Croatia's seaplane network is growing steadily in preparation for a busy 2016 season.
In the latest of a series of new routes by modern Europe's first scheduled seaplane operator, European Coastal Airlines will be adding two new routes from Zadar from February 1, according to new timeables published on its website on January 15, 2016.
The Croatian airlines, which started operations on the Adriatic in August 2014 after a mammoth 14-year battle with Croatian bureaucracy, has been steadily expanding its network, and it has added some key strategic routes in recent weeks, in preparation for what is sure to be a busy 2016 season. These include the first international connection to Italy to Ancona from downtown Split and Rijeka Airport, while next month with see Dubrovnik and Split connected finally, as well as another Italian connection - Pescara from downtown Split.
The latest additions concern Zadar airport, which will be servicing the island of Rab and Ancona Airport four times a week from February 1. Zadar is an increasingly popular entry point for tourists coming to the Dalmatian coast, as it is home to Ryanair's 54th European base, and the opportunity to immediately depart from the airport to a Croatian island by seaplane will only add to the appeal. More announcements and an expansion of the network are expected shortly.
In other ECA developments yesterday, the airline opened bookings until October for selected routes: downtown Split and Resnik (Split Airport) to Jelsa on Hvar, Vela Luka on Korcula and the island of Lastovo, with Ancona to be added next week.