Air Canada has discontinued ticket sales for its planned new seasonal service between Toronto and Zagreb, which was scheduled to commence next June. The Canadian carrier also omitted Zagreb from its 2022 summer presentation mid last month but continued ticket sales between the two cities until this week. Air Canada will operate seasonal flights from Toronto to several European cities, including Athens, Barcelona, Edinburgh, Lisbon, Manchester, Nice, Reykjavik, Rome and Venice instead. Year-round operations will be maintained to Amsterdam, Brussels, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, London, Lyon, Madrid, Milan, Munich, Paris, Vienna and Zurich. Air Canada was to replace its leisure subsidiary Air Canada Rouge on the Zagreb service, as the latter retired all its wide-body aircraft during the height of the coronavirus pandemic last year.
Air Canada initially scheduled to operate three weekly flights between Toronto and Zagreb starting June 2 with its 297-seat Airbus A330-300 aircraft. The carrier planned to run a total of 54 flights each way with 32.076 seats on sale between the two cities. However, the airline itself warned services may be cancelled in line with demand and the Covid-19 situation. Air Canada is now offering alternatives to the Croatian capital via Amsterdam, with its codeshare partner Croatia Airlines operating the inter-European sector. Zagreb Airport’s General Manager, Huseyin Bahadir Bedir, recently said, “It is no secret the resumption of medium and long haul flights primarily depend on travel restriction imposed by different countries. Zagreb Airport had a notable number of passengers from the Far East, Australia and North America. The return of these flights will depend on boarder restrictions. We expect the gradual resumption of these services between 2022 and 2025”.
Despite Air Canada shelving its planned Zagreb service, the Croatian capital will see the resumption of flights to Toronto in 2022 following a two-year hiatus. At a presentation of its 2022 network yesterday, Air Transat confirmed it would restore operations between the two cities next year. The airline will resume flights between Toronto and Zagreb on May 2 with a one weekly service, before increasing to two weekly on June 7. The flights will operate with the A330-200 jet until the end of the summer season in late October. Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, the airline planned to introduce a third weekly departure between the two cities in 2020, however the flights never materialised due to the global health emergency.
Despite the temporary decline in demand, the Croatia - Canada market is large, comprising of a mix of leisure passengers, as well as those visiting friends and family. The Croatian market has been successful for both Rouge and Air Transat in the past. In 2019 they jointly handled 65.486 passengers, a 14.6% increase on the year before. That same year, based on OAG data, the number of indirect passengers flying between Croatia and Canada stood at 71.254. Despite there being seasonal nonstop flights between Zagreb and Toronto, the route also had the largest number of indirect passengers. It was followed by Split - Toronto. In 2019, Air Transat planned to operate the route once per week between June and September, however, cancelled the service a few months prior to its launch due to “commercial reasons”. An Airbus A330-200 jet was to be deployed on the service.
Busiest Croatia - Canada citypairs in 2019
Among airlines carrying indirect passengers travelling between Croatia and Canada, Air Canada was the main carrier of choice, accounting for 29% of the market. Croatia Airlines also benefited, thanks to its wide-ranging codeshare agreement with Air Canada, as well as Lufthansa. Others carrying a notable number of transfer passengers between the two countries with a market share of 5% included British Airways and LOT Polish Airlines.
What a shame :(
ReplyDeleteBut why? Both Croatia and Canada have reopened
ReplyDeleteMayabe they realize the yields won't be there at this stage. There is a reason Rouge operated these flights and not mainline in the past.
DeleteI agree, This route is leisure so I don't think that we will see Air Canada in ZAG maybe until 2024.
DeleteCountries may have reopened but demand won't recover for years.
DeleteThere are also no flights to OTP for next season despite they annonced them. Market wont recover so fast. But it seems Transat is back, so i think the market will probably be more recovered next season.
DeleteSeems like the whole of southeast Europe got the chop.
DeleteDemand is there but unlike in previous years where you sent your passport to get a visa processed, the process now is costly and time consuming that demand isn’t there just yet as people are worried about ever changing restrictions at either end. Direct flights will be more favourable as transit can bring another level of complexity to the game. But so the red tape is holding it back. Tests before flights and on arrival, plus after x number of days - all at individual’s expense can add an additional $500+ per traveler each way that has to be accounted for.
DeleteUnfortunate
ReplyDeleteGood thing at least Transat will be back.
ReplyDeleteAir Canada was more beneficial in terms of connections.
DeleteSo we will have Air Transat as only long haul next summer. I don't think Korean will be back until 2023.
ReplyDeleteOpportunity for OU.
ReplyDeleteHaha are you serious? :D
DeleteLOL!
DeleteThe ship for OU to go long haul has sailed a long time ago.
DeleteOpportunity for JU maybe.... To feed regional routes into Beg and start yyz and another North American city
Delete...
"In 2019 they handled 65.486 passengers, a 14.6% increase on the year before."
ReplyDeleteNot bad at all. Shame about this termination.
Wonder which did better. Rouge or Transat.
DeleteI would assume most likely Transat as they were more established, should have had lower costs, additional cross revenue/profit from package tour ops and pax for routes like ZAG and parts of the planes were chartered with risk being taken over by several tour operators.
DeleteWho had the better fares on this route?
DeleteI mean Transat or Rouge?
DeleteTransat
DeleteThis is sad. Transat is now the only long haul wide body flight left.
ReplyDeleteCould West Jet eventually start ZAG? It would be a better alternative to Rouge.
ReplyDeleteDo they even have aircraft that can reach ZAG?
DeleteYes they have Dreamliners
DeleteBefore Covid they flew to London, Paris, Dublin and Barcelona.
DeleteIt amazing how successful the Canada-Croatia flights have been. Both for Transat and Rouge. This is a shame though.
ReplyDeleteIt really is considering two airlines could sustain traffic during the summer.
DeleteI wonder if these flights to Zagreb are more filled with tourists or diaspora.
ReplyDeleteTourists for sure.
DeleteMy guess is Rouge got more diaspora traffic and Transat gets leisure. Transat is a travel company. They sell holiday packages to Croatia.
DeleteIts all about tourists.
Deleteno it isnt. Canada has a huge ExYu diaspora
DeleteIf AC was number transfer airline between Canada and Croatia, seems they did quite well even without the direct flights.
ReplyDeletemaybe they want to relocate to BEG while Air Transat will stay in ZAG
ReplyDeleteNo.
Delete"Air Canada will operate seasonal flights from Toronto to several European cities, including Athens, Barcelona, Edinburgh, Lisbon, Manchester, Nice, Reykjavik, Rome and Venice instead. Year-round operations will be maintained to Amsterdam, Brussels, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, London, Lyon, Madrid, Milan, Munich, Paris, Vienna and Zurich."
Deletehahahha yeah, they will relocate to a city with 0 flights to Canada before.
DeleteThere are no flights to Belgrade by AC so they wouldnt relocate. Also, there is no reason to do this because these Belgrade has different catchment aerea then ZAG.
DeleteHow many flights to Canada did ZAG have before Transat started flying there?
Delete0.
yeah with zero flights before but as twice bigger diaspora as theirs and four times bigger indirect traffic, think about that
DeleteTransat didnt relocate from somewhere to ZAG. They came to ZAG, same as Rogue. If they cannot sustain announced flights to Zagreb, Bucharest and Budapest next season, chances are really low they will open a route to a city with 0 flights to Canada before, low tourist demand and low air passenger numbers. Simply, the risk is too high.
Deletedude BEG has literally 40k indirect passengers to YYZ while ZAG has only 10k, what are you talking about? Croatia was only favorized because of EU and tourists but that is totally irrelevant now. I'm sure JU or AC will connect Serbia and Canada very soon.
Delete^ "Dude" did you even bother to read the article? Zagreb has 10,000 indirect passengers on top of the 65.486 direct passengers.
DeleteJU's next transcontinental flight will either be Beijing or Toronto. So, there frankly is no need for foreign carriers to courier people to our "low tourist demand" and "low passenger number" destination. We have a national airline that can do the job. Which is not what can be deducted when analysing the neighborhood.
Delete09:36
DeleteNo says there will be no flights between BEG and Canada in the future but there are no chances AC will relocate to BEG from ZAG, and the reason for that is larger demand because of tourists and diaspora. Currently, they dont operate fights to Zagreb, but they also dont to Bucharest, Budapest, Bordeaux etc. And this is because of market recovery, not because they are relocating somwhere else.
As I said 65k tourists are gone, Covid is gonna stay with us much longer than expected. Maybe it will last for decades just like Hiv.
DeleteSerbs have obviously the biggest diaspora in North America so it's logical to me that those 40k people should have connection with BEG.
^ And who claimed there shouldn't be flights? And yes, 65,000 passengers were all tourists. Ok :)
DeleteAt the end of the day, there will be flights between Zagreb and Toronto next year, as there have been since 2016 and none from Belgrade.
DeleteKeep rubbing your crystal ball and disclosing more secrets to us, please.
DeleteThe best that Zagreb can hope for is seasonal flights for a seasonal economy. Once JU launches its flights to Toronto, it will be year round.
So sorry to burst your bubble.
Ok :) I have no burst bubbles, just looking at who has flights and who not. Have a good day.
DeleteThere were no Canadian tourists this year because of restrictions. That doesnt mean air passengers between ZAG and YYZ are gone forever. These will return as market recoveres.
DeleteAnon 09:43
You totally missed the point of this conversation. This has nothing to do with JU. Conversation is about anons thought that AC will replace ZAG with BEG but this obviously has nothing to do with relocation but demand which is not recovering so fast. AC also removed flights to far larger Bucharest and Budapest, so its obviously demand is not recovering in Europe as expect so there are really low chances they will introduce for next season flights to BEG, with less demand then OTP, BUD or ZAG.
I think you should re-read today's article to remind you what we are actually talking discussing here. Future wishes and current facts are two different things.
DeleteGood day to you too!
I have read it, including the confirmation that flights between Toronto and Zagreb will operate next year :) Like they have for years, with exception to 2020. I agree with you though, future wishes and current facts are two different things. I guess it applies to you and your arguments.
DeleteWishes are obviously AC relocating to BEG from ZAG.
DeleteReality is AC cuting whole Eastern Europe because of demand, and Transat annoncing return to ZAG.
Transat returning with 1 or max 2 weekly flights. And at the same time BEG will 5-6 weekly flights to JFK.
DeleteSo much about demand to N.America.
Flights to USA have nothing with flights to Canada. These are different markets.
DeleteStill, its just a wish that AC will relocate to BEG, while reality is massive cuts of ACs european network.
MY IS THE BIGGEST!!!! And those who brainwash you on daily basis are doing one really amazing job - you fight for BEG or ZAG having 2 or 5 weekly flights and we have potentials to have 5 daily, at least, or more, ono baci kokosima mrvicu pa gledaj kako se cupaju i kljucaju
DeleteI am surprised that AC is flying year round to Lyon and Brussels. These are very close to CDG and AMS as major airport hubs.
ReplyDeleteConsidering the connections between France and Canada, Lyon is not such a big surprise.
DeleteThis is bad news for us Slovenians in Canada too. Back to LH.
ReplyDeleteThis is a perfect opportunity for JU. If they schedule a Toronto flight with 1-2 hours connection to all balkan arrivals-departures they could have full flights from the inaugural flight. They could also start scheduled seasonal services with an ATR to Greek islands and offer connections there
ReplyDelete2 flights per week, which is currently allocated between Serbia and Canada, isn't going to make the flights competitive. It would also depend on what slots JU would be allocated in YYZ. JU isn't completely satisfied with their slots in JFK, operating a split schedule.
DeleteAs for the Greek islands, this could easily be on an A319 due to the large O&D demand.
Why is it only 2 p/w allocated?
DeleteWho wrote the agreement, LH?
Canadian Government.
DeleteCanadian bilateral agreements are strict in order to favour AC. Their refusal to allow additional slots to foreign airline companies has even caused diplomatic spats, with the UAE being a famous one. EK after 11 years of operating to YYZ were finally awarded 2 additional weekly slots into Canada for a total of 5 pw which hasn't changed the past 4 years. DXB-YYZ was launched in 2007.
Canadian government is so protectionist over AC, it would blow people's minds if something similar was practiced in ex-Yu countries.
DeleteTrue. And it has always been like that. For example, back in 1985-1991, when JAT operated scheduled flights to Canada, their gvt didn't permit nonstop flights to Toronto. All 3 weekly flights had to land in Montreal first, despite ninety percent of the passengers were to Toronto and in several attempts to get permission for nonstop flights requests were denied/rejected. At the same time, of course, AC had rights to fly nonstop, and excersised the rights on Toronto to Zagreb, and on to Athens.
DeleteGood news for Croatia Airlines and Lufthansa.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was looking at flights in the past, fastest and cheapest flights to the coast were via LH and not OU. Don't know why.
DeleteGood news for Mutti you mean. With current "management" and current (nonexistent) "strategy" no news can be good news for OU, and even if there are some good news they would turn them into bad news
DeleteWow :(
ReplyDeleteAnyone flown AC Rouge or Air Transat on this route? Can you share your experience?
ReplyDeleteI remember there being a trip report here on Rouge.
DeleteI flew YYZ to ZAG 9n rouge in 2019. Not bad for the price .Reminded me of many years ago when there was no entertainment on board or wifi. I am just fine with that. I can also understand why they are suspending g service. I drive a bus here in Canada. People have to be fully vaccinated by this Monday or they lose their job. I feel Air Canada is just trying to help ease things in case people are not fully vaccinated in their company. As for people saying that everything is fully open, there are still restrictions. If you cross the border people are still being pulled over when they return for pcr test. It costs up to 200 dollars. Just things to keep in mind when traveling
DeleteInteresting information, thank you
DeleteThis is fine. If Air Canada doesn't come to ZAG in the next years, either Transat will start daily flights once things calm down or Westjet might start flights.
ReplyDeleteAir Canada will come. Just not next year.
DeleteWhat was the planned scheduling for this route?
ReplyDeleteGood luck to Zagreb. I hope they can secure more long hauls in the next couple of years.
ReplyDeleteThere is a lot of potential so there should be
DeleteIs the Air Canada - Air Transat deal merger deal off?
ReplyDeleteReally unfortunate. I was looking forward to seeing them next year in ZAG.
ReplyDeleteHopefully they come in 2023.
DeleteGoes to show all new route announcements should be taken with a dose of caution
ReplyDeleteCovid has done a real number on tourism. I'm in Australia and pretty much not many people now want to risk booking a flight to or a holiday anywhere. You book, pay and than all of a sudden the government locks down the country over a handful of cases. Sometimes you get refunds but usually now you just get a credit which you never know when you can use. It is hard enough traveling to different parts of Australia let alone overseas.
ReplyDeleteI am guessing Canadians would be in a similar boat. Leisure/tourism travel like this will take years to recover.
Covid is going to keep making problems for a few more years.
ReplyDeleteDamn this was supposed to be the highlight of next year :(
ReplyDeleteWhat is the current status for entry into Canada?
ReplyDeleteOpen to vaccinated people
DeleteAll vaccines accepted?
DeleteNo. At the moment Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson.
DeleteThank for the info!
Deletealso Canada requires PCR test even if vaccinated on arrival
DeleteThat seems to be the norm for most countries outside of Europe.
DeleteFingers crossed for 2023.
ReplyDeleteI'm quite surprised by the number of routes they serve in Europe, especially the number of seasonal routes. Quite a lot for a North American airline.
ReplyDeleteI still believe that OU should gamble and hire Airbus 330 and introduce flights to North America. Wake the f..k up management. The market is huge and the incompetent management should do something about the inevitable demise of OU. They are dormant, and it's so frustriting to just watch this knowing that no one has a vision or balls in there. I'm amazed and angry at the same time to see/read that nothing is happening there. Oh wait, the Boston agency will tell them what to do, hopefully the message will get through within a year or so. And for the management team to wait for the foreigners to tell them what to do or how to compete/ run the company I would be ashamed of working there and resign immediately. Knowing that you're showing no results, not leading in anything and blaming everything else for this situation is despicable.. Maybe is just me but I would go insane there, If it isn't sad it would be hilarious.
ReplyDeleteOh and not opening up a new routes/markets to fight for transfers to West from ME, Russia, North Africa, Balkan is just crazy, knowing that the model you're serving /having now is not sustainable in a long run. And still dormant with Ryanair is in they background....
On the other hand, I found it inconvenient to fly with Ryanair from Luton especially when you're saving £20-40. It's not worth the hassle and stress for me personally when you need to add coach ticket to this price. So last week I bought the return ticket to ZG with OU to see my family for Xmas holidays and surprisingly OU was cheaper than BA from Heathrow airport....all tickets are hand luggage only, OU was £200, BA £270 while Ryanair was £160.
Well said. I couldn't agree more.
Delete