Low cost carrier easyJet has announced its expansion plans for the Croatian market in 2019. It involves the introduction of five new seasonal summer routes and a considerable increase in capacity for next year with over one million seats on sale to and from Croatia. Pula forms the main focus of easyJet's expansion in Croatia in 2019 for a second year in a row, with new flights from Amsterdam and Geneva. Services from Berlin's Tegel Airport and Nantes in France will be added to Dubrovnik, while the budget carrier will also commence operations from London Gatwick to Zadar, complementing its existing services from London Luton, Berlin Schonefeld and Milan.
easyJet will see some competition on its new routes. It will face off directly against Croatia Airlines on flights between Amsterdam and Pula, as well as Swiss International Air Lines on services from Geneva to the coastal city. In Dubrovnik, the airline faces direct competition on its new Nantes route from Volotea and TUIfly Belgium and will go head to head against Eurowings on its Berlin Tegel service. The low cost airline will offer flights from a third airport in London to Zadar, with Luton and Stansted already served by Ryanair, Titan Airways and easyJet itself. The buidget carrier will operate over 3.100 flights to Croatia during the peak travel months of July and August next year.
Commenting on the airline's new flights to Croatia, easyJet’s UK Country Manager, Ali Gayward, said, "With more than fifty services operating in Croatia, easyJet is committed to providing Croatian clients with affordable trips, offering them a broad network of connections with major European cities". She added, "Pula is very trendy both with young people who want to go to the various festivals of Croatia, but also with more mature people as well, and we expect all our new routes to be especially popular with passengers". Sophie Dekkers, easyJet's UK Country Director noted, "This announcement of our expansion highlights our commitment to providing affordable routes to summer holiday destinations. We’re sure that they will prove extremely popular for those looking for a summer break or visiting friends and family".
| Route | Launch date |
|---|---|
| London Gatwick - Zadar | 30.04.2019 |
| Berlin - Dubrovnik | 02.05.2019 |
| Nantes - Dubrovnik | 24.06.2019 |
| Amsterdam - Pula | 25.06.2019 |
| Geneva - Pula | 26.06.2019 |
Excellent for Croatia, too bad ZAG is not included!
ReplyDeleteBravo Hrvatska!
ReplyDeleteStill no ZAG, this is getting a bit embarassing for both the airport and the country...
ReplyDeleteZAG plans to increase its fees again so I don't expect we will be seeing them here for many years.
DeleteThat's just ludicrous if they do that.
DeleteYou sure they are increasing fees?
DeleteThe coast is one world and the capital is another one.
DeleteThanks anon. 09.05 for spreading false news. Maybe you will find someone to reply 100 comments to your false claims.
DeleteIt's not false. They are actively considering it and there is talk about it.
DeleteWouldn't surprise me given their poor financial performance.
DeleteSource?
DeleteSource for what? Not everything has a source available online, the same way there was no source when EK was planning ZAG flights.
DeleteSo, basically someone says it online and therefore it's true?
Delete@frishki14 December 2018 at 10:30
Deletehear hear,
Anonymous14 December 2018 at 09:30
x2
Anonymous14 December 2018 at 09:02
are you paid per each lie you make or overall impact you create ?
Yes, I'm rolling in millions....
DeleteWait and see. I didn't expect any "impact". I'm just telling you what I heard.If you don't like what you hear that's your problem.
I hear lot of things on daily basis. It's just what actually materializes and what is pure fabrication.
DeleteYeah, we will see.
Last time around easyjet was obstructed in Zagreb in collusion between the airport and Croatia Airlines. Croatia Airlines had a public campaign against easyjet about how they are paying lower fees and how OU will cut flights from Zagreb if easyjet isn't treated equally.
DeleteGiven the airports recent financial difficulties one would rather think it's true than a lie. Also, didn't they already increase charges twice?!
DeleteFinancial difficulties? Where, If you are no troll and have insight int the DIFFICULTIES, please provide a source, that is what everyone learns in school in class 3.
DeleteYes difficulties. 198 million euros of debt that are being refinanced (taking out new loans). But you will claim it's fantastic.
Deletehttps://ijglobal.com/articles/136209/lenders-emerge-for-zagreb-airport-refinancing
Well they just built a new terminal worth almost 400€ million euros. Of course they will have a debt, as this cetrainly was financed with loans. Refinancing is nothing bad. Hope everyone refinances their debts(loans), when buying a house for instance. Or would you continue to pay 5% if you can refinance an get it for say3%???
DeleteYes you are right, 190 millilon+ of debt is a fantastic result. Concessionaire asking to get cut in concession fee from government is proof of the fantastic results to come.
DeleteI wonder what excuse will be for this years fantastic financial result.
What are yu! talkking about man? YOu do know the difference between DEBT and FINANCIAL RESULT???????
DeleteI do. Pick which one will you use to say it is fantastic.
Delete193 million debt
Or
5.1 million loss
2018 results will be even more fantastic.
Lufthansa has debts (indeptedness) of 2,884 billion Euros in 2017. 6,8% more that the year before.
DeleteYet it is one of the most financially stable/profitable airline companies in the world.
Page 3:
https://investor-relations.lufthansagroup.com/fileadmin/downloads/en/financial-reports/annual-reports/LH-AR-2017-e.pdf
You really need to educate yourself a bit more. The loss of the ZAG operator last year has been discussed and commented by the Airport itself... but ignorants will always ignore.
Ignorants will always ignore... said the ostrich with his head in the sand.
DeleteDon't forget that ZAG will not manage to reach its 10% growth aim for 2018.
Another year with Zagreb missing...
ReplyDeleteIt would be nice if they came back to ZAG, at least on the London route.
DeleteYou can go to LJ.
DeleteWith rumours that BEG will become U2 base I would advise to drive to the east...
DeleteBad news for Croatia Airlines on PUY-AMS route.
ReplyDeleteYes exactly. And for TRANSAVIA, TUIFLY.
DeleteMus be a reason why 4 airlines will be flying the route. And this year most of the flights were full.
No the market cannot grow with addition of flights. The number of passengers is strictly limited and must be shared. The more airlines fly the more they share these (same) passengers.
DeleteOU is too stupid to leave the 5 A320 standing on the apron and not using it to increase PUY-AMS.
***Irony off*** :D
What about Split? Last year they also didn't add any new routes from SPU.
ReplyDeleteThey added Venice
DeleteThere is no more space at Split both capacity and slot wise on many days.
DeleteIn 2017 and 2018 they added 8 new routes, next year 5. 21 routes in 3 years - great!
ReplyDeleteTime to introduce at least one year long flight.
DeleteNo market for that.
DeleteI'm surprised there is no Split at all but maybe they add it later. It's nice to see that Pula will get new routes again.
ReplyDeleteThe second wave of announcements is coming soon. Maybe there are more new routes ;) //easyJet
ReplyDeleteCould we expect ZAG?
DeleteUnfortunately not, but who knows //easyJet
DeleteThanks. I'm wondering what we might see, perhaps Split...
DeleteeasyJet serves zag through LJU
DeleteNice. Maybe Pula will finally get more Italy or Spain.
DeletePUY needs to address its seasonality, its numbers crashed in November to just 1.000!
Deletewow I must say well done. Nantes - Dubrovnik will be very competitive next year.
ReplyDeleteThey need open some routes to Brac
ReplyDeleteI really hope they come back to Rijeka eventually. It was their first destination in Croatia and they flew to a few cities.
ReplyDeleteWhy did they leave Rijeka anyway?
DeleteBad Management
DeleteAirport chased them away.
DeleteLondon would work great from Rijeka, especially since Croatia Airlines stopped LHR from Rijeka.
DeleteIt's high time they open a base in Croatia.
ReplyDeleteTo which city in Croatia do they have the most flights?
DeleteSplit I think.
DeleteAgree. They should finally open a base in Dubrovnik or Split. They offer so many flights now.
DeleteBoth airports are expensive as hell and because they are not interested in subsidising airlines for basing an aircraft.
DeleteIn the meanwhile DBV has 20 routes, SPU 18 //easyJet
DeleteTheir passenger base are tourists and I don't think there would be enough demand for DBV in November or February.
DeleteOf course not, there are barely 50.000 monthly passengers in winter, that's not enough. Even ZAG needs subventions to stay in service.
Delete2019 is really shaping up to be a strong year for Croatia. You only have to look at the new route launches bar on the right to see how many new routes are launching.
ReplyDeleteCroatian coast you mean, ZAG is still lagging behind.
DeleteHopefully we get some announcements from ZAG, but I agree that it's unfortunate there is nothing new yet for 2019.
DeleteAnon 09:41, a strong year for Croatia, as a country, you know? Doesn't matter if it's the coast or Zagreb, it's still a nice improvement for the whole country.
DeleteYes screw Slavonija, who cares about us as long as foreigners have cheap flights. smh
DeleteAnd that is why Country is paying million EUR-os for PSO flights from Osijek: all year Trade Air to Zagreb, Pula-Split, Rijeka-Split-Dubrovnik, and seasonal to Split and to Dubrovnik, and subventions for Eurowings and Wizz Air flights. So it is 20 weekly flights in season and 12 in winter. Really something to be shame and Slavonija is screwed.
DeleteYeah obviously they didn't pay Eurowings enough. Also people don't need to fly to Pula or Dubrovnik, they need Dublin, Oslo, Frankfurt... they are paying for flights no one uses. Waste of taxpayer money.
DeleteMaybe you should think of changing the politicians in Slavonia instead of voting for the same party over and over with economic situation getting worse.
DeleteSoon there won't be anyone left in Slavonija to vote. ;) Look at Osijek, it fell from some 220.000 to around 150.000 now.
DeleteExcellent news for Croatian airports and tourism.
ReplyDeleteU2 will be offering more seats to Croatia during the summer than Croatia Airlines!
ReplyDeleteIt's sad that they are allowed to fly only during the most profitable months of the year and then pick up and leave. Croatia Airlines has to fly year round.
DeleteThey are allowed to fly year round. They just choose not to.
DeleteThey should be forced by tourist boards who give them indirect financial support to fly some routes throughout the year.
DeleteIf they get financial support, they fly during the financial support. Forced? Really?
DeleteThey are extending the summer flights more and more. They are starting earlier and ending later. Several years ago they would fly only June, July, August. Now they fly for almost the entire summer season.
DeletePurger wrote few days ago: "How could easyJet fly 50+ routes seasonally to Croatia with more than 150 flights per week, and not a one in winter, so they can ground at least 3 planes that fly to Croatia seasonally and Croatia Airlines is crying of grounding 2 planes during winter and fly with others on PSO and still is not profitable, unlike easyJet?"
DeleteThe demand to and from Croatia from April to October is aroud 100 times that in November to March. It is huge.
DeleteIf you have an Idea how OU could operate 100 planes in that period (in which all airlines need planes and leasing is expensive) and reduce that to 10 planes in the slow month, you would be a billionaire by now ;)
Are these flights bookable yet?
ReplyDeleteYes, you can buy tickets on their website.
DeleteNot bad. Pitty about Zagreb. Hope they come back in 2020.
ReplyDeleteLooks as if Easy jet will be ahead of Eurowings in Croatia next year as number one foreign airline.
ReplyDeleteEurowings has really stagnated in the regional this year.
DeleteWhat routes did U2 used to operate from Zagreb?
ReplyDeleteGatwick, Dortmund and Paris.
DeleteGreat! Easyjet is a nice airline and very welcome in Croatia.
ReplyDeleteI agree. Easy Jet is by far the best budget airline. Much better service than Wizz, and miles better than Ryan.
DeleteOut the big 3 LCCs, they are the best and they fly to primary airports.
DeleteIt is also the most expensive LCC.
DeleteOnly Norwegian is ahead of them in terms of best LCC
DeleteWhy is their service "much better than wizz"? They are all the same.
DeleteBecause U2 is prestige, wizz is gasto airline.
DeleteEasyJet is much better company by product, passenger service and they fly mostly from main European airports.
DeleteMuch better service in easyJet especially for that you pay onboard
DeleteYou don't pay for air in easyJet planes unlike Wizz Air
You have fair luggage policy with normal hand luggage suitcase not some stupid 30-20+18 or whatever is now in Wizz Air as they change it every few days
In case of problems they will take care of you (even drink, food, lodging, reroute), Wizz air will leave you for days in airport with no information
They fly to prime airports
They have connections to their own flights and to some 20 other airlines
They have possibility for intercontinental flights connection
Inside plane they will not rape you every second to force you to buy something
They have the best of the best crew, with policy and motivation to be funny
I expect something more blunt from Pula. Give us something new.
ReplyDeleteThe future of Croatian aviation is on the coast.
ReplyDeleteYeah, OK.
DeleteThis is quite true. Croatia is a unique country where the coastal or provinces are sustaining the country´s aviation.
DeleteSPU, DBV, ZAD, RJK, OSI, PUY & BWK all generated almost SIX AND A HALF MILLION pax last year!!! This just shows how extremely strong the Croatian aviation is.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_airports_in_Croatia
BWK has shown remarkable results.
Croatia has really one of the most advanced aviation in the Balkans.
Can you please lend me your glassball? I have also some questions to the future :)) //easyJet
DeleteCan you please lend me your glass ball? I have also some questions to the future:))
DeleteWhat I don't get is that this is an airline offering a million seats to/from Croatia each year bit they don't fly to a single city through the whole year.
ReplyDeleteNo demand during winter for the types of routes they fly. The only city they could sustain year round flights is Zagreb but the airport is expensive.
DeleteBecause the demand is really limited during the winter months.
DeleteAgree with Anon 12:14, here are the tourist numbers for Croatia for November and 2018 so far. The demand is limited, but we are improving:
DeleteNovember 2017 / 2018
316.000 / 379.000
+20%
+63.000
January - November 2017 / 2018
18 216 000 / 19 379 000
+6%
+1 163 000
And some people were saying Croatia is slowly losing tourists because of increased demand for other markets. Obviously not, there is plenty of space for everyone!
DeleteGrowth is slowing down, November had such growth because SPU added some 20.000 passengers this month. Slower growth is normal, these airports are returning to the normal growth they had before the Arab Spring.
DeleteI don't think there is such demand from GVA to run it 2x week... there is a reason LX runs it only 1x week with a A220
ReplyDeleteIs there also a reason why Swiss has NO flight to SPU but easyjet has 10 weekly?
DeleteA reason why Easyjet flies to DBV from GVA, BSL but Swiss nothing?
YES there is a reason ;) So believe me easyjet will make this route work very well ;) Swiss is just using spare capacities available on the weekends when the plane is not needed for say London flights..
We need them back in Zagreb!
ReplyDeleteKLM has further downgraded ZAG from 6 to 5 weekly. 6th flight is brought back in March. Shame that they are struggling so much. Daily flights on the Embraer are back only in mid-April
DeleteMakes sense, OU is daily and offers a better product and more convenient times.
Deleteand OU feeds KLM through their codeshare. OU is using the A320 on the daily AMS flight compared to A319 last winter.
DeleteIs OU making money by sending the A320? Kucko said all their winter flying is at a loss.
DeleteAll winter fliying is a loss business for ALL airlines in Europe! This is well known.
DeleteThis however does not mean that ALL routes are loss making.
Kucko said they are all loss making.
DeleteWill OU fly the Q400 to ARN next summer or the A319?
ReplyDeleteI was told that Easyjet would never return to Rijeka due to the "appalling " way they were treated there. It was 2007..such a shame ..nothing proper from London. TUI new flight is thurs to thurs only.. no one-way. And Ryanair will probably not announce until April (as this year) for only July and August 2019 flying! Poor.
ReplyDeleteVeoma lose vjesti za Croatia Airlines,Eazy Airline hoce da im uzme najmanje 24% putnika za jednu godinu
ReplyDeleteA?
Delete