August 9, 2022 - How will the Ryanair Zagreb base work its winter operations this year? A look at how the capital city airport will transform into a weekend-only base for the low-cost airline. 

Simply Flying has revealed what the Ryanair Zagreb base has in store once the seasons change - precisely, the airline's plan to transform the capital city airport into a weekend-only base this winter. A first for the airline. 

Namely, the Irish low-cost airline will not reduce the number of aircraft based in Zagreb, with its three Lauda Europe Airbus A320s staying at Zagreb Airport, but what will change is the number of days the planes fly. Making it a weekend base means that the planes will only operate from Friday to Monday this winter. Thus, all flights on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays will be operated from other Ryanair bases.

So, how will this work?

Simply Flying reveals that all routes launched as year-round routes remain on sale and operate throughout the week, on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, with Boeing aircraft from its other bases around Europe. The busiest London Stansted-Zagreb route will also continue to run daily. 

Currently, all the three Lauda Europe A320s in Zagreb operate a full day of flights all week. The changes will be made with the end of the summer schedule at the end of October when nearly all routes will be at least partially operated by aircraft from other bases. As it stands now, only the Bratislava, Milan Bergamo, and Malta routes see aircraft from other bases. 

Simply Flying adds that this should not impact the capacity of flights, as Boeing planes actually offer higher capacity than the Lauda Europe Airbus A320s, but since frequencies will decrease after summer, so will the number of seats on offer. 

"Most interestingly, even aircraft that connect Zagreb Airport to airports that are not Ryanair’s bases will see non-Zagreb-based aircraft there.

This will be done with the help of a w-rotation, whereby an aircraft from one base will operate four flight segments on two rotations on two different routes from Zagreb Airport," adds Simply Flying. 

This will be done with a 'w-rotation', or when aircraft from one base operates four flight segments on two rotations on two different routes from Zagreb Airport. You can find examples of how that will look here. 

The July stats for Zagreb Airport are also in, with 329,203 passengers traveling through the capital last month - almost 175 thousand more than in July last year. When compared to the busiest year, Zagreb Airport hit 90% of the July 2019 figures. 

Zagreb Airport accepted and dispatched 1,628,437 passengers in the first seven months of this year, approximately 100 thousand more passengers compared to Split Airport, reports Croatian Aviation. 

A total of 1,782,871 passengers passed through 8 Croatian airports (Zagreb, Pula, Rijeka, Zadar, Split, Brač, Dubrovnik, and Osijek) in July this year.

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

June 21, 2022 - The latest flight news to Croatia as 4-weekly Lisbon-Zagreb flights will run in July as the only direct line connecting Portugal and Croatia. 

Portuguese national airline TAP Portugal will operate between Lisbon and Zagreb in July four times a week, reports Croatian Aviation. 

Lisbon and Zagreb will be connected by a direct TAP line four times a week in July, every Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. In this year's summer flight schedule, the Portuguese airline restarted the line between the two cities, and Croatia Airlines operated on it until the pandemic outbreak.

In July, the peak summer season, a total of 5,300 seats are available on 19 return flights on the only direct line between Croatia and Portugal. 

TAP will use several different aircraft types on this line in July, the 106-seat Embraer E190, the A319, A320, and A320NEO.

According to currently available data, the Portuguese airline will operate between Zagreb and Lisbon until the end of this year's summer flight schedule, i.e., on October 29 this year.

Unlike major European hubs, such as Frankfurt, Amsterdam, and London, Lisbon has no major operational problems, so flights are mostly scheduled according to plan.

Zagreb International Airport recently released monthly statistics for May, when a total of 265,317 passengers passed through this airport.

In the first five months of this year, Zagreb exceeded one million passengers (a total of 1,006,473), while in the whole of 2021, there were 1,404,478. Compared to the previous two years, the positive recovery continues, so that in May this year alone, more than 265 thousand passengers arrived and were dispatched.

Most passengers arrived in Zagreb on Croatia Airlines, Ryanair, KLM-Air France, and Lufthansa Group airlines, which account for the largest share of total traffic from the Croatian capital.

Compared to May 2019, there were 46,000 fewer passengers in Zagreb last month. However, the positive trend is expected to continue in the coming summer months.

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

June 16, 2022 - Croatian Aviation exclusively reveals that Korean Air Zagreb charter flights are in the plans for October, connecting Seoul and Zagreb later this year. 

A Croatian Aviation exclusive reveals that the Korean national airline and SkyTeam alliance member is planning charter flights to Zagreb in October this year!

The Korean airline used to operate on a regular route between Seoul and Zagreb until the outbreak of the pandemic. At one point, Korean Air announced on its official website the possibility of re-establishing this direct line this summer season, though this will not happen, which, given the reduced demand, was expected. The airline plans to replace the risk of re-establishing this regular line with charter operations between Seoul and Zagreb in October this year.

October, along with April and May, is the month in which Korean citizens travel the most abroad, so it is not surprising that operations are announced at the very end of the summer season. It is at the time of Chuseok when most citizens use their vacations and go on trips abroad.

Several South Korean tour operators are offering travel packages to Croatia in October, and an agreement was reached between the tour operator and Korean Air on conducting charter operations to the Croatian capital. The project is logistically supported by Croatian Aviation, primarily in the form of the organization of transport and crew accommodation in Zagreb.

Regular charter operations are planned once a week, from October 7 to 29 this year, with arrival in Zagreb on Friday and departure on Saturday.

Tour operators are also working on the option to turn the planned direct line between Seoul and Zagreb into a stop line in Athens in case of lower interest in holidays in Croatia. The final decision will be made in the coming months.

A330-200 aircraft with a capacity of 218 seats in Korean Air's fleet is planned for these charter flights. This type of aircraft was not frequent in Zagreb when Korean Air operated on a regular route between the two cities.

The airline claims that the decision on the summer flight schedule for next year has not yet been made, so the regular line between Seoul and Zagreb for the next summer season is questionable. As these are currently planned charter flights, operational changes are certainly possible.

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

March 23, 2022 - The latest on flights to Croatia as the British Airways Zagreb line is boosted for the summer, and Air France adds two daily flights to Zagreb in the peak summer season. 

With the start of the summer flight schedule, British Airways is increasing the number of rotations on the regular line between London and Zagreb, reports Croatian Aviation. 

British Airways has renewed its route to Zagreb with a relatively modest number of weekly operations. Still, with the start of the summer flight schedule, there will be a positive shift in increasing the number of weekly operations between London and Zagreb.

The number of weekly rotations will gradually increase, with five flights announced this week and 8 return flights available next week.

From April 4 to 10, British Airways will operate between the two airports 10 times a week, daily, with two daily flights available on Mondays, Fridays, and Sundays.

The number of operations will continue to increase. As of mid-April, 13 rotations per week are currently announced, the number corresponding to the British Airways winter flight schedule in 2019, before the pandemic. Two flights a day are planned, every day of the week except Saturday.

There are 49 British Airways return flights in April between the two cities. A320 aircraft with 180 seats have been announced for the flights, offering more than 17,500 seats in one month.

Furthermore, Croatian Aviation reports that French national airline Air France, a member of the SkyTeam alliance, has revised its summer flight schedule and offers two daily flights to Zagreb in the peak summer season. 

Although Air France announced a second daily flight between Paris and Zagreb before the pandemic, the plan did not materialize due to a sharp drop in demand and lockdown across Europe. Thus, instead of this airline, the second daily flight was introduced by partner KLM, and now the same is announced by Air France.

Namely, from the beginning of the summer flight schedule, Air France will continue to operate daily between Paris and Zagreb, and in the peak summer season, from July 9, the second daily flight was announced.

Namely, two daily flights are currently announced in July, except on Wednesdays when Air France will have one daily flight, while in August, two daily flights are available for booking every day of the week.

In addition, Croatia Airlines continues to operate between Paris and Zagreb, so a total of three daily flights will be available between these two airports during the peak summer season, or 21 flights a week!

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

February 11, 2022 - The latest flight news to Croatia as Croatia Airlines international Zagreb flights could resume by this summer, if all goes to plan. 

Croatia Airlines flights from Zagreb may be restored to a number of international markets this summer after they were discontinued in 2020 due to the pandemic, reports Ex Yu Aviation. Recall, Croatia Airlines stopped operations to Barcelona, Bucharest, Helsinki, Lisbon, Milan, Mostar, Oslo, Prague, St. Petersburg, Stockholm, and Tel Aviv, and never launched flights to Sofia and Podgorica as planned. The Croatian national carrier has announced that it would resume flights to Barcelona in June (originally planned for March) and hopes to restore operations to these other destinations by the 2022 summer season.

“Traffic will continue to be contingent on external factors, beyond the company’s control, such as restrictions, bans, and other measures, which directly impact on people’s ability to travel both domestically and internationally. Accordingly, we will focus on the flexible planning of our network. Our goal is to achieve optimal load factors with average fares in existing conditions of reduced capacity. Therefore, in 2022 our focus will be on greater rationalization of costs and the implementation of the company’s defined post-Covid strategy," Croatia Airlines’ CEO Jasmin Bajić said about maintaining flexibility for its summer network while basing operations on demand. 

Ex Yu Aviation adds that many international airlines have taken advantage of Croatia Airlines' absence from Zagreb, launching their own flights from many of these destinations. For example, TAP Portugal will run 4-weekly flights between Zagreb and Lisbon from next month and has maintained this seasonal line since last summer. Finnair's Helsinki-Zagreb flights will begin on May 1, with three flights a week until September. Aeroflot and Rossiya Airlines operate on the St Petersburg-Zagreb route, and Ryanair offers services to both Podgorica and Sofia.

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

January 26, 2022 - The latest flight news to Croatia as British Airways London-Zagreb flights in February have been canceled. 

Croatian Aviation reports that British Airways has canceled all flights between London and Zagreb in February this year. 

Namely, British Airways has canceled 15 return flights in February between London and Zagreb, justifying the move by low demand, which is directly affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

British Airways is currently planning to return to Zagreb on the last day of February, from which four flights a week, on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays, have been announced again. As a reminder, as of January 27, the United Kingdom will abolish most of the strict measures, and testing on the second day after arriving in the country will no longer be mandatory. The easing of austerity measures is expected to allow more passenger movement, but it is hard to expect demand to rise so drastically in these winter months, which were mostly bad even in the years before the pandemic.

Irish Ryanair currently connects London Stansted and Zagreb 5 times a week, every day of the week except Tuesdays and Wednesdays, while Croatia Airlines connects London Heathrow and Zagreb 4 times a week, every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday.

Regular British Airways operations between Zagreb and London can be expected only in the summer flight schedule, but then the focus of this airline moves to the coast, to Dubrovnik, Split, and Pula.

Furthermore, Croatian Aviation reported earlier this week that Eurowings drastically cut the number of flights to Zagreb Airport since the beginning of this year due to reduced demand. January and February are traditionally the two worst months of the year regarding air traffic in Croatia and the region. This year, demand is adversely affected by the coronavirus pandemic in Europe and the world.

For this reason, Eurowings has canceled numerous departures to and from Zagreb International Airport. 

On the Stuttgart - Zagreb - Stuttgart line, Eurowings made its last flight on January 9 this year, and there are no regular flights between the two cities until February 7. Furthermore, 14 return flights were canceled in the mentioned period, which is 4,368 fewer seats to and from Zagreb.

On the Cologne - Zagreb - Cologne route, Eurowings operates regularly, twice a week, but some weekly flights have been canceled, as many as 10, which is 3,120 seats less than planned!

The Dusseldorf - Zagreb line last operated on December 28, 2021, as all flights for January and February were canceled. The next flight is announced for March 1. Zagreb lost an additional 6,120 seats from 17 canceled rotations.

The Prague - Zagreb line was supposed to start operating in the winter flight schedule this year, but it did not happen. Eurowings has already extended the start of operations on this line several times, and the first flight has been announced for March 8. A total of 6 rotations planned for January and February were canceled, which is an additional 1,872 fewer seats.

From the beginning of the year to March, Eurowings canceled 47 return flights on four international routes, which caused Zagreb to lose 15,480 seats.

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

November 30, 2021 - The latest flight news to Croatia as the third Ryanair aircraft in Zagreb will arrive this week, with 9 additional lines launched around Europe. 

As already announced, Ryanair is basing its third A320 aircraft (from the Lauda fleet) at Zagreb Airport this week and is launching an additional 9 new routes to well-known European destinations, such as Dublin, Manchester, and Eindhoven, reports Croatian Aviation.

Ryanair will start regular operations on 9 new lines this week according to:

Paphos (Cyprus), from 03.12., twice a week, on Mondays and Fridays,

Thessaloniki (Greece), from 03.12., twice a week, on Mondays and Fridays,

Dublin (Ireland), from 02.12., three times a week, on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays,

Naples (Italy), from 17.12. twice a week, on Mondays and Thursdays,

Malta (Malta), from 04.12., Twice a week, on Tuesdays and Saturdays,

Eindhoven (Netherlands), from 03.12.,, twice a week, on Mondays and Fridays,

Malaga (Spain), from 01.12., twice a week, Wednesdays and Saturdays,

Basel (Switzerland), from 03.12., twice a week, on Mondays and Fridays,

Manchester (UK), from 02.12., twice a week, on Thursdays and Sundays.

Taking into account the existing lines, only Dublin is not a new direct destination from Zagreb, while the eight other mentioned destinations are new.

On December 2, Ryanair will base the third A320 aircraft from Vienna to Zagreb on new routes, giving the well-known airline a total of 24 scheduled international flights from Zagreb Airport. More than 60 weekly flights from or to Zagreb have been announced, which is more than 22,000 seats on a weekly basis.

The new lines are not completely diaspora-oriented, which is the case with other lines that are already operating. It should also be noted that Ryanair does not have a representative office in Zagreb, so there are often problems when accepting and departing passengers on these flights, as was the case this Friday on a flight from Zagreb to Charleroi when passengers physically attacked airport employees, adds Croatian Aviation.

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

November 29, 2021 - The latest flight news as London-Rijeka flights are scheduled for next summer thanks to Ryanair, and FlyDubai boosts Dubai-Zagreb operations this winter. 

Low-cost airline Ryanair is selling tickets between London and Rijeka for next summer, binging the Irish airline's second line to Rijeka next summer, reports Croatian Aviation. Recall, Ryanair also announced it would renew the Brussels and Rijeka line next summer.

Along with Brussels, Rijeka will again be connected to London by a regular line next summer. Traffic resumes on March 27, 2022. Two flights a week have been announced, every Thursday and Sunday, until late autumn - October 27, 2022.

On 62 return flights, Ryanair will offer 23,436 seats next summer between Rijeka and London. In addition, Rijeka will be connected to Stansted, an airport an hour bus ride away from central London. 

In the meantime, Ryanair has announced ten more new lines to Zadar for next summer, and several more interesting lines to the Zemunik airport are expected soon.

Croatian Aviation also announced that Flydubai is increasing the number of weekly operations between Dubai and Zagreb in the second half of December. 

After a long break, Flydubai returned to Zagreb Airport on September 23 this year. The airline has since operated between Zagreb and Dubai only twice a week. However, the airline will increase the number of weekly flights between the two cities in December.

From December 27, FlyDubai will increase the number of weekly operations between Dubai and Zagreb from the existing two to four flights per week. In addition to flights on Thursdays and Saturdays, Flydubai will additionally operate between the two cities on Mondays and Tuesdays.

Four flights a week are on offer until the end of May next year, and according to current announcements, Flydubai will operate on this route in the summer flight schedule. Emirates has permanently withdrawn from Zagreb Airport.

An increase in weekly flights had been planned earlier, but the company canceled certain departures.

The Zagreb flights are mainly operated by B737 MAX8 aircraft, which have a capacity of 166 passengers. As Flydubai and Emirates work closely together, Zagreb passengers can easily change flights via Dubai and continue their journey to several destinations.

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

November 22, 2021 - Air Serbia Belgrade-Zagreb flights will run daily in December, so long as the Zagreb fog allows it! 

Serbian national airline Air Serbia will increase the number of operations between Zagreb and Belgrade, operating daily in December, reports Croatian Aviation.

Since the pandemic's beginning and immediately after the lockdown, Air Serbia resumed traffic between Belgrade and Zagreb, constantly changing the number of weekly operations and adjusting them to the demand itself. Until December 5, six flights a week have been announced, every day except Tuesdays, and from December 7, Air Serbia will introduce a flight on Tuesdays, meaning they will run between the two cities every day. 

From December 10, there are two flights a day on Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays, which will increase the number of weekly frequencies to 10!

Namely, on certain days, Air Serbia will land late at night in Zagreb, while the return flight to Belgrade will be before dawn, around 4 am. Given that the difference between the incoming and outgoing flights will be short, it is to be expected that the crew will wait for the return flight on the aircraft.

ATR72 aircraft with a capacity of 70 seats have been announced for all flights. However, Croatian Aviation states that the problem for the airline is the weather conditions in Zagreb, i.e., the thick fog due to which ATR72 aircraft are often unable to land in the Croatian capital. In that case, the airline is forced to either cancel the flight, delay the flight and wait for the weather to improve, or do what was done last night due to fog - replace the aircraft on the line with a larger type for which fog is not an obstacle.

For example, the visibility in Zagreb last night was only 200 meters, so instead of the ATR, the A319 landed in Zagreb with an hour delay, carrying 52 passengers. As a result, only 30 passengers left Zagreb for Belgrade on Sunday night.

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

November 17, 2021 - The Croatian capital will be busy this holiday season with an increase in Ryanair Zagreb Christmas flights from Dublin, Eindhoven, and Stockholm! 

The Irish low-cost airline is offering a number of weekly flights around Christmas and New Year on several existing routes, as well as on routes running in early December, reports Croatian Aviation.

In addition to the new lines announced for next summer, Ryanair is also preparing for increased demand on European lines around Christmas and New Year and has thus made several operational changes to the lines from its Zagreb base.

Ryanair is showing great interest in the line between Dublin and Zagreb, which will run from December 2 this year, three times a week, on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays. From December 20 to January 9, Ryanair will increase the number of weekly flights on this route to a total of four, operating between the two cities on Wednesdays, too!

On the new Ryanair line between Eindhoven and Zagreb, which runs from December 3 (twice a week, Monday and Friday), there will be an increase in the number of weekly rotations on this line from December 20 to January 9, totaling four-weekly flights with additional flights on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

There will also be an increase in operations on two lines to Sweden, to Gothenburg and Malmö. The Gothenburg-Zagreb line currently runs three times a week and will run four times a week around Christmas, additionally on Tuesdays. From January 3 to January 9, six weekly flights have been announced, every day except Saturday.

Finally, on the Malmö - Zagreb - Malmö line, there will also be an increase in operations at the very beginning of January, and four weekly flights have been announced on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. The line currently operates twice a week.

More good news: Ryanair introduced a line between Rome (Ciampino Airport) and Zagreb this summer, though the flights were transferred to Fiumicino at the end of October due to work at Ciampino. Now, Ryanair will stay at Fiumicino and will operate to Zagreb from there until the end of the winter flight schedule. This is great news for travelers given that Fiumicino is significantly better connected to the center of Rome than Ciampino.

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