a week from July 6, with the A319 aircraft, with a capacity of 144 seats.

The Athens-Zagreb route will again operate from July 1, three times a week, on A319 and A320 aircraft (capacity 144 and 174 seats, respectively).

Finally, Emirates, an airline from the United Arab Emirates, has additionally canceled the start of operations on the Zagreb-Dubai route.

Although this seasonal line was supposed to start operating on the first day of the summer flight schedule, this did not happen due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

After that, the company repeatedly delayed the start of operations on this line, and the latest information was that this well-known company would come to the Croatian capital again from July 1 this year.

Emirates usually flies on the Dubai-Zagreb route every day, but due to reduced demand, flights are now postponed until August 1, when the line should start operating with only four flights per week (Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays). B47-300ER aircraft with a capacity of 354 seats have been announced on the route.

Given that this is the only seasonal Emirates route in the entire destination network, there is a high probability that this airline will not return to Zagreb this season.

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May 24, 2020 — German airline Lufthansa announced the resumption flights to tourist destinations, including Dubrovnik, starting in June.

"In the second half of June, Lufthansa is reintroducing flights to 20 tourist destinations," a company spokesman told HRT, confirming an article in the German daily Bild am Sonntag. A schedule of flights has not been released yet.

Dubrovnik relies heavily on airline and cruise ship travelers, seeking some sort of special categorization allowing flights to resume despite the pandemic.

The airline will resume flights to high-traffic destinations, such as Mallorca, Crete, Venice, Rhodes, Ibiza, and Dubrovnik. A total of 160 of the 760 aircraft from the Lufthansa fleet and companies such as Eurowings and Swiss, which are part of this Lufthansa Group, would fly the routes.

At the same time, negotiations are underway between the German state and Lufthansa to rescue the nation's largest airline, which has fallen into financial difficulties due to the coronavirus pandemic.

According to some information, the government plans to help with about nine billion euros. In return, the state would, at least for a time, enter the ownership structure of Lufthansa.

May 24, 2020 - Croatia Airlines CEO Jasmin Bajic spoke to “AirInsight” about how the national carrier plans to recover from the effects of COVID-19.

Namely, Ex Yu Aviation reports that Croatia Airlines should recover from the effects of the pandemic by 2022, and that it would better position itself in new markets. 

“Being a small airline may be an advantage to surviving the global turmoil - we can be more flexible during this time and more daring in seizing any new opportunity on the market. There is a downside as well - there are fewer means for investment compared to the bigger carriers. We are considering a few scenarios for the post-pandemic Croatia Airlines and each of them has the goal of positioning the company onto new markets and strengthening its position in existing markets," said Bajic.

Bajic also spoke about the national carrier's recovery, and that it should be back on track by 2022.

“The pre-recovery has started but our industry will need two or three years to truly get back on its feet. We are gradually adding more flights into the distribution systems and we are seeing a positive market response. I would say that the main question is not when the recovery will start but how long it will take to recover. Me and my management team are confident that we can reach our 2019 figures by 2022. Personally, I would not be surprised to see Croatia Airlines’ figures reaching 2019 levels by the end of 2021, but we all agree that the recovery will be a long-lasting process during which we may again be exposed to another wave of the virus spread. Having said that, I also want to emphasise that, besides “U” shape and “V” shape scenarios, we need to be prepared for other scenarios too. This applies to many airlines around us as well. Many carriers will have to downsize for an unspecified time”.

Bijac concluded by saying the airline would not only connect Croats with Europe and the rest of the world, but would also provide connections for Croatian people within the country and offer direct links to Croatian holiday destinations around Europe.

“Croatia Airlines is a regional carrier with the prime purpose of connecting Croats with Europe and the rest of the world through major European hubs with connections to the networks of our Star Alliance partners. We will continue to connect major European hubs as this is our strategy and it will remain unchanged. However, we will also provide connections for Croatian people to fly within the country and we will continue to provide direct links to Croatian holiday destinations from around Europe. We believe that the hub and spoke system will survive. Croatia Airlines is a strong regional operator with a clear goal. It is also well connected with many other airline partners through its interline and codeshare agreements and part of the best alliance in the world - Star Alliance," Bijac concluded.

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May 23, 2020 - The latest news from around Croatia’s airports for flights to Croatia with updates from Zagreb, Split and Dubrovnik.

Croatian Aviation reports that German leisure company, Condor, announced they'd be resuming regular international lines from several German cities to well-known tourist destinations across Europe, including Split.

Before the outbreak of the pandemic, this German airline regularly flew on seasonal routes from German airports to Rijeka, Zadar, Split and Dubrovnik, but in the current summer flight schedule, the lines have not yet started operating.

In its last announcement, the company announced the resumption of operations, and the first line to Croatia will be introduced from the end of June.

From June 26, Condor will fly on two routes to Split:

Frankfurt - Split, from June 26, twice a week (Fridays and Sundays),

Dusseldorf - Split, from June 26, twice a week (Fridays and Sundays).

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In addition to these two direct routes, the company, in cooperation with Lufthansa, also offers flights to Hamburg and Munich with short transfers. The mentioned lines will be operated by A320 aircraft, with a capacity of 180 seats.

Tickets are already on sale on the airline's official website. Split will thus be connected to Dusseldorf 3 times a week, considering that Eurowings, as we announced earlier, will fly between these two cities from June 20.

The airline has not yet confirmed the start of traffic from German cities to Zadar, Rijeka and Dubrovnik.

Furthermore, Croatian Aviation reported that Aegean Airlines announced new start dates for operations to destinations in Croatia.

The Greek airline plans to fly to 3 destinations in Croatia: Dubrovnik, Split and Zagreb in the current summer flight schedule. The line to Zadar was canceled in 2019.

Athens-Dubrovnik will be in operation twice a week from June 25, wit A320 aircraft. Aircraft of this type at Aegean has a capacity of 174 seats. The increase to five-week flights is planned for July 3.

The Athens-Split line has been announced four times a week from July 6, with the A319 aircraft, with a capacity of 144 seats.

The Athens-Zagreb route will again operate from July 1, three times a week, on A319 and A320 aircraft (capacity 144 and 174 seats, respectively).

Finally, Croatian Aviation reports that Emirates, an airline from the United Arab Emirates, has additionally canceled the start of operations on the Zagreb-Dubai route.

Although this seasonal line was supposed to start operating on the first day of the summer flight schedule, this did not happen due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

After that, the company repeatedly delayed the start of operations on this line, and the latest information was that this well-known company would come to the Croatian capital again from July 1 this year.

Emirates usually flies on the Dubai-Zagreb route every day, but due to reduced demand, flights are now postponed until August 1, when the line should start operating with only four flights per week (Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays). B47-300ER aircraft with a capacity of 354 seats have been announced on the route.

Given that this is the only seasonal Emirates route in the entire destination network, there is a high probability that this airline will not return to Zagreb this season.

May 21, 2020 - The latest news from around Croatia’s airports for flights to Croatia with updates from Zagreb, Zadar, and Split.

Croatian Aviation reports that Brussels Airlines announced on Tuesday that in its current summer flight schedule, it would not fly to two destinations in Croatia - Zagreb and Zadar.

The company decided to cancel all unprofitable lines, as well as those bordering on profitability (in Spain, France, Portugal, Germany, Greece), which led to the cancellation of two lines to Croatia.

For now, Brussels Airlines will keep the Brussels-Split and Brussels-Dubrovnik routes on sale, while the routes to Zadar and Zagreb have been withdrawn from sale.

The Brussels-Zadar line was introduced in May 2018 as a seasonal line, while the line between Brussels and Zagreb was introduced in 2015.

On the route between Zagreb and Brussels, there will still be the option of a direct flight, as Croatia Airlines operates between these two cities twice a day in the conditions of normal air traffic.

Furthermore, Ex Yu Aviation announced that Eurowings would grow its presence in Croatia, but at reduced frequencies.

Namely, Eurowings will add services to the Croatian coast by resuming flights from Stuttgart, Hamburg and Dusseldorf to Split.

Its Cologne-Zagreb service, which has been maintained throughout most of the coronavirus pandemic, will be reduced from two to one per week in June. The lines from Hamburg and Dusseldorf to Rijeka, Dusseldorf to Pula and Cologne to Zadar will resume once per week on June 20.

“We can feel the growing desire of people to travel again and relax and enjoy their holidays after a long period of travel bans. This is exactly what we are now making possible with our extended summer schedule – reliably, safely and with all due caution. Travelling, whether private or professional, will be possible again," said Eurowings’ CEO, Jens Bischo.

Ex Yu Aviation adds that Eurowings’ parent company Lufthansa will not resume any of its destinations in the former Yugoslavia before June 15. You can read more about that on Ex Yu Aviation.

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May 20, 2020 - A meeting on the topic of launching international flights was held in Dubrovnik on Tuesday.

The meeting was attended by Mayor Mato Franković, Deputy Mayor Jelka Tepšić, Director of the Dubrovnik Tourist Board Ana Hrnić, representatives of the largest hotel companies in the city and the Director of Commercial Affairs of Dubrovnik Airport, Ivan Maslać, reports Croatian Aviation. 

The meeting agreed on marketing cooperation and a strategy by which the City of Dubrovnik, the Tourist Board of the City, and the Dubrovnik Airport will work together on marketing, all in order to encourage airlines to reintroduce international routes to this city.

Unlike some other tourist destinations in Croatia, the 'Pearl of the Adriatic' is still (until the construction of the Peljesac Bridge) separated from the rest of Croatia, and due to the distance from many crucial markets, it has developed into an air destination.

Airlines that decide to launch routes to Dubrovnik will be provided with financial compensation, and the Mayor of the city has already announced that they are ready to participate in this marketing campaign. The City will co-finance flights with 14 million kuna.

It remains to be seen which airlines will apply in the future and be interested in co-financing the flights, but there is no doubt that there will be interest in an action of this kind.

We remind you that Dubrovnik is currently connected by air only to Zagreb, twice a day. Croatia Airlines has already reduced the number of flights operating on a daily basis, depending on the booking status of each flight.

Recall, Qatar Airways and American Airlines have canceled their seasonal services to the famous coastal city this year, and won't resume operations until 2021. The American Airlines Dubrovnik to Philadelphia flight was the first direct connection for 28 years between Croatia and the United States, a psychological as well as physical connection between the two countries. 

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