Croatia Airlines will make several modifications to its operations this coming winter season, which begins on Sunday, October 30. The Croatian carrier will suspend two routes in order to boost frequencies and vacate aircraft for more popular destinations. It will add one additional weekly frequency between Zagreb and Copenhagen, and two extra rotations from Split to Munich for a total of six weekly flights. Furthermore, it will extend its seasonal service from Dubrovnik to Frankfurt into the winter months. In addition, Croatia Airlines will operate two charter flights between Osijek and Dublin during the season in order evaluate interest for the route. Services will run on December 23, 2016 and January 2, 2017 and will serve as a trial for year-long flights which Osijek Airport anticipates will start next summer season.
On the other hand, Croatia Airlines will terminate its flights from Zagreb to Pristina and from Dubrovnik to Rome. The latter will be suspended after 22 years of continual service, while Pristina is expected to resume next summer. In a statement, Croatia Airlines said, "These two routes are being discontinued in order to leave room for the introduction of additional frequencies and to optimise our winter route network so as to improve our overall product". The changes come in the lead-up to the 2017 summer season, which should see significant changes in the airline's operations. According to its management, the company will bring in new regional aircraft and open several bases across south-eastern Europe.
Apart from the operations listed below, Croatia Airlines will continue to maintain six weekly flights between Pula and Zadar. The number of frequencies on the route remain unchanged compared to last year. The 2016/17 winter season runs until March 25, 2017. Please note that the changes listed below are preliminary and based on current availability in the Global Distribution System (GDS). Furthermore, the table below displays the peak weekly frequency on each route during the course of the winter season. EX-YU Aviation News will bring you Montenegro Airlines' winter season modifications over the coming two weeks. In the meantime, you can also review changes made by Air Serbia and Adria Airways.
Departing Zagreb
| Destination | Frequency W15/16 | Frequency W16/17 | Change | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amsterdam | 7 | 7 | - | - |
| Brussels | 11 | 11 | - | - |
| Copenhagen | 5 | 6 | ▲ 1 | - |
| Dubrovnik | 22 | 22 | - | - |
| Frankfurt | 21 | 21 | - | - |
| London-Heathrow | 9 | 9 | - | slot sale planned suspension possible |
| Munich | 14 | 14 | - | - |
| Paris | 7 | 7 | - | - |
| Pristina | 3 | 0 | ▼ 3 | - |
| Pula | 6 | 6 | - | - |
| Rome | 7 | 7 | - | via Split |
| Sarajevo | 13 | 13 | - | - |
| Skopje | 7 | 7 | - | - |
| Split | 22 | 22 | - | - |
| Vienna | 14 | 14 | - | - |
| Zadar | 6 | 6 | - | - |
| Zurich | 14 | 14 | - | - |
Departing Split
| Destination | Frequency W15/16 | Frequency W16/17 | Change | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frankfurt | 7 | 7 | - | - |
| Munich | 4 | 6 | ▲ 2 | - |
| Rome | 5 | 7 | ▲ 2 | - |
| Zagreb | 22 | 22 | - | - |
Departing Dubrovnik
| Destination | Frequency W15/16 | Frequency W16/17 | Change | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frankfurt | 0 | 3 | ▲ 3 | - |
| Rome | 2 | 0 | ▼ 2 | - |
| Zagreb | 22 | 22 | - | - |
I don't get how they will make their planned bases in SEE work. If you look at the map the coverage is very poor at the moment and they only fly to Sarajevo and Skopje.
ReplyDeleteOpening a base does not really require you to fly to there from Zagreb. If (and it's still a big if) they open those bases it probably will be first Sarajevo, then Skopje I assume. Also I don't think they plan to open all bases at the same time. It will probably be a process that will run for a few years. First they will see how the one performs and then they will look into others. I still think it is a very risky strategy.
DeletePristina Airport said 2 weeks ago they expect OU to open a base there next summer.
DeleteSlabo ovu zimu, pogotovo DBV.
ReplyDeletea cime da lete vise majke ti?
DeleteHoces reci da su zrakoplovi problem? Ma daj molim te!
DeleteSlažem se s Anonymous 10:21, ne može se stalno tražiti izgovor, prvo je problem bilo restrukturiranje, sad bi trebali pokretati nove linije pa ništa!
DeleteNove linije se svakako ne pokrecu zimi osim ako imas pozamasne novce za trositi
DeleteCould they try a direct flight between Zagreb and Rome? Maybe they could have gone with 5 weekly via Split a 2 weekly direct. If Alitalia starts flying to Zagreb it would definitely hurt OU especially with this sort of routing.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how many people board the plane in Split.
DeleteI agree with you about Alitalia. If they started FCO-ZAG it would hurt OU quite a bit because apart from the hassle of having to land in Split you actually have to disembark the aircraft and go through security again because you are categorized as a passengers coming off a domestic flight boarding an international flight.
If AZ enters the market then all OU has to do is to reschedule its FCO flights to:
DeleteZAG-FCO-SPU-FCO-ZAG
However in the future if they ever base a plane in DBV then they could even think of:
DBV-FCO-SPU-FCO-DBV
...while keeping ZAG flights as nonstop.
The best optio is
DeleteZAG-FCO-SPU-ZAG-SPU-FCO-ZAG
That is one direct flight and one via SPU.
It's interesting that Adria now has more destinations out of Ljubljana, then Croatia Airlines out of Zagreb. Offcourse Croatia Airlines has more flights because it has domestic routes.
ReplyDeleteAdria has more weekly departures on international routes out Ljubljana than Croatia Airlines out of Zagreb
DeleteSo not true
DeleteCheck JP network, it is very similar to OU. JP: star alliance feeder, plus Balkans, plus Paris and London, plus Moscow. Wouldn't be that proud of it.
DeleteWill they lease out some of their planes? It does not seem that this amount of frequencies would require the entire fleet in the air.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion they should do this but they don't. They could make nice money by wetleasing 2-3 planes to other airline during the winter.
DeleteThis in itself is a failed strategy ... nobody in Europe needs additional aircraft in winter - everyone makes capacity reductions over the winter period. The only place that needs aircraft in the European winter is the Indian sub-continent or in the southern hemisphere...
DeleteAll the legacy carriers are in the same shit over winter - the only airlines that need capacity in the winter are the LCCs and they aren't going to take OU's aircraft, because they don't operate high density configurations.
So they either fly them or ground them...
Some confusion here. I always thought that LCC carriers use high density configuration airplanes?!
DeleteI think the Osijek-Dublin route is the highlight despite it just being a one off charter. I really hope they introduce scheduled flights on this route next year.
ReplyDeleteAnd tickets are very cheap.
DeleteBecause they are subsidized by the city.
DeleteHow cheap are they?
Deletesubsidized Prices about 2.000 HRK, regular 2.500 HRK
DeleteWow, that is pretty expensive! 250-300 euros!
DeleteI agree! When he said that they are cheap I thought like €100 to €150!
DeleteOverall 3 more flights per week than last year
ReplyDeleteNice to see them finally recognize the potential at SPU!
ReplyDeleteYes seems to be doing well for them. I'm really curious to see Split's result at the end of they year. They have done really well over the summer and the winter is also looking up.
DeleteCould a SPU-LON or SPU-CDG work for OU even in winter?
DeleteGood thing they kept LHR. I was afraid they will sell some of their slots because their was talk about it.
ReplyDeleteThey would be mad to decrease London at this moment. They compete against BA and will also be competing against Monarch next year.
DeleteNot to mention that OU will operate five more weekly flights to LHR than BA will!
Delete#domination
I'm glad Monarch is coming because OU and BA are quite expensive on this route even during the lowest of the low season.
DeleteZagreb airport has to had years ago one low cost airline for the London route, those Croatia airlines prices for this route are unbelievable high. I'm from Greece and gonna work for six months starting November in a multinational corporation in Zagreb. And I wanted to travel to London late February, checked on croatia airlines website about the price and couldn't believe in my eyes. Didn't check on British airways website because I want to help a company in the country I'm going to be. Anyway I think people from Zagreb airport must consider this thoroughly. Have a nice rest of the day.
DeleteYou can fly from LJU airport .... cheap with Wizzair to LTN or Easyjet to LGW or STN airport.
DeleteFlights to London have great LFs, regarding the standard and the average salary in Croatia, people have no problem paying for the ticket but there has to be an alternative, if not in ZAG, then LJU, why not?
DeleteKad se baziraju avioni u Dubrovniku?
ReplyDeleteStill don't get the logic of dumping Pristina and opening a base there in 6 months.
ReplyDeleteThere will NOT be a base!
DeleteSame old same old from OU.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteNever anything new or out of the box for OU.
ReplyDeleteI am not defending them but OSI-DUB is pretty out of the box thinking according to their standards.
DeleteTrue but it's just two flights for the entire season.
DeleteDoes anyone know how many Croats live in Ireland? If Wizz Air can fly to LCA for just 1.700 Serbs then maybe OU could extend the route and operate it in winter, even once a week.
DeleteIf the route proves successful then maybe they could move it to ZAG. They could serve eastern Croatia from there.
They are planning that route. Houpefully they will be smart, or brave enough to start it.
DeleteCEO Kucko said that all Croatia Airlines routes are unprofitable during the winter.
ReplyDeleteYes. But is that possible? Every routes unprofitable???
DeleteTime to stop playing around and replace this management, they have wasted enough time.
ReplyDeleteThey used to fly Zagreb-Mostar once upon a time. What happened with that?
ReplyDeleteIt was cancelled. Probably not profitable.
DeleteOSI-ZAG this morning was cancelled, low demand or something else?
ReplyDeleteI heard that there are rarely more than 10 passengers per flight.
DeleteThere is an excellent highway between Osijek and Zagreb!
Deleteprobably fog in Osijek, that will be reason why Ryanair's plane landed in Zagreb today.
DeleteThe only way we can see Lcc in ZAG. LOL
DeleteVery conservative network.
ReplyDeleteI think they should have kept a few seasonal routes from Zagreb including Athens, Prague and possibly Milan.
ReplyDeleteI hope we see OU back in Istanbul and in Tel Aviv with regular flights!
DeleteReally sad, hope new government will fire Kucko ASAP, what's wrong with OU's management? When you look at the map of their routes, it is clear that most destinations are missing (Scandinavia, Spain, Eastern Europe)!
ReplyDeleteIs there any demand for flights to Scandinavia? There has to be enough passengers to make the route work. You cant add destinations just for fun and just to connect EU capital towns.
DeleteAnd when we talk about Scandinavia, why talking about Stockholm that much? Why not Gothenburg? In the Gothenburg region (Western part of Sweden) there is plenty of croatian people and Bosanska Krajina is also close to Zagreb and there is a lot of people from that part of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the area in Sweden.
Tuzla is not that close and with good prices GOT-ZAG could work. I mean, If GOT-BEG, GOT-Tuzla and GOT-Skopje can work why not GOT-ZAG? In Stockholm there is mostly serbian people mainly from Serbia and other Ex Yu people (bosnian and croatian) is very very limited.
They fly to CPH, that's Scandinavia. However a three weekly to ARN could work.
DeleteSkandinavke dolaze leti da se malo profircaju sa Dinaroidima ne trebaju im vise zimi tamo. Ne mogu oni tamo da zive i ne prave njesra. Toliko su naucile.
DeleteARN maybe three weekly and GOT three weekly seasonal. Or maybe ZAG-GOT-ARN like JA did some years ago when their route was SJJ-GOT-ARN.
DeleteI think Gothenburg can be better instead of ARN, If the price is good and seasonal If It is only point to point.
They should get a summer seasonal to Podgorica and use their Dash 8-Q400s only for this route.
ReplyDeleteI think this must be the most boring airline in Ex-Yu.
ReplyDeleteFor cheap thrills switch to Pink.
DeleteFor ASL, Paris and Amsterdam seem to be major cash cows, together with Zurich. Why does Croatia Airlines focus on Brussels instead on Paris and Amsterdam?
ReplyDeleteI suppose because of EU, there's always profitable traffic to/from Brussels.
DeleteUnlike JU, OU doesn't have a monopoly to BRU, AMS and CDG.
DeleteThanks anon. 14.37. Does Croatia have so many officials in Brussels to justify the difference?
DeleteI understand Anon. 14.38, but OU does not have monopoly to VIE, MUC, or FRA either (far from it), but focuses on these airports nevertheless. Why?
Because they are Star Alliance hubs so in addition to having a lot of O&D there are also a lot of transfer pax.
DeleteWhen you are EU country you have hundreds officials in Brussels. Croatia has:
Delete- 249 workers in European Commission
- 150 in European Parliament
- 46 in Secretary of Council
- 46 in EU court
- 7 in Diplomatic service of EU
- those who work in Agencies and Committees
- 11 politicians in EU Parliament
- Diplomats and workers in Croatian Embassy in Belgium
- officers in NATO mission in Brussels
= more than 700 workers traveling every week.
On top of that you have to put lot of politicians to travel to Brussels, lobbyists, businessman, translators, activists, lowers, experts who are not every week but are regular traveler to BRU. And than students and those on practice in any EU institution, than those who have some business with EU like members of associations that are supported by EU, those who use some founds, need documents, than EU officials, inspectors, supervisors... to come to Croatia...
@last anon: thx for the info !
DeleteOne of the EU agencies was supposed to open in Zagreb, don't know when exactly. I'm sure that would increase demand for flights to Brussels. Otherwise, they suck big time, no new routes, doing nothing to improve their service! What a shame!
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteSteta sto cela Flota CTN nije iskoricena pa zato bi bila odlicna ideja da su 2 Aviona ponudili LH ponudili u wet lease preko zime a leti da dobiju A330 ili A343 u wet lease i da bi tako dobili ogroman plus.
DeleteINN-NS
Sigurno LH ne zna sta ce sa svojih A330...
DeleteWrlo moguche, imaju ih oni puno
DeleteŠto ne bi Lufthansa uzela dva A320 od Croatie iako ima prizemljenih 70 aviona zimi. Koji si ti genijalac.
DeleteSta se sve ovde nece procitati .
DeleteSamo je predlog bio A330 ali ne mora to biti moze i RJ koji su im potrebni.
INN-NS
Genije reko si:
Delete"pa zato bi bila odlicna ideja da su 2 Aviona ponudili LH ponudili u wet lease preko zime"
- kada LH ima 70 prizemljenih aviona i ne da im ne trebaju avioni, nego bi i oni svoje rentali da imaju kome
"a leti da dobiju A330 ili A343 u wet lease"
- kada Lufthansi fali kapaciteta jer im je LF na long-haulu 94%
Takva dva bisera provalit u jednoj rečenici može samo... (no dobro neka svatko nadopuni kako želi)
OT: AirSerbia introduced FareChoices, noticed that on Linkedin this morning.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.airserbia.com/en/fare-choices
What I find interesting are notes:
"1- Including Egypt, Lebanon and Israel"
Choices are also for flights between Australia and the US, therefore for interline partners and codeshares. It does not imply Air Serbia is flying to all those places.
DeleteThey should put more destinations this winter! Something like:
ReplyDeleteSplit - London (at least 3x per week)
Dubrovnik - Vienna (at least 4x per week)
Dubrovnik - London (at least 2x per week)
Rijeka - Munchen (at least 1x per week)
It's time to stop huge seasonality of OU!
Network consists of 3 parts: domestic (plus SJJ), LH group hubs (including CPH) and 4 major airports (LHR, CDG, AMS, FCO). Thats it, and odd SKP. Basically, domestic operator and LH group feeder. Bravo Hrvatska is the only fitting comment.
ReplyDeleteNaravno nikada nisu imali sanse za bolje. Balkanska megalomanija. Trebaju im manji RJ zimi kada prave gubitke.
DeleteKakav mizeran network, stvarno nula. Imamo srecu da u ZAG lete i drugi prijevoznici. OU u banani.
DeleteSlažem se, kao i dosta drugih stvari u državi, uspjeli smo i ovo upropastiti, nevjerojatno da pored ovoliko turista barem ljeti nemaju atraktivniju i smisleniju ponudu! Kučko je već toliko dugo na čelu OU i iskreno se nadam da će ga netko napokon smijeniti!
DeleteDaj ne lupaj niko od mediteranskih zemalja nema sanse leti. Sve odnesose LCC i etablirani charteri. Kako to ne kuzite?
DeleteNe slažem se, Anonymous 7:35, od ovolikog broja turista OU bi trebao uzeti dio kolača, ali ih jednostavno nije briga, imaju loše vodstvo kojem je bitno da prima plaću i ništa ne radi, nema marketinga, ponuda letova je nikakva, samo čekaju upute mame Lufthanse i izvršavaju ih!
DeleteA i ti Anonymous 7:45 baljezgaš gluposti. Ne, ekipa je na čelu Croatie nezainteresirana, oni samo sjede, piju kavu, primaju plaću, slušaju direktive iz Njemačke i to tako funkcionira godinama. Vidim to su čiste insajderske informacije jer si jako upućen, preloše.
DeleteNe, to apsolutno nije istina:
Delete- putuju oni u Kanadu, Toulouse, Frankfurt... neki i u Amsterdam svaki tjedan
- prodaju aviona na sell and lease back po cijeni nižoj od komercijalne jer se mora prodati prije financijskog izvješča
- pa isto tako i motore,
- provedu prodaju Pleso prijevoza,
- pa razvijaju 10 različitih strategija nabava aviona u floti u 2 godine (od A320 Adrie, preko A320neo, pa Embraera, CRJ, CS, da bi na kraju završili na Fokkeru od Trade aira...),
- pa gledaju kako da ne uvale dodatne kapacitete ili pokoji avion kad netko štrajka, da se avioni zimi ne bi trebali dekonzervirati
- pa traže naveliko Škote i druge da im ulete za abnormalnu plaču u Tehniku jer im mekosi odoše pa nema tko šerafit po avionima
- pa pokušavaju pokrpati operacije zbog Q400 koji stalno ispadaju iz prometa
- pa se bave povečanjem prihoda od pay to fly,
- pa sudjeluju na razno-raznim konferencijama, istina bez nekih rezultata, ali važno je sudjelovati
- pa pručavaju cijene prodaje slotova na LHR, da budu spremni kad odluče prodati (a ta prokleta financijska izvješča dolaze svake godine...)
- pa mjesecima pručavaju kako vratiti internet check-in
- onda razvijaju strategiju kako postaviti cijenu ad hoc chartera da ne bi letjeli za nogometna i ine klubove, nego to umjesto njih čine razno-razne firme udaljene i po 1.000 km od Zagreba i opet da ne bi morali dekonzervirat stacionirane avione
- pa puno vremena troše na novinarska prepucavanja sa gradskom upravom Dubrovnik, sindikatima, nezadovoljnim putnicima...
- pa na prosjačenje da im se otpiše par tisuća kuna duga u Splitu
- a tek koliko papirologije treba napraviti za PSO
- ima tu i drugih prihoda npr. od Turističke zajednice Zagreba, treba i za to pripremiti papirologiju i napumpati argumente
- o uvjeravanju resornog ministra i drugih političara kako je sve ružičasto, kako je profit vrtoglav i nema veze sa prodajom Pleso prijevoza, aviona, motora... da i ne govorimo
itd. itd... nažalost ovaj blog ima limitiran broj znakova...
...eto, posla preko glave. Naprosto treba biti realan i vidjeti kako zapravo nemaju vremena za razvoj, nove linije i strategiju širenja kompanije zbog svih toliko važnih poslova!
Sta je pay to fly?
DeleteKontraverzni program u kojem kandidati za first officera plačaju da bi letjeli u Croatiji na desnom sicu iz superviziju instruktora (u početku i pilota na jump sjedalu) i time natukli sate da bi se mogli zaposliti kao piloti (dio i u samoj Croatiji).
DeleteDakle Croatia ne bira najbolje kandiate za taj posao, koji su prošli rigorozne testove, nego one koji imaju novac da NJOJ plate svoje doškolovavanje. Vrlo opasna praksa. Prema izjavama nekih od pilota, dio tih polaznika je ispod svakog nivoa, imaju velikih rupa u znanju, ne snalaze se...
Ima li izgleda da nas cenjeni kolega Purger bude deo nove uprave Kroacije ?
ReplyDeleteNema sanse
Deleteni najmanje!
DeleteConsidering the whole potential of the croatian market, the higher living standard of croatian citizens and the whole reuptation as a country this is a more than disappointing network!! It's network is almost like MAT's in Macedonia 10 years ago with a difference in frequencies.
ReplyDeleteHigher living standard? Compared to what? Croatia has among the lowest living standards in the EU.
DeleteCompared to the other Balkan countries.
DeleteThose leaving in the German speaking room, the new Aero Magazine has published a nice reportage about JU
ReplyDeleteLiving in the....
DeleteSorry for typo
A conservative airline indeed. However, we've seen what happens to the risk takers in the Balkans...Adria is a good cautinary tale. It's good to know your limitations, one cannot just start the lines for the sake of having them.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, we'll see what'll happen with that upcoming expansion in the summer, no one realistic would expect anything much different over the winter. OU has a great chance in Sarajevo and Bosnia in general, if only they don't mess that up with unreasonable princes.
*unreasonable prices*
ReplyDelete