July 26, 2022 - Due to the strike announced by the Lufthansa ground staff for Wednesday, the domestic airline Croatia Airlines was also forced to cancel part of its flights.

The company confirmed to Jutarnji list that a total of 15 flights from Zagreb, Split and Dubrovnik to Frankfurt and Munich and vice versa have already been cancelled. The reason for this development is the fact that the employees of Deutschland Lufthansa (LHAG.DE) who work on the reception and dispatch of suitcases will be on strike at those two airports.

"Lufthansa, in fact, carries out shipping operations and accepts passenger luggage at those airports, and as the ground staff announced a strike, we were forced to cancel all our flights to and from those destinations to Croatia," Croatia Airlines confirmed to Jutarnji. The strike has been announced for Wednesday from 3:40 a.m. until 6 a.m. on Thursday.

All passengers on those 15 flights were notified that their flights were cancelled, and we learned that they were mostly transfer passengers who, according to Croatia Airlines, were all taken care of in accordance with European regulations. Lufthansa was forced to cancel a total of around 1300 flights due to a one-day strike that is happening in the middle of the season and in a situation where most airports lack workers anyway. According to information from Lufthansa, the cancellations refer to around 130,000 passengers who were supposed to travel with this carrier, but the case of Croatia Airlines shows that many other air operators will be affected by the strike and this problem will spill over.

Lufthansa's unions are demanding a 9.5 percent wage increase, or a minimum increase of 350 euros per month, for a total of 20,000 workers who they claim will be destroyed by inflation. In the meantime, the company offered them an increase of 150 euros per month this year and another 100 euros in 2023, but the unions rejected the offer, claiming that the increase would not cover inflation, which is 8.2 percent in Germany. Unions and company management have held two rounds of negotiations so far, and the third is scheduled for August 3 and 4.

January 8, 2022 - The latest flight news to Croatia as Lufthansa Rijeka-Frankfurt flights are boosted for the 2022 summer season. 

Star Alliance member and German airline Lufthansa will increase the number of weekly rotations between Frankfurt and Rijeka in the upcoming summer flight schedule, reports Croatian Aviation.

While Lufthansa has operated a regular flight between Munich and Rijeka for many years, in 2021, Lufthansa also introduced a regular line between Frankfurt and Rijeka, which was also in operation once a week, every Saturday. The company has announced operational changes to this line for the 2022 summer season.

Namely, instead of once per week, Lufthansa will operate twice a week between Frankfurt and Rijeka. The line should begin operations from Saturday, April 9, and the second weekly flight will be introduced from Wednesday, May 25. Flights on Wednesdays will take place in the evening, and on Saturdays in the morning. This will give passengers more flexibility when planning a trip to and from Kvarner, which was practically impossible with one flight a week.

A320 aircraft with a capacity of 168 seats have been announced on the route between Frankfurt and Rijeka for this summer.

Croatian Aviation adds that German Condor too will operate between Frankfurt and Rijeka in the upcoming summer season, once a week, also on Saturdays, between May 21 and September 24. Thus, Rijeka will be connected to this famous European hub by three weekly flights. 

As for Munich and Rijeka, Lufthansa should operate on this route once a week in the summer, and Croatia Airlines is expected to launch three weekly flights on this route. However, we must wait to see how airlines will react to the new tender for joint advertising announced by the Croatian National Tourist Board.

Rijeka Airport is continuously recording positive announcements from airlines for this year, and several strategic partners have yet to announce their increases towards Kvarner.

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

November 3, 2021 - Things are looking good in the capital this offseason, as there will be 11 weekly Lufthansa flights to Zagreb from Germany in November, and Air France will increase capacity to the capital from December 1! 

German national airline Lufthansa will operate 11 times a week between Frankfurt and Zagreb this month, reports Croatian Aviation. 

Namely, Lufthansa will operate between Zagreb and Frankfurt daily, on certain days, and twice a week. The Munich-Zagreb line is still suspended, and at this moment Lufthansa may only re-establish this line in the summer flight schedule next year.

Although Lufthansa operated twice a day between Frankfurt and Zagreb before the pandemic, the flight schedule was reduced in line with lower demand. However, in the continuation of this month, Lufthansa will work daily to Zagreb, and two flights a day are available on Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.

Aircraft from the A320 family was announced on all flights this month, mainly A319 with a capacity of 138 seats, which is a significant increase compared to CRJ900 aircraft that previously operated on this route that has a capacity of 90 seats.

Croatia Airlines operates three flights a day between Zagreb and Frankfurt, which also has a codeshare contract with Lufthansa on these flights.

For example, Croatian Aviation writes that on November 13, Croatia Airlines has departures from Zagreb to Frankfurt at 06:45, 09:10, and 17:50, while Lufthansa has departures at 06:20 and 15:05. Thus, the difference between the two morning departures is only 25 minutes, meaning some work needs to be put into the flight schedule. 

Zagreb has the largest number of seats on a weekly basis to Frankfurt, so a relatively large number of passengers decide to use this line to make connections to their final destinations in Europe and the world via Frankfurt, mainly on Lufthansa flights but also other partners from the Star Alliance Group that regularly operate to Germany's largest airport.

Furthermore, Croatian Aviation reports that French national airline Air France has maintained daily flights between Paris and Zagreb with the start of the winter flight schedule, and from the first day of December, they are sending higher-capacity aircraft to Zagreb. 

Air France was scheduled to increase the number of weekly flights between Zagreb and Paris in March 2020, introducing an additional, second daily flight. This did not happen due to the pandemic, but in the end, it was done by the partner of the French airline - Dutch KLM, which will continue to operate twice a day to Zagreb this winter.

However, KLM has reduced its capacity on the Zagreb route so that E170 and E190 aircraft (88 and 100 seats, respectively) now fly to Zagreb, instead of B737-700 and B737-800 aircraft (142 and 186 seats, respectively).

Air France is therefore increasing its capacity to Zagreb, so instead of E190 and E170 aircraft that flew to the Croatian capital all summer, A318 aircraft with a capacity of 131 seats will operate in the winter flight schedule between Zagreb and Paris. On certain dates with higher bookings, the carrier will use A319 and A320 aircraft. Only twice a week does Air France plan to use smaller E170 aircraft.

Despite the fact that Lufthansa has increased its capacity on the route to Frankfurt, the Air France - KLM group will offer a significantly higher number of connections to passengers to and from Zagreb through its hubs in Amsterdam and Paris, so probably more passengers will use the services of these two airlines.

Croatia Airlines also operates daily on this route with A319 and A320 aircraft, while Ryanair connects Zagreb and Beauvais twice a week.

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

ZAGREB, 4 July, 2021 - Rijeka Airport, which is located on Krk island, said on Sunday that Lufthansa was returning with flights to Munich and Frankfurt, that almost all Eurowings flights had been reinstated, and that three new Polish destinations had been arranged with LOT.

"In turnover terms, the first Saturday in July, with nine regular daily international flights, looked like those in the times before the COVID-19 pandemic," the airport said.

The German national airline is returning to Rijeka Airport after two years with two flights on Sunday - one to Munich, which was introduced in 2019, and a new one to Frankfurt, the airport said, adding that both flights would operate until October.

On Saturday, 123 passengers arrived on a Lufthansa flight from Frankfurt and 40 from Munich.

The low-cost Eurowings has reinstated flights from Rijeka to Düsseldorf, Berlin and Hamburg as well as introducing a flight to Cologne as of yesterday. Flights to Stuttgart are expected to be reinstated on 31 July.

On Saturday, 86 passengers arrived on a Eurowings flight from Berlin, 123 from Hamburg, 140 from Cologne and 130 were expected from Düsseldorf in the evening.

All Eurowings flights are expected to operate every Saturday until the end of October.

Rijeka Airport and the Polish national airline LOT have arranged three new destinations in Poland  besides Warsaw, which was introduced last year - Szczecin, Olsztyn and Zielona Gora.

This year's first LOT flight from Warsaw landed on 19 June, those to Szczecin and Olsztyn took off yesterday and the first one to Zielona Gora is expected today. The flights to the three new destinations will operate once a week, on weekends, until the first weekend in September, while those to Warsaw will operate until early October.

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

For more about Croatia, CLICK HERE.

April 30, 2021 - The latest flight news to Croatia as Lufthansa flights to Zadar and Pula resume this weekend! 

Croatian Aviation reports that German national airline Lufthansa will operate again today to Pula and tomorrow to Zadar.

Germany's Lufthansa is resuming traffic on two more lines to Croatia. After the company reconnected Frankfurt and Zagreb and regularly operates on routes from Munich and Frankfurt to Split and Dubrovnik, as of this weekend, Lufthansa includes two more destinations in Croatia - Pula Airport and Zadar Airport!

From today, Pula Airport will once again have a regular route to Frankfurt. Lufthansa will operate the first flight on this route in the late afternoon, then again tomorrow, and flights throughout the week are announced once a week, every Saturday. The number of weekly flights should increase in June, and then the Munich-Pula-Munich route will be introduced.

On Saturday, May 1, Lufthansa will make its first flight in this summer season on the Frankfurt - Zadar - Frankfurt route. An E190 aircraft has been announced for the first flight, and flights will take place once a week, every Saturday, until the end of May. A larger number of weekly operations is expected on this line in June as well.

Next Saturday, May 8, Lufthansa will resume traffic on the line between Zadar and Munich once a week (Saturday).

This weekend, Lufthansa will have as many as 7 international routes to 5 Croatian airports, and as of next weekend, 8 of them. Rijeka Airport, another Lufthansa destination in Croatia, will not have flights for some time. Namely, scheduled flights on the route from Munich and on the new route from Frankfurt have been postponed to the beginning of July.

Tickets are on sale on the airline's official website, and, as with most other companies, travel date changes are allowed if you are unable to travel on the originally planned date.

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.

March 16, 2021 - The latest flight news for Croatia: Lufthansa flights to Dubrovnik and Split for the Easter holiday have been announced!

Croatian Aviation reports that German National Airline Lufthansa will resume traffic to two Croatian airports - Dubrovnik and Split - around the Easter holidays.

Lufthansa will resume traffic to two Croatian airports around Easter

The airline will strengthen the existing flights and renew traffic on several lines from Germany to traditional tourist destinations in Spain, Greece, Italy, and Croatia. Despite the restrictive measures in travel, Lufthansa records an increase in bookings around Easter, and consequently, there will be a resumption of traffic to the airports in Split and Dubrovnik.

The airline has already resumed traffic on the line from Frankfurt to Zagreb and has also canceled the line from Munich to Zagreb.

The Munich - Split - Munich line will be in operation from Saturday, March 27. Three flights a week have been announced, until April 15, every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Additionally, a flight is available on Monday, March 29.

The Frankfurt - Split - Frankfurt line will operate from Thursday, April 1. By April 18, 8 return flights have been announced. After the holidays, the line will operate on Saturdays and Sundays.

The Munich - Dubrovnik - Munich line will operate from Sunday, March 28. From April 1, two flights a week are available, every Thursday and Saturday.

On the routes to Split and Dubrovnik, E190 aircraft with a capacity of 100 passengers have been announced. If necessary, the airline will react and increase the capacity following the bookings.

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.

March 3, 2021 - Despite the announcements, Lufthansa has canceled all flights from Munich to Zagreb this summer. 

Croatian Aviation reports that just two weeks ago, Lufthansa announced plans to fly to several destinations in Croatia in the summer flight schedule, including two routes to Zagreb, from Frankfurt and Munich.

Lufthansa suspended the Frankfurt - Zagreb route in March 2020, after the pandemic outbreak, and has not operated on it for a year. Under the current flight schedule, the airline was to resume traffic on this route with the start of the summer flight schedule effective March 28. But that will no longer happen. 

Lufthansa suspended traffic on the Munich - Zagreb route on December 1, and because Croatia Airlines has not operated on it for a long time, Zagreb Airport has been without a direct line with the Bavarian capital for 3 months.

Many Lufthansa lines from Munich are currently suspended, as the airline has decided to keep its wide network of destinations mainly from the hub in Frankfurt. Thus, a larger number of lines are available from that German city to keep Frankfurt's functionality as a big "hub."

Croatia Airlines has not yet confirmed its summer flight schedule. Still, in the current reservation calendar, it is possible to buy tickets for a direct flight between Zagreb and Munich from the first day of the summer flight schedule (March 28, 2021). Flights are available daily, in the morning or evening, depending on the date of travel, throughout the summer, which is a significant reduction in capacity and number of flights, given that Croatia Airlines had two daily flights on this route in the summer of 2019. If Croatia Airlines stays with the current schedule, it will have no competition on the route to Munich this summer, which is certainly good news for the Croatian carrier.

From Sunday, May 2, Croatia Airlines plans to re-establish the Rijeka - Munich route with three flights a week (Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday), and the Dubrovnik - Munich route with two flights a week (Friday, Sunday). The Split - Munich line has been in operation since May 2020 and will continue to operate in the upcoming summer season.

Lufthansa also plans to connect Munich and Frankfurt with Croatia's coastal airports from the beginning of the summer flight schedule, which should be finalized in mid-March. However, there is still a great possibility of reductions.

For the latest travel info, bookmark our main travel info article, which is updated daily. 

Read the Croatian Travel Update in your language - now available in 24 languages.

Join the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community.

November 7, 2020 - The latest news for flights to Croatia as Lufthansa cancels Munich-Zagreb from December 1, and Chair Airlines announces a route between Zurich and Split next year. 

Croatian Aviation reports that German airline Lufthansa has canceled the Munich-Zagreb line from December 1. With the cancellation of this line, the airline will temporarily leave Zagreb Airport. Recall, the Frankfurt-Zagreb line was previously canceled until the spring of 2021.

Lufthansa launched the Munich-Zagreb route shortly after the lockdown and initially operated on it three times a week, gradually increasing the number of weekly flights between the two cities. During the lockdown, the airline stopped traffic on the Frankfurt-Zagreb line, and its resumption of operations was announced for March 2021.

The figures confirm how important Lufthansa is as a partner of Zagreb Airport - in 2016; this airline had a share of a high 18.25% of passenger traffic; in 2017, as much as 17.45%

Lufthansa was expected to operate the entire winter flight schedule on the Munich-Zagreb route (the only active route to Croatia). The number of operations has even increased for November, and daily flights are available. Still, from December 1, they will suspend traffic on this route, and will completely, temporarily, withdraw from Zagreb Airport, and consequently from the Croatian market.

Because Lufthansa will stop traffic on the currently only active route to Zagreb, and with previously canceled flights of Austrian Airlines, Eurowings is the only company from the Lufthansa Group will operate to Zagreb Airport this winter.

Thus, 53 years after the first flight to Zagreb, Lufthansa will temporarily withdraw from Zagreb Airport due to the global pandemic and weak demand.

From Wednesday, December 16, Croatia Airlines will offer daily flights on the Zagreb-Munich route, which will primarily depend on booking, which, after the withdrawal of Lufthansa, could be satisfactory, especially during the Christmas and New Year holidays.

The withdrawal of Lufthansa from Zagreb is certainly bad news, considering that the direct connection with Munich is being lost, which, as a hub, enables the continuation of travel to numerous destinations in Europe and the world.

Croatian Aviation also reports that Swiss Chair Airlines has announced its destinations for next year's summer flight schedule. Among others, the Zurich-Split line is being introduced.

It is an airline operating under the name Chair Airlines since the summer of last year, formerly known as Germania Flug. The airline has two A319 aircraft in its fleet that can carry up to 150 passengers.

The announcement of the Zurich-Split route by Chair Airlines comes just a few days after the news that the German Condor will also operate on this route in the summer flight schedule next year.

With this new Chair Airlines route, Split and Zurich will be connected with as many as four airlines, with Croatia Airlines, Edelweiss, and Condor Airlines operating on the same route. Chair Airlines line will be in operation from April 25 to October 24, 2021, almost the entire summer flight schedule.

"After most citizens spent their summer vacation in Switzerland, we believe that next summer, popular destinations will be in demand more than ever before, that's why we decided to introduce a line to Split."

Chair Airlines between Zurich-Split-Zurich will be in operation twice a week, every Thursday and Sunday in the evening. The company has a total of 15,900 seats on sale between the two cities for the summer of 2021.

Timetable:

Thursday: Zurich 18:40 - 20:10 Split 20:55 - 22:30 Zurich

Sunday: Zurich 17:20 - 18:50 Split 19:35 - 21:10 Zurich

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.

October. 27, 2020 - The latest news for flights to Croatia as Lufthansa operates daily between Munich and Zagreb. 

Croatian Aviation reports that since October 24, German airline Lufthansa has been connecting Munich and Zagreb on a daily basis. The line has not operated daily since the outbreak of the pandemic, even in the summer months.

With the end of the summer flight schedule, Lufthansa has suspended traffic to Adriatic airports (Pula, Zadar, Split and Dubrovnik) and will have only one route to Croatia in this year's winter flight schedule, between Munich and Zagreb. 

After the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, Lufthansa reintroduced the Munich-Zagreb route, but it did not operate daily (3 to 5 times a week, even in July and August). As of October 24, Lufthansa offers daily flights on this route in its reservation calendar, which enables passengers from Zagreb to make numerous connections via the hub in Munich to destinations in Europe and the world.

On November 1, 3, and 8, two daily flights on this line have been announced

Lufthansa will use smaller capacity aircraft, type CRJ900, on this route, which has a capacity of 90 seats in the fleet of this carrier. After the outbreak of the pandemic, the company completely canceled the Frankfurt-Zagreb line and has not operated on it since last winter. The first flight has been announced for the spring of 2021.

11:20 Munich - 12:25 Zagreb 13:05 - 14:10 Munich

With one transfer to Munich, it is possible to continue the journey to a number of destinations in Europe, while destinations such as New York, Chicago, Toronto, Montreal, San Francisco, Bangkok and Seoul are available for long-haul flights.

The German national airline will operate on this route in the early afternoon in November. It remains to be seen whether Lufthansa will cancel certain departures according to bookings. Since the beginning of the pandemic, Lufthansa has operated to Croatian destinations in accordance with the announced flight schedule, without ad-hoc cancellations.

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.

October 5, 2020 - The latest news for flights to Croatia as Lufthansa stops several routes to Croatia in October.

Croatian Aviation reports that German airline Lufthansa will drastically reduce the number of operations at Croatian airports by the end of October.

Lufthansa, a Star Alliance member, has not operated on its two seasonal lines since October: from Munich to Pula and Zadar. Although the lines operated in October, the company stopped operations earlier this year due to the impact of the global pandemic or reduced demand.

In October, Lufthansa will have 7 active routes to Croatian airports, two less than in the previous month. Although the number of routes did not decrease significantly, there was a large reduction in the number of weekly flights to Croatian destinations.

A look at the flight schedule that is in effect until the end of this month.

Frankfurt - Dubrovnik will operate once a week, on Saturdays, until October 17. Lufthansa operated 3 times a week on this line in August and twice a week in September.

Munich - Dubrovnik will operate four times a week, on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays, until October 24.

Frankfurt - Split will operate once a week, on Saturdays, until October 17. The company operated on this line 4 times a week in August, and 3 in September.

Munich - Split will operate four times a week, on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays, until October 24.

Frankfurt - Zadar will operate once a week, on Saturdays, until October 24. This is one flight less per week compared to September, and two compared to August.

Frankfurt - Pula will operate until October 17, once a week, on Saturdays. This, too, is one flight less per week than in September, and two less than in August.

Munich - Zagreb will operate 5 times a week until October 17; on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. From October 18, there will be only three flights a week on this line, on Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays.

Lufthansa will stop traffic to Adriatic airports earlier than in previous years, and there will be a reduction in the number of weekly flights on the Munich - Zagreb route.

It is still unknown whether Croatia Airlines will operate on Dubrovnik - Frankfurt, Split - Frankfurt, and Split - Munich in the winter flight schedule this year.

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.