Emirates has said it hopes to restore its flights between Dubai and Zagreb, which have been suspended since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, but ruled out setting a timeframe on when that might be. An airline spokesperson told EX-YU Aviation News, “Zagreb is one amongst many cities where Emirates operations remain suspended due to ongoing travel or flight restrictions related to the Covid-19 pandemic. At this time, travellers in Croatia can book with our codeshare partner Flydubai to travel to Dubai and onwards on the broader Emirates network”. The company added, “We hope to restart our operations in Zagreb when it is commercially and operationally feasible to do so in the future, and we will make a formal announcement if there are any developments in this regard”.
Emirates has resumed operations to over 90% of its pre-pandemic network and currently flies to more than 120 destinations worldwide. The airline operated its last seasonal service to Zagreb in October 2019 and announced the route’s termination until further notice a year later. In addition, the carrier closed its sales office in Zagreb. Emirates initially launched daily year-round operations to the Croatian capital in the summer of 2017 with its Boeing 777 aircraft. However, the flights were downgraded to seasonal the following year and a route-sharing agreement was concluded with Flydubai, where the hybrid carrier maintained services over the winter, while Emirates ran flights over the summer. For the upcoming summer season, Flydubai is slated to operate daily flights to Zagreb, up from its existing four weekly service.
Emirates and Flydubai jointly handled 130.937 passengers between Dubai and Zagreb in 2019. That year, Emirates was the fifth largest transfer airline operating out of Zagreb Airport, behind Lufthansa, Qatar Airways, Croatia Airlines and Turkish Airlines. It was the second busiest airline in Zagreb for connecting passengers to and from Asia, as well as from Australia with 23% of the transfer market, behind Qatar Airways. The route relied heavily on transfer passengers from Far East Asia and Australasia. Most countries on the Asian continent, particularly in East and Southeast Asia, remain closed both for non-essential inbound and outbound travel. On the other hand, certain states in Australia have now permitted their citizens and residents to travel abroad but international arrivals remain restricted only to Australian citizens or their immediate relatives.
Zagreb - Dubai v.v. passenger traffic
| Year | PAX |
|---|---|
| 2017 | 98.301 |
| 2018 | 147.157 |
| 2019 | 130.937 |
Great news
ReplyDelete"Zagreb - Dubai v.v. passenger traffic
DeleteYear PAX
2017 98.301
2018 147.157
2019 130.937"
These are really good noumbers, 147 000 for year round is very good, it would seem in what 300 flight operations Emirates had in 2018, it had average pax of 245 on each of its flights to Zagreb and return, on 330 seat Boeing 777 that comes @ average 74% load factor, this is year round, and even then they took November - March out in 2019 they still had 131000 pax across 210 flight operations giving the load factor of 94.5%. Emirates was doing rather well in Zagreb before covid which saw end of service for time being...
They don't seem very reassuring.
ReplyDeleteMight work if they receive their Dreamliners. The 777 is too big.
DeleteOne of Emirates' big strategic mistakes is having two widebody fleet model, one of which is the A380.
DeleteAnon 09:13. Congratulations, you dared to comment the business strategy of the company which had revenue of 25.1 billion $ in pre pandemic 2019. Well done, I'm sure that they are wrong and some random comment warrior is right. Kudos to you!
DeleteI agree. Luckily, they have FlyDubai to back some less busier routes. The worst thing you wanna have during this pandemic is having too large widebodies.
DeleteI agree with anon @9.13 and they have also said having two big plane types is a handicap because the fleet is inflexible. I can't believe the airline brought itself to have only A380s and B777s. Better planning was needed and the B787 can't come soon enough. They are very lucky Flydubai is around to help
DeleteWhen do the Dreamliners start arriving?
DeleteNext year
DeleteThat's questionable
Delete"Emirates has orders in for two new aircraft types – the 787-9 and the A350-900. Deliveries are set to start from 2023, allowing Emirates to open new routes and seek out smaller destinations that cannot support its larger widebodies. However, Sir Tim Clark, President of Emirates, has cast doubt on the delivery timeline for the 787 Dreamliner."
There is a massive backlog of Dreamliner deliveries and Boeing isn't delivering them at the moment. So chances of EK getting the, in 2023 are slim to none.
DeleteThey might come back next year but in summer only.
ReplyDeleteHope they consider other ex-Yu cities too.
ReplyDeleteBEG and SJJ would be the most logical alternatives.
DeleteWord on the street is they have already made their intentions to start some flights clear but Flydubai was not happy at all.
DeleteI hope Emirates considers other ex-Yu markets. This cooperation with Flydubai gives them the chance to make these work on a year round basis.
Delete"In addition, the carrier closed its sales office in Zagreb."
ReplyDeleteThis sentence speaks for itself. They won't return to Zagreb soon.
This sentence speaks that they don't want to make unnecessary costs during covid scam time. It also speaks that today over 90 % of people buy their tickets online, not in sales offices. And no matter how much you wish different, they will be back as soon as Far East and Australia reopen.
DeleteEK has sales offices in every country they fly to. It doesn't have so much to do with online sales. They even have offices in places they don't fly to. Their main center for Zagreb and the rest of the region is actually covered by the Vienna office.
DeleteOf course they have offices in the places they don't even fly to, if that places are big emitive markets. Zagreb is not emitive market, ZAG is receptive market, and 90 % or more of EK ZAG passengers who don't buy their tickets online, buy tickets in offices in their emitive market offices in Australia and Far East. There is no necessary link between an office in the city and the plane on the airport, especially today when all companies, including EK, sell tickets almost exclusively online. That's why your conclusion that EK is not returning to ZAG because it temporary closed its ZAG office is just your wish.
DeleteThe closure of EK Zagreb office is the best proof they do not intend to return to Zagreb soon despite some wet dreams from Rijeka.
DeleteEK has its sales office in almost every western country they fly to despite the fact that western population is used to buy tickets online so it is nothing but pathetic attempt to justify its closure in Zagreb.
Emirates has resumed operations to over 90% of its pre-pandemic network and currently flies to more than 120 destinations worldwide - this shows very clearly that Zagreb belongs to the group of only 10% of destinations which have not been restarted and that 90% of other destinations has no excuse in "Australia and Far East" closure.
BTW, Novak arrived to Australia with EK A380 from DXB.
Novak landed in Melbourne,and Emirates and this moment fly only 77W to MEL
Delete90 % of passengers on EK are transfers originating from the Far East and Australia. One man, no matter how famous, arriving to Australia has absolutely nothing to do with hundreds of thousands of Australian, NZ, Chinese, Japanese, Korean and other tourists who currently don't fly anywhere, ZAG included. If the airline says, and it is written in the article, that they hope to restore ZAG service as soon as situation with covid scam and closures gets to normal, then the only one having wet dreams is you, about EK not flying to Zagreb again.
DeleteČačak, jesi nabrijan i kužiš materiju, ali molim te, nemoj na engleskom. Članovi su ti totalna nepoznanica, u najmanju ruku. Going back to the topic, to be able for Emirates to perform well, just like for any other carrier, one might say, Covid pandemic needs to be resolved. Simple as that.
DeleteA, an, the, with or omitted, make no difference in understanding the text. Sometimes is simple easier to omit, sometimes writing fast (or fastly, I wonder? 😃) to "catch" all one wants to write. However, you should discuss details of english grammar on some linguistic forum or blog, not aviation one. On the other hand, I understand your anymosity towards me is such that you have to spit on me for anything, be it a or an, even if you think the same I do, because I show no adoration for your Party and its "achievements", especially on THE field of civil aviation. Kindest regards, Srbislav Radosavljevic, Cacak
DeleteAnonimac, ako ćeš držati predavanja o gramatici, daj se bar potrudi svoj tekst napisati pravilno. Izraz je “AS simple as that”. Pozdrav.
DeleteGulf airlines have been really impacted on their flights to ZAG. Qatar is operating 3 weekly flights compared to double daily and Dubai was just recently resumed with Flydubai.
ReplyDeleteWhat happened in 2019 that numbers were already decreasing?
ReplyDeleteYou can see in that photo that they reduced frequencies because of runway work at DXB.
DeleteCroatia needs to do more to stimulate local travel. The suspension of these long haul routes have shown more or less that all these flights are heavily dependent on tourism only.
ReplyDeleteI suggest Emirates tries Dubrovnik seasonal in the future
ReplyDeleteAs EK rebuilds its business they will be focusing on yields and business traffic. So probably ZAG isn't high priority for the time being.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteZAG had no problems with yields. Premium product had decent sales, cargo was going very well. The problem is not yields but seasonality, which in future might be resolved with Dreamliner. Current problem is Far East and Australia being closed.
Delete"Emirates operations remain suspended due to ongoing travel or flight restrictions related to the Covid-19 pandemic."
ReplyDeleteWhat restrictions are there to enter Croatia exactly? I don't think any.
Not to enter Croatia but there are widespread restrictions in Asia and Australia which were their main feeding markets on this route.
DeleteZagreb Airport CEO said it might take up to 5 years for these airlines with widebodies to return. So EK's statement is in line with that. I think we may see them come back in summer 2023 or 2024.
ReplyDeleteThere is simply no need for a big B777 on this route at the moment.
ReplyDeleteCorrect, 354 seat airplane during Covid on this route is overkill.
DeleteAt this moment of covid scam, yes, there is no need for 777. But as soon as Far East and Australia reopen, it will be deployed again in summer, while Dreamliner will operate in winter
DeletePozdrav iz Rijeke, can you please stop adding "scam" word to every covid related subject, thank you.
DeleteSorry, I can't do it because I firmly believe it is scam, scenario written and performed in order to make rich richer and poor poorer. I believe we live in countries with at least freedom of speech, if not other, more important freedoms, economic one for example. And it is not nice of you asking me to give up on my freedom of speech. If you disagree, and if you get so upset with me adding word scam to word covid, you are welcome not to read my posts. Thank you.
DeleteLol. We are infringing his right to call it what he wants.
DeleteThis is why no one takes you serious, bruv.
I will not be able to fell asleep tonight because you don't take me serious LOL
DeleteCorrection: no one does.
DeleteThere are names for some conditions that some persons not only have but need to express : multiple personality disorder, bipolar functional disorder, unjustified superiority complex....
DeleteZAG was the only seasonal route in their network. The few other they had have all been relegated to FZ. So it is not surprising they are not back yet and who knows when they will be.
ReplyDeleteI think it is more likely we will see Zagreb go double daily by Flydubai in summer when Covid is under control and markets open rather than EK come back but we will see. Hope for EK to come back though.
ReplyDeleteWhat were the fares like on EK from Zagreb this summer? Were they competitive compared to QR and TK?
ReplyDeleteEK had fares to Dubai in summer for 350 euros which was not bad at all.
DeleteIn economy of course.
DeleteThat's a great price. I think it is similar on FZ at the moment.
DeleteSeems like a logical choice for FZ to take over this route with the smaller B737 for now until demand returns.
ReplyDeletewow well done to QR on being the second biggest transfer airline from Zag in pre-Covid times.
ReplyDeleteAgree. Very good work.
DeleteNo surprise then they had 2 daily flights
Deletecould someone share pax number on QR for same years.
ReplyDelete2017 - 127.218
Delete2018 - 121.541
2019 - 148.073
Interesting numbers and thanks admin. What happened in 2018 though. Good to see big growth in 2019.
DeleteBlockade of Qatar which started at the end of 2017. They lost many markets, and especially not being able to fly to UAE hurt them. Even now during Covid their flights to DXB are packed to the last seat. Every single one - and they fly 3 times per day.
DeleteKorean Air started flying as well. Maybe that had some impact too.
DeleteAnd in 2019 they obviously benefited because of EK reduction and Flydubai route share.
DeletePerhaps when they get 787 next year, they can use it to Zagreb on a year round basis.
ReplyDeleteThe arrival date of those B787 is not firm. Boeing is plagued by delivery and production delays.
DeleteCorrect, originally they were supposed to start arriving this year.
Deletecan't wait to welcome them back :)
ReplyDeleteWhy doesn't Croatia Airlines codeshare on the Zagreb - Dubai flights? Both with EK in the past and Flydubai now.
ReplyDeleteBecause they would probably have to get approval from Lufthansa which would be difficult.
DeleteWhy would they need Lufthansa's approval?
DeleteYou really have to ask?
DeleteDon't Star Alliance airlines have a limit on how many codeshares they can make with airlines outside of the alliance?
DeleteI believe that only applies for concluding codeshare with airlines in rival alliances.
DeleteThey won’t return for long. I think now when LJU has Flydubai there is really no need for widebody in ZAG.
ReplyDeleteI agree. I think both markets can be successfully served by Flydubai.
DeleteEspecially with the potential of Qatar starting LJU too.
DeleteGood luck EK
ReplyDeleteStill think EK should extend its ZAG flights to JFK.
ReplyDeleteWhy? They already have those from Milan and Athens.
DeleteBecause it would be a success. Emirates should have considered Dubai-Zagreb-Newark flights (like what they are doing in Athens). Would have been a win for both sides.
DeleteOnly if the govt finances it
DeleteIf EK was to start DXB-ZAG-JFK flights I'm sure they could get more Indians fly the route. They could offer some 24 hour stop over program in Zagreb through Emirates Holidays.
DeleteI don't think it's necessary to remind the differences between Croatia and Greece in the matter of US flights. Just one is more than enough. 3,2 millions Greek diaspora only in USA.
Delete@An.11.19
DeleteGovt already finances LH to carry long-haul pax to/from N. America, and with "new" strategy and OU feeder fleet renewal they obviously intend to continue financing LH, so they can't afford financing EK as well :) :) :)
Omg, in recent months I didn't read so many jealous comments...
ReplyDeleteJealous of what?
DeleteLoved seeing Emirates' B777 in Zagreb.
ReplyDeleteLoved seeing Emirates' B777 in Zagreb.
ReplyDeleteHope they are back sooner rather than later.
ReplyDeleteDid EK use 1 or 2 jet bridges at Zagreb for boarding/deplaneing? Just interested.
ReplyDeleteWhat are the reasons EK is not flying to SOF, SKG, BEG, OTP?
ReplyDeleteZagreb is more prestigious.
DeleteLOL
Delete@17:38 "prestigious" in which way? And why would EK fly to 'prestigious' cities only?
DeleteEmirates sends it 777-300ER with first class to Zagreb airport which has half of the passengers of competitor Belgrade.
DeleteFor me that shows that Zagreb must have an advantage over Belgrade which is prestige.
Zagreb is in EU, more affluent, more developed etc..
You are right. It is so affluent and well developed that flights to Dubai resumed 3 months ago after 19 months, while Belgrade has had daily flights to Dubai since June 2020, which are now 10 weekly and will be double daily in a few months. So I guess people in the prestigious, well developed, affluent Zagreb simply don't travel, while people in the poor, underdeveloped Belgrade have been flying to Dubai without an issue for almost two years after lockdowns ended.
DeleteTry not to get a big head because reality speaks something completely different.
"Emirates sends it 777-300ER with first class to Zagreb airport"
DeleteIt has not sent one since October 2019. It is now 2022.
Zagreb is in EU, more affluent, more developed etc
DeleteJadan covek, govori sebi kako svakog dana u svakom pogledu sve vise napreduje da je poceo da veruje u tu autopropagandu.
Primary reason behind EK interest in ZAG was joint advertising and promotion subsidy. That's it. If SJJ or some other airport put enough cash on the table they will have airlines interested in launching charter or seasonal long haul flights.
We may be different opinion what reason there is but in the end Emirates decided for Zagreb .
DeleteSOF, BEG, OTP have more O&D traffic to Dubai rather than transfer especially in winter. EK is more of a transfer airline. For that reason OTP usually has 2 daily although there might be transfers to Zanzibar, Oman, Egypt or those more friendly-visitor countries.
DeleteNo way will EK consider those markets. Plus, small Romanian/Bulgarian diaspora in Australia compared to ex-Yu.
@An.21.53
Delete"prestigious airport" guy is full of BS, that"s more than obvious, and here I fully agree with you. On the other hand, you are wrong joint advertising and promotion subsidies were the only reason for EK in ZAG. They might have helped a little bit but if we speak frankly, the main reason of EK in ZAG is almost million tourists yearly in Croatia from the Far East, Australia, New Zealand as well as significant diaspora in NZ/AUS. Do you really believe that some advertising pocket money can cover for the daily operations of bigger 777? Are you aware LF was around 90 % on the service, yields good, lot of cargo as well? The only reason why EK is not in ZAG at the moment is covid scam.
"prestigious airport" : not everyone is able to recognize irony, that says a lot about this person.
Delete"guy is full of BS" - "covid scam": this style of writing also tells us something about the author.
In general, I would like the discussion to be objective with arguments and not emotional exaggerations.
There is an Anonymous here writing all the time about ZAG as "prestigious airport". Being Anonymous as well, writing about prestigious airport, with no lols, signs, or any other mark of distinction, the only way to recognize such an irony, is crystall ball. And yes, "guy is full of BS" and "covid scam" tells a lot about the author - primarily that he is not fan of hypocrisy and "smalltown" mentality, that he "swims against the stream", and he uses his head for actual thinking. In addition to that, numbers, percentages, cities and parts of the World, plane types and service types are just facts and arguments only, with zero emotions and zero exaggerations, unlike some posters who base their posts on wet dreams only. Negative ones.
DeleteZAG certainly has tourist draw and other cities have it too. Double daily FlyDubai MAX9 and double daily A321 or A320 Qatar can take care of all 777-300 passengers and then some, and would offer better connections with two flights a day.
DeleteIf you pay for 100% of the seats Emirates will fly 777 or A380 if the airport can handle it.
Great to hear
ReplyDeleteThe year Asia fully opens up again, one middle east carrier will be flying widebody to DBV. I also think SUTT is good for widebody flights to ZAG BEG and SJJ
ReplyDelete