January 30, 2020 - The latest news from around Croatia’s airports for new flights to Croatia with updates from Dubrovnik, Split, Zadar, and Rijeka.

Avio Radar reports that Spanish low-cost carrier Vueling has announced a new route from France to Dubrovnik as part of this summer’s flight schedule. Namely, the Paris (Rossy-Charles de Gaulle Airport)-Dubrovnik service will run twice a week, on Mondays and Fridays, from the beginning of the summer flight schedule, or March 30, 2020.

This will be the first Vueling line from France to Croatia. This route remains in operation until the end of the summer flight schedule with two flights per week. An Airbus A320 aircraft will work on this line. 

Furthermore, Avio Radar reports that the German airline Condor will increase traffic from Germany to Split for the 2020 summer flight schedule. The Dusseldorf-Split line has been strengthened, and instead of last year’s two flights per week, on Thursdays and Sundays, there will be a third flight per week this year on Fridays. An Airbus A321 aircraft will operate on this line, which will begin three weeks earlier than last year, or, from April 10. 

The Frankfurt-Split route will keep three flights a week, on  Fridays, Sundays, and Tuesdays instead of Thursdays. The third line between Hanover and Split will work on Friday and Sunday. 

In contrast, Condor will reduce traffic from Germany to Zadar. Namely, last year’s lines from Dusseldorf and Hanover to Zadar have been canceled. Only the Frankfurt-Zadar line remains in operation with one flight per week, on Sundays. It will also begin working a month later compared to last year, or from May 31, 2020. 

The Frankfurt-Dubrovnik line will operate once a week, on Sundays instead of Saturdays, but will begin working a month and a half later than last year, or from May 31, 2020. The Frankfurt-Rijeka line remains in operation twice a week, on Thursdays and Saturdays, just as it did last year. The Airbus A320 aircraft has been announced on all other routes listed. 

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

January 28, 2020 - The latest news from around Croatia’s airports for new flights to Croatia with updates from Pula and Osijek.

Ex Yu Aviation reports that Croatia Airlines has ended its seasonal service between Pula and Amsterdam, which ran once per week in the summer. The nonstop flight between Pula and Amsterdam originated in Dubrovnik.

The airline announced that it would no longer work on this route this year, though that it would instead boost operations between Zagreb and Amsterdam.  Namely, frequencies on this route will be increased from seven to eight flights per week. 

The added flight will operate on Tuesdays from April 28 to September 29, 2020. 

This move could be due to competition, as last year, easyJet launched a service between Amsterdam and Pula. 

Furthermore, Ex Yu Aviation reports that Eurowings announced that it is ending its seasonal service between Cologne and Osijek this year. However, that it would keep its service between Stuttgart to Osijek.

This news comes after Eurowings announced it would discontinue flights from Berlin and Dusseldorf to Zagreb just before the summer season, in March. The final flight from Berlin and Dusseldorf to Zagreb is scheduled for March 28, 2020.

Eurowings announced back in November that it would maintain six flights per week from Cologne and five from Stuttgart to Zagreb this summer. The low-cost airline will also operate eight return flights from Hamburg this summer, running once per week between July 8 and August 26, 2020.

Recall, last week, Avio Radar reported that the new Danish carrier Great Dane Airlines would fly on a charter line from Denmark to Rijeka. The line will operate this offseason between Copenhagen and Rijeka, on Tuesdays and Thursdays from September 10 to October 15. 

This service is operated by Best Travel tourist agency, and is also the airline's first charter flight to Croatia. The Embraer ERJ-195 will fly on this route. It is also currently the only direct route from Denmark to Rijeka. 

Avio Radar also reported last week that Tunisia’s national carrier Tunisair would again fly on the Zagreb-Monastir charter service, which will operate once a week, on Wednesdays, from May. 27 to October 7, 2020. The line was last in service in 2014, and will currently be the only direct line from Croatia to any destination in Tunisia. An Airbus A320 aircraft will operate on this line.

And finally, beginning May 4, 2020, Air France will offer another direct flight from Zagreb to Paris.

In addition to the existing two direct flights, one of which is in cooperation with Croatia Airlines, a total of three flights to Paris are on offer on daily. The new flight allows passengers to depart and return to Paris in one day, but also to board a flight to North America.

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

January 23, 2020 - The latest news from around Croatia’s airports for new flights to Croatia with updates from Zagreb and Rijeka.

Avio Radar reports that the new Danish carrier Great Dane Airlines will fly on a new charter line from Denmark to Rijeka. Namely, the line will operate this offseason between Copenhagen and Rijeka, on Tuesdays and Thursdays from September 10 to October 15. 

This service is operated by Best Travel tourist agency, and is also the airline's first charter flight to Croatia. The Embraer ERJ-195 will fly on this route. It is also currently the only direct route from Denmark to Rijeka. 

Avio Radar also reports that Tunisia’s national carrier Tunisair will again fly on the Zagreb-Monastir charter service, which will operate once a week, on Wednesdays, from May. 27 to October 7, 2020. The line was last in service in 2014, and will currently be the only direct line from Croatia to any destination in Tunisia. An Airbus A320 aircraft will operate on this line.

Furthermore, HRTurizam writes that beginning May 4, 2020, Air France is offering another direct flight from Zagreb to Paris.

In addition to the existing two direct flights, one of which is in cooperation with Croatia Airlines, a total of three flights to Paris are on offer on daily. The new flight allows passengers to depart and return to Paris in one day, but also to board a flight to North America.

Namely, the new airline will provide quality connectivity to North America for all travelers continuing to these destinations, which is certainly an interesting combination and a benefit for Croatian tourism.

"I am very pleased to introduce this additional flight with a night stop in Zagreb. This flight offers excellent connectivity via Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport to other destinations. Going to Paris and returning to Zagreb on the same day is an added benefit for Croatian travelers. With the new Alloff flight schedule, you can more easily access - among other things - North American destinations, such as New York, Atlanta, Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco or Seattle and Vancouver,” said Ildiko Kiss Country Manager for Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia.

The new flight will be operated by Airbus 319/320 with 137/166 seats.

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

January 18, 2020 - The latest news from around Croatia’s airports for new flights to Croatia with updates from Zagreb, Zadar, Pula, and Split. 

HRTurizam reports that the Vakantiebeurs Tourism Fair is held in the Dutch city of Utrecht from January 15 to 19, 2020. It is the largest tourism fair for business and general audiences in the Benelux area, with more than 1000 exhibitors attending the jubilee 50th edition of the fair this year, as well as the Croatian Tourist Board with 18 local co-exhibitors.

It is at the Vakantiebeurs Fair that new lines from the Netherlands and Belgium to Croatia have been announced.

"We are very pleased with the growing interest of airlines in Croatia, as is evidenced by the announcement of three new flights from the Netherlands and Belgium to Croatia this year, namely Easyjet from Amsterdam to Zadar, Ryanair from Maastricht to Zadar and TUIfly airlines from Brussels to Pula,”  said Ivan Novak, Director of the HTZ Representation for Benelux.

During 2019, nearly 500,000 arrivals and approximately 3 million overnight stays were made from the Dutch market.

In other news, Ex Yu Aviation News reports that Croatia Airlines is planning to launch a service between Zagreb and Tirana this summer. Recall, while the Croatian national carrier used to operate on the Zagreb-Tirana route, the two cities haven’t been connected by the airline in years. 

Namely, the airline's CEO Jasmin Bajić and Director of its Commercial Division, Slaven Žabo, discussed the potential new line with Albania’s Ambassador to Croatia, Riza Poda.

“Both parties agreed for talks between Croatia Airlines and relevant authorities in Albania to commence immediately in order for this important project to be realized as soon as possible,” the Albanian Embassy in Zagreb said. 

Ex Yu Aviation adds that the Croatian carrier hoped to establish a base in Tirana back in 2016, though the project never came to fruition. Albanian national carrier Air Albania said it would launch flights to Croatia back in 2017, though they have yet to do so. The aviation portal added that an average of 24,000 Albanian passport holders visited Croatia annually over the last few years. 

Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and a large delegation of Croatian investors will visit Tirana in May. The Croatian national carrier also plans to service Sofia and Podgorica this summer. 

To end this week of flight news, Avio Radar reports that FlygBRA-Braathens Regional Airlines announced the first regular flight from Sweden to Croatia this summer. The new Malmo-Split route will run once a week, on Saturdays, from May 30 to September 26, 2020.

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

January 12, 2020 - The latest news from around Croatia’s airports for new flights to Croatia with updates from Zagreb, Dubrovnik, and Split.

Ex Yu Aviation reports that Air France announced that it is boosting its service between Paris and Zagreb, adding a second daily flight for this summer. Thus, Air France will operate from Paris to Zagreb in the morning and evening every day this summer out of Charles de Gaulle Airport. The new service will begin in May. 

Recall, Croatia Airlines already operates one daily service from Zagreb to Paris. 

In other flight news, we should see significant growth between Croatia and Greece this summer. Namely, Ex Yu Aviation reports that this is due to more destinations, higher capacity and three airlines operating between the two countries. This news comes after Aegean Airlines submitted a nonbinding bid to acquire Croatia Airlines. Thus, Aegean will increase capacity on all of its routes to Croatia this summer. 

Aegean will run three services per week between Athens and Zagreb, using the Airbus A319 twice per week and the A320 once per week. Aegean will exclusively use the A320 on its five flights to Dubrovnik, while the A319 will service Split four times per week. Aegean has also expanded its codeshare partnership with Air Serbia to include Dubrovnik, Pula, Rijeka, Split, Zadar and Zagreb. 

Ex Yu Aviation adds that Croatia Airlines will operate from Zagreb to Athens via Dubrovnik six times per week. This route will be serviced by Dash 8s and Air Nostrum Bombardier CRJ1000 jets.

Spanish low-cost carrier Volotea will operate three flights per week between Athens and Dubrovnik this summer, while a new service between Athens and Split will run twice per week starting April 19, and a new route from Mykonos to Dubrovnik from May 30. As reported earlier, this is the first time Croatia will be linked with a Greek city other than Athens. 

“These are very attractive additions for a very dynamic market in which we believe there is still good room for growth,” said Carlos Munoz, CEO and Founder of Volotea.

Over thirty-three thousand Greek tourists visited Croatia in 2018.

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

December 15, 2019 - The latest news from around Croatia’s airports for new flights to Croatia with updates from Pula, Zadar and Dubrovnik.

Avio Radar reports that low-cost carrier easyJet announced four new routes to Croatia in their 2020 summer flight schedule. Namely, Pula and Zadar will both receive new lines. 

Both new lines to Pula arrive from the UK. Glasgow-Pula will run with two flights per week, on Mondays and Fridays, from June 22 to August 28, 2020, while London (Luton)-Pula will operate three times a week, on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, from April 28 to October 2, 2020. Easyjet already flies to Pula from London’s Gatwick Airport and Southend Airport. The line from Luton Airport will be the third from London to Pula. 

There are also new arrivals between Zadar and the Netherlands and Switzerland. Namely, Amsterdam-Zadar will run twice a week, on Tuesdays and Sundays, from June 23 to August 30, 2020. The Basel/Mulhouse-Zadar route will run three times a week, on Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays from June 22 to August 29, 2020. 

The Airbus A319 or larger Airbus A32- aircraft will fly on all new lines. 

Furthermore, Avio Radar reports that Swiss national carrier Swiss International Air Lines, a member of the Star Alliance global airline association, has announced its first line to Dubrovnik in its 2020 summer flight schedule. The. Geneva-Dubrovnik route will run once a week, on Saturdays, from July 4 to August 29, 2020. The new Airbus 220-300 aircraft will service this line. 

Finally, Ex Yu Aviation reports that Croatia Airlines and LOT Polish Airlines, both Star Alliance members, will expand their codeshare agreement.

Namely, LOT will add its code and flight numbers on routes from Zagreb to Sarajevo and Mostar starting January 1, 2020. Recall, Croatia Airlines already codeshares on LOT flights from Warsaw to Zagreb, Frankfurt, Vienna and Munich. LOT also has its flight numbers on Croatia Airlines' services from Zagreb to Dubrovnik, Split, Frankfurt, Munich and Vienna, Ex Yu Aviation adds. LOT also announced new lines to Croatia for 2020, with seasonal services between Warsaw-Rijeka and Budapest-Dubrovnik.

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

December 13, 2019 -The latest news from around Croatia’s airports for new flights to Croatia with updates from Rijeka, Dubrovnik, and Zadar. 

HRTurizam reports that Dubrovnik and Rijeka will be directly connected to Vilnius, Lithuania's capital, in the coming year thanks to AirBaltic.

These flights will be active from the beginning of May until the end of October, i.e., the line for Rijeka will operate once a week on Thursdays, while the line for Dubrovnik will operate twice a week, on Thursdays and Saturdays.

Martin Gauss, CEO of AirBaltic, said they aim to provide the best connection in both directions for all three Baltic capitals. “When assessing which destinations will depart from the Baltic capitals, we first look for the most sought after among local travelers. This is why we provide additional input to local airports, offering new travel options. By next summer, we will already serve 16 destinations from Estonia, 11 from Lithuania and over 70 destinations from Latvia."

"This is great news and an announcement that supports further increasing the number of airlines and further enhancing the accessibility of Croatian destinations. The first flight will feature a large number of travel agents and journalists from the Baltics and Scandinavia to whom we will present Rijeka, Dubrovnik and Split,” said Croatian Tourist Board Director Kristjan Stanicic, adding that the new Airbus A220-300 fleet will operate on these routes. 

HTZ added that the AirBaltic presentation brought together more than 100 agents and partners, including Kresimir Kedmenec, Ambassador of the Republic of Croatia to Lithuania, and Vedran Susic, Director of the HTZ Representative Office for Scandinavia, who organized a special presentation of the Croatian tourist agency deals with a focus on Rijeka and Dubrovnik.

In other flight news, Avio Radar reports that Europe’s largest carrier Ryanair announced a new base and 11 new routes from Zadar for the 2020 season. Namely, there are a total of 31 lines in the 2020 summer flight schedule, including 11 new routes to exciting destinations such as Aarhus, Cork, and Riga. The flight schedule begins in April 2020, is estimated to carry a total of 672,000 passengers annually, and create around 500 jobs in the various activities and services provided at Zadar Airport. 

Ryanair is also opening a base with three Laudamotion aircraft in Zadar, representing an investment of about $300 million and directly creating 90 new jobs in Ryanair. 

Ryanair’s 2020 summer flight schedule in Zadar brings:

- 3 Laudamotion base planes ($300 million investment)

- 11 new lines for Aarhus. (2), Bremen (3), Cork (2), Paris Beauvais (2), Kaunas (2), Liverpool (2), Maastricht (2), Riga (2), Toulouse (2), & Wroclaw (2)

- 31 lines in total

- 672,000 passengers annually (+50%)

- 90 new Ryanair jobs

- 500 on-site jobs

Eddie Wilson, CEO of Ryanair said: 

“We are delighted to be opening our base in Zadar next summer as part of our efforts to contribute to the growth of transport, tourism, and jobs. Our 2020 flight schedule brings 31 lines, including 11 new lines, and we plan to carry a total of 672,000 passengers a year and generate 500 jobs in various industries in Zadar. Zadar and their guests can now buy the cheapest tickets and fly with the greenest/cleanest European airline on a total of 31 flights until the end of October 2020.”

Josip Klismanic, director of Zadar Airport added:

“The return of Ryanair’s base to Zadar with three aircraft is a great tribute to Zadar, both as an airport and as a destination. The growth of Ryanair’s offer to Zadar from all over Europe in recent years shows that Zadar and Croatia have something to offer our guests. Ryanair makes Zadar and Croatia much more accessible to Europe, but let’s not forget, it also makes Europe much closer to Zadar and Croatia. The announcements for 2020 justify our efforts to increase the level of service for our passengers by expanding the capacity of Zadar Airport and providing the preconditions for further growth. I do not doubt that Ryanair will play an essential role in that. 

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

December 9, 2019 - The latest news from around Croatia’s airports for new flights to Croatia with updates from Rijeka, Zadar, Split, Dubrovnik, Pula, and Zagreb.

Avio Radar reports that Irish low-cost carrier Ryanair announced that it would terminate its base at Skavsta Airport near Stockholm, Sweden, and this year’s new base in Nuremberg, Germany. The airline stated the reason being that they would not be taking over the 20 Boeing 737MAX aircraft as planned for the summer next year. 

In the Croatian market, this means discontinuing the Stockholm-Rijeka route, which was the strongest Ryanair route to Rijeka. Namely, this route operated to Rijeka in the summer from early April to late October and is already not on sale for next year. 

“We also expect to cut summer capacity in a number of other existing bases, and we are currently in discussions with our people, our unions, and our affected airports to finalize these minor reductions”, Ryanair said in a statement on Ex Yu Aviation News. 

Interestingly, the airline recently announced that it would boost operations on the Stockholm-Zadar route from two to three times per week, and tickets for this line are still on offer for next year. Furthermore, tickets for the Nuremberg-Zadar route are also still on offer, although the Nuremberg base has plans to close. The airline updated customers with the news that this line would continue with operations, unlike the others. 

Avio Radar adds that British low-cost carrier Jet2 will increase traffic to Dubrovnik in their 2020 summer flight schedule. On the London (Stansted Airport)-Dubrovnik route, the sixth flight per week has been introduced, on Mondays, which means that Jet2 will fly this route every day except Wednesdays. The line will begin operations on April 2, 2020. 

Still, Jet2 has decreased operations from London to Pula and Split. The London (Stansted)-Pula route will run only once a week, on Sundays, from May 31 to September 20, 2020. The London (Stansted)-Split route will run twice a week instead of last year’s three, on Thursdays and Sundays. Namely, this line will no longer work on Wednesdays. A Boeing 737-800 aircraft should service all lines. 

Jet2 also introduced a new line between Stansted and Zadar next year. 

Finally, Avio Radar reports that Kenya Airways expanded its codeshare cooperation with French national carrier Air France. Both Airlines are members of the Skyteam global airline association. Zagreb is among the other new codeshare destinations for Kenya Airways. The extended collaboration began on November 26, 2019. Air France’s daily flights on the Paris route (Charles de Gaulle) to Zagreb will carry the Kenyan KQ3834, along with the French carrier’s symbol. 

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

December 4, 2019 - The latest news from around Croatia’s airports for new flights to Croatia with updates from Split, Dubrovnik, and Rijeka.

Avio Radar announced that Polish carrier Enter Air would fly for TUI from Poland to Split. Two lines are planned in the 2020 summer flight schedule, from Katowice and Warsaw to Split. Both routes will operate once a week, on Thursdays, from June 4 to September 24, 2020, with a Boeing 737-800 aircraft. 

Recall, Ryanair Sun flew for TUI from Warsaw to Split this year. Enter Air is thus taking over this line and is introducing a new line form Katowice to Split. Both Wizz Air and Czech Smartwings already fly on both routes. In addition, the Polish carrier LOT already flies from Warsaw to Split. A total of four carriers are now competing on lines from Poland to Split with a total of 12 flights per week. 

Furthermore, Avio Radar reports that Transavia France, a French subsidiary of the Dutch low-cost carrier Transavia, has announced a new flight from France to Dubrovnik in their 2020 summer flight schedule.  The new Nantes-Dubrovnik route will operate twice a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays, from April 11 to October 24, 2020. A Boeing 737-800 aircraft will serve this line. 

Transavia will be the third carrier to connect Nantes and Dubrovnik. Namely, the Spanish carrier Volotea and the British Easyjet both fly three times a week on this route. Accordingly, three airlines will offer eight flights on the Nantes-Dubrovnik line next summer. 

Finally, Ex Yu Aviation News reports that Rijeka Airport handled its 200,000th passenger on November 28, 2019, marking its busiest year yet. The 200,000th traveler was on the Croatia Airlines flight from Munich to Rijeka. 

With a record year behind them, Rijeka Airport has no plans to slow down next year. Namely, in 2020, Ryanair will launch a service from Hahn and LOT from Warsaw. 

“This significant passenger growth was achieved thanks in part to the activities, dedication and financial assistance provided by the management of Rijeka Airport in cooperation with the Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, the Ministry for Sea, Transport and Infrastructure, the Croatian National Tourist Board and the Kvarner County Tourism Office, which supported the introduction of new routes in 2019,” the airport said. 

Dubrovnik Airport also had a record month of November when they handled 56,924 passengers for an increase of 113.9% compared to last year.

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

November 28, 2019 - The latest news from around Croatia’s airports for new flights to Croatia with updates from Dubrovnik, Rijeka, and Zadar. 

Ex Yu Aviation announced that LOT Polish Airlines would launch a seasonal service between Budapest and Dubrovnik next year. The new route will operate from June 7 and run once a week, on Sundays, until September 27. 

This will be the third city LOT services to Dubrovnik, in addition to Warsaw and Krakow.You can find more details about the new Budapest - Dubrovnik route here.

Avio Radar reported that Irish low-cost carrier Ryanair will boost the Cologne/Bonn-Zadar route for next summer. The line only started operating this year with two flights per week. Next summer, Ryanair will run three flights a week, and in addition to Wednesdays and Sundays, they will service Zadar on Mondays from the beginning of June to the end of September 2020. A Boeing 737-800 aircraft flies on all Ryanair lines. 

Avio Radar also reported that Serbia’s national air carrier Air Serbia would suspend traffic between Belgrade and Rijeka during the winter. The last flight is scheduled for December 5, 2019. A few more flights around the New Year remain on offer. The line will then continue to operate on a regular basis from May 1, 2020, according to the summer flight schedule, which runs twice a week on Tuesdays and Fridays. Compared to this year, Air Serbia will begin operations to Rijeka one month earlier than in 2019. An ATR-72 runs on this line. 

To end this week of flight news, Dalmacija Danas reported that the Split Architectural Bureau of Ante Kuzmanić is the winner of a competition for the conceptual architectural and urban design of the Zadar Airport passenger terminal. A group of Split architects designed the extension and renovation of the existing terminal building and parking lot. They received a prize of 250,000 kuna for the project. The competition was conducted by the Society of Zadar Architects.

The projects were evaluated by a jury chaired by academician Nikola Bašić, who said that if the conceptual design is transformed into a design project, Zadar Airport will be the most modern airport in Croatia, as it combines all the new parameters that make such an object comfortable and safe.

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