Lufthansa suspends select Zagreb and Ljubljana routes

Tails of Lufthansa aircraft lined up at the airport

Lufthansa will not be resuming flights between Frankfurt and Zagreb, as well as Munich and Ljubljana, this upcoming winter season based on its preliminary winter schedule. The cancellation of the flights delays the prospect of a service resumption until late March 2021 at the earliest. The German carrier ran double daily services between Frankfurt and the Croatian capital and a daily rotation between Munich and Ljubljana. The airline will maintain operations from the Bavarian capital to Zagreb and from Frankfurt to Ljubljana over the winter, with each running twelve and fourteen weekly respectively. Flights from Munich to Zagreb will increase to double daily over the Christmas and New Year period.

Lufthansa suspended operations on the abovementioned routes when the coronavirus pandemic was declared in March. Since then, Croatia Airlines has increased its operations to Frankfurt, which are codeshared by the German carrier. On the other hand, there will be no flights from Ljubljana to Munich until at least next summer season. Germany is one of Croatia’s biggest markets, both in the summer and winter months. Last year, 328.534 passengers flew between Zagreb and Frankfurt with Lufthansa and Croatia Airlines. On the other hand, Ljubljana - Munich is the Slovenian capital’s seventh busiest route. During its last full year of operations in 2018, Adria Airways carried 78.000 travellers between the two cities, of which 80% were transfers.

The German carrier will continue to maintain the remainder of its network to the former Yugoslavia, albeit with fewer frequencies. The carrier will resume operations between Munich and Sarajevo in late October with six weekly flights planned, increasing to seven over the holiday season. Furthermore, the airline will continue to run services from both Frankfurt and Munich to Belgrade with each to operate ten and seven times per week respectively, with both increasing to double daily over the peak winter travel period. The head of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Alexandre de Juniac, has warned of a “hard winter” ahead due to the ongoing pandemic. “There is a pent-up demand for summer vacation trips. As soon as this bubble bursts, we will face a hard winter”, Mr de Juniac said.

Comments

  1. Anonymous09:04

    Ouch

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:39

      On the other hand OU has increased the frequencies and now runs 4 daily flights to FRA from ZAG. In the winter that is going to be more than sufficient.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous19:41

      Is OU keeping the extra frequencies in winter?

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:05

    Who would have thought 6 months ago it is possible for Zagreb to lose Frankfurt service?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:11

      Crazy

      Delete
    2. Zagreb didn't lose Frankfurt service. Croatia Airlines operated it even during the lockdown, and continues to operate it twice daily. Zagreb didn't even lose Emirates service to Dubai, as they announced continuation of the service after covid crisis next summer, but hey, it is always convenient to write about ZAG losing services even if it is not true. I mean nobody can't deny ZAG indeed lost lot of services lately, but writing to lose services which has always existed and still exist is simply mean

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:19

      Who would have thought 6 months ago it is possible for Zagreb to lose LH Frankfurt service?

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:20

      Today's topic is on LH service to the region so he obviously referred to that loss from FRA.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:36

      ZAG and LJU will be quiet this winter but so will the rest of ex-Yu capitals too. The entire ex-Yu market still remains relatively small. Good examples are SKP and SJJ.
      LH even flies to BEG 2 weekly from FRA down from 2 daily.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous09:52

      Of course but don't forget that BEG is the only ex-YU destination from where LH faces direct competition. JU has a much better schedule so they make their life much more difficult.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous10:18

      @Pozdrav iz Rijeka

      I am the OP and I am shocked the way you attacked me. I literally had ZERO intention of "attacking Zagreb", my comment was sincere and not hateful. Please next time restrain from hate speech and think twice before posting.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous10:21

      Lufthansa flies 3 pw FRA-BEG (1-3-5--)

      Delete
    9. Anonymous10:33

      @10.18 surely you didnt want to provoke ... your posting has been indeed not true and my initial reaction to it was the same as Rijeka. and im not even from HR

      Delete
    10. Anonymous11:17

      @Last anon:

      I surely was talking about LH not flying the route, as my comment was related to the article where the above-mentioned was stated. Everyone else seems to get my point, but a few people.

      Delete
    11. Anonymous11:37

      Everyone knew what you were talking about, no need to stress over a few triggered people.

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:05

    Kucko said it himself that these flights were not profitable even before Corona, I can only imagine now.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:06

      When did Kucko (who left as CEO in 2017) say that?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:13

      It was published on here in one of his interviews.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:15

      He said that flights are generally not profitable throughout the network during winter time. He did not say that Frankfurt and Munich are unprofitable routes.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:20

      He did not say they were generally not profitable, he said ALL flights are unprofitable in winter.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:26

      AF-KL has upped their game in ZAG/LJU area over the last couple of years. That can only mean that there might be overcapacity from ZAG to Star Alliance hubs. I remember there was an article on here how AF is resuming ZAG rather aggressively.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous19:43

      AF was planning to grow their frequencies to ZAG and LJU significantly this summer before corona hit.

      Delete
  4. Anonymous09:06

    I wonder if LH will rebook passengers on LJU-MUC to the MUC line from Zagreb and the ZAG-FRA passengers to the FRA line from Ljubljana.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:11

      I would assume that's why they strategically cancelled these flights this way.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:14

      As far as I remember he said that all routes out of the season bring nothing but loss

      Delete
    3. Anonymous19:44

      That's not a secrete. You can see in OU's financial reports that money is only made in the third quarter. I doubt it's much different for YM and JU.

      Delete
  5. Anonymous09:07

    How many flights will Croatia Airlines have to Frankfurt during the winter?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous19:46

      the aviation industry is so unstable at the moment, no one can tell you with certainty how many frequencies there will be next week let alone in November.

      Delete
  6. Anonymous09:10

    "Last year, 328.534 passengers flew between Zagreb and Frankfurt"

    wow that's huge. Is this the no. 1 route from ZAG?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:13

      I believe so. And Dubrovnik is second and Munich is close third.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:14

      Yes but numbers are not growing, there is a slight drop from what I remember. Probably from more competition from AF and KL

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:14

      Even more interesting to me is that 80% of LJU passengers are transfers on the Munich route.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:26

      I don't know what is the source of that data but this is simply not true. 80% conx pax continued journey with LH and if we count also those conx pax from Balkan destination to MUC than there was not a single passenger travelling p2p LJU-MUC...Yeah right. Someone did not make his job correctly with analyzing the data or the source is completely incorrect.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:29

      I don't think you guys understood it correctly. 80% of passengers were transfers on the Adria flight. That means 20% were P2P.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous09:51

      They have corrected text now. You are welcome moderator :)

      Delete
    7. Anonymous19:47

      That is a huge number of pax from ZAG to FRA. Can't believe LH gave up on it.

      Delete
  7. Anonymous09:10

    Good to see at least they will finally resume Sarajevo. I was fearing it wouldn't happen.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous19:48

      Thank goodness. It is one of the few airlines at Sarajevo that offers real connectivity to the world.

      Delete
  8. Anonymous09:10

    Yikes what happened to the tail on the plane in the pic?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:21

      Corona, that's why it's wearing a mask.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:38

      Looks as if it was struck.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:01

      Symbolic for the company at the moment.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous16:20

      A component of the tail is taken out ..,
      Will get a new one .

      Delete
    5. Anonymous19:49

      Thanks

      Delete
  9. Anonymous09:12

    This is great news for Croatia Airlines.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:17

      Is it?

      Flying your own metal with low LF in order you could feed LH network with low yield transfer price?

      I don't think so.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:38

      Yes it is. There will be enough pax for OU flights, but not for both, OU and LH. Or you think there i no pax between ZAG and FRA at all?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:49

      In the time of pandemic there are no P2P passengers for 3 daily ZAG-FRA flights. That's for sure.

      Big majority of them are transfer pax and OU needs to bring them to FRA in order Mutti could fly them further.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous14:33

      Don't forget that LH can't carry transfers to the US and EU tourists are banned, only those having a Green Card or are considered as essential can enter the country. Only two European airlines that can carry them are JU and LX... ok and TK if you count them.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous08:52

      LX belongs to Schengen area so I am not sure about them.

      You are right about US but t is not the only market they cover with transfers...You have there S.America, whole Asia, Africa, Middle East...

      Delete
  10. Anonymous09:12

    I think Lufthansa won't resume Frankfurt-Zagreb. They will simply hand it over to Croatia Airlines. Remember that they left Adria to fly the FRA and MUC routes while it was still with us.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous19:49

      they will be back.

      Delete
  11. People were saying yesterday how MUC wont be back...as you can see it clearly says “until next summer season”, which means it will return next year

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:29

      there are many airlines which clearly said that they will resume flights in Jun, July, August etc and where are they?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:33

      True LJU announced that the Munich route would be back this September but here we are.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:48

      Not only MUC, same with MAD, BRU, KBP, ZRH, LON...

      Delete
    4. @anon 09:29
      Obviously they are not here...look at the situation across the world, it’s getting worse and worse...who will travel if almost everywhere you go you need a 14 day quarantine...because of that routes simply dont make sense!!

      Delete
    5. @anon 09:29 routes simply dont make sense if almost everywhere you travel you need a 14 day quarantine, and if quarantine isn’t needed, there is a fear of getting infected because the situation is getting worse across the world, therefore there is very little tourists and the routes simply no sense right now!

      Delete
    6. Anonymous10:25

      Please before you repeat yourself in every topic check what is happening on other airports. Many of them are in worse destination with red list but this does not prevent them to operate.

      Delete
  12. Anonymous09:33

    So much for the LH Group in LJU and all the love and affection they got from some celebrating Adria's bankruptcy on here. I don't think we will see Brussels Airlines or Swiss come back either.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous19:50

      That's what happens when you count on the LH group as your saviour.

      Delete
  13. Anonymous09:42

    Not good.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous09:42

    How many flights will Lufthansa have during the winter to ZAG and LJU?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:43

      It says in the article.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:43

      "The airline will maintain operations from the Bavarian capital to Zagreb and from Frankfurt to Ljubljana over the winter, with each running twelve and fourteen weekly respectively. Flights from Munich to Zagreb will increase to double daily over the Christmas and New Year period."

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:47

      Oops I was reading too fast and missed it. Thanks.

      Delete
  15. Anonymous09:48

    “There is a pent-up demand for summer vacation trips. As soon as this bubble bursts, we will face a hard winter”, Mr de Juniac said.

    Unfortunately I tend to agree.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:34

      everywhre

      Delete
    2. Anonymous19:51

      It's already happening. Global seat capacity has been going down for three weeks straight.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous00:51

      That's not good.

      Delete
  16. Anonymous09:58

    Damn corona

    ReplyDelete
  17. Anonymous10:01

    I hope these do actually resume next year.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous19:52

      It's uncertain. We will see.

      Delete
  18. Anonymous10:07

    Bravo LJU! Bravo Slovenia! Bravo Skobir/Krašnja and Co. Zagreb still has FRA service basicly nothing changed! LJU zadnje selo na Balkanu!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Anonymous10:27

    What is the winter schedule for the wider region in comparison? Like BEG, SOF, OTP? LH has reduced across the board it is not only LJU and ZAG

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:28

      You have BEG and SJJ frequencies for winter in the last paragraph.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:52

      FRA-OTP 14x weekly
      MUC-OTP 14x weekly

      FRA-SOF 14x weekly
      MUC-SOF 14x weekly

      FRA-TIA 5x weekly

      Delete
    3. Anonymous12:10

      Is it only LH or combined with other carriers?

      Delete
    4. Anonymous12:18

      Only LH of course

      Delete
    5. Anonymous12:39

      Lufthansa obviously lost its dominance in Belgrade to AF-KLM, which codeshare with Air Serbia .
      Ten years ago Lufti was king there .

      Delete
    6. Anonymous13:13

      Do you think about LH mainline or LH group? Because LH group is still the most dominant airline groupation in BEG and at the most of regional airports.




      Delete
    7. Anonymous13:17

      Slovenia, the forgotten land.

      People, it's time to wake up and smell the roses. Nobody cares about us. If we don't do something ourselves, nobody will do it for us. Get that damn national carrier off the ground ASAP.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous13:28

      Agree with last comment. The only way to secure timely and regular flights is through a national carrier.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous14:35

      I wouldn't say LH has lost in BEG to AF-KL, they did increase MUC to triple daily a while ago. They also boosted capacity on the route, what's good is that they are fighting for the market with others which is good.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous15:57

      Anon 13:17 and 13:28: Flights from/to LJU with new national carrier for whom? Chaos with tourist passengers due to unpredicted changing of travel restrictions for different countries, no business passengers, conferences cancelled for another year, almost no planned on-site Brussels meeting... Current flights are scheduled according to demand. So, Slovenia desperately need national carrier to fly empty planes just for sake of connectivity?

      Delete
    11. Anonymous16:26

      @anon 12:39
      it's hard to stay king when you behave low costly

      Delete
    12. Anonymous18:58

      "The only way to secure timely and regular flights is through a national carrier."

      Last two summers with Adria were a great examples of that.

      Delete
    13. Anonymous20:21

      @anon 18:58

      i don't remember that Slovenia had national carrier last few years. I know for Adria Airways which was owned by Germans and that's why priorities was elsewhere..

      Delete
  20. Anonymous13:27

    This sucks. :/

    ReplyDelete
  21. Anonymous19:45

    New photo. This one reduced the need to take connecting LH flights from ZAG and LJU:

    https://www.airliners.net/photo/JAT-Yugoslav-Airlines/McDonnell-Douglas-DC-10-30/6127811/L

    ReplyDelete
  22. Anonymous19:54

    In the end Fraport was right. The government will have to give subsidies if it wants to keep airlines flying to Ljubljana over winter.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous20:17

      its much cheaper to establish national carrier..

      Delete
  23. Anonymous19:56

    This is getting ridiculous.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous00:51

      Because of the amount of cancellations.

      Delete
  24. Anonymous21:33

    If people were more responsible and faithful to LH then we would not be in this mess in the first place.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous22:20

      how do you mean faithful?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous23:54

      hahahhahahahhahahhaha well some do see mama lufty as the big Savior, hence the faithfulness
      now we have weather gods, jetbridge jesus and mama lufty the big savior
      when we add some sort of a bible, religion can practically be registered
      now let's pray for those in charge to be responsible to all their (remaining) subjects

      Delete
  25. Anonymous06:18

    Expected for LJU even without Covid.

    ReplyDelete

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