November 20, 2021 - The latest flight news to Croatia as reduced Qatar Airways Zagreb flights have been announced in December, and Croatian Airlines remains the only route between Zagreb and Heathrow... for now. 

One World Alliance member Qatar Airways is reducing the number of weekly rotations between Doha and Zagreb in mid-December, reports Croatian Aviation.

The news does not come as a surprise as the occupancy of aircraft on this route is relatively low, with few arrivals from Asia. Qatar does not have a wide base of transfer passengers that were the backbone of the line to Zagreb before the pandemic.

Until Saturday, December 18, Qatar Airways will run three flights a week between Doha and Zagreb, every Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday. From mid-December, flights will be canceled on Mondays and the line will operate only twice a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays. The same number of weekly rotations is planned until the end of January next year.

Qatar Airways uses A320 narrow-body aircraft on this line, the smallest in its fleet. Until there is a significant opening of countries in Asia and until passengers from these countries visit Croatia in greater numbers, the number of weekly departures will remain uncertain. 

Furthermore, Croatian Aviation reports that British Airways has again canceled all flights on the Zagreb-London route at the end of this month. Consequently, only Croatia Airlines operates between Heathrow and Zagreb. 

British Airways again canceled a number of flights between Zagreb and London, as the airline is dissatisfied with the demand on this line, and ticket prices between the two cities have never been more favorable. Namely, before the pandemic, British Airways came to Zagreb with A321 aircraft, when more seats were required due to frequent overbooking.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the Zagreb line has not functioned well, thanks in part to the strict measures in the UK. British Airways operated to Zagreb until the beginning of November, then all flights were canceled at the end of this month. There were plans to return in December with a smaller number of flights, but that is currently still in question.

Croatia Airlines operates between Heathrow and Zagreb four times a week, every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. One more flight per week is available compared to the summer months. All flights depart from Zagreb in the afternoon, with an evening return from London.

Ryanair also operates between London and Zagreb daily, but to Stansted Airport, which is approximately 65 kilometers away from the center of London (Heathrow is only 22 kilometers away from the center).

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.

November 14, 2021 - Air Canada Toronto-Zagreb flights will not operate next summer as planned, with ticket sales officially suspended on the line. 

After Air Transat announced it would be running between Toronto and Zagreb next year, Air Canada has suspended ticket sales for the same route next summer. The airline was meant to re-establish flights in June. Recall, Air Canada was meant to take over the Air Canada Rouge Zagreb service, after all wide-body aircraft was axed due to the pandemic, reports Ex Yu Aviation.

The Air Canada route was to run from June 2, 2022, three times a week, with 54 flights and 32,076 seats between the two cities. The route would have been serviced with the 297-seat Airbus A330-300 aircraft.

Air Canada will, however, run summer flights to many cities around Europe - Athens, Barcelona, Edinburgh, Lisbon, Manchester, Nice, Reykjavik, Rome, and Venice, with Amsterdam, Brussels, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, London, Lyon, Madrid, Milan, Munich, Paris, Vienna, and Zurich running year-round. 

Fortunately, Air Canada can still get passengers to Zagreb with a connection in Amsterdam  

“It is no secret the resumption of medium and long haul flights primarily depend on travel restriction imposed by different countries. Zagreb Airport had a notable number of passengers from the Far East, Australia, and North America. The return of these flights will depend on border restrictions. We expect the gradual resumption of these services between 2022 and 2025," said  Zagreb Airport’s General Manager, Huseyin Bahadir Bedir. 

Canadian leisure airline Air Transat announced earlier this week it would reintroduce the seasonal route between Toronto and Zagreb when announcing next summer's flight schedule. Zagreb is among the 44 international destinations in its network, reported Croatian Aviation.

The airline plans to operate to almost all destinations as before the global pandemic, adding new ones, mainly in the United States, with 13 international routes to Europe, including to Zagreb. 

The first flight from Toronto to Zagreb has been announced for Saturday, May 7, 2022. A month later, from June 7, the second weekly flight with departure from Toronto on Tuesday will be introduced. Two-weekly flights are currently announced until the end of the next summer season - October 29, 2022.

A330-200 aircraft have been announced for the Toronto-Zagreb route, with a capacity of 332 to 345 seats. Thus, Air Transat will offer more than 31 thousand seats between Toronto and Zagreb next summer. 

It is no surprise that the Canadian market is important for Croatia. In 2019, Air Transat and Air Canada Rouge handled 65,486 passengers, or a 14.6% increase on 2018.

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

November 12, 2021 - The latest flight news to Croatia as Air Transat Toronto-Zagreb flights will finally return next summer!

Canadian leisure airline Air Transat announced it would reintroduce the seasonal route between Toronto and Zagreb when announcing next summer's flight schedule. Zagreb is among the 44 international destinations in its network, reports Croatian Aviation.

With the start of the summer flight schedule, Air Transat will gradually increase the number of operations to Europe (from Montreal and Toronto). In the summer of 2022, the airline plans to operate to almost all destinations as before the global pandemic, adding new ones, mainly in the United States.

Air Transat will operate from Montreal next summer on 19 international routes to destinations in Europe, of which 7 are in France. In addition, a new line between Montreal and Amsterdam is being introduced.

Air Transat plans to operate 13 international routes to Europe, including to Zagreb. At the peak of the summer season, Air Transat will have almost 60 weekly flights from Toronto to the Netherlands, Greece, Croatia, Great Britain, France, and other European countries.

Air Transat had planned to resume traffic to Zagreb during the 2021 summer, but due to restrictive measures in Canada and weak demand, this did not happen.

Before the pandemic in 2019, Air Transat operated between Toronto and Zagreb three times a week. Two-weekly flights have been announced for next summer. The first flight from Toronto to Zagreb has been announced for Saturday, May 7, 2022. A month later, from June 7, the second weekly flight with departure from Toronto on Tuesday will be introduced. Two-weekly flights are currently announced until the end of the next summer season - October 29, 2022.

A330-200 aircraft have been announced for the Toronto-Zagreb route, with a capacity of 332 to 345 seats. Thus, Air Transat will offer more than 31 thousand seats between Toronto and Zagreb next summer. 

Air Transat introduced the line to Zagreb in June 2016, gradually increasing the number of weekly flights (from 1 to 3 in the summer of 2019). Until 2019, Air Canada Rouge operated on the same route, which retired all wide-body aircraft in the corona crisis. For this reason, Air Canada released tickets to Zagreb for the next summer season, but flights will depend primarily on passenger demand and potential travel restrictions.

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

November 11, 2021 - The latest flight news to Croatia with the announcement of Finnair Helsinki-Zagreb flights and new Condor flights to Rijeka and Dubrovnik. 

Finnish national airline Finnair (Oneworld alliance member) announced its 2022 summer schedule, and Zagreb is on the list of new destinations, reports Croatian Aviation.

Finnair will operate regularly between Helsinki and Zagreb next summer, and the Helsinki - Zagreb - Helsinki line will be introduced on May 1, 2022. Flights will run three times a week, every Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday. A319 aircraft with a capacity of 144 seats have been announced on the route, meaning Finnair will offer more than 22,000 seats on the Helsinki-Zagreb route from May to October next year. 

Before the pandemic, Croatia Airlines operated in the summer between Helsinki and Zagreb, but the line was not in operation in 2021 and 2020 due to reduced demand.

Finnair has operated to Dubrovnik and Split in the summer flight schedule for many years, and earlier this airline had Pula on its destination map. Finnair's arrival in the Croatian capital is great news for all those who normally travel between the two cities, as well as for those who will continue their journey to destinations in Asia with this airline.

Furthermore, Croatian Aviation reports that German leisure airline Condor announced two new routes to Croatia.

Condor Airlines announced a series of new routes from Düsseldorf, which is the focus this winter. For now, several new routes have been announced for next year's summer flight schedule, including two to Croatian airports.

Condor plans to operate to three Croatian airports next summer. Split is already a traditional destination and will have three routes next year - from Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, and Munich.

Condor will introduce two new routes - between Düsseldorf and Rijeka, twice a week, and one flight a week between Düsseldorf and Dubrovnik. 

Croatian Aviation adds that A320 aircraft will operate to Rijeka and Dubrovnik, while Condor will use A320, A321, and B757 aircraft to Split, just like in the 2021 summer season.

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

November the 11th, 2021 - Zagreb International Airport is involved in a praiseworthy European Union (EU) project with its primary focus placed on the environment and the promotion of ''greener'' airports.

We're constantly hearing about our carbon footprint and being urged to try to reduce it. With air traffic and the flight industry in general being a huge issue when it comes to trying to reduce damage, it's often difficult to know precisely what it is we can do to improve things. Zagreb International Airport will no doubt have some of its own ideas.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Darko Bicak writes, the European Commission (EC) has approved a new project to reduce the harmful impact of the aviation industry on the environment called OLGA - Holistic Green Airport, which includes four international airports and their local stakeholders: Paris-Charles de Gaulle (France), Milano Malpensa (Italy), Zagreb International Airport and Cluj (Romania).

The project is based on an integrated approach and was first started on the 1st of October 2021. It will work to further develop innovative sustainable measures to reduce harmful emissions caused by these airport, all while additionally working hard to improve energy efficiency, air quality, biodiversity and better waste management.

As they point out from Zagreb International Airport, where the project is now being implemented, these solutions support the European Union's general efforts to achieve carbon neutrality and their aim to improve the quality of life.

With a budget of 34 million euros, of which 25 million will be provided by the European Commission over a period of sixty months, OLGA project partners will seek to find solutions to significantly reduce the harmful impact of the aviation sector as a whole on the surrounding environment.

The OLGA project brings together 57 partners and related entities that make up a diverse consortium ranging from large and small airports, airlines and the aviation industry, to public authorities, researchers and innovative SMEs.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated lifestyle and travel sections.

November 8, 2021 - Russian vaccination tourism in Zagreb is the latest trend, as Russian citizens flock to the Croatian capital to get jabbed with an EU-approved vaccine. Recall, Sputnik, the Russian vaccine, has yet to be accepted by the European Union - and EU digital Covid certificates are a hot commodity.

As TCN reported on Sunday, November 7, Russian citizens waited in line for hours at the small vaccination point in Zagreb's Kajzerica neighborhood last week, hoping they could get vaccinated. It's not that Russians are having trouble getting vaccinated in their country, but only the Sputnik vaccine is available, which has yet to be approved by the European Union. 

Thus, increased demand and high capacity on flights to Zagreb from Moscow this offseason are primarily thanks to the coronavirus vaccine. Many hope to get jabbed with Johnson & Johnson since only one dose is needed, after which they can receive an EU digital Covid passport to travel freely and avoid self-isolation or quarantine. 

Four Russian airlines, Aeroflot, PegasFly, Nordwind, and Azur Air, are currently operating on scheduled flights between Moscow and Zagreb. However, Azur Air was the last to introduce a route at the end of October this year, reports Croatian Aviation and 24 Sata. 

Russia's national airline, Aeroflot, operates between Zagreb and Moscow three times a week, every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Although the announcement included A320 aircraft with a capacity of 158 seats, due to increased demand, larger A321 aircraft with 183 seats mainly operate on this line.

The planes are recording excellent occupancy, and there are only a few vacancies left on the flights in the following days. The question is whether Aeroflot will further increase its capacity to Zagreb by introducing wide-body aircraft. If there is no further increase, Aeroflot will offer almost 3,500 seats between Moscow and Zagreb by the end of the month.

Nordwind and PegasFly also operate between Moscow and Zagreb, twice a week - Nordwind on Mondays and PegasFly on Fridays. By the end of November, the two airlines offer 2,172 seats between Moscow and Zagreb. Flights are operated with E190 and B737-800 aircraft.

The newest carrier between Moscow and Zagreb is Azur Air, which operates to Zagreb from Vnukovo Airport, while other airlines use Sheremetyevo Airport. Azur Air operates to the Croatian capital only once a week, on Sundays, using aircraft type B737-800. By the end of November, this carrier will offer 1,512 seats between Moscow and Zagreb, and the company claims that if there is increased demand, it will react by introducing a B757-200 aircraft with a capacity of 238 seats.

By the end of November, the four mentioned airlines would offer a total of 7,164 seats between Moscow and Zagreb, and flights are available six times a week.

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

November 6, 2021 - General Manager Huseyin Bahadir Bedir believes that Zagreb Airport long-haul flights will be restored between 2022-2025, with nonstop flights from the US in focus.

After the summer success of Dubrovnik Airport's nonstop flights to New York, it's no surprise that the Croatian capital wants to get on board. But given the pandemic conditions and losing out on Croatia's busiest airport title this year (which will go to Split), Zagreb Airport will take some time to get back on its feet. The Ryanair Zagreb base, however, is definitely a step in the right direction.

But even after a few challenging Covid years, Zagreb Airport General Manager Huseyin Bahadir Bedir believes that long-haul flights will return to the capital between 2022 and 2025, reports Ex Yu Aviation. 

"We are in constant contact with carriers across the world to negotiate and reach an agreement to increase airport traffic. The US market is no exception. We are working on the establishment of nonstop flights between the United States and Zagreb. However, ultimately, whether these services will be introduced depends on the commercial decision of the individual carrier”.

The United States should be on Zagreb's radar, especially after the announcement that Croatian citizens can travel visa-free as part of the US visa waiver program. But the reality is that Zagreb has not been connected with the United States since the summer of 1991 through a nonstop Pan Am flight from New York. Of course, Zagreb was also connected to the cities of New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles through JAT Yugoslav Airlines when Croatia was part of Yugoslavia, but that was a very long time ago.

Ex Yu Aviation adds that before the pandemic in 2019, 136,638 people flew indirectly between Zagreb and the United States. Most flew between Zagreb and New York (21% of all passengers between Zagreb and the US), followed by Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, Miami, Boston, and Houston. 

Zagreb Airport likely won't fully restore its long-haul flight network until 2025, though we will already see some airlines return next year, like Air Canada and Air Transat with seasonal operations from Canada. 

“It is no secret the resumption of medium, and long haul flights primarily depend on travel restriction imposed by different countries. Zagreb Airport had a considerable number of passengers from the Far East, Australia, and North America. The return of these flights will depend on border restrictions. We expect the gradual resumption of these services between 2022 and 2025”, Bedir concluded. 

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.

October 29, 2021 - There will be 50 Zagreb Airport winter flights in the 2021/2022 schedule, including 45 international flights! 

Index.hr reports that Zagreb International Airport (MZLZ) will be connected to 50 destinations, five in domestic and 45 in international traffic, in the 2021/2022 winter flight schedule, which starts this weekend, Zagreb Airport announced on Friday.

Croatia Airlines announced that in the 2021/2022 winter flight schedule, it connects Zagreb with four destinations in domestic traffic: Split, Dubrovnik, Pula, and Zadar and with 13 international destinations, namely: Amsterdam, Vienna, Brussels, Dublin, Frankfurt, Copenhagen, London, Munich, Paris, Rome, Sarajevo, Skopje, and Zurich.

From December 16, Eurowings plans to start flying on the Zagreb-Prague route.

Other airlines that operate regularly in Zagreb this winter are Air France to Paris, Austrian Airlines to Vienna, Aeroflot, Nordwind, IKAR, and Azur Air to Moscow, Air Serbia to Belgrade, and British Airways to London.

KLM covers Amsterdam, Lufthansa travels to Frankfurt, LOT to Warsaw, Turkish Airlines to Istanbul, Trade Air to Osijek, Qatar Airways to Doha, and Windrose Airlines to Kyiv.

A total of 19 airlines will connect Zagreb with the five destinations above in domestic traffic and international traffic with 45 destinations in 28 countries.

"We believe that such a good connection with Europe, the Middle East, and indirectly with other destinations around the world, will contribute to a significant increase in the number of passengers and further confirm Zagreb as a true city break destination," Zagreb Airport said in a statement. 

After several months of decline and stagnation of traffic caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, Franjo Tuđman Airport gradually recovered through a significant increase in the number of passengers and number of destinations, opening new routes, and weekly growth in the number of flights on existing routes in the 2021 summer flight schedule, compared to the previous year.

In the last part of the summer flight schedule, in early September, Ryanair launched nine new routes as part of the announced expansion and base of the second aircraft in Zagreb, and for the first half of December 2021 announced nine new routes - Dublin, Manchester, Eindhoven, Basel, Malaga, Paphos, Malta, Naples, and Thessaloniki.

At the end of September this year, Flydubai re-launched the route on the route Dubai - Zagreb twice a week, with the announcement that in the winter flight schedule, from December 2021, it will fly four times a week.

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