Ryanair has announced the launch of an additional new route from Zagreb, with two weekly flights to Manchester set to begin on December 2, making it its seventeenth destination from the Croatian capital. The airline will open its base in Croatia's largest city this week with three new routes to commence on Friday, complementing the existing two introduced last month. It will hold a press conference in Zagreb on Friday to mark the occasion. The airline will have two Airbus A320 aircraft stationed in the city, operated by its subsidiary Lauda Europe, with the second jet to arrive in early September, when it plans on adding a further nine new routes. The low cost carrier is satisfied with its performance in Zagreb so far, both in terms existing loads, as well as forward bookings. With the majority of sales for the flights being generated outside of Croatia, the airline launched an advertising campaign in the country recently in a bid to attract more local travellers. So far, Ryanair’s best performing markets for its Zagreb operations have been Belgium, Italy and Sweden.
The head of the Zagreb Tourist Board, Martina Bienenfeld, has said the opening of Ryanair’s base will contribute to strengthening the city’s position as a city break destination, while maintaining its arrival will not hurt Croatia Airlines. “We welcome all new airlines to Zagreb and are looking forward to Ryanair being among those already flying to our city. This will contribute to further positioning Zagreb as a city break destination and will make it more accessible to interested visitors”, Ms Bienenfeld said. She added, “As far as the national carrier is concerned, we must not forget that it was Croatia Airlines that connected us to the rest of the world when all other carriers discontinued flights during the height of the pandemic last year. Therefore, I wouldn’t compare these two airlines because their profiles and business models are vastly different”.
By the beginning of September, Ryanair will be operating 84 weekly Zagreb flights (return service included) with 15.147 seats on sale per week. The airline has said it plans to maintain between thirty and forty routes out of the Croatian capital by next summer season. “We will grow exponentially in the years to come. The key for Zagreb is going to be the number of airports we have on offer in Europe. We made a bold decision to launch a base straight away. This shows our confidence in Zagreb”, the budget carrier said. The General Manager of Zagreb Airport, Huseyin Bahadir Bedir, previously noted that becoming a Ryanair base was a strategic decision in order to elevate the airport into a regional hub and speed up its recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.
Further flight details for the new Zagreb - Manchester service can be found here.
Interesting that 2 out of the 3 markets they are performing the best in are not served by Croatia Airlines or are barely services by Croatia Airlines - Sweden and Italy.
ReplyDeleteIs FR competing directly against OU on any route? And I don't mean alternative airports, I mean head to head
DeleteNo because in that case they would not be eligible for incentives. It must be an airport not operated from ZAG in the last two years.
DeleteI'm still surprised at OU's passive response. As if nothing is happening.
DeleteIt had thirty years do something.
DeleteExactly. 30 years after it was established Croatia Airlines still hasn't managed to fly from Zagreb to Rome nonstop.
DeleteAnon 09:35
DeleteI'm surprised that you're surprised. Their aloofness and intransigence has become the stuff of legends.
Croatian Airlines is run like a civil service job, with lack of enthusiasm, vision or any interest in doing any work. The end result is an airline that lacks vision, appallingly bad management that is set in old ways with jobs for the boys mentality.
DeleteAll that being said, it is great that Ryan Air has taken situation with stride, 40 routes by end of next year would be astonishing, considering how well Monarch did on route to Stansted, Manchester and Gatwick, I am somewhat confident they'll do just fine @Zagreb even with 40 routes, Krakow has 67 routes and I wouldn't be surprised if Ryan air by 2025 has about 60-70 routes out of Zagreb, with 200-250 weekly departures and 2-3 million passengers traffic.
ZAG-SOF was turned into a summer seasonal operation.
ReplyDeleteNot a good sign.
DeleteIt was difficult to think that such a route could perform year round with a B737-800. I assume the same will happen with Podgorica.
DeleteLet's see what happens with TGD
DeleteThe route is quite new and will need some time to mature.
DeleteSo SOF is the first seasonal route in their ZAG network.
DeleteI'm still baffled by Ryanair's decision to fly Zagreb-Podgorica twice per week with B737-800. I don't think it will work. So I see them potentially replacing that destinations with for example Athens or something close in the region.
DeleteMaybe it was their reaction on OU's intention to open TGD and to send them a message not to even think about it anymore.
DeleteSofia is a seasonal route from beginning announcement
DeleteI know it is not superimportant, but when you are constantly writing about 737, under the article, where it is said that Lauda will operate flights tells me not to take your oppinions serious. At least now you should know that Lauda operates A320.
DeleteIt really makes little difference if it's a high density B737 or A320. The Sofia flights are on the 737 from Sofia base.
DeleteActually me and friends wanted to go from SOF to ZAG but these PCR tests have stopped us from doing it. Hopefully next year if life is back to normality me and my friends will use this route for sure.
DeleteIt wasn't anywhere indicated earlier that SOF will be only seasonal.
DeleteI don't think that the FR winter timetable is fully ready yet in SOF. There are still missing new routes such as OTP, AGP, MLA, VAR and ZAG which were launched almost the same time and day. We will need to wait until the end of August, as it seems there might be a new lockdown.
DeleteThis will be an exciting time for Zagreb and I hope Ryanair starts getting those passenger numbers up and ZAG returning to top 3 busiest in ex-Yu soon.
ReplyDeleteZagreb will re-assert itself, don't you worry, Croatia implemented stricter covid rules which were relaxed only recently on May 1st. Airlines are noting that and are slowly returning.
Delete"while maintaining its arrival will not hurt Croatia Airlines"
ReplyDeleteGood luck with that
"The low cost carrier is satisfied with its performance in Zagreb so far, both in terms existing loads, as well as forward bookings. With the majority of sales for the flights being generated outside of Croatia, the airline launched an advertising campaign in the country recently in a bid to attract more local travellers"
ReplyDeleteIf you are truly satisfied with ticket sales you are not launching advertising campaign.
Croats generaly do not travel abroad that much.
Delete@Niko
DeleteWith all due respect, your statement is BS. I was meeting people from Croatia, accidentally, on the street, in Cambodia, Brasil, Curaçao, Thailand, Hong Kong, all over Europe. Of course being small nation, numbers are smaller than numbers for bigger nations. Of course, having one of the most beautiful coasts in the world, in summer Croats don't go that much to Turkey, Greece, Spain or Egypt as others, but saying that one whole nation generally don't travel abroad that much has nothing to do with reality. And in addition to that, generalisation is generally not good and among other reasons, brought us to the bottom of Europe, where we are, all of the ex-yu. It is the same mantra as there is no demand in ZAG for any flight and any company.
@An.09.06
So Turkish, or Lufthansa, whose ads and clips are daily everywhere, are not satisfied with their sales and performance, worldwide, otherwise they wouldn't start any campaign anywhere LOL
International outbound tourists are the number of departures in 2019:
DeleteHungary 24,860,000
Slovenia 6,049,000
Alania 5,922,000
Croatia 3,500,000
↑Typo. International tourism, number of departures 2019. International outbound tourists are the number of departures that people make from their country of usual residence to any other country for any purpose other than a remunerated activity in the country visited.
Deleteof course you can meet tourists from ex yu all over the world. but that is only a small group of the population who can afford to travel. most of them spend their holidays in the area. Another indicator is the comparison of how many bus routes there are to croatia compared to flights.
Deleteryanair has also confirmed that ticket sales to and from ZAG were made mostly by foreigners
@pozdrav
DeleteDo you really put TK and LH in the same basket with FR? Unbeliavable.
FYI - LH added many new flights on MUC-BEG and on FRA-BEG this summer and no single campaign about it. Not in Germany, not in Serbia.
I suppose they missed contacting you for an advice.
So Slovenians travel the most among all ex-yu nations? makes sense since they have the highest purchase power.
Delete@Anonymous14:05
DeleteDoes not make sense, first off, Croatian pays are only 10-12% smaller than those in Slovenia, if you look at average Zagreb pay which is around 8500 Kuna, or €1150 than that difference is negligible, problem is that most Croats travel with car as everything is near, Munich, Vienna, Budapest, Milan, Zurich...
Also, along the coast most Croats don't travel much cause they've got what they need on the coast, and between May 1st and October 31st people work in tourism, so no chance for any holidays then as for many it is a family run thing and everyone works to support their business. Most Croats who do fly a lot are from Zagreb Metro area and northern Croatia.
Again Slavonia being relatively poor region with unemployment 8-9% rate and pays that are 70-75% of national average or around 5000 kuna, many can't afford holidays abroad or even at home. There are many factors that influence consumer spending, so you can't make assertion based on one data point.
since when they are only 10-12 less? if you compare zagreb to slovenia maybe but compare zagreb to ljubljana.
DeleteHaving only one way demand is a problem. I hope they stimulate more locals to fly and have weekends in Europe.
ReplyDeleteThis is the biggest problem of ZAG. All routes are relying on the seasonal inbound leisure traffic. Travelling on a plane on holiday is still not cultural and social norm in the majority of Croatian public.
DeleteIt's the routes, majority are gasto and nonapealing to Croatians.
DeleteAnyone know which aircraft (registration) will be based in ZAG?
ReplyDeleteIt will be A320, but the registrations will probably vary, as the aircraft are swapped around for maintenance purposes.
Delete9HIBJ flew in on 19th.
DeleteCroatia being placed on the UK's green list will help with the London-Zagreb flights.
ReplyDeleteIt will, won't it?
DeletePoor OU.
ReplyDeleteI find it very hard to believe Ryanair will add another 15 to 25 routes by next summer season. It's way too optimistic, especially in the current climate.
ReplyDeleteThe commercial terms they have with ZAG allows them to expand quickly risk free.
DeleteGood for Zagreb
ReplyDeleteBringing Ryanair was a clever move by ZAG.
ReplyDeleteWe will see. I read every few months in the Croatian government decisions "Approval for Zagreb Airport to take out new loan".
DeleteI'm surprised it took Zagreb this long to become a base for a low cost airline.
DeleteFinally Zagreb fulfilled the missing LCC part.
Delete15 years too late.
DeleteDoes anyone know have their been recruitment events for the ZAG base? Will the crew be Croatian? Or they will do that later
ReplyDeletePilots 80% ex Adria, cabin mostly Spanish, Portugese and Italian. 1 or 2 Croatians.
DeleteInteresting. Thanks!
DeleteActually, regarding cabin crew you're going to be surprised... Much more than 1-2 Croatians
DeleteGo ZAG!
ReplyDeleteMaybe Ryanair could introduce Zagreb-Tirana to beat Croatia Airlines to it :D
ReplyDeleteGreat, this will generate a new type of passengers and will definitely mean a lot of passenger growth for ZAG.
ReplyDeleteGood luck to FR in ZAG!
ReplyDeleteThis is incredible for Zagreb
ReplyDeleteBye bye OU
ReplyDeleteIt will affect some other airlines in Zagreb too. Not just Croatia Airlines.
DeleteAlready affected LH and OS.
DeleteWhat are the next routes we could see from them?
ReplyDeleteLet's wait to see how the announced routes perform. Sofia has become seasonal and Milan sales were removed for a month for some time before they out them back.
DeleteMy guess is Spain will be included next to the network.
DeleteAthens hopefully.
DeleteATH would make sense considering Aegean has withdrawn and OU is employing the same strategy as their FCO flights by flying via Dubrovnik.
DeleteDoes Aegean plan to come back next year or they have completely terminated Zagreb flights?
Deletecould Berlin work?
DeleteEurowings is planning to restart Berlin, but I think there is space for both on that market
DeleteMaybe Warsaw Modlin, they could get incentives there as its not the same airport as the one LOT uses, plus Poles come to Croatia in large numbers.
DeleteI think we could see Eindhoven next! There's huge demand from the Netherlands to Croatia. Also KLM is going strong in Croatia partly due to transfers but also lots of demand from the Dutch.
DeleteEDI.
DeleteWell as we can see it is MAN :)
DeleteThey will eventually cover the whole of Europe from ZAG.
ReplyDeleteW6, where are you?
ReplyDeleteGreat news for ZAG but this is not looking good for Croatia Airlines.
ReplyDeleteSounds nice but let's wait and see what materializes out of all of these announcements by Ryanair.
ReplyDeleteDoubt they won't materialize. They signed an agreement with the city which likely outlines how many routes they have to add each year during the duration of the contract. That's how most of their contracts work.
DeleteI'm not so sold on the success of this Ryanair base. London was originally scheduled as daily and now it is 4 weekly.
ReplyDeleteNo, it starts 4 weekly in July and goes daily from September when the second plane arrives. That's how it has been scheduled from the very beginning. They made no changes.
DeleteYou are correct, my bad
DeleteThis is ideal for recovery from covid.
ReplyDeleteWell when they clear ZAG from OU they will not be interested for Mahovljani.
ReplyDeleteTwo are completely unrelated considering they have an agreement with BNX and keep adding route.
DeleteMaybe they announce more new routes at the press conference tomorrow.
ReplyDeletewow nice to see Manchester added!
ReplyDeleteFrom Zagreb to Belgrade by Ryanair over weekend?
ReplyDeleteNot gonna apen.
DeleteRyanair has announced the launch of an additional new route from Zagreb, with flights to Manchester set to launch this year, making it its seventeenth destination from the Croatian capital.
ReplyDeleteha? That is not announced on their website....
It was announced this afternoon at a press conference in Manchester by the airline's CEO. They haven't put tickets on sale yet obviously.
DeleteNew MAN routes are Santorini, Knock, Bucharest, Verona, Paphos, Kaunas, Poznan, Suceava, Zagreb and Salzburg.
DeleteThey are scheduled now
Deletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/p/ryanair-zagreb-manchester.html
Ryanair is very flexible.
ReplyDeleteThat means if there are flights that are not much succesfull they get canceled and immediately replaced by new ones. The pool of possible destinations is inexhaustible.
It's a smart strategy.
DeleteLet's wait for September. One thing is Ryanair to have a press conference and announce "imaginary" routes from Zagreb to nowhere . Just few things to take into the account:
ReplyDelete1) Covid "epidemics" is is still raging on, at least in the media.
2) Travel rules on EU & World level are still non-existent.
3) Small businesses are ravaged in most of the world.
4) Price of Oil is significantly higher then last few years.
5) Airline and Economy Debt levels are significantly higher then before pandemics. Trillions of Euros, Dollars! Yeah, that is printing press in action. At very least people from ex-YU should understand consequences of that on Economy unless they were very very young in the 90's.
Well they have already launched two routes and this weekend they are launching another 3. I don't see these as being imaginary routes.
DeleteTGD will be disaster and SOF already became seasonal.
DeleteGlad to hear about the new Manchester route. It was quite successful for Monarch when they were around. Hope it works for Ryanair too.
ReplyDelete