Korea’s T’way Air reaffirms Zagreb flight plans

Korean low cost carrier T’way Air has confirmed it still plans to launch operations between Seoul and Zagreb as the airline prepares to take delivery of its first wide-body aircraft, the Airbus A330-300, next month. The company noted that, once Covid-related circumstances permit, it will commence flights from the South Korean capital to Zagreb, Singapore and Sydney. The budget airline is due to take delivery of a further two A330s this year. It aims to become South Korea’s second largest airline following the planned merger between Korean Air and Asiana Airlines. 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, which has been serving the Croatian market with flights to Zagreb on a seasonal basis since 2018, has ruled out its return on the route for this year as Covid measures still prevent most Koreans from travelling and the country’s boarders remain shut for the majority of foreigners. The Croatian Ambassador to South Korea, Damir Kusen, recently said that T’Way would not take away passengers from Korean Air or oversaturate the market. "We believe that this will certainly be an attractive option for younger travellers to Croatia due to the significantly lower priced tickets and will stimulate a new category of passengers”, Mr Kusen noted.

In 2019, when flights between the two countries were last operational, Korean Air captured almost the entire Seoul travel market to and from Zagreb. The absolute majority of its customers on the route, over 95%, were point to point passengers and almost all originated from South Korea. The only other South Korean city with notable traffic to Zagreb is its second largest - Busan. In 2019, 4.691 passengers travelled indirectly between Busan and Zagreb on a single itinerary based on OAG data. The overwhelming majority of Korean travellers enter Croatia on a separate ticket via other European markets after spending several days at their original destination.