The President of the Air Transport Association at the Croatian Chamber of Commerce and the General Manager of Brač Airport, Tonči Peović, has expressed his uncertainty over Ryanair’s growing operations at Zagreb Airport, warning it will destabilise the national carrier Croatia Airlines. Mr Peović, who previously served as both the General Manager of Zagreb Airport and Dubrovnik Airport, said, “Low cost airlines bring less revenue to airports, therefore, I am not sure how good it is that Ryanair has opened a base in Zagreb. It will bring great uncertainty to Croatia Airlines. It is different in Split and Dubrovnik, where Ryanair pays the same fees as all other carriers”. Mr Peović added, “In addition, we have new airlines being established without the burden of prior debt. Trade Air recently acquired a new aircraft and now has four Airbus A320s in its fleet, as well as several Fokkers, while another small Croatian carrier, ETF Airways, already has three jets in its fleet. Based on capacity, these two airlines are already almost the size of Croatia Airlines”.
Ryanair will be operating 24 routes out of the Croatian capital by the end of the year, just six months after commencing operations to the city. At this point, over the course of the winter season, Ryanair will maintain 2.370 flight operations to and from Zagreb compared to Croatia Airlines’ 7.142, which also includes its domestic network. The budget airline has 427.158 seats on sale to and from the Croatian capital, while Croatia Airlines has 785.140. Ryanair’s CEO, Eddie Wilson, previously said there would be enough room for the budget carrier and the national airline to coexist in Zagreb. “It will just mean that everyone will become more efficient, and everyone will be paying less. There is room for everyone”, he noted.
Ryanair’s CEO said his airline is launching flights to Zagreb because it sees opportunities but also because of the airport’s incentive policy. “We don’t get any subsidies. What you have here is that an airport needs passengers and they put an incentive in. That’s a published scheme, it’s not a secret deal and any airline can access it, Croatia Airlines included”, he noted. Unlike Mr Peović, Ryanair’s CEO believes his airline will generate more revenue for Zagreb Airport. “We are all for transparency because the airport here has invested in fantastic facilities. The only way they are going to get a return on that is not by putting up prices but by generating more passengers to spread it across their fixed costs. So, the more passengers they get, the more efficient they get and the more revenue streams they get. It’s the way everything works. Constraining that is the wrong way to do it”, Mr Wilson said.
You don't say... I think ZAG just got fed up with OU.
ReplyDeleteEveryone got fed up with OU, passengers first and foremost.
DeleteLooks like everyone has turned their back on Croatia Airlines. Nobody is defending airline that is also a national pride!
DeleteNational pride? With majority turboprop fleet? With 18 percent market share? With crime and corruption on all levels? National pride my ass.National shame, that's what they are
DeleteSo what is going to happen when you end Croatia Airlines? Make of Zagreb Hahn Airport, give foreigners to take advantage of your market? Basically give away something that you can do better and more efficiently with smallest amount of investment. Put on a side future subsidies and on the other same money in your own pocket most efficiently invested in growth of Croatia Pride. Don't be so happy for foreigners when Croatian can do it much much better, efficient and make bigger return to Country you live for.
DeleteBut why alltax payers around croatia should pay for sonething that flyes only ro
DeleteBasically giving advantage to your opponents without really thinking about consequences is what you're doing when you give up Croatia Airlines.
DeleteLooks like everybody hates Croatia Airlines.
DeleteYou all are talking same s*** as they did for adria and look what happend now, lju and slovenia is dead.
DeleteYep ADRIA is dead. Due to rude employees poor service broken seats etc
DeleteThe real issue is why Croatia Airines is unprepared to compete with them? They are not the first or last to have an LCC based at their home airport.
ReplyDeleteThey should have seen this coming for many years now.
DeleteI don't think they were expecting it. I also think that they expected things to develop so quickly with Ryanair either.
DeleteLook COVID has done what has done and people from ZAG airport are desperate. Thing is they are going to be even more desperate when they get in lcc scheme with no return. Many European airports made same mistake in good hope.
DeleteThey’re unprepared just when you read the part where Ryanair has over 50% capacity of Croatia Airlines with only 33% the flights. More passengers with less expenditure. Yes they don’t have business class, but neither does OU with that Euro business everyone operates. I’m sorry to say but they need to take a lead out of the books that other legacy carriers have taken to compete with the likes of LCC. Branded and bundled fares is what will help them survive. Remove business class on flights where it hardly ever bought and sell it as economy with add on for the first row. Imagine 6 people paying extra €30 to sit in front row of economy, versus max 4 business seats that don’t sell out every time.
Delete100% Croatia Airlines capacity with only 66% or even less flights. So what about local people, what about local industry? Getting rid of everything in order to make of Zagreb Airport seasonal airport, or even better giving foreigners everything so you don't have to any control of your market except tax breaks and subsidies!
DeleteI think it is still too early for OU to react.
ReplyDeleteObviously, as they have done absolutely nothing in the 4 months since Ryan announced a base in Zagreb.
Delete5 months actually.
DeleteLet's see what they do in Brussels since FR just increased it by one weekly flight. I think they will have 4 weekly this winter. With minimal movement of EU bureaucrats I wonder who will fly on OU.
DeleteJust checked OU and they will be flying 6 times per week to BRU mostly on the Q400. Idiots, don't they know that they have to match FR's equipment on the route if they want to survive? If someone has to chose between an old and worn out Q400 and a relatively well kept and comfy B738 then the choice is clear.
DeleteThey decreased fares to Brussels on the days Ryanair flies to there.
DeleteShould be noted that OU flies to main airport in Brussels while Ryanair flies to Charleroi.
DeleteThat they do but the thing is that their costs are much higher and they use a much smaller plane. Can they really last with much lower fares?
DeleteFR will already have more seats than they do to Brussels.
What can Croatia Airlines realistically do at this point?
DeleteAsk for more money from the state.
Deletereplace the management
DeleteAsk BCG to give them a refund
DeleteI honestly haven't seen a single action by BCG. They hired them over the spring. Some result should already be visible.
DeleteIf you have ever flown out of or into Charleroi you’ll know it’s not Brussels. Same like landing on Krk and calling it Zagreb South. Also the airport is genuinely in appealing state, only now some refurbishment work starts. Sure it’s cheaper but also plenty of other fees on Ryanair flights, which doesn’t come cheap at the end. Also boarding at Charleroi is also known as cattling, definitely the worst of experiences.
DeleteNot defending Croatia Airlines, plenty of room for improvement - it’s just a different class compared to Ryanair and Charleroi. Flying on OU out of Zaventem is my preferred choice but having competition is good. Just be aware that it boils down to almost the same deal, even if one is price-sensitive!
I don't understand why there is such concern for OU. Air Serbia can survive with Wizx based there, Austrian can survive with so many low cost cost airiness in Vienna. I'm sure Croatia Airlines can too.
ReplyDeleteBecause both airlines rely a lot on transfers and have much bigger networks compared to OU.
DeleteSo whose fault is that ? JU built their network from the ground up. OU had time to do so and they did what ? Nada, zero, nothing ....
DeleteAgree
Delete"Air Serbia can survive with Wizx based there, Austrian can survive with so many low cost cost airiness in Vienna."
DeleteAustrian just recently got 600m EUR in state aid. Some innovative business strategy they are employing to compete with LCCs.
Well they should do something so they can compete. They said how they want to become the transfer airline for south east Europe yet this winter they only fly to Sarajevo and Skopje in the region.
ReplyDeleteYes, they would get a gold medal in "what they say" and last place in "what they actually do".
DeleteIn my opinion they should have focused on connecting the region with western Europe long ago. This would be a good source of passengers and helped them be less affected by Ryanair's arrival.
Delete^ They should have done it. Now it's too late.
DeleteWonder what the outcome of this saga will be.
ReplyDeleteThe same incompetents from the government will still be running the show.
DeleteTonci Peovic is a man for whom I have alot of respect. But on this occasion Tonci, I respectfully say that you have got it very wrong. No one has brought greater uncertainty to Croatia Airlines, than Croatia Airlines itself.
ReplyDelete+1
Delete+1000000000
DeleteHold on, where is BCG ? Weren't they supposed to bring some certainty to OU ? Or, have they given up and walked away realising that anything would be too little too late ?
ReplyDeleteThe only way to save OU is for state as the owner to relocate its operations to coast .just add all the numbers of Adriatic airports and you will find solution. They need to forget Zagreb as they should have years ago , especially after arrival of FR , open new destinations and as soon as possible start selling tickets for new season ,during that time lower the administration in Buzin , and in few years sell the infrastructure. You need to think outside the box if You want to save the national airline.you must understand that City of Zagreb is myth , build on tax money of all the Croatians .first of all it is not historical , cultural and as it seems not even economical generator of Croatian economy , cause it depends of tourist income.for all the government yuppies that have used OU free of charge there is now FR for 30 euros , they can afford that.
DeleteCroatia Airlines' growth opportunities are becoming smaller and smaller, that's for sure.
ReplyDeleteSo much drama for nothing. Competition is a healthy thing! It will stimulate more travel. Enough with this old-fashioned protectionism. Air Moldova, Tarom, Bulgaria Air all survived and found ways and alternatives. OU will just be fine.
ReplyDeleteAt what cost though.
DeleteI think Ryanair and Wizz Air have different strategies. In Ryanair's case you can see they are trying to get rid of OU. They are opening regional routes to prevent OU from launching them plus popular EU destinations. Wizz, in the beginning, opens usually gasto heavy routes, attracting customers who previously used busses to visit home/
DeleteI really do wonder how Croatia Airlines will survive this competition. Ryanair is obviously trying to get rid of them. The new route launches, the lawsuit, bickering in the media... They won't calm down until they win.
DeleteWho cares about OU ! At least consumers will finally now have certainty about new routes and lower fares - 2 things that OU could not, would not and did not deliver. Long live competition !
ReplyDeleteWait ETF got their third jet? When?
ReplyDeleteIt turns out that Kucko's plan from a few years ago, for OU to open up bases in several nearby countries like Bosnia and Albania would have put them in a much better position than they are in now.
ReplyDeleteI can only imagine what their costs would be like in such a case.
DeleteSo why didn't he do it when times back then were perfect to execute such a plan ? He's another one who was big on talk and little on action. Sorry, I take that back - he was awesome with action that involved selling assets to make up for shortfalls in his inability to deliver positive cashflow or profits from operations
DeleteNothing sums up how bad and how intolerable the situation at OU has become, than the fact that both Trade Air and ETF have almost as much jet capacity as OU, yet both are privateers, while OU are taxpayer bloodsuckers.
ReplyDeleteTime to get behind people and businesses who are proven and can actually do the job and stop with supporting this useless carcass which has been on life support for the past 10+ years
+100 this stood out to me too! Not to mention that ETF was established a few months ago.
DeleteI am wondering what you guys think, would Ryanair have opened a base in Zagreb was it not for corona?
ReplyDeleteProbably not. before covid ZAG management lived in this illusion that they were a premium airport served by premium carriers, LCCs were beneath them.
DeleteCovid came and operations collapsed and they were left with OU which desperately looked at only serving LHG hubs.
ZAG realized something had to be done other wise they would be facing a very grim future.
Corona definitely opened up new markets to LCC. Airports had to lower their charges so this is what LCC were looking for. Look at Wizz in TIA, pre-Corona they had 5% of market share while in the first half of 2021 they own 35% of the market. The same will happen in Zagreb, Ryaniar will gradually become the largest airline there.
DeletePeovic has got a point regarding revenue and income. Keep in mind that ZAIC which manages ZAG asked for the government to approve them another loan in May.
ReplyDeleteDo we know how much they asked for? I can imagine that terminal is not cheap to maintain and revenue has collapsed in covid times.
DeleteIt also doesn't help that many airlines started sending regional jets (like AF for example) so even if they have daily flights they pay less charges and bring in less passengers.
They got a 19,5 million euro loan.
DeleteThey got the loan to cover operational costs. In 2020 their revenue fell by 58 million EUR.
DeleteGreat years ahead of Zagreb
DeleteYes great years if we all pay for it , snow queen , zagreb advent , can not stop laughing, just throw out transfer paps from Zag numbers and you will get precise how many paps fliying to Zag. We need to stop this Zagreb airlines myth that is destroying aviation industry in Croatia.
Delete@Yeah - sorry, but sounds like an empty headed local patriot talk. Yes, ZAG has transfers, but there is no myth to it. Zagreb, besides beibg a capital, is also a touristic, business destination. It had been the most visited destination for years, not only in Croatia, but the entire Ex Yu region - 1,45 mil visitors in 2019, 45th or so globally ranked in conference tourism (out of over 400 cities, normally it' 5 to 10 spots below Belgrade, but in some years it does better, which is good given Zagreb is 2/3 to 3/4 of Belgrade's size). The whole coast can't generate almost nothing from October 25th - May 15th. Small population. Zagreb citizens also pay by far the highest city tax out of all croatian cities or towns. It's a capital city, nothing more, nothing less.
Delete"Ryanair will maintain 2.370 flight operations to and from Zagreb compared to Croatia Airlines’ 7.142, which also includes its domestic network. The budget airline has 427.158 seats on sale to and from the Croatian capital, while Croatia Airlines has 785.140."
ReplyDeleteAnd this just in the first 6 months. This time next year, Ryanair will be bigger than Croatia Airlines.
FR's pace of growth from ZAG has been amazing.
DeleteThe commercial terms they have with ZAG allows them to expand quickly risk free.
DeleteOU has exactly the same terms.
DeleteCroatia Airlines needs to get its act together and fast.
ReplyDeleteThey certainly have a battle on their hands.
DeleteDa trebaju nastaviti uzimat 25% Pdva od starca u novskoj , bracu , pazinu , varazdinu , glini , da bi se igrali avio kompanije u zagrebu
DeleteA kao PDV se ne trosi od zagrebacke ekonomije? To tvoje igranje aviokompanije i jest igranje. Da je OU prava, ne bi trosila resurse na linije poput Brača ili Prag - Split 1 x tjedno, već bi tu flotu koristila za sustavno razvijanje čvorne luke. Tako bi i dugoročno bili financijski uspjesni. Problem su lokalni TZi i HTZ koji stimuliraju politiku "zgrabi brzu lovu" u sezoni. A onda 8 mjeseci nista. Hrvatska je premala da bi OU na tom trzistu mogao funkcionirati po 2 x modela: leisure i hub, najvise jer ga to cini nekonkuretnim u odnosu na druge vece igrace koji samo odmiču.
DeleteCroatia Airlines probably won't last much longer.
ReplyDeleteThey will be just fine. They have strong support from the government.
DeleteAnd you think Ryan Air will not notice if Croatia airlines get an illegal support from the government?!!!
DeleteFR is already pursuing EC for approving Covid aid to OU.
DeleteCroatia Airlines has not responded to Ryanair's arrival at all
ReplyDeleteThis mess was made by the government. They should have focused on selling Croatia Airlines years ago. Instead now they are going to have an even bigger loss making airline competing against Europe's largest airline on at its home base.
ReplyDeleteOU have been very passive during the last years and missed so many opportunities.
ReplyDeleteYou snooze you loose.
DeleteBest thing OU can do now is launch long haul flights and stimulate its short haul network.
ReplyDeleteSure best thing is to burn money like never before...
DeleteAh yes long haul, Delhi, Mumbai, NYC, Chicago... Lots of money in the bank for fanciful ideas.
DeleteAir Canada, Air Transat, American, United, Delta, Qatar, Emirates, Malaysian, Korean Air, are also burning money flying to Croatia. Or Lufthansa, Austrian, KLM, Air France, British, THY, Air Serbia, Swiss, Iberia, TAP, Aer Lingus, LOT, they are also burning money flying transfer passengers to/from Croatia. They all see they can make money on long haul passengers on croatian market, just Croatia Airlines, better to say Party Bots and uhljebs in charge of defending loss making feeder policy claiming opposite
DeleteYes my friend, the best thing for OU in this dire state is to start long-haul flights. Living in fantasy world.
DeleteOnce again you misinterprete my words : I am always saying OU was the one in ex-yu with best potentials for long haul. Their initial plan was to operate long haul. There are over 2 million passengers from long haul markets in HR yearly (except covid of course). I am always saying that OU as it is today and as it has been over these 30 years, has no capacity to operate domestic flights, not to mention long haul. And I am sad and angry because they could have done much much much better, including long haul, if they were building network and size over years, instead of employing uhljebs, paying double leases, and having crime, corruption and nepotism as modus operandi.
DeleteBye bye OU.
ReplyDeletePoor OU.
ReplyDeleteBringing Ryanair was a clever move by ZAG.
ReplyDeleteYes. It's uncertainty for Croatia Airlines but will generate a new type of passengers and will definitely mean a lot of passenger growth for ZAG.
DeleteFR will also bring uncertainty to some other airlines flying to Zagreb, not just Croatia Airlines
ReplyDeleteSuch as?
DeleteTrade air?
Lol
Not trade air but some legacy airlines flying. We saw Lufthansa decrease frequnecies.
DeleteGood that LH decreases frequencies in ZAG. Thank you Covid, thank you FR. Flying to FRA or VIE 5 x daily, while not having a single route to Scandinavia nor Eastern Europe (was the case for many yeats) can be attributed to this sickly LH group /OU overdominance in great part.
DeleteSlovenia and Croatia if they would be smart, cld work out together an agreement, that OU bases some aircrafts in LJU and operate some important legs
ReplyDeleteDH8 could connect VIE and LJU and MUC-LJU
Leased CR9 could fly to ZRH FRA BRU CPH
This could generate jobs in SLO and save revenues for the region, as well as for OU.
Slovenia and HR should further intensify cooperation, so both would benefit
SLO shall build highways Koper-Istria and Postojna to Rijeka.
Kvarner, Istria, Friuli and Primorska should start combined marketing for Tourism region, same as marketing for wine
HR should give up their Piran Bay position and shld allow SLO full access to international waters.
Together they are stronger and in the long term both would win.
yes everything is possible if you remove culture differences.
DeleteDon't you understand that the whole point behind OU existence is assuring basic connectivity of Croatia? It is not about making money - return on investment (that would be unrealistic). Neither SLO wants to pay for Croatian connectivity, nor CRO for Slovenian.
DeleteAnonym 1543h
DeleteThe cultural differences among SLO and Croats are minimal. I hve the feeling that in our region, we try to divide and separate instead of looking at common values. And there are much more common values and culture than different ones.
I agree cultural differences between Slovenian and Croatian are minimal. And in case of the region Istria-Kvarner-Primorska-Giulia/Friuli, cultural difference is non existent. It is absolutely the same mentality, customs and tradition.
DeleteExcept for Josko Joras and alikes
DeleteWell said Beglax. OU and Adria should've probably been merged under the Adria name...kind of like SAS in Scandinavian countries with Zagreb being the hub like Copenhagen and being developed into the main port of entry for the western Balkans.
DeleteThen we could've further created a united airspace, especially after Croatia's entry into the Schengen zone which should happen in the next couple of years, with Croatia air policing the entire area instead of Hungary or Italy doing it for Slovenia...etc.
Maribor could've been connected and had flights too.
We are operating a nuclear power plant together, sharing technology and know-how, we could be doing the same in other fields.
Unfortunately, that's all wishful thinking for the most part.
They had so many years to get ready for this moment. And with fleet not completely utilized this summer they could have easily launched new routes. Instead they have given up routes without a fight. Conceded Lisbon to TAP, conceded Prague to Eurowings, conceded Milan to Ryanair, gave up on almost their entire Scandinavian network, failed to launch seasonal regional flights they planned pre-Covid to completely open destinations like Montenegro... I don't feel sorry for them at all. Instead of Ryanair's arrival being a shot in the arm for them to get moving they have resorted to being in a worse comatose state than before.
ReplyDeleteMore weekly frequences or bigger planes with lower cost per seat on smaller frequences? OU attempted to offer the former and not the latter.
ReplyDeleteThe Croatian market, outside of leisure, apparently cannot sustain bigger planes more than one or two weekly and the jury is still out whether it can sustain one or two weekly on most of the routes (we will know more in the second year of Ryanair operations). At the same time there is not enought pax willing to pay more for having the comfort of multiple frequences on a given route.
I guess that in the second year of Ryanair operations in ZAG, only a handful of routes will stay. It is easy to open the new routes at the risk of an airport, if you have spare planes due to covid.
I wouldn't worry, Ryanair will be bankrupt by next Spring
ReplyDeleteLol sure
DeleteOU frequences total today and the next six days [for comparison in brackets frequences by JU]:
ReplyDeleteVIE 5x [10x]
BRU 6x [2x]
SJJ 9x [4x]
CPH 7x [3x]
CDG 7x [14x]
FRA 21x [4x]
MUC 5x [0x]
AMS 7x [6x]
SKP 4x [8x]
ZRH 11x [13x]
LHR 3x [4x]
Most important destinations are covered. It is not multiple daily, but there is simply no market for more daily.
Other destinations are covered via FRA (3 daily ZAG-FRA, which when added with LH flights currently makes up to 34 weekly ZAG-FRA, and is sufficient for most of the transfers without hassle).
So stop complaining. You will start complaining again when you get one or two weekly on Ryanair as a replacement and Ryanair will use the OU's collapse to claim appropriately higher subsidies.
On what basis are these three most imprudent routes? I would say Moscow is more imprtant than Sarajevo.
Delete*important
DeleteTwo reasons.
Delete1. Sufficient connectivity with Moscow can be assured with Russian airlines and with Bosnia it is not possible.
2. In 2020 Bosnia was 4th export partner of Croatia and Russia was on the 19th place with 8 times lower value of trade.
When connectivity can be assured with the help of foreign legacies, why should Croatia push OU to fight with them a losing battle, given the whole point of OU existence is not profit but connectivity?
And how many arrivals from Spu/Dbv/ Zad/Puy during the day , more than ten . Zag Ou base , hahahah , if they want to save the airline , they should close the base in Zag , cause all that Dash flights from coast to zag are not halfe full, once more metropola zag is myth made on stollen mony in last 30 years , but you can fool croatia citizens by selling them news on national tv , but foriners fly only exclusivly to coast.
DeleteIs it only me or do others also read "Yeah"s messages with a smile in their faces? :)
ReplyDeleteI think I might be late bere but what the hell, so frustrated with CA I need to share..
ReplyDeleteService quality/price comparison:
I am glad CA is getting a competitor. I've flown with them a few times, as well as with Ryanair and there is really not that much difference in the quality of service. CA operates as a low budget airline (based on quality they provide - seats, sad food they provide trying to compensate for too expensive prices etc) however they are still charging WAY too much as they are the "national airline" and held the monopole.
A return flight from Dublin to Zagreb, 2.5 hours, costs cca 400 euro and their offer in flight is poor.
I've paid 100 euro for a one way flight from Zagreb to Split with CA which lasted maybe total of 30-40.mins. I was in an old aircraft with propelers and got a glass of water for that money.
Ryanair offers the same quality service (if not better aircraft wise) for longer flights connecting different countries.
I travelled with Turkish Airlines for example as well and their return flight zg-istanbul was cca 200 euro with a great meal that would justify the price. CA would probably charge 500 euro for that route and give you 10 ml olive paste with one cracker and 3 sugar almonds as dessert ( that is actually what I received once when I paid 300 euro for a one way 3 hour flight as I presume a justification for the price).
Not to.mention that with all this.money they are overcharging, they are still bailed out by the government year after year, throwing away tax payers money (hundreds of millions of euro).
They should scratch the "quality" they claim to have, lower the prices and introduce more routes rather than ripping people off. A full company re-organisation and new business policy, new management and new leadership is what can save them otherwise it's just an empty hole sucking our money.
All in all, glad to see CA on its knees and I hope more and more airlines connect Zagreb to rest of the Europe.
Cheers :)