December 17, 2020 - The latest news for flights to Croatia as Turkish Airlines announces more flights to Zagreb in January.

Croatian Aviation reports that Turkish national airline Turkish Airlines has announced its flight schedule for January 2021. Zagreb will be better connected with Turkey's largest city in the first half of January.

Turkish Airlines will offer significantly more flights to Zagreb compared to December this year. From January 1, the number of flights will increase briefly, until January 18, 2020. 

From Friday, January 1, to Sunday, January 3, the Turkish national airline will operate four return flights to Zagreb, with two flights announced for Sunday, in the morning and the evening.

From Monday, January 4, to Sunday, January 10, the airline will have seven return flights to Zagreb, with two daily flights available on Monday and Sunday and one on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Depending on the day, flights operate in the morning or evening.

From Monday, January 11, to Sunday, January 17, Turkish Airlines will operate five return flights, one on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday.

From January 18 to 31, the number of flights will return to current levels, and Turkish Airlines will operate between Istanbul and Zagreb four times a week, every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday.

However, thanks to the increase in the number of operations from January 1 to 17, Turkish Airlines will have more than 8,100 seats on sale between Zagreb and Istanbul in January next year, which increases capacity compared to December by almost 30%.

Given the excellent occupancy of aircraft on this route, the move by Turkish Airlines is no surprise. Aircraft type B737-800 has been announced for morning flights, while aircraft of higher capacity - A321 - will operate on the afternoon or evening rotation.

It should also be emphasized that the Airbus A321 has a capacity of 51.70 cubic meters of cargo space, which is important for all freight forwarders operating at Zagreb Airport and transporting cargo to and from Asian countries with Turkish Airlines. The cargo space of the B737-800 aircraft is slightly smaller and amounts to 44.1 cubic meters.

Turkish Airlines is also announcing four flights a week between Zagreb and Istanbul in February. Still, the flight schedule is subject to change and will depend on the epidemiological situation that directly affects demand itself.

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December 11, 2020 - The latest news for flights to Croatia as Air France reduces Paris-Zagreb in December.

Croatian Aviation reports that French national carrier Air France has reduced the number of weekly flights between Paris and Zagreb this month.

Although Air France originally planned to operate more frequently to Zagreb in December this year, this is not the case. The airline currently operates only two flights a week on this route, which is not surprising given that the airline from the same group, Dutch KLM, with which Air France works closely, currently operates daily to Zagreb.

By the end of December, Air France will operate only 7 return flights on the Paris - Zagreb - Paris route. The airline currently operates on this route twice a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays, with E190 aircraft that have a capacity of 100 passengers in the fleet of this carrier.

The airline decided to add just one flight around the Christmas holidays, on Monday, December 21. Given the capacity of the aircraft used by Air France on this route, 1,400 seats between Paris and Zagreb are available until the end of December.

Direct flights are available on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays.

Recall that Croatia Airlines operates on the same route, on Thursdays and Sundays, and an additional flight is on sale on Tuesday, December 22. If we add the capacity of the national airline until the end of the month, a total of two mentioned carriers on this route will offer slightly less than 2500 seats (2464), which, given the epidemiological situation, should be more than enough even during Christmas and New Year holidays. 

Air France is currently offering two daily flights to Zagreb in the summer flight schedule in 2021, but it will be seen whether these flights will be realized.

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December 10, 2020 - The latest news for flights to Croatia as the second daily KLM flight to Zagreb offers a wide variety of connections to destinations in Europe and the United States.

As we already announced, KLM will introduce a second daily flight on the Amsterdam - Zagreb - Amsterdam route from February next year. Thus, Croatian Aviation researched the flight schedule, capacity, and connectivity options to other destinations in Europe and the world.

In mid-February, more precisely, from Monday, February 14, 2021, KLM will introduce its second daily flight between Amsterdam and Zagreb. Thus, KLM will land at Zagreb Airport twice a day from that date. The airline will have an evening departure from Amsterdam (departure at 20:55, arrival in Zagreb at 22:55). The four-member KLM crew will spend the night in Zagreb from February and perform the morning flight from Zagreb (departure at 06:30, arrival in Amsterdam at 08:40). 

The second daily flight will depart from Amsterdam at 09:40, and arrival in Zagreb is planned at 11:30. After 50 minutes in Zagreb, the plane will take off for the capital of the Netherlands, with the expected arrival in Amsterdam at 14:30.

This summer, the airline gradually increased the number of flights to Zagreb and currently operates daily, with E190 aircraft with a capacity of 100 passengers. Since September, larger aircraft of the B737-700 and B737-800 types have frequently operated on this route.

KLM will offer almost 80% more seats per day to and from Zagreb Airport

With the introduction of the second daily flight on the Amsterdam - Zagreb - Amsterdam route, smaller aircraft (E175) with a maximum capacity of 88 passengers will operate. Still, KLM will increase the number of seats to and from Zagreb from the existing 200 to 352.

The mentioned two daily flights are currently on sale until Saturday, March 27, 2021. Namely, the airline opened sales on the second daily flight only in the winter flight schedule ending on that date. Still, KLM confirmed that it plans to operate between Zagreb and Amsterdam twice a day and in the summer flight schedule next year, so it is expected that booking will be possible soon on the above flights until October.

Add to this the daily flights of Croatia Airlines, which normally operates on this route with A319 aircraft (currently due to the pandemic's impact with the smaller DashQ400), the number of seats offered since February will increase significantly compared to this year.

The second daily flight's main advantage will be the greater possibility of connections via Amsterdam to numerous destinations in Europe and the world.

Given that many Croatian citizens living and working in Ireland and the United Kingdom use the existing one-day KLM flight to Zagreb, the introduction of the second will increase the choice of connections and reduce waiting times in Amsterdam. For example, London City Airport to Zagreb with KLM via Amsterdam can be reached in just 4 hours of travel (not including check-in time at the airport). There are also excellent connections from Dublin via Amsterdam to Zagreb, twice a day.

From Zagreb via Amsterdam to Dublin in just 3 hours and 50 minutes!

The time spent waiting in Amsterdam for many destinations does not exceed two hours (often only 45 minutes), such as to and from Manchester, Dublin, Stockholm, Oslo, and many other destinations.

KLM will also offer excellent connections to the USA, primarily to New York, Atlanta, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, both on their own and on American Delta flights.

Apart from those traveling directly between Amsterdam and Zagreb, transfer passengers will have a wider choice of destinations with significantly better connections. If we add that KLM often has favorable airfares and excellent service on its flights, these flights should have no issue reaching capacity. In fact, even at this time of year and during a pandemic, KLM has a solid occupancy on the line to Zagreb.

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December 8, 2020 - The latest news for flights to Croatia as Flydubai replaces Emirates in Zagreb next year.

Ex Yu Aviation reports that Flydubai will replace Emirates on the Dubai-Zagreb route next summer!

Recall, Emirates officially canceled the Dubai-Zagreb route for all of 2021 back in October. The airline had planned to operate on the Dubai-Zagreb route in this year's summer flight schedule, but due to the global coronavirus pandemic, the start of operations on this route was first postponed, and then completely canceled for this year.

Emirates then left daily flights on this route on sale for the 2021 summer flight schedule, but ultimately canceled the route entirely. Namely, the airline canceled all flights to Zagreb for the next year, closed its office at Zagreb Airport, and fired its local employees. Emirates also canceled their routes between Dubai - Edinburgh, Dubai - Porto, and Dubai - St. Petersburg.

A logical move, Flydubai will now operate on this route three times a week, beginning February 3, 2021, before running four flights a week from March 28, 2021, and daily from June 1, 2021,

Flydubai will operate using a Boeing 737-800 aircraft, which Ex Yu Aviation says will likely be upgraded to the 737 MAX once it receives regulatory approval to return to the skies. 

However, capacity between Zagreb and Dubai will be significantly reduced compared to 2019, offering 57,420 seats on 330 flights. Recall, in the summer of 2019, Emirates offered 137,510 seats on 380 flights on the three-class Boeing 777 aircraft. Thus, Flydubai will operate with a capacity reduction of 58.2%.

Ex Yu Aviation also reports that Flydubai should resume its seasonal summer service to Dubrovnik from May 13, 2021, which would operate until August 27. FlyDubai had also previously announced regular flights to Zagreb from December this winter, which will no longer happen as the airline withdrew all flights on the route until the beginning of February 2021. It is now only a question of when those flights will also be canceled.

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December 7, 2020 - The latest news for flights to Croatia as Air Serbia operates twice weekly to Zagreb in December, slightly reducing its winter flight schedule to the Croatian capital. 

Croatian Aviation reports that Air Serbia will operate only twice a week this month between Belgrade and Zagreb. There are also four additional return flights on sale around the holidays.

Namely, in December, the Serbian national carrier operates only twice a week between Belgrade and Zagreb, every Monday and Friday (Monday mornings, Friday evenings). 

In November, three flights a week were generally available on this route, but due to reduced demand, the company further reduced its flight schedule to Zagreb, canceling flights on Tuesdays.

However, during the Christmas and New Year holidays, the company will offer, in addition to the already mentioned two flights a week, four more return flights. Flights are announced on Saturday the 19th, Sunday the 20th, Wednesday the 23rd, and Sunday, the 27th of December.

ATR72-200 aircraft operate on all routes. Air Serbia offers a total of 1,584 seats between Zagreb and Belgrade in December.

This summer, Air Serbia operated to Zagreb, Split, and Dubrovnik, to a lesser extent than in the summer of 2019, while direct flights from Belgrade to Zadar, Pula, and Rijeka did not operate.

This news comes after Windrose Airlines canceled certain departures on the route Kyiv - Zagreb - Kyiv.

Namely, because the entry of foreign nationals into the Republic of Croatia is limited after the last epidemiological measures were introduced. Windrose will not fly on the Kyiv - Zagreb - Kyiv line on December 6 and 9 (Wednesday and Sunday), and the normal flow of traffic on this line is expected from December 13. The airline leaves the possibility of additional flight cancellations, which will primarily depend on border measures and decisions of the national headquarters related to the entry of foreign nationals into the Republic of Croatia.

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December 6, 2020 - The latest news for flights to Croatia as Windrose cancels certain departures to Zagreb in December. 

Croatian Aviation reports that due to new epidemiological measures, Windrose Airlines has canceled certain departures on the route Kyiv - Zagreb - Kyiv.

Namely, because the entry of foreign nationals into the Republic of Croatia is limited after the last epidemiological measures were introduced, Windrose Airlines canceled certain flights to Zagreb in December.

Windrose will not fly on the Kyiv - Zagreb - Kyiv line on December 6 and 9 (Wednesday and Sunday), and the normal flow of traffic on this line is expected from December 13. The airline leaves the possibility of additional flight cancellations, which will primarily depend on border measures and decisions of the national headquarters related to the entry of foreign nationals into the Republic of Croatia.

The airline sees great potential on the line to Zagreb. In the second month of operations on this line, they recorded an average occupancy of the passenger cabin of a high 72%.

The airline was scheduled to introduce an additional, third flight a week on this route, beginning in December, every Friday, until the end of the winter flight schedule. As confirmed by Windrose Airlines, the reason for not going ahead with additional frequencies is the result of the previously mentioned epidemiological measures and restrictions at the borders that directly affect reservations, both on this route and others. The line will continue to operate twice a week, on Wednesdays and Sundays.

Windrose Airlines plans to increase the number of weekly flights to Zagreb in the summer flight schedule in 2021, provided that the epidemiological situation is much better and that there are no restrictions on international travel to or from Croatia. Confirmation of the potential of this line is in the excellent Load Factor in October and a satisfactory number in November, especially at a time when international travel is kept to a minimum.

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December 5, 2020 - A German online platform for train, bus, and plane travel, has named Zagreb Airport the worst of 30 capital city airports in Europe. 

Index.hr reports that OMNIO, a German online platform for train, bus, and plane travel, has named Zagreb International Airport - Franjo Tudjman the worst of 30 in Europe.

Out of a possible 100 points, the capital city airport received exactly zero.

OMNIO thus rated airports in 30 European capitals. They compared airports by several factors: availability, equipment, leisure facilities, and stress levels.

Among other things, they looked at the number of delayed flights, the daily number of passengers at the airport, and how they are equipped: whether they have showers, "quiet" rooms, restrooms, and places with electricity for chargers. Another criterion according to which the final grade was given was the number of quality leisure facilities offered, including shops, restaurants, and play areas for children.

The winner is Madrid International Airport in Spain thanks to "a wide range of shops and restaurants, as well as good connections between the airport and the city center". Rome's Leonardo Da Vinci - Fiumicino Airport is second in line, while Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport is in third place.

In fourth place is Copenhagen, in fifth is Moscow, followed by Helsinki, while the top 10 is closed out by Heathrow in London, Portela in Lisbon, Vaclav Havel in Prague, and finally, Berlin-Brandenburg Airport in the German capital.

Zagreb-Franjo Tudjman International Airport is the worst of all with exactly zero points out of a possible 100. The second worst is the airport in the Montenegrin capital Podgorica, and the third-worst in the Armenian capital Yerevan.

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December 3, 2020 - The latest news for flights to Croatia as Croatia Airlines operates to 11 international destinations from Zagreb in December. 

Croatian Aviation reports that in December, Croatia Airlines will operate to 11 international destinations from Zagreb. As before, the largest number of weekly flights will be to Frankfurt, then to Amsterdam, while the smallest number of flights will be to the airport in Sarajevo.

The Zagreb - Amsterdam - Zagreb line operates daily in December, with a morning departure from Zagreb.

The Zagreb - Vienna - Zagreb line operates once a week, every Wednesday, December 9, 16, 23, and 30.

The Zagreb - Brussels - Zagreb line operates twice a week, on Fridays and Sundays. Instead of on Christmas, the line will run exceptionally on Wednesday, December 23.

The Zagreb - Frankfurt - Zagreb line operates two to three times a day, and on Saturdays once a day.

The Zagreb - Copenhagen - Zagreb line operates twice a week, on Wednesdays and Fridays. Additionally, direct flights are on sale on Wednesday, December 16, Saturday, December 19, and Monday, December 21.

The Zagreb - London - Zagreb line operates once a week, on Mondays. Additionally, direct flights are on sale on Saturday, December 19, Wednesday, December 23, and Wednesday, December 30.

The Zagreb - Paris - Zagreb line operates twice a week, on Thursdays and Sundays. Additionally, a direct flight is on sale on Tuesday, December 22.

The Zagreb - Rome - Zagreb (via Split) line operates three times a week, on Mondays, Thursdays, and Sundays. Instead of Thursday, December 24, a direct flight is on sale on Wednesday, December. 23.

The Zagreb - Sarajevo - Zagreb line has been temporarily suspended. It will be in traffic again from December 17, with two flights a week, on Thursdays and Sundays.

The Zagreb - Skopje - Zagreb line operates twice a week, on Mondays and Fridays. It is not on sale for Christmas.

The Zagreb - Zurich - Zagreb line operates twice a week, on Wednesdays and Sundays. Additionally, direct flights are on sale on Friday the 18th, Saturday the 19th, and Saturday the 26th of December.

The Split - Frankfurt - Split line operates once a week, every Saturday. The airline offers daily flights from Split to Frankfurt with a short transfer in Zagreb.

The Split - Munich - Split line operates twice a week, on Mondays and Fridays. Additionally, flights are on sale on Saturdays (December 19 and 21), and instead of Christmas, the line will operate on Wednesday, December 23.

The Split - Rome - Split line operates three times a week, on Mondays, Thursdays and Sundays. Instead of Thursday, December 24, a direct flight is on sale on Wednesday, December 23.

On Christmas, Croatia Airlines aircraft will not operate to international destinations

Expecting a slight increase in passenger demand, Croatia Airlines. increased the number of flights on the route to Brussels, Copenhagen, London, Paris and Zurich in December. The increases are minimal, which is expected on the one hand, given that new measures are in force that will force a larger number of passengers to cancel their trips to Croatia during the Christmas and New Year holidays.

The line from Split to Munich is currently the only direct line between Croatian airports and the capital of Bavaria, after Lufthansa canceled the Munich - Zagreb line on December 1. Croatia Airlines does not currently operate on this line.

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November 27, 2020 - The latest news for flights to Croatia as British Airways returns to Zagreb for the holidays, and Croatia Airlines boosts traffic on the same route.

Croatian Aviation reports that British Airways will briefly re-establish the London Heathrow-Zagreb route at Christmas and New Year. Croatia Airlines is also increasing the number of flights on this route.

This year, British Airways very often changed its schedule on the London-Zagreb route. Recall, the route was suspended in September until the end of October, then it operated for a very short time, only two weeks, and stopped traffic to Zagreb again.

By mid-November, the company had offered a significant number of direct flights between Zagreb and London from mid-December. However, the closer we get to the announced flights, the more significantly the airline reduced the number of departures on this line, just in time for the Christmas and New Year holidays.

British Airways has confirmed that this line will operate from December 20 to January 5 and will perform only 5 return flights on this route, far less than originally planned. The London Heathrow - Zagreb - London Heathrow line will operate on December 20, 22, and 29. Only two flights are available in January - on Sunday, January 3, and Tuesday, January 5.

Departures in both directions on all announced British Airways flights are very well filled.

The question remains as to why British Airways did not sell more departures on this route in time for the holidays when all flights were well booked almost a month in advance. The airline has time to open additional sales on certain departures, but so far it has done just the opposite, and instead reduced the number of flights to Zagreb for the upcoming holidays.

Croatia Airlines, which operates once a week (Monday) between Zagreb and London, is offering a second flight a week on this route from mid-December. This is a good move by the national airline, which is obviously following what the competition is doing on this route and opening sales on time.

From December 14 to January 10, there are 4302 seats for sale between London and Zagreb.

In addition to flights on Mondays, Croatia Airlines has direct flights on sale on December 19, 23, and 30. In January, flights are available on Saturdays, on January 2 and 9.

Croatian Aviation adds that anyone who wants to spend the holidays in Croatia will have a rather difficult time organizing this trip, given that flights between London and Zagreb will be quite rare for this time of year. Apart from British Airways and Croatia Airlines, there is no doubt that a large number of passengers will travel with other airlines, with stops, for example, in Amsterdam and Warsaw.

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November 26, 2020 - The latest news for flights to Croatia as Austrian Airlines returns to Zagreb for the holiday season.

Croatian Aviation reports that Austrian Airlines will briefly resume operations on the Vienna-Zagreb route. During the Christmas and New Year holidays, the Austrian company will operate 14 flights between the capitals of Austria and Croatia.

Austrian Airlines has been a long-time user of Zagreb Airport and one of the biggest unpleasant surprises in this crisis year was the news that the Vienna-Zagreb route was interrupted.

Although the reason for the temporary departure from Zagreb is clear (drop in demand), the question remains how Austrian regularly operates to smaller destinations in the region, such as Pristina, Skopje and Sarajevo, and is also present in Belgrade.

The line will be in operation from December 18 to January 3, during which time Austrian Airlines will make 14 rotations between Vienna and Zagreb.

Direct flights will be available on the following days: Friday, December 18, Saturday, December 19, Sunday, December 20, Monday, December 28, Wednesday, December 30, Saturday, January 2, and Sunday, January 3. 

DashQ400 aircraft with a capacity of 76 seats in the Austrian Airlines fleet has been announced for all flights. A larger E195 aircraft with a capacity of 120 seats was announced for the flight on Sunday, December 20.

Austrian Airlines will offer 1,152 seats between Vienna and Zagreb in three weeks of operation.

After January 3, this line will be interrupted again, according to the airline's current plan, until March 1 next year, when Austrian should resume daily traffic between Zagreb and Vienna. Whether this will really happen will depend on the demand itself and the epidemiological situation.

Unlike other airlines (KLM, Eurowings and Edelweiss), Austrian will not introduce direct scheduled flights to coastal airports this winter.

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