April 12, 2022 - The Green Future Conference will be held on 9 and 10 June in Split. More than 30 Croatian and international speakers will cover the topic of green transition in the context of business, technology, finance, energy, environmental protection, public policies, e-mobility, and many other industries.  

The Conference is supported by the two largest Croatian technology companies, Rimac Group and Infobip, and sponsored by OTP Bank, A1, and Bosch (gold sponsors) as well as Daikin, Ernst & Young, Končar, Schneider Electric, and Professio energia.

In addition to numerous talks and panels, on the zero-day of the conference, i.e. 8 June, there will be a Challenge Day for 20 shortlisted startups. Startups shortlisted by an expert panel will have a unique opportunity to pitch their ideas, receive advice from mentors and so further hone their ideas before pitching them officially on the Green Future Conference stage on 9 and 10 June. Just as importantly, the startups will be given the opportunity to participate in exclusive workshops organized by Infobip and Business Psychology Lab, and the Department of Science and Innovation of the University of Split. 

The startup voted best by the expert panel will receive a prize of USD 10,000. There is another prize pool of USD 50,000 - Green Communication Awards - to be awarded in Infobip services, namely USD 25,000 for 1st place, USD 15,000 for 2nd place, and USD 10,000 for 3rd place. 

The startups can apply by 5 May 2022. Click here to apply. The startups that make the shortlist will be notified by 15 May.

"Croatia already hosts one of the leading developer conferences in Southeast Europe - Infobip Shift. I’m glad that the country has established another well-designed platform for exchanging ideas - a place where young developers and all those who are already developing ideas for green and digital solutions get the opportunity to learn, advance, and network early on in their careers.  I invite all emerging companies, as well as individuals, to apply for the Startup Challenge showcase their competencies, and win valuable prizes," said Ivan Burazin, member of the Infobip Board, founder of Shift Conference, and member of the Startup Challenge panel.

Startup Challenge of the Green Future Conference is also supported by GBC HUB, a partner of Infobip Startup Tribe and an association of over 20 green startups run by Marko Brkljačić, who will be on the Startup Challenge panel. 

"The Green Future Conference is an amazing event, and the Startup Challenge is a great opportunity to pitch and hone good ideas. We are pleased to see Infobip support and take part in it because its Startup Tribe gathers green startups that I believe will not miss the opportunity to apply for the Startup Challenge of the Green Future Conference," said Nikola Pavešić, manager of Infobip’s Startup Tribe department.

The latest information relating to the Green Future Conference and Startup Challenge will be published on the official website of the Conference. 

For more, check out our lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, 12 April 2022 - Participants in a "green" regatta on Monday removed abandoned waste from beaches and the seabed around the island of Šolta.

During the cleanup, over 700 kilos of waste was collected and most of it was plastic, which poses the biggest threat to marine life.

The "Cleaning Sailing Race Regatta", held on that Adriatic island off Split, included 12 divers who removed the waste from the seabed.

The partners in this campaign are the Split-based Sunce association and the Biotherm cosmetics and healthcare items brand.

Gabrijela Medunić Orlić, the executive director of the Sunce association, said that nowadays, public beaches are kept in good shape by local utility companies, however, other beaches are often full of litter and the utilities do not have enough workers to clean them up.

April 12, 2022 - The latest flight news to Croatia as the easyJet Croatia summer flight schedule reveals changes to the Croatian coast. 

British low-cost airline easyJet has made several operational changes in its summer flight schedule this year in the last few days, including many changes on routes to Croatia, reports Croatian Aviation. 

Namely, easyJet changes the capacity and the weekly number of flights on many routes, including those to Pula, Rijeka, Zadar, Split, and Dubrovnik, i.e., all Croatian airports to which this well-known airline operates exclusively in the summer flight schedule.

Changes to Split
The line between Bristol and Split, previously announced 5 times a week in the summer flight schedule, will operate daily from the end of June,

The line between London (Gatwick) and Split in the peak summer season was to operate 18 times a week, and the number of rotations has increased to 22 flights a week. There has also been an additional capacity increase. Some flights will fly the larger A321 aircraft instead of A320.

The line between London (Luton) and Split increases from 9 to 11 weekly flights,

The line between Lyon and Split will operate five times a week instead of four, with flights added on Sundays.

Changes in Zadar, Rijeka, and Pula
The line between Berlin and Zadar has been reduced from four to two flights a week throughout the season,

The line between London (Gatwick) and Pula will run daily from the end of June instead of 6 times a week, 

Capacity is reduced on the Glasgow - Pula line. The smaller capacity A319 will run once a week instead of the A320, 

A319 aircraft have also been announced on the new route between Berlin and Rijeka as of July 30. Larger A320 aircraft have been planned for both flights.

On the new route between London (Gatwick) and Rijeka, A319 and A320 aircraft have been announced instead of the previously planned A320 aircraft.

Three changes to Dubrovnik
The line between Berlin and Dubrovnik will run three flights a week instead of four, 

The line between Bristol and Dubrovnik will run four flights a week instead of three, 

The line between London (Gatwick) and Dubrovnik will run 19 times a week instead of 12. 

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

April 11, 2022 - All teams have been confirmed for the 2022 European Water Polo Championships in Split this summer after Russia was disqualified. 

After the aggression against Ukraine, LEN or the European Water Sports Organization banned all Russian athletes, including clubs and national teams from international competitions. It was then clear that Russia would not compete in the 35th European Water Polo Championships, which will be held this year in Split from August 27 to September 10, reports Sportske Novosti.

Since Russia qualified for this competition in both men's and women's competitions, it was necessary to determine which national teams would come to Croatia instead of Russia.

It was decided that Slovenia in the men's competition and Slovakia in the women's competition would compete in Split this summer. The Slovenian men's team was third in the A qualification group, behind France and Germany, but has the highest average of points scored of all third-placed teams. More precisely, Slovenia was equal with Belarus, but since Belarus has also been disqualified, Slovenia will be the national team to travel to Split.

The women's competition will thus feature the national team of Slovakia, which is the best third-placed team in the qualifications compared to Portugal and Switzerland.

The 35th European Water Polo Championships will be held from August 27 to September 10, 2022, in Split. 

While the event was supposed to be held in early or mid-summer, the European Champs were moved to late summer since the World Championships were moved to May 2022.

“To have our top water polo event in July 2022 would mean an unbearable load for our great water polo players who will need to enjoy a substantial recovery period after an unprecedentedly busy spring. Athletes’ welfare has always been at the core of LEN’s policies, and we shall never move away from our principles. Therefore, the Croatian Water Polo Federation and the local organizers were all very supportive of holding the championships at the end of the summer," said LEN President Paolo Barelli when announcing the dates. 

The European Championships will be held at Spaladium Arena, which has a capacity of 10,000 spectators. 

To follow the latest sports news in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

April 9, 2022 - TCN meets Triend, a brand new app launching in Split this summer that aims to deliver authentic video recommendations and reward users for sharing their experiences. 

In a world of Tripadvisor reviews you can't control, Triend saves the day with authentic, unedited video recommendations that ultimately incentivise and reward users sharing experiences with its Help-to-Earn tokenised community. Whether users request personalised recommendations from locals or travelers share the best experiences on their Croatian holiday, Triend is a powerful, borderless knowledge-sharing platform, combining innovative Web3 technology with leading user interface accessibility to empower users within a decentralised, peer-to-peer economy.

"We believe the days of scrolling through a thousand written reviews are gone. Not only is it outdated, but it is time-consuming and untrustworthy. Our mission is to provide that same information in a quicker, more decentralised way. We envision a sustainable future where everyone across the globe can access instant, personalised recommendations, whoever they are, wherever they are."

TCN meets the Triend team to learn more about their launch plans in Split this summer. 

What is Triend in a nutshell?

Triend is a new community-driven video app that lets users discover, personalise, and be rewarded for sharing recommendations. Think of the new era of Facebook Groups and Tripadvisor combined. 

Why Split as the launch location? 

Some of the founders have lived in Split for a while and have seen the problem firsthand of discovering awesome experiences if it's not seen 500 meters from the Riva. Split has been full of young explorers and festival-goers for years, but there is still a struggle to discover real-time, geolocated experiences. With the new wave of Digital Nomads and amount of tourists, Triend thought Split was the best choice for its launch location.

How does the app work? 

The App works in a seamless manner where you point your camera, record a video, and share your opinion in short-form text and star rating. Similar to Apps like Tik Tok or Instagram. If you have just gone to a restaurant, climbed to the top of Marijan hill, or found a loved one at the bar you had your first Rakija at, you can rate and share in seconds with your community on the platform. 

Alternatively, if you are arriving in town and need some help, you simply upload a video of what you need, and it is posted to the niche community you desire around you instantly. 

Triend works differently than social platforms. It aims to reward people for recommendations using tokenomics based on the exciting new cryptocurrency world for those late to the party.

How will Triend help local businesses? 

Ultimately, Triend will help businesses get discovered in a way that will highlight genuine experiences. Triend also works. It also has a unique geolocation aspect, allowing users to see precisely where the recommendation was in relation to where they are and where that recommendation was taken. 

Triend is already working with many businesses this summer to highlight their offering in a new way that reaches different markets. Triend tech can push built-in push notifications to users highlighting different promos and offers.

The Triend team also spoke to local businesses in Split, who said there is a massive problem with fake reviews on platforms such as Tripadvisor. This combats this problem with an honest voice-powered by community and video, focused on Split.

Why should tourists coming to Split use Triend? 

When people arrive, they want to find cool stuff. Triend will offer this as a new focused discovery platform like Facebook groups. Triend will let users personalise their journey and discover their niche interests, whether that is gastronomy, music, or adventure. 

It will also help locals connect and exchange help and recommendations immediately. They will also be able to see what is real and what is not just a 5-star paid rating from someone who isn't even in Split.

Ultimately it will make their experience so much better. They will be able to discover authentic, local recommendations and see what is real or not. And they will be able to use geolocation technology to know exactly where that experience was. 

Why should locals use Triend? 

Locals will be able to share their recommendations directly.  We can’t give too much away just yet, but Triend is implementing Web3 technology to cryptocurrency to reward users for sharing their local experiences to empower people's journeys!

Why is it different than Instagram Reels or Tik Tok?

Triend's focus is to be purely a recommendation base to help you to maximize your experience in town. Star ratings, mini opinions, and niche-focused. Oh, and focused purely on Split! For now… 

Triend will be working closely on with local businesses too! If you are interested in having your business highlighted on the app for the launch, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

You can download the Triend beta version for iOS now while the Andriod version is coming soon! Learn more about Triend HERE.

For more, check out our lifestyle section. 

April 8, 2022 - The latest flight news to Croatia as new Wizzair and Vueling summer Split flights have been announced from Vilnius and Paris (Orly Airport). 

Two well-known low-cost airlines, Hungarian Wizzair and Spanish Vueling have announced new routes to Split Airport, reports Croatian Aviation.

Namely, Wizz Air and Vueling are introducing new routes to Split Airport in this year's summer flight schedule. Both airlines have been operating on several international routes to Split for years in the summer months.

Vueling will introduce a regular line between Split and Paris (Orly Airport) on June 17 this year, announcing two flights a week, every Tuesday and Sunday. The line should operate almost until the end of October, with only one flight per week available on Sundays.

A320 aircraft have been announced on the route, so more than 12,500 seats will be available on this new Vueling route from June to October.

Hungarian Wizz Air has announced the first new line to Croatia this summer season. This is a regular seasonal line between Vilnius - Split - Vilnius, which will also start operating in June.

The first flight has been announced for June 13, and two flights a week have been announced, every Monday and Friday, until the end of September or September 23. The A320 and A321 aircraft will operate on the route, which in the fleet of this airline have a capacity of 180 and 230 seats in the passenger cabin, respectively.

This is Wizz Air's first announcement of a new seasonal line to Croatia for this year, and there should be more soon. Namely, several Croatian airports are in final negotiations with this low-cost airline to launch seasonal routes to Croatia this summer. The advantage for Croatian airports lies in the fact that this airline unexpectedly received additional spare capacity. Namely, with the war in Ukraine, Wizz Air canceled flights to that country just like all other airlines. Just from the capital Kyiv, they planned to operate more than 100 international routes from two airports (Boryspil and Zhulyany) this summer.

The airline is now working urgently to employ excess capacity for this summer, which is an advantage of Croatian airports, especially Osijek Airport, where this carrier has already operated.

For more, check out our travel section.

ZAGREB, 5 April 2022 - The Justice and Administration Ministry said on Tuesday it had not yet received the resignations announced by Split Mayor Ivica Puljak and his first deputy Bojan Ivošević, and that in the event of an early election, the city until then would be governed by a government commissioner.

The ministry said the appointment of a government commissioner in local government units was defined by law and that the commissioner's powers pertained only to technical governance, to ensure the functioning of local services.

In the event that Puljak resigns as announced, he would do so after less than one year in office , so an early election for the mayor of Split and his two deputies would have to be called, the ministry said, adding that the law does not envisage the possibility of the second deputy mayor acting as mayor.

After announcing his and Ivošević's resignations last week, Puljak said the city would be governed until the election by his second deputy, Antonio Kuzmanić, and not a government-appointed commissioner. This opinion has been supported by many constitutional law experts.

Speaking to Hina today, Puljak said that neither he nor Ivošević would accept any other, let alone "incorrect interpretation of the law," citing the opinion of those experts.

He said Kuzmanić would resign when the City Council was dissolved. "We know that the HDZ wants to find any excuse to avoid elections for the City Council."

The HDZ said this was "a dangerous precedent", calling out Puljak for putting Ivošević's political interest above the rule of law.

The Bridge party, whose city councillors made up the ruling majority together with Puljak until recently, have announced their resignations and called on Kuzmanić to resign as second deputy mayor.

Kuzmanić said today that he would not tender his resignation on Friday, when Puljak and Ivošević are expected to officially resign, noting that he would stay in his post until the entire City Council resigned.

He was commenting on announcements that the government would appoint a commissioner for Split, saying he wanted to know based on which article of the relevant law the government would replace him if he did not tender his resignation.

"I'm willing to resign as soon as the entire opposition (in the City Council), that is, the HDZ, resigns. When the City Council is dissolved, my resignation will be on the table,” Kuzmanić said.

Puljak announced his and Ivošević's resignation and that Kuzmanić would run Split until an early election after the parties in the City Council supporting him suspended their cooperation with him, insisting that Ivošević be removed from office after he was indicted for threatening a reporter of the Split-based Slobodna Dalmacija daily.

Refusing to replace Ivošević, Puljak said last Thursday they would both resign and go to a snap election. Puljak said his deputy did not threaten the reporter's life, that his communication was indeed inappropriate but that one did not go to jail for that.

April 4, 2022 - This weekend, on April 9 and 10, organized by the Entrepreneurship Center Split and the Student Entrepreneurship Incubator of the Faculty of Economics, a social hackathon Hack4Split will be held: a two-day competition aimed at solving social problems and designing social innovations

This weekend, on April 9 and 10, the social hackathon Hack4Split will be held in the SPINIT incubator, reports Tportal.hr. It is a two-day competition aimed at solving social problems and designing social innovations. It brings together individuals with specific knowledge, regardless of education and occupation, who find solutions to problems in their local community, in line with the UN's Sustainable Development Goals.

The competition aims to encourage young people to become active members of their community, to get acquainted with the needs and problems in their community and environment, and engage in solving them.

This year's edition will be attended by 52 participants in 10 teams who will develop ideas such as an application for recognizing marine organisms, facilitating afforestation to absorb CO2 emissions, safe houses for victims of violence, applications for solving long waiting lists in hospitals and more. Participants will have 24 hours to develop a prototype of their solution in the form of products or services, followed by a presentation of all developed projects.

During the hackathon, participants will have at their disposal mentoring support, and there will also be a workshop entitled 'Is e-mail marketing dead?'. Apart from the hackathon participants, the workshop is also open to the public and will be held by Martina Šepić, director of Webpower Adria. You can apply to participate in the workshop via this link.

The best teams can expect various useful prizes, such as the SmartNinja course 'Programming for Beginners: Python', online training of your choice from Mirakul Education Center, a voucher for ZIP Line Split, free one-month use of The Works coworking space, and money for further development. The organization of the hackathon was sponsored by Dobar tek, Wolt, ZIP Line Split, SmartNinja Hrvatska, Mirakul education center, OTP banka dd, The Daltonist Craft Bar, The Works Coworking, and Nova Eurospectra.

The hackathon is organized by the Entrepreneurship Center Split and the Student Entrepreneurship Incubator of the Faculty of Economics in Split in partnership with Ensoco, Digital Nomad Association Croatia, and Split Tech City. The hackathon is part of a project funded by the European Solidarity Force of the European Union and the Central State Office for Demography and Youth.

For more, check out our lifestyle section.

March 31, 2022 - KK Split gets the 81:80 (38:43) win as Mega Belgrade had the last ball but fell short in the ABA League game.

Tonight 1250 spectators created exactly the atmosphere at Gripe that Srđan Subotić, coach of KK Split had called for and the Yellows thanked them with a single point last-second 81:80 victory. 

"This is a key game for us in this part of the season, with the victory we can gain a significant advantage over Krk [currently last in the league but still with a chance to reach 13th position]. The most important thing is our physical fitness after a difficult game against Zadar. Mega is young, twelve days without games. If we respond physically then our chances are great. I hope the stands are full, the support in the match with Zadar was great, I believe it will be the same against Mega." The Yellows only had 46 hours to re-generate since their Tuesday single-point home defeat against KK Zadar (read about here) but had still brought some confidence to the game with back-to-back wins in ABA League against Mornar (76:67) and a surprising away game win at Borac (59:64).

MEGA Belgrade on the other hand had lost six games in a row in the ABA League since their 79:86 derby victory at FMP Belgrade on January 29th. Since the beginning of the calendar year, they have been pretty much in the table’s no-man’s land with relegation being no concern and the playoffs out of reach. Vladimir Jovanović, coach of Mega Mozart before the game: “Split has very good momentum, they celebrated two victories, against Mornar at home and against Borac away, they definitely raised their form. Since the first match in Belgrade, they changed the team a lot, in addition to Jones, who was absent from the court for a long time, they added Shorter and their entire outside line is very good.” It was quite obvious that if the guests wanted to win the game they had to improve the level of defense compared to their previous six games.

The spectators witnessed an entertaining game right from the start. The guest team's sharpshooter Simanić opened the game with a three-point shot before a team effort with a three-pointer by Barič, a block by Jones, and a mid-range jumper from Shorter was followed by a beautiful effort for two more points by Jones to give Split the first lead (7:3) of the night.

Both sides were able to count on their accuracy from outside. Belgrade's Simanić (7 of 8!) and Split's Perković (4 of 6) kept making their outside shots throughout the entire game. The guests were able to pull away a little by the end of the first half due to Simanić who delivered a perfect first half with 2 for 2 from the field, 1 of 1 from the free-throw line, and an incredible 4 for 4 from behind the three-point line for a total of 17 points in only 10 minutes and 17 seconds on the court. 

The game went back and forth in the third quarter. Mega went up by 12 points at the beginning before Split turned it around to finish the quarter 59:55.

What the spectators got to see in the fourth quarter made up for a lot. After none of the teams could pull away decisively, Perković made four successful free throws after an intentional foul on the fast break to give his team an important 71:64 lead. 

The guests came back with a great 5 point run to 71:69 before two successful free throws by Shorter after another fast break foul meant 73:69.

Mega Belgrade kept their cool and answered with another successful 3-point shot by Simanić to make it 73:72 and possession for the Yellows with 68 seconds to go. 

Ukić missed his three-point attempt but Žganec came up with the offensive rebound and his scoring attempt received a goaltending call to give the home team a 75:72 lead with 40 seconds to play.

At 77:76 another intentional foul by Belgrade's Metković gave Žganec the chance to decide the game but the inside man only scored 1 of his 2 free throw attempts. 

Perković made it better by scoring what seemed to be the decisive 3 point shot of the game for the 79:74 lead but it was Simanić again with another 3 to reopen the race at 79:77 with 7 seconds to play. 

Two successful free throws by Shorter to make it 81:77 with 4 seconds to play should have been the end of the game.

Should have, could have, would have, if Split was not stupid enough to foul Jović during his final three-point attempt. The ball went in, 81:80, free-throw Jović to make it into overtime. 

As if the excitement was not enough, Jović missed, the guests picked up the offensive rebound with a second to play but luckily for Split the ball went out of control and time ran out to give Split the third ABA league victory in a row and Belgrade a frustrating trip to Zadar after seven straight losses.

Simanić was the top scorer of the game with 30 points followed by his teammate Jović with 22. For KK Split Perković collected 21 points followed by Shorter with 16. Honorable mention also goes to Barič who made 4 of his 5 three-point attempts for a total of 15 points. 

Referees: Luka Kardum, Edo Javor, Stefan Ćalić

Box score: 

https://www.aba-liga.com/match/162/21/1/Boxscore/q1/1/home/split-mega-mozzart/ 

ABA League Format:

The 14 teams play each other twice during the regular season to establish 6 teams that will play for the title, one team that will drop out of the league directly, and the “lucky 13th” having a chance to stay in the league by winning a best of three series against the runner-up of ABA League 2. The six teams that finish at the top of the league at the end of the regular season play each other in a play-off mode. The top two teams receive a wild card and enter the playoffs in the semi-finals, while the other four teams play each other first (3rd against 6th and 4th against 5th). The reigning champion is Red Star Belgrade who defeated Budućnost in a long 3-2 final series. 

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

March 30, 2022 - The first official Split Winter Tourism Committee meeting was held on Tuesday at the County Chamber of Commerce in Split. 

This meeting was attended by Joško Stella (Split-Dalmatia County Tourist Board), Joze Tomaš and Nataša Bušić (HGK), Pero Bilas (Split Airport), Arnoud Zaalberg (GM of Le Meridien Lav), Mario Šerić (MarCon), Jelena Tabak (Split Caterers Association), Maria Mustapić (Split caterers and hostels), Jasmina Kruščić (Split caterers), and Daniela Rogulj (TCN). 

This meeting was held specifically on the issue of bringing winter flights to Split, with two proposals presented to kick off the discussion.  

Initiative proposal

- Most logical - talk to airlines with a strong presence in the right markets

- Increase expectation

- Last weekend of October - first weekend after 3 Kings - January 6

- Extends season by 10 weeks

- Many people travel at this time already

- This period is beneficial for the private sector

- Gives time to create concrete products - events, conferences, city breaks, etc.

- Suggestion - connection with London - 2 airlines - British Airways and Easyjet

- Why? BA is a member of the Oneworld Alliance - gives us access to overseas customers - partner is American Airlines - 80% of the overseas market covered + the local market 

- The majority of the overseas market is covered if we have British Airways (OneWorld Alliance) in addition to Croatia Airlines 

- easyJet covers local British and Croatian market

- 6 flights - 3x week total

- 256 planes in BA fleet - 30 Airbus 319 with 144 seats, 67 Airbus 320 - 180 seats, 17 Airbus 320 neo with 180 seats

- Easyjet - 310 planes - 87 A319 or 320 with 156 seats, 167 A320 with 186 seats, 41 A320 neo wiith 186 sets 

- British Airways load factor - November 2018 - 80.6%, 2019 - 83.6%, December 2018 - 80.4%, 2019 -  83.7%

- easyJet load factor - November 2018 - 89.2%, 2019 - 90.8%, December 2018 - 89.2%, 2019 - 91.3% 

- 6-weekly flights - 3x each airline - 30 flights a month - 8,800 passengers each way - 10% locals (-800) - 2-3 overnights - 17-18k guest overnights total - growth of 12/13% in Greater Split area

- Private sector to promote and create offers, public to give support

- Promotion directed to the British market

- BA used to fly to Split in the winter of 2006-2007

- Find out why BA does poorly in Dubrovnik in winter

- London is only one example of a destination (i.e., we could do the same for Amsterdam or Paris)

County Tourist Board proposal

- Push shoulder season like the last 10 years

- Flights started in May-late September

- Shoulder season really broadened since 2019 

- Tourist boards propose to give 136k euros to airlines - HTZ must accept it

- The tourist board will get info on airlines with the most passengers during the year, out of these, which fly the most in April in October

- Let's meet with easyJet, Eurowings, and Ryanair and see if they'll fly 2 weeks before the summer flight schedule/2 weeks after (4 weeks total - March & November)

Hotel perspective

- Anyone can do business in the summer

- The difference for Le Meridien / Radisson, etc. is group business - their year is made if they have a good April / May / June - October / November

- Split is an excellent congress destination

- We rely too much on private accommodation, County approach continues this trend

- Initiative approach covers and gives more to everyone

- We need stability with flights for MICE markets

What is realistic?

Split Airport perspective 

- Airbus 320 is costly for return flights

- London is the biggest hub in the world but Britain is now a 3rd country, and Croatia is joining Schengen

- When Croatia joined the EU in 2013, traffic doubled - 1.5 million to 3 million passengers

- This will be a huge change when we join Schengen - it’ll be one big domestic flight

- Not sure what the best way is - to focus on one airline or several

- Croatia Airlines announced their summer flight schedule with 21 international destinations in total - 18 from Split Airport - 15 from Zagreb - 7 or so from Dubrovnik

- Croatia Airlines has been hugely impacted by Ryanair - but maybe this was a good thing

- Croatia Airlines did a study that revealed they shouldn’t stay in Zagreb but move to the coast

- Croatia Airlines will likely speak to Split Airport

- Potential Zurich flights planned 2-3 times a week

- Croatia Airlines is Split’s second-biggest airline - 17% of all traffic when looking at a total of 50 airlines

- Croatia Airlines is 80% of all traffic at Split Airport in winter

- Let's work on a Croatia Airlines winter flight and use it as an example for other airlines

Key takeaways

- Common goal of the private sector is to extend the season in November and December 

- Understanding and willingness to help expressed by Split Airport

- Assumed strategic shift of interests by Croatia Airlines from Zagreb towards Split

- Possibility to negotiate with Croatia Airlines to extend the season by introducing direct winter flights to Zurich as well as winter flights to other destinations

- County to meet with Croatia Airlines next week, Split hoteliers to get together to work on aligned offseason packages

For more, check out our travel section.