KLM becomes Zagreb's busiest foreign carrier


KLM has become the busiest foreign airline maintaining flights to the Croatian capital this November, with the carrier accounting for 5.3% of all traffic from Zagreb. The airline is maintaining daily services between Amsterdam and the Croatian capital, offering 4.176 one-way seats with 28 of its flights operated by the Boeing 737-700 aircraft and the remaining two with the Embraer E190 jet. KLM has pulled ahead of Lufthansa, Air France, Eurowings and Turkish Airlines as the busiest foreign airline in the city. It is becoming an increasingly popular choice for transfer passengers to and from the United States and Canada, despite ongoing entry restrictions, as other carriers, which had traditionally been more successful in capturing a larger share of transfer traffic, reduce their operations. 

Top twelve airlines by frequency in Zagreb, November 2020

KLM codeshares on its flights to Zagreb with Delta Air Lines. The Croatian carrier also maintains services to Amsterdam and has scheduled thirty flights between the two cities this month, offering 3.164 seats using a mix of Dash 8 turboprops and Airbus A319 aircraft on the route. Overall, KLM has increased its operations to Zagreb this November when compared to last year despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. It is running an additional five flights this month and has added an extra 1.676 seats on the market compared to the same period last year. Equipment has also been upgraded with the airline having exclusively utilised the E190 jet last November. 

Despite KLM seeing better than expected results and operating more flights than last year, November is expected to be exceptionally difficult for Zagreb Airport. In October, it handled 55.289 passengers, representing a decrease of 83.3% compared to the same month last year. The number of flight operations fell by 56.2% to 1.772. During the month, Croatia Airlines, as the airport’s busiest carrier, operated 59.9% fewer flights than October of 2019. Overall, Zagreb Airport welcomed 840.610 travellers through its doors during the January - October period, down 71.6%. The airport estimates it will handle around one million passengers this year, down from 3.4 million in 2019.

MonthPAXChange (%)
JAN203.305 6.1
FEB184.236 1.7
MAR97.063 58.3
APR5.118▼ 98.2
MAY13.881 95.5
JUN44.402 86.8
JUL78.070 78.7
AUG93.553 75.1
SEP65.963 81.2
OCT55.589 83.3

Comments

  1. Anonymous09:02

    ZAG won't reach a million

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:05

      Looks unlikely at this point.

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:03

    Yes, one of the rare airlines to increase flights. I'm glad for their success.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous09:03

    Wow JU is ahead of QR...who would have believed that.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:49

      7W is ahead of QR :D

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:03

      JU handles almost as LO and twice less than LH.

      Impressive.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous13:50

      Haha funny- but those are November statistics and November is usually weak even more so in the Pandemic. QR offers just 1 flight a week and LH flies the CR9.

      Delete
  4. Anonymous09:04

    This is bad news for OU as LH Group seems to be in massive trouble. AF-KL has had its eye on ZAG for a while now and they seem to be making the most of it now. Real question is what will OU do now?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:05

      Well you can't compete on this route flying Dash propeller planes while the competition sends B737-700s

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:07

      Not just B737 but also the Embraer. Also KL has a much superior onboard product as they offer free sandwich, sweet and drinks. OU gives you a silly little cracker while the propellers make a lot of noise in the plane.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:09

      As AMS is important for OU I believe this is bad news for them

      Delete
    4. The answer to your question what will OU do now is : nothing, as usual

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:24

      I think they should suspend AMS and switch to EIN. Costs will be lower and they could attract those more price sensite.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous11:27

      Haha no way. The majority of passengers on OU to AMS are transfers during the winter. Moving to EIN would kill that.

      Delete
    7. Anonymus 9:07 - I see you never flew Croatia before. They have by far the best economy product on the market.

      On internationak flights they give you a beautiful lunch box made by Uje. You can find proschutto, oiled cheese, crackers and caramalized almonds.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous13:46

      That might sound not as real meal, but for many tourists these boxes are really intresting.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous13:53

      Nice Anon 09.04- this is Trump Style- no proof for your comments and if it goes against you- fake news.

      Why is LH worse off (seems in big trouble) then KLM-AF?

      Delete
  5. Anonymous09:08

    OU should leave Star Alliance and join Skyteam and work closely with KLM. It won't ever happen, but would propably be more profitable for OU as they currently carry Lufthansa passengers at a loss.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous09:10

    wow who would have thought. And they just started flights a couple of years ago.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous09:11

    Good on KL for reacting quickly and using the situation to their advantage, at least on this market.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous09:13

    Excellent news! KL is the oldest airline in Europe and AMS is an amazing, compact and modern airport.
    ZAG figures are just almost the same everywhere but maybe the average downfall in the rest of the EU capitals is around 60%. We will need to wait until December which is traditionally a busy month.
    Go ZAG!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:20

      840k pax what a great result! And without any of those pesky LCCs, exclusively prestige airlines

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:21

      If that's a great result to you... Those prestige airlines are not bringing in revenue as they suspend flights one by one. Might have to rethink your business model.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:29

      Well yeah, ZAG does remain a highly legacy airport for the time being. Reminds a bit about MUC and LUX.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:35

      True. That's why Pristina now handles more passengers than Zagreb.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:36

      MUC has Blue Air, easyJet, Norwegian, Pegasus, Vueling...

      Really very similiar to ZAG

      Delete
    6. Anonymous09:46

      LUX LCC

      easyJet ==> Berlin–Brandenburg, Bordeaux, Lisbon, London–Gatwick, Milan–Malpensa, Porto

      Ryanair ==> Barcelona, Bergamo, Berlin-Brandenburg, Budapest, Dublin, Edinburgh, Lisbon, London–Stansted, Madrid, Malta, Porto

      Volotea ==> Nice

      Delete
    7. Anonymous09:57

      MUC before the pandemic also had Ryanair if you didnt know :D
      flights to Dublin, Alicante, Palma

      Delete
    8. Anonymous10:02

      I am talking about current situation. You know, pandemic all around etc..

      Delete
    9. Anonymous10:07

      Eurowings too

      Delete
  9. Anonymous09:13

    Daily flights in this situation is quite good.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:30

      The only one, other than OU of course.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous13:55

      LH flies daily to MUC.

      Delete
  10. Anonymous09:13

    Will they keep these ops for December too?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:13

      KL I mean.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:58

      Yes they will have daily flights.

      Delete
  11. Anonymous09:14

    That's one big OU share

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous09:15

    I just realised that the "top 12 airlines" are the only airlines currently serving ZAG. Good job for KLM-Air France which basically now, as a group, dominate at the airport.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:16

      Yeah they are ahead of LH+EW. Austrian has suspended flights so they are no longer a factor.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:19

      dominate the airport with 5,3%? lol

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:20

      I'm talking about the group total. And yes with that figure, at the moment, it dominates among foreign airlines.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:22

      dude LH has 5.1%

      if 5.3% to 5.1% is dominating ...

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:32

      Not true. There are Israir and Windrose flights also

      Delete
    6. Anonymous09:34

      ^ Windrose is in the pie chart and Israir has not flown to Zagreb since September so it is correct. These are the only airlines serving ZAG this month.

      Delete
  13. Anonymous09:18

    Really interesting. Thanks for the data

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous09:21

    LH will increase after the pandemic but let them having a moment in November the second slowest month in aviation (add pandemic to it )

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous09:23

    how many of those 840k are tranfer pax from OU and counted double?

    ReplyDelete
  16. Anonymous09:23

    And do we know the pax numbers for these airlines to/from ZAG for some recent month? Because the graph talks about offering.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Anonymous09:23

    No matter what, they will always have the best looking livery :D

    ReplyDelete
  18. Anonymous09:25

    Looking at the pie chart, it is interesting to see that Trade Air indeed has a good percentage compared to its size and operations. Windrose, who even haven't properly started yet have a 1,6% share already! I guess this will increase when they increase their frequencies next month.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:27

      I was about to write how it's amazing that Windrose is already there and it increases next month! Really glad the route seems to be performing well.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:56

      There is no reason for them not to, they also connect ZAG to at least 5 other Ukrainian airports and have excellent connections via KBP. Prices might be a bit high though. But, if you have no other choice you will book. e.g. ZAG-ODS via KBP.

      4 dec 09:10
      Croatia HR Zagreb ZAG
      Pleso
      Flight 7W7662 h 20 min
      Embraer RJ145
      Economy class (T)
      Baggage 23K
      12:30 4 dec
      KBP Kyiv Ukraine UA
      Boryspil Terminal D
      Stop 2 h 50 min
      4 dec 15:20
      Ukraine UA Kyiv KBP
      Boryspil Terminal D
      Flight 7W1231 h 25 min
      Embraer RJ145
      Economy class (T)
      Baggage 23K
      16:45 4 dec
      ODS Odessa Ukraine UA

      Journey time 6 h 35 min
      6 dec 07:00
      Ukraine UA Odessa ODS

      Flight 7W1261 h
      Embraer 190
      Economy class (M)
      Baggage 23K
      08:00 6 dec
      KBP Kyiv Ukraine UA
      Boryspil Terminal D
      Operated by Ukraine Intl (PS56)
      Stop 2 h 30 min
      6 dec 10:30
      Ukraine UA Kyiv KBP
      Boryspil Terminal D
      Flight 7W7653 h 15 min
      Aerospatiale/Alenia ATR 72
      Economy class (M)
      Baggage 23K
      12:45 6 dec
      ZAG Zagreb Croatia HR
      Pleso
      Journey time 6 h 45 min

      While some might say the ATR journey might be too long, their interiors look pretty decent:

      https://www.facebook.com/windrose.aero/photos/3334864283236103

      And here is a ZAG promo:

      https://www.facebook.com/windrose.aero/photos/2685403248182213

      Delete
  19. Anonymous09:30

    Nice about KLM but the results in general are bad.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:32

      They are bad everywhere. What do you expect?

      Delete
  20. Anonymous09:30

    So KLM is the only foreign airline with daily flights to ZAG?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:32

      Yes, at the moment.

      Delete
  21. Anonymous09:42

    If the trends continues this way for Zagreb then from 7th busiest airport in the Balkans, it will probably end up out of the top ten. The managing company should at least have waived some of the airport charges to attract new airlines similarly to TIA or subsidise them like in Skopje.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:51

      the managing company in Skopje is the same as in Zagreb and they didnt subsidise airlines

      Delete
    2. Anonymous13:48

      Seems someone does not understand concesion contract at ZAG...

      Delete
  22. Anonymous09:49

    Can't believe TK has decreased flights by so much

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:50

      at what frequency are they now?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:53

      3 weekly

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:28

      I am not surprised. Even before the pandemic they reduced winter flights to ZAG from 14 to 10. I am surprised they even manage to survive right now.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:32

      They reduced frequencies in almost all markets.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous11:30

      But still flies to 206 different destinations from a single aiport, IST.

      One of the biggest numbers in the word right now.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous16:55

      TK has 4 flights weekly and also the have mostly A321 or 320 because of high LF.

      Delete
  23. Anonymous09:49

    Guys, here are the latest Germany numbers (for the month of September) and maybe the reason why LH has slowed down a bit:

    overall LF on flights Germany->HR (one way) for September was only 30.8%, with 581 flights and 20.325 pax (all one way). Outbound were 30 116 pax (but no LF info)
    airports: DBV 23,6%, SPU 25.6%, ZAD 23,2, ZAG 40.3%

    for comparison LJU: 99 flights (one way) , 72,3%LF

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:28

      Now we know why LH handed over German flying to OU.

      Delete
  24. I had booked a compined pleasure - business trip to Zagreb from Athens on 21st of November to 26th of the same month with KLM-CROATIA flights compined. But unfortunately my country goes on lockdown from this Saturday for one month. The price was 172 euros return per person. Very good price, but it won't happen.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:54

      The routing was ATH-AMS-ZAG?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:58

      gosh that would be an insane routing :D

      Delete
    3. No not really. We were going to depart from Athens at 06:10 in the morning and arrive in Zagreb I think at 13:10. Return was 17:25 in the afternoon from Zagreb and arrive in Athens at 01:05 past midnight.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:27

      Ok I see, I was confused because you mentioned KLM.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:57

      well he is flying via AMS which is a crazy routing. IST and BEG would make more sense

      Delete
    6. Just to make it clear. Depart from Athens with KLM to Amsterdam then to Zagreb with Croatia airlines. Return to Athens both flights with KLM also via Amsterdam. Sorry for the misunderstanding.

      Delete
    7. We chose those flights because we wanted to joy most of the day time in Zagreb on Saturday the 21st of November and the same goes for the departing day Thursday on 26th of November.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous11:56

      getting up for a 6am flight means almost not having a sleep the night before

      Delete
    9. Well @ANONYMOUS 11:56 if you are young (early thirties) that doesn't matter at all!

      Delete
    10. Anonymous12:55

      and only those are willing to book ATH-ZAG via AMS.

      Delete
    11. Anonymous13:50

      And only you in this com. section probably never traveled outside your country.

      Delete
    12. Anonymous15:49

      Grüße aus Bayern ;)

      Delete
  25. Anonymous11:17

    With upcoming cuts in both frequencies and capacity I expect the drop to be closer to 90% in November.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:18

      Airline industry is devastated worldwide. It's really doubthfull that we'll see the 2019 numbers anytime soon.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:25

      Of course we will see them one day.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous12:08

      2043

      Delete
  26. Anonymous11:25

    I wonder what will happen with the airport's concession in terms of planned expansion. The airport was supposed to expand when it hit a certain number of passengers. Questionable if it will be reached within the concession period now.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:42

      They won't expand if there is no need as capacity has not been reached.

      Delete
  27. Anonymous12:42

    Interesting to see the share in flights each airline has. Good on KLM.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Anonymous13:31

    I am not an expert....but I see that plaines are full when ever I travel from AMS to ZAG, unfortunately I don't use CA because time of flights are shitty plus KLM is cheaper

    Maybe somebody read this....try to research how many people would like to travel in later hours .....for example....there are no flights from AMS during working days in the evening or late evening.... Thursday would be great if there would be flight like that, I bealive for manny of us that are using this line

    ReplyDelete
  29. Anonymous13:39

    KLM was first airline I was flying on an international flight in 1993 and I loved it!

    ReplyDelete
  30. Anonymous13:41

    I'm not surprised. KLM has a really good network this winter compared to other airlines. They restored a lot of routes.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous13:51

      They even increased flights to SPU comparing to 2019. this year.

      Delete
  31. Anonymous14:41

    Two thirds of passengers belong to one airline. Near monopoly is never good for passengers. Lack of choice and higher prices are limiting growth potential for the airport.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Anonymous14:46

    In todays aviation everybody is in deep trouble. Low offering is one thing, but low LFs is another thing.

    Examples for September 2020 for Germany to ex-Yu:

    from Dusseldorf:
    Croatia: 28,4% (1630 pax)
    Albania: 38,9% (96)
    Kosovo: 87,5% (2687)
    Montenegro: 24% (148)
    Serbia: 44,5% (785)

    from Hamburg:
    Croatia: 22,9% (504 pax)
    Albania: 43,1% (388)
    Kosovo: 51,5% (269)
    Macedonia: 68% (1102)

    from Hannover:
    Croatia 13% (91 pax)
    Kosovo 66,8% (469)
    Montenegro 19,4% (90)
    Serbia 14,7% (193)

    from Memmingen:
    Albania: 40,5% (801 pax)
    Bosnia: 56,7% (816)
    Kosovo: 51,2% (1105)
    Macedonia: 46,5% (1204)
    Montenegro: 26,5% (487)
    Serbia: 68,2% (2088)

    from Munich:
    Croatia: 29,2% (3340 pax)
    Kosovo: 73,2% (1857)
    Serbia: 36,3% (307)

    from Stuttgart:
    Croatia: 29,9% (1986)
    Kosovo: 79,5% (3038)
    Serbia: 38,5% (643)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Since when is Albania ex-Yu?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous17:16

      Oh how dare you include Albania, a country nowhere near exyu... delete it immediately

      Delete
  33. Anonymous17:45

    There are transatlantic flights from Ams on a daily basis. KLM as well as United Airlines.
    Wondering who travels on those flights, or for that matter on any transatlantic flight from/to EU. Considering the mutual entry ban.
    Do those airlines who maintain daily frequencies rely on cargo, or on dual citizens?
    Someone I know travelled from EWR to Ams recently, and there were 80-90 passengers on the plane…
    Stay well, safe and free.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous17:52

      Well just the other day we found out KLM has tied for highest LF at JFK
      https://www.exyuaviation.com/2020/11/air-serbia-tops-new-york-jfk-load-factor.html

      Delete
    2. Anonymous18:00

      To be precise KLM tied for the highest LF at terminal 5 of JFK. We don't know about other terminals.

      Who flies between US and Schengen? Dual citizents, holders of residency permits, other people subject to exceptions.

      Delete
  34. Anonymous20:40

    How come nobody remembered to call OU monopolists for near 70% market share?

    ReplyDelete

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