May 5, 2022 - The latest flight news to Croatia as the Croatia Airlines Split base will continue to expand in the 2022/2023 winter season, with new routes next summer, too. 

Good news for the Dalmatian capital - Croatian national carrier Croatia Airlines is looking to expand operations out of Split Airport! Ex Yu Aviation reports that this news comes after the airline said it would station two aircraft in Split this summer with five new routes. 

Recall, the Croatian national airline Croatia Airlines announced it would introduce new flights to Stockholm, Bucharest, Dublin, Milan, and Amsterdam. Stockholm, Bucharest, Dublin, and Milan were served from Zagreb before the pandemic, while the airline operated to some of these destinations in the past - Amsterdam in October 2013, Dublin in October 1996, and Milan in September 2000.

An Airbus A319 and a Dash 8 turboprop aircraft will be stationed in Split this summer, allowing Croatia Airlines to boost operations on several routes. The airline should also expand operations out of Split in the 2022/2023 winter season, with new routes next summer. 

“Based on the outlook that leisure travel and tourism will recover quicker than business travel following the coronavirus pandemic, we made certain changes to our network. This includes five new destinations from Split and the stationing of one Airbus jet and one Dash there. We have good expectations for the leisure market. We also have plans for winter, while next year we will do something similar. We are optimistic about the summer, which is illustrated through our forward bookings," said Croatia Airlines' Head of Network and Revenue Management, Krešimir Mlinar, at the Aviation Arena webinar.  

“Our biggest problem this year is the price of fuel. The A320 uses two and a half tonnes of fuel per hour. This is a constant, even if a ton of fuel is around 400 euros like last year, 700 euros as was the case at the start of 2022, or 1.200 euros, which is the current price. The numbers are huge, and carriers will have to make up for it through their customers. Our main problem now is that, despite a rise in late bookings, tickets are still being purchased in advance, when the increased costs were not included in the fares for use this summer. From June onwards, we expect high levels of fleet utilisation. Some aircraft types will be in use more than in 2019. That year we also had two jets on wet-lease so as to reduce seasonality. However, it was too risky to employ the same strategy this year," concluded Mlinar. 

For more on flights to Croatia and other travel announcements, make sure to check out our dedicated travel section.

August 6, 2021 - As announced in previous months, and now added to the flexibility of travel measures and restrictions between England and Croatia, British Airways flights to Croatia will have around 11,000 seats available for passengers arriving in August from English territory.

Jutarnji List reports that, with the abolition of corona measures in Great Britain, the expansion of flights of local airlines to Croatia began. As of yesterday, British Airways flights to Croatia between London City and Split have started.

Flights on this route will operate three times a week with an E190 aircraft. But that is just the beginning. According to the announcements, British Airways will soon connect Split and London Heathrow nine times a week.

Starting tomorrow, the two-week flight of this company between London (Heathrow) and Pula will start. The company is reintroducing a two-week flight. This week, 12 weekly flights between Heathrow and Dubrovnik should start. Towards Dubrovnik, it will use A321 aircraft and will offer up to 5,232 seats between the two cities on a weekly basis.

The number of flights on the route from London to Zagreb will not increase and BA will still have five weekly flights to the Croatian capital. Given this increase in the number of flights, BA will have 31 flights this month to four Croatian airports with more than 11,000 seats available.

It will operate to Croatia on 6 routes with a total of 9 weekly flights. Apart from the British, this month the number of international flights to Croatian airports will be further strengthened by the German low-cost company Eurowings.

Thus, in addition to Rijeka, Split, Pula, Zagreb, Dubrovnik, Split, and Zadar, this month it will open a new line between Düsseldorf and Zagreb. Given the new route, the company will have 57 weekly flights on 25 routes to six of our airports this month.

Follow the latest on flights to Croatia HERE and the latest travel updates and COVID-19 news from Croatia HERE.

For more on travel in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

January 30, 2021 - How is Split Airport staying busy during the COVID-19 pandemic? Mate Melvan of Split Airport talks about conditions, restrictions, and predictions. 

After Split Airport saw a substantial investment to upgrade and expand its facilities just a few years ago, all to accommodate millions of passengers in the summer, the COVID-19 pandemic has left it empty. 

Namely, Slobodna Dalmacija reports that there are only 200 to 400 passengers who pass on average in both directions a day, on five to six planes that land on the runway. During the week, passengers can fly directly to Rome, Munich, Frankfurt, and Dusseldorf, while all other destinations can only be reached via Zagreb.

With 3.3 million passengers in 2019, figures fell to 674 thousand last year. Mate Melvan, the head of the passenger reception and dispatch service, says that nothing can be worse than last year and predicts that next summer will be much better. Turnover has decreased by five times, but there is work to be done.

"Our work is more diverse and full of challenges. From hour to hour, we monitor the database with the epidemiological situation of each country, which changes the travel conditions for passengers on these flights," he says.

"Information is important because all that is reflected on us, and every day is a new rule for a country. It can be the same, similar, or completely different from ours or some other state, and coming to work does not mean that what we did yesterday will be valid today or even during the day. Passengers face changes practically just before the trip, which can be quite challenging. Many are full of understanding, cooperative, but some do not accept, resent, and think that we or the aviation industry make the rules, not the national headquarters of the states. And when they buy a ticket, they think we are obliged to transport them from point A to place B, that we are responsible. Sometimes they point out some illogicalities for a reason, but we have no choice but to abide by the regulations. Not only are measures taken in our country without prior notice, so it is within the entire Union and elsewhere," says Melvan.

Just one difficult passenger is enough:

"Last year, at one point after reopening, Germany only allowed entry if you have an “essential reason” which includes work, death, medical treatment. A few passengers on the first flight wanted to buy a car because they are engaged in resale. They bought the ticket thinking it was a good reason. We called the carrier, he called the border control, and at the same time, we contacted the operations center by e-mail. They said - no, that can't be a good reason. If he even makes it upstairs, he will be rejected and the carrier punished for bringing him up. So we had to inform the passengers, and they were not happy. For two days, one of them called the police, and then someone at the customs, trying to prove through everyone he knew that someone was to blame. Some travelers really don't understand," he added.

And that is just one example.

Melvan's associate Katarina Dujmov, the coordinator of the passenger service, says that it is increasingly difficult to meet the paperwork some countries require:

"In recent days, we have noticed that some countries have started to close in some way. They won't say 'there will be no travel from tomorrow,' but they will complicate the situation. Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands tightened the conditions, France was quite tough anyway. You need to have a fresh PCR test, so some are looking for an antigen test, and statements on why you are traveling there. A statement that you have not been in contact with a COVID patient, that you board a plane without a fever, that you have no symptoms. Every country has something of its own. All the slightly more northern countries, I guess, are thinking about the new strain of the virus. People travel for various reasons because they have to, and hardly anyone will go for tourism now. It is complicated," says Dujmov, emphasizing that they did not receive any instructions regarding passengers who were vaccinated.

However, there are still some traveling purely for tourism.

"These are people who resist the limitations of their lives and want to realize their desires. It is possible, but it requires a lot of effort and investment, and it is also risky. You can travel, and on the way back, a new measure can change the plan. No one can predict that" they added.

They say that, like the rest of the nation, they are becoming better experts in epidemiology every day.

Goran Boric, the operations center coordinator, deals with changes in the flight lists, and still has less stress than his colleagues, as changes happen within three weeks.

Mate Melvan believes that things will improve this summer and that more people will travel. His optimism is based on the experience of the last short season in which they raised traffic to 40 percent, and from twenty percent in other months.

Also, announcements for the season are excellent. Direct flights to 100 destinations in 25 different countries are open, and the European Commission's aviation industry rules are awaited to see what will be realized. By Easter, they will get a more realistic picture of how the flight schedule from Split Airport will look.

"The old normal will return, maybe the recovery will take a little longer, and this large area of the airport now benefits us because of COVID-19. There is room for space between people; the risk is reduced. Last summer, 500,000 passengers passed through here, some of whom probably had coronavirus, but no one became infected. Wearing a mask, distance and disinfection proved to be effective during the epidemic," says Mate Melvan.

To conclude, none of the 400 full-time employees of Split Airport was fired due to the reduced volume of work, but they brought a package of austerity measures which included a reduction in salaries for all.

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.

June 4, 2020 - With tourism slowly starting, who is flying to Split and Dubrovnik, and how many flights are scheduled this month?

I met with Croatian Minister of Tourism, Gari Cappelli yesterday to discuss various issues relating to tourism. Minister Cappelli gave me some official answers on EU border openings, air bridges and driving across Europe to enter Croatia. I will publish this interview once all the information in the article is double-checked, hopefully today. Croatia currently hold the EU presidency, so Minister Cappelli is speaking on behalf of the EU, so all must be 100% correct. 

One other issue I asked for is better access to current information for our readers. We start with something many people want to know - who is flying to Split, how many planes are there, and where from. PLEASE NOTE this is purely advisory and you should check everything with the relevant airline. Changes and cancellations are inevitable. 

This is what I received. 

Dear Mr. Bradbury,

following your inquiry about the number of flights, below you can find information about flight announcements.

IMPORTANT! – This information are announcements and are subject to change.

Regarding the airport in Split: There are a total of 365 active flights (39 to 15 June + 326 second half of June) with 115,365 seats. Although the announcements are still valid, it is realistic to expect the realization of about 50 percent of the announced flights (180 flights).

Destinations for Airport Split in June 2020:

At Dubrovnik Airport, in the second half of June, there are currently 10 active flights from Tel Aviv, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Oslo, Pariz, Nantes, Porto and confirmation of additional routes is expected.

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 16, 2020 - TCN recently started a discussion on why there are no budget winter flights to Split, which got a lively response. And now we have an expert view to consider. 

One of the many fabulous discoveries I made about Croatia in the last couple of years is a fantastic Swiss company called ch-aviation, which is the market leader in aviation data. Fantastic because their data and analysis has been a great source of information for me for stories about flights to Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia. And a fabulous discovery because they opened their main subsidiary office right here in Croatia, in Zagreb. And so successful have they been with their Croatian operation that they have expanded quickly, and continue to look for more talented young Croatian staff. You can read a TCN feature about ch-aviation here, and then check out their website. 

The ch-aviation chaps have always been very obliging when I have asked for comment on an issue regarding the Croatian air industry, so having opened the topic about budget winter flights to Split, I thought it would be useful to get some expert thoughts. And here they are, courtesy of Chief Marketing Officer, Simonas Bartkus, for which many thanks:

Europe is by far the most seasonal continent in the world when it comes to air travel. It means there is massive demand in Summer, but the demand goes down in Europe-wide. I don‘t have exact numbers, but I believe Croatia is one of the most challenging countries in Europe when it comes to seasonality (everything connects to sea-coast tourism as a key purpose to travel to Croatia).

In Europe, most of the airlines are making their profits in summer. Even ultra-low-cost-airlines, like Ryanair or Wizz Air, announce quarterly losses when financial quarters includes winter months only. From time to time low-cost airlines report very thin positive margins, but mainly due to their smart capacity management (reducing in winter, planning all maintenance events and crew holidays in winter) and more business profile routes in their network.
 
Having said that, I should say, profitable operations in winter-only operations are not realistic from Split in winter. Nevertheless, every additional flight would be beneficial for local tourism and the economy. As the region has the infrastructure to serve loads of people in summer, the capacity is under-utilized in winter. It would make sense to the region (tourism authority, local businesses or local government) to subsidize routes, but the amount of the subsidies may be high: we could look at the numbers to subsidize 30% or even 50% of all the cost of the flights which may result in few millions of subsidies per route. At the same time, the long term development the subsidies will develop the traffic to the level it can sustain itself in the long term also is not very realistic, in my opinion.
 
Together with that, every subsidy creates a change in the competition environment. In winter, Croatia Airlines offers 86% of the capacity from Split Airport. The national airline is operating 3x daily flights to Zagreb which is subsidized by PSO mechanism in Croatia domestic airline network. Croatia Airlines also feeds Frankfurt and Munich with daily flights on their own commercial risk, feeding Lufthansa hubs and two largest Star Alliance hubs in Europe. Business travellers have an option to reach Split via Zagreb, Munich or Frankfurt in winter. If the new low-cost airline will be created in Split for winter operations, Croatia Airlines will become the one which will be hurt most, as I expect their routes SPU-ZAG, SPU-MUC and SPU-FRA serves connecting traffic mostly. This may result in the need to raise the subsidy required for SPU-ZAG or/and Croatia Airlines may decide to drop Frankfurt and Munich services for good. 

So to say, I‘m quite pessimistic with the longterm sustainability of such a project. Nevertheless, there are some good examples in Europe, when Malta, Cyprus or provinces of Italy try to attract a limited amount of low-cost flights during winter with offering subsidies. But at the same time subsidies schemes should be smart not to destroy existing traffic.

For the latest flight news from Croatia, check out the dedicated TCN section. 

February 4, 2020 - Croatian tourism chiefs keep talking about 12-month tourism, and the Dalmatian capital has enough content to support it, so why are there no budget winter flights to Split? Shall we try? 

When I first moved to Dalmatia back in 2003, I found Split in winter a little creepy. 

Walking through Diocletian's Palace after dark was a depressing experience, nothing was open, and I had the feeling that I might get mugged on some occasions. I remember the fabulous ladies from Zinfandel and B7 telling me that when they opened the first licenced hostel around the same time, things were so bad that they had to take their winter guests to a bar at the bus station to party. 

How times have changed! 

Tourism has really boomed in Split since I arrived, and it was known back then as the Gateway to the Dalmatian Islands, whereas now it is known as one of the hottest destinations in Europe. In the summer and shoulder months. But once those budget airlines wind up for the season, things change considerably from November to early April. And yet the content is there if people came. Events such as Advent in Split are great additions to the winter scene (as those who remember the pre-Advent days will confirm). But adventure tourism, gourmet tourism, cultural tourism - these have all progressed considerably in the last decade, and the tourism providers stand ready to greet their winter guests. 

And yet - despite the explosion of budget air travel in recent years - the airports on the Adriatic are mostly idle. Does it really have to be that way?

I recently received a message from a tourism business owner in Split:

So the reason for this message is to get businesses in Dalmatia thriving (specifically Split) from 1st of November to April 1st. We are dying!!! Literally!! 

I've just been away and coming back made me realise how dead this city ACTUALLY is!!! I was too busy being a boring mum, ? and I didn't realise what a ghost town it actually was. Sure there a few local places that do well and manage to survive, but the overall situation is horrific! And if foreigners, even just Europeans were to fly here for short city breaks then it will motivate the locals to come out of there houses. It will create a chain reaction!!

Dalmatia is the Florida of Europe and all we have is sunshine and a bunch of pensioners!!! I even invested in a marketing agency over winter to help with winter businesses. But we have achieved nothing!! 

It's great that we are getting more flights over summer, but we desperately NEEEEEEEED to be connected to Europe over winter. 

Dalmatia is no better off than Slavonia over winter, I'm telling you. We may have the finances left from summer to get us through, but the lack of people and moral3 is so demoralising.

The email got me thinking - surely it was worth testing the market to see if there was enough of a market? I have heard SO many people complain over the years that Split and Dalmatia is so inaccessible over the years. If we made it more accessible, would they actually come and support such an initiative. Perhaps, perhaps not, but the only way to find out would be to try. 

Should we try or just keep on talking about it and complaining? 

The Croatian National Tourist Board had some kind of programme for providing financial assistance to airlines. I had thought that this was in the form of a subsidy, but as I found out when I contacted them (see below), it isn't actually a subsidy: 

Inquiry:

1. I know that HTZ subsidises some flights. Is it possible to give me more information, please? A statement on the strategy, as well as details of which flights/airlines are subsidised. 

2. Has there ever been a plan to experiment with subsiding a year-round flight to Split to see if the interest was there?

Response:

The Croatian National Tourist Board offers the opportunity for interested partners from the tourism industry to propose activities related to programs for Croatia via public calls for proposals, with the aim of realizing common interests, actively promoting the domestic tourist offer and attracting more guests.

All interested travel industry partners (tour operators and carriers) with all forms of organized programs for Croatia (air, bus and nautical) that are introducing or looking to enhance their programs or extend the period of operations in the pre-season and post-season with a tendency to further grow in the 3 years following the introduction of the program are eligible to submit to the public call.

Interested partners submit their proposals for cooperation to the CNTB representative office in the relevant market (CNTB Head Office for other markets depending on the partner's programs and headquarters), and when selecting a partner, the compatibility of the partner's program with the main strategic goals of the CNTB is taken into account. The proposal submitted, as well as the submitting partner’s market position, openness to cooperation and the possibility of establishing a viable partnership are all taken into account. A final decision on the selection of partners for the implementation of the CNTBs strategic promotional campaigns (affiliate marketing campaigns) is made by the CNTB Tourism Council.

It is important to note that this is not a subsidy, but a marketing cooperation, because in consultation with the chosen partners, advertising is carried out in all types of media, depending on the final agreement. While a portion of the agreed activities certainly include some related to year-round flight routes of interest to individual Croatian regions.

I am not sure I am much wiser in terms of my questions answered, but perhaps there is something that we can take from this. Assuming that the Croatian National Tourist Board is interested strategically in 12-month tourism and would support marketing cooperation to make that happen, and with the excellent connections the tourism chiefs must have with the airlines that they deal with, can we not package a deal to make it sufficiently attractive to a low-cost airline to dip a toe in the water and see what the interest? Even if that deal means giving the airline better summer landing slots, for example? Surely Split Airport would be flexible on fees to allow this seed to grow.

A couple of flights a week from London, Oslo, Berlin and Rome, for example. 

Would local businesses like to be involved to see if it could work, either through financially supporting or offering special discounts? 

Isn't it worth a try?

To follow the latest from Split, check out Total Split. 

October 29, 2019 - The latest news from around Croatia’s airports for new flights to Croatia with updates from Split.

Avio Radar reports that Great Dane Airlines, a new Danish airline that only started operating in June this year, has announced its 2020 summer flight schedule, which includes its first line to Croatia. Namely, Great Dane will run between Aalborg and Split once a week, on Saturdays, from June 26 to August 29, 2020. This is a brand new line that is not operated by any other airlines, and will run in cooperation with Scandinavian travel agency Appolo Reiser.

There are currently two Embraer  ERJ-195 aircraft in the Great Dane fleet. The main operating base is at the Aalborg Airport in northern Denmark. This summer, it ran seven seasonal routes to Bulgaria, France, Ireland, Greece, Spain, and the United Kingdom, and next month, it will begin operating on the first two scheduled routes to Sweden. 

Avio Radar also reports that British carrier TUI Airways has added a new flight from England to Split in 2020. Namely, TUI will service Split from Birmingham once a week, on Fridays, from May 1 to October 9, 2020. A Boeing 737-800 aircraft will fly on this line. It is also the third TUI Airways flight to Split next year, with the addition of the existing routes from London (Gatwick) and Manchester. 

Recall, TUI Airways increased capacity in their post-season route from London (Gatwick) to Rijeka this month. Specifically, the larger Boeing 757-200 aircraft ran on this line, instead of the smaller Boeing 737-800, with three arrivals on Thursdays from October 3 to 17. 

In other TUI news, their Belgium branch announced a new route between Brussels and Pula in its 2020 summer flight schedule. Namely, this line will begin operations from April 25, 2020, with two flights a week on Wednesdays and Saturdays. A Boeing 737-800 aircraft will serve this line. 

Two more trips will be offered next year - from Brussels to Dubrovnik on Wednesdays and Saturdays, and Antwerp to Split on Mondays and Fridays. 

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

As Ryanair announces flights to Split and Dubrovnik, it appears that neither destination airport got the memo.

As we reported recently, the largest European low-cost airline, Ryanair, announced that it will launch flights from Dublin to Split and Dubrovnik as of next summer, but it seems nobody at either Split or Dubrovnik airport knows much about it.

As Josip Bohutinski/VL/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 4th of December, 2018, more strangely still, Ireland's popular Ryanair has already begun selling tickets for these flights which will commence on June the 1st, and be in operation until the 25th and 26th of October, 2019, starting at just 9.99 euros.

"Ryanair is pleased to announce the introduction of its new route from Dublin to Dubrovnik and Split, which will operate twice a week from June," Robin Kiely of Ryanair said.

Vincent Harrison, the director of Dublin Airport, said that he was glad to hear that Ryanair was expanding its route network by adding Dubrovnik and Split. Depite this, the director of Split Airport, Lukša Novak, says he cannot confirm that these flights will be realised at all.

Josip Paljetak from Dubrovnik Airport has said that they have had no official information from Ryanair at all. He pointed out that the company hasn't even contacted the airport this year.

"We were very surprised to see that they'd announced flights from Dublin, and it's very strange that they've started selling tickets for flights which they never agreed upon with the airport. We don't even know if we can accept their planes for when they say they want the flights,'' Paljetak said.

In Croatia, Ryanair already flies to Zadar, Rijeka, and Pula.

Ryanair offered no response when requested to explain the announcement of their 2019 summer flights to Split and Dubrovnik.

Make sure to stay up to date with our news and travel pages for much more.

Click here for the original article by Josip Bohutinski/VL on Poslovni Dnevnik

Already projected to be a record season, the Dalamtian main airports of Split and Dubrovnik have got off to a flying start, reports ExYuAviation on April 4, 2018. 

The French are coming!