Korean low cost carrier (LCC) T’Way Air has confirmed its plans concerning the launch of operations from Seoul to Croatia in the near future. In a recent message marking its tenth anniversary, CEO Hong-Geun Jung said the airline would need to react quickly in the post pandemic world as international travel begins to pick up. The carrier plans to acquire wide-body aircraft in order to launch medium and long haul routes to Croatia, Australia and Kyrgyzstan. T’Way has received all necessary permits from the Korean Ministry for Land, Infrastructure and Transport to launch up to four weekly commercial flights between Seoul and Croatia.
Korean Air maintains seasonal flights between Seoul and Zagreb, although they did not operate this year due to the pandemic. The Korean carrier has tentatively scheduled its return to Zagreb for March 29, 2021 with three weekly flights to run next summer, each Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday with its Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft. T’Way Air boasts a fleet of almost thirty narrow-body Boeing aircraft. Prior to the pandemic, the airline maintained flights to destinations in Asia and Russia.
Some half a million Korean tourists visit Croatia on an annual basis. Korean Air handled 43.123 passengers on its flights between Seoul and Zagreb last year. While Zagreb is the main point of entry for Korean tourists, Dubrovnik continues to be one of the main drawcards for travellers. Last year, local authorities in Dubrovnik said they were pursuing flights from South Korea. “It is very important for us to improve connectivity with Korea. It is a big market and we could attract even more tourists", the Mayor of Dubrovnik said at the time. Dubrovnik Airport has identified South Korea as a market which could sustain services to the coastal city.
Interesting, but will there be enough demand?
ReplyDeleteI'm also wondering. KL's annual LF on Seoul-Zagreb-Seoul last year was 61,9%, which is pretty good considering they had winter flights last year which were not very full. But even if things calm down by April I doubt we will see people returning to travel in the same volume as previous years.
DeleteWith Emirates out of the picture in summer 2021, it will help fill Korean.
DeleteThis route didn't really have much time to mature. I'm sure there will be more South Korean traffic to Croatia in the future.
DeleteWe still don't know for sure if KE is coming back.
DeleteKL's annual LF on Seoul-Zagreb-Seoul last year was 61,9%- where can I find the numbers?
DeleteCalculate the capacity in 2019 and divide it by the passenger numbers.
Delete@Anonymous 09:14: I think it should be KE and not KL...
DeleteSorry my mistake.
DeleteIt would be great if they started Dubrovnik so we would have Korean Air to Zagreb and T'way to Dubrovnik.
ReplyDeleteThat would be perfect :)
DeleteIf there are 500,000+ Korean tourists coming each year and only 43,000 flying with Korean Air then there is a huge untapped market of airline on this route.
ReplyDeleteIt's not about untapped demand but about ZAG incompetence to make their airport the starting point for Korean tours. Budapest and Vienna are starting points right now but I doubt Zag can compete with them.
Delete^ I don't think that is up to Zagreb Airport. It is more the job of the Zagreb tourist authority.
DeleteI really wonder which airlines Koreans predominately take to arrive in Croatia? It obviously isn't Korean
DeleteThat's the thing, it's not who they use it's where they start their trip. If the majority start their trip in Hungary or Austria they then use a bus to get to Croatia.
DeleteWell ZAG can negotiate with airlines,creduces fees, give incentives...
DeleteIf you look at the statistics, the majority of Koreans stay in Croatia for one night (look at the overnight stays statistic) so they are probably passing through Croatia on their way to another destination.
DeleteWhy is ZAGs fault not so much passengers using Korean?
DeleteAgree with above anonymous. It's not up to the airport to make each and every single route work. The airline has to do something as well.
DeleteMust admit I've never heard of them.
ReplyDeleteThey are bigger than any ex-Yu airline. They handled over 7 million passengers last year
DeleteSame way Korean have not heard of OU, JU, YM...
DeleteThey are a primarily Asian carrier. Used to be known as Hansung Airlines.
DeleteThis is great news
ReplyDeleteHope it works out. Good luck.
ReplyDeletePre covid I'm sure it would. Now though, not really.
DeleteShould be pointed out that they asked for the permits AFTER the pandemic started. So they obviously think it will work out.
DeleteWhether it will happen probably depends more on what direction the pandemic takes next year.
DeleteHopefully these flights can be launched by peak summer 2021.
DeleteWe will need all the airlines we can get. Hope they start flights.
ReplyDeleteConsidering Korean Air flights were quite pricey, an LCC would be a welcome change.
ReplyDeleteWould be nice if they started flights. It would be an exotic arrival for sure.
ReplyDeleteI believe the only Asian LCC flying to Europe too.
DeleteDoesn't Air Asia X fly to some European destination? I also think there might be some Indian LCCs flying to the UK.
DeleteShame about the pandemic. On top of T'way we would also have had Air Asia X start those charters from Bangkok.
ReplyDeleteWould have been a great year for long haul to Croatia.
DeleteDoubt they will ever launch flights to ZAG, even with the permits.
ReplyDeleteLike I wrote above, it should be pointed out that they asked for the permits AFTER the pandemic started. So they obviously think it will work out.
Delete@9.31 did you read the title of the article? Or the article at all? They just announced that they plan to fly to Croatia, despite the mess the pandemic has caused on the market.
DeleteBut they don't even have wide body plane for it...
DeleteKyrgyzstan?
^ you could read the whole article for starters.
DeleteFor starters?
DeleteYou mean before the main dish? :-)
People should notice that the article does not mention they would fly to Zagreb. It says they got permit to fly to Croatia, meaning they can fly to any destination there. To me, it would make more sense if they started Dubrovnik over Zagreb.
ReplyDeleteDon't most Koreans visit Dubrovnik anyway?
DeleteI'm quite disappointing that Dubrovnik hasn't attract a single seasonal long haul service. There are a few markets which could surely work.
Delete@10.50 no around 10% visit Dubrovnik.
Delete@10.57 What are you talking about? American flew Philadelphia-Dubrovnik last year.
DeleteWould be great for Croatian tourism.
ReplyDeleteThis is a good sign there is demand.
ReplyDeleteThey want to fly to Kyrgyzstan too?!?!
ReplyDeleteThere is a Korean minority in Kyrgyzstan. T'way even operated some repatriation flights from Bishkek during the first wave.
DeleteDidn't know that. That's interesting
DeleteMaybe they could fly Seoul-Bishkek-Zagreb?
DeleteWhy would they do that?
DeleteBecause it is a necessity for them. They don't seem to have any long haul aircraft as someone wrote.
DeleteWhat is this for an ugly livery? :O
ReplyDeleteAn apostrophe on the tail :D
DeleteThey really could have been more creative.
DeleteLet's wait and see.
ReplyDeleteGo Croatia!
ReplyDeleteI'm worried that the Bravo Hrvastka guy isn't here yet.
DeleteZagreb should do everything they can now to get them to start flights.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteI would prefer Jin Air, which is the LCC long haul subsidiary of Korean Air to start flights, rather than this airline.
ReplyDeleteAny new airline is welcome!
DeleteNow they just need a widebody aircraft to reach Croatia...
ReplyDeleteIt says they plan to get one.
DeleteThey have many MAX planes on order. It is possible these are being renegotiated and they will get maybe even wide body plane.
DeleteThey do not have a single European destination anywhere near Europe
ReplyDeleteSo? This is their European expansion.
DeleteCroatia before Germany, France, Spain, Italy, UK?
DeleteI don't think so
Then you should tell T'way they should go for Germany France, Spain, Italy and UK before Croatia. The airline said themselves they want to fly to Croatia. No one made it up.
DeleteI just think it is not serious.
DeleteWhy not? Demand is here and only airline which fliese here is KE with 3 weakly flights. If Korean can fly to ZAG, LED and PRG but not to MUC and VCE why wouldnt first Tways lh destination be Croatia.
DeleteAre they an independent airline or are they owned by someone?
ReplyDeleteIndependent.
DeleteZAG should focus more on European LCCs rather than Asian LCCs.
ReplyDeleteThey should focus on anyone they can get.
DeleteTway is interested in flying to ZAG or some croatian destination. So what should ZAG do ? Ban them from flying because they are Asian? And it seems you dont understand at all what is going on in ZAG.
DeleteThey should not be banned but the airport should work harder on getting an LCC and getting people to fly outside of three months in the summer.
DeleteOh you do not understand the problematics of ZAG at all despite you have a bunch of texts about why there are no LCCs at the airport.
DeleteAnd what exactly are the problematics?
DeleteThis is great! More tourists and more money.
ReplyDeleteHope it works out. Good luck.
ReplyDeletethat’s a lot of Korean tourists. I’m surprised there aren’t all year round flights. Koreans are also cashed up and are nice tourists to attract.
ReplyDeleteBecause they all come in summer and early autumn. What are they going to do in say Dubrovnik in November or December?
DeleteTours usually started from PRG or VIE, of course last few years agencies used KA flight to ZAG, Some agencies also used TK, QR, EK, SU, FI, LH flights.
DeleteI hope it materializes.
ReplyDeleteThis would be good for Croatian tourism. More direct lines are needed to attract people from long distance destinations.
ReplyDeleteIs T`way following Wizz covid approach: when everyone else is reducing fleet and destinations, you expand fleet and destinations at any cost and see if it works? (it didn't work for Wizz)
ReplyDeleteThe situation in Europe and Asia is incomparable. Many Asian airlines are bouncing back. Korean Air recorded a profit in Q3.
DeleteYou always shift topic. Korean Air didn't make Q3 profit carrying tourists from Korea to Covid hotspot Croatia. We are talking here only about tourists from Korea coming to visit Croatia, not where else in Asia KE makes money.
DeleteKorean tourists visitng Croatia is not a growth sector right now and will not be for some time.
Good news
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I really do hope that it works, or better it'll be working... The problem is that many korean tourists are on a round trip in Europe using the flight SEL-ZAG, visiting Zagreb, Plitvice, Split and Dubrovnik and than flying on AF from DBV to PAR to visit Paris, London, Amsterdam,... and than fly back to SEL. Or viceversa. With just one destination in Europe and no alliance partners to fly the tourists throughout Europe, I don't think it will work... And I hope I'm wrong...
ReplyDeleteI would say they'd book a round trip SEL-ZAG and then use OU for domestic flights. Many would prefer to fly non-stop instead of having a transfer in wherever place.
DeleteYes, that would be possible. But that will make the tours more expensive and therefore not really intersting for the consumer... And they have already a direct fly: SEL-ZAG/land ZAG-DBV/DBV-PAR/land PAR-LON/LON-SEL just a an example...
Deletethis wolud be a great news, we know koreans as excellent guests, real boosters of tourism in the region. welcome back
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteIs there any LCC flying from EX-YU region for Japan, I'm kinda of interested visiting it once this whole pandemic craze dies down a bit?
ReplyDeleteNo!
DeleteI flew Finnair Ljubljana to Nagoya for 496 euro return. It was the year they started both destinations and it was kind of double promotion. But let's say they open another ex-yu and another Japan destination in the future, maybe you get lucky as I did. And not only I flew dirty cheap but it was my first experience with Finnair and I can only say wow wow wow, one of my best experiences ever
Delete