Croatia Airlines plans to operate 16.000 flights during the summer season, which begins this Sunday and lasts until October 30. The carrier has put close to 1.7 million seats on sale during this period and will maintain 41 international routes. In a strategic shift, the Croatian carrier will serve the most destinations out of Split, instead of its hub in Zagreb, although the latter will still boast the most flights overall. As previously reported, the airline will introduce five new routes out of Croatia’s second largest city and maintain services to eighteen points in Europe. Apart from the new additions, it will resume seasonal flights to Athens, which were suspended during the Covid-19 pandemic, and bring back operations to Prague, which were launched last summer.
Croatia Airlines intends on maintaining fifteen international destinations out of Zagreb. It plans to bring back just one route suspended during the Covid pandemic, with flights to Barcelona to resume in May. Overall, it will run services from the capital to Amsterdam, Athens (via Dubrovnik from May 1), Barcelona, Brussels, Frankfurt, Copenhagen, London Heathrow, Munich, Paris, Rome (via Split), Sarajevo, Skopje, Vienna and Zurich. The carrier will also serve Dublin, however, present scheduling indicates the Croatian carrier will not link the two capitals during the peak summer months starting from June 10, during which the national airline will maintain flights to Dublin from Split. From Dubrovnik, the carrier will operate six international destinations - Athens, Frankfurt, Munich, Paris, Rome and Zurich. International services will also be maintained from Rijeka and Osijek to Munich.
Commenting on the upcoming summer season, Croatia Airlines’ CEO, Jasmin Bajić, said, “We have tried to tailor our flight network to our passengers’ needs. In support of Croatia’s tourism, we are expanding our flight network not only from Zagreb, but also from Dalmatia’s biggest city - Split. I believe that many of our passengers will fly to Split and find an attractive holiday destination on the Adriatic to spend the warmer part of the year in”. He added, “We are also marking an exceptionally important anniversary this summer. On April 3, our company is celebrating the thirtieth anniversary of our successful partnership with Lufthansa Technik, whose support we are thankful for. I have no doubt that our partnership will continue to be successful”.
Bravo Hrvatska!
ReplyDeleteI don't see what there is to bravo about.
DeleteBeat me to it!
DeleteI hope he is being ironic.
DeleteI expected much more from them considering the competition they are facing.
ReplyDeleteI agree. They had almost a year to come up with a response and if this is it, then I am truly worried about their future.
DeleteSo what is the long term strategy? And whatever happened to plans to buy new planes?
ReplyDeleteThere is no long-term strategy my good friend. If there was they would be focusing on reducing seasonality and not just on the summer season.
DeleteI think they will try to get more subsidies from OSI since they are desperate enough to work with them. Everyone who tried to fly from there failed so I guess OU it is since profitability is not their priority.
Their management will turn around and beg the government for some more cash by reminding them that their voters, lovers, cousins... are working there and if they would go bankrupt they would lose their livelihood.
There were many expectations, but obviously with no real reason for it.
DeleteEveryone can see how successful that restructuring from 2012-2016 was.
DeleteThis is true. Both at Adria and OU the restructuring seemed to work short term but long term has led them to where they are now (one of them being dead).
DeleteOU is slave of LH Group, that's obvious. If they were a free agent in Star Alliance they would be flying to IST and ATH. It's crazy to think that JU which is not in Star Alliance has better relationship with TK and A3 than OU does.
DeleteHowever, if OU has good relations with them then OS , LH and LX will suffer and we can't have that.
Unfortunately you are correct. This is the result partly of its relationship with Lufthansa.
DeleteFifteen international destinations out of Zagreb... out of which six are to Star Alliance hubs, so roughly 40%.
ReplyDeleteSummer will come, summer will go and Split will go into its hibernation. Then OU will come back to ZAG to operate flights but the market will move on onto FR and other airlines that have committed to this booming and extremely lucrative market.
Since OU will be aborted like a bad fetus in Zagreb, they will mount loses in winter time burning all the cash they made in Split during the summer. This will lead them to record yet another year or record losses.
Whole point is to make sure that when winter comes, you don't burn the cash you made in summer.
Really well said!
Deletesad but true
DeleteBut his analogy is disgusting.
DeleteI'm dumbfounded by their logic to pull out of Zagreb-Dublin route during height of summer. I doubt this route will come back next year.
ReplyDeleteI mean, I doubt OU will come back on this route.
DeleteI am not surprised, FR destroyed them with a decent number of frequencies and lower fares. Since FR is reducing this route by one frequency only goes to show that they boosted it to chase OU away. Their gamble paid off and now they are king on this route. Soon enough they are going to be king, king of ZAG!
DeleteTrue, makes sense.
DeleteIt could be a fleet issue too. Dublin rotation is rather long and they probably don't have enough planes to operate from both SPU and ZAG. I don't know if slots in Dublin could also be problematic.
Delete^ Even if it was either of those two, wouldn't it have been more logical to keep one weekly flight from Zagreb to Dublin and operate two weekly from Split?
DeleteYes but ZAG-DUB offers some things their flights from SPU don't:
Delete1. connections to the coast but also SKP and SJJ.
2. with ZAG flights they can cover all of Slavonija where their diaspora is quite big.
3. in SPU they cover just tourism for a few months of the year.
The only logical conclusion would be that SPU tourists for three months will bring more money than any of those things you mentioned. Although OU and logic don't go hand in hand.
DeleteIf they had any logic they wouldn't be sacrificing one for the other. They would be expanding in SPU while keeping a decent number of flights from ZAG. Like this they are giving up on ZAG to focus on a seasonal market.
DeleteThats the price of joining the EU. U become a slave of the EU power nations by orders to sell yr assests, such as privatize your capital airports, give full access to carriers controlled by the international elite such as FR and operate on behalf of LH to star alliance hubs, where you earn basically nothing as for a ticket ZAG-FRA-LAX you earn just peanuts. If sold for 800 EUR, OU probably gets around 80 EUR for the ZAG-FRA-ZAG sector. FR will sooner or later kill OU and if they survive, just with taxpayers money. Taxpayer pays also the cash FR gets as subventions. So if u fly FR and u think u fly cheap, dont forget of your part of taxes u pay to FR and to keep OU alive
Delete@JU520 Is your comment a joke? Orders to sell your assets when you join the EU? Belgrade is under concession just like Zagreb (Belgrade's operator is also fully EU, Zagreb's is not). Air Serbia was part privatised, Croatia Airlines never was. Croatia's coastal airports are under full state control. And Ryanair does not get any subsidies in Zagreb from either the local or the national government. They get subsidies in Zadar but these are paid by the tourist board which makes its revenue from tourist taxes, so "the taxpayer" is not the Croatians. You need to be better informed before you make such stern comments.
DeleteFR gets incentives from Zagreb tourist board too.
DeleteOU is unable to sell out DUB flights while FR is. For not much, if any, less ticket price.
DeleteIncapable parasites .
How does this compare to pre Covid levels?
ReplyDeleteWhat is there to compare. Their Zagreb flights have been decimated. Thanks to Ryanair with the help of Zagreb Airport.
DeleteI really wouldn't blame either FR or ZAG. It is their own doing.
DeleteZagreb Airport's owners were pretty patient for the first 6 years. They provided a cosy and well-protected environment for Croatia Airlines to expand its network but Croatia Airlines opted to turn a blind-eye.
Delete"we are expanding our flight network not only from Zagreb, but also from Dalmatia’s biggest city - Split."
ReplyDeleteMr Bajic, how exactly are you expanding your network from Zagreb? Three weekly flights to Barcelona for three months?
My thoughts too
DeleteWhy doesn't Croatia Airlines have any international flights from Pula? I'm assuming there is more demand than from Osijek.
ReplyDeletePula area is quite crowded and VCE isn't far away. VCE offers more options so it suits more people. PUY is a tiny airport after all.
DeleteI see. Did OU ever operate international flights from PUY?
DeleteYes, many routes actually. London Gatwick until the restructuring process and Frankfurt until the pandemic. A few more as well if I remember correctly, like CDG (I think, I am not sure).
DeleteWhat's OU's relationship with Lufthansa Technick, since I'm reading Bajic's statement. OU has its own maintenance division. How is it related to LH?
ReplyDeleteOh my friend, if you don't know, people don't write here unnecessarily that Lufthansa is the mother of Croatia Airlines. It all started with the person in Lufthansa supervisory board becoming in charge of Croatia Airlines, many years ago. Then came the Airbus purchases, then came the strategy to feed Lufthansa, then came the strategy to refuse converting ZAG into a regional hub etc.. whatever you see today at OU are the consequences.
DeleteYou are right about everything, only chronology is bit mixed : Airbus purchase was the first of all criminal acts, also Misetic was first CEO, and did all other criminal acts after, in order to become member of Star supervisory board
DeleteOU still can't find a way to get around seasonality. This is killing them.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like BCG advised OU:
ReplyDelete"Leave the market where you have almost half of the share among the 25 airlines and operate year-round, and focus on another market where you have less than 20% share among more 50 airlines to operate three months a year."
Brilliant!
I'm just wondering how much money was thrown at BCG.
DeleteFor the n th time : BCG was not there to make any strategy but to split money
DeleteNot the way to run a business. Yes, they need to get back to profitability. But not using this approach to shrink Zagreb ops and stagnate.
ReplyDeleteWhat else can they do? They can't compete against Ryanair and they have now illustrated that loudly and clearly. In that case, it is good that at least they will expand on the coast.
DeleteGood luck OU!
ReplyDeleteNumber of flights to FRA, MUC, VIE and ZRH is pitiful. What a shameful Star Alliance member.
ReplyDeleteI think they have quite a lot of flights to FRA and MUC from Zagreb. I would not say it's pitiful. Too much if you ask me. I would rather they flew more destinations than so many flights to FRA and MUC.
DeleteI'm disappointed
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry people but what did you expect? Look at their finances. If they do anything drastic they will just dig their hole deeper.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteOU needs to grow - routes and fleet.
ReplyDeleteIt is doing the opposite.
DeleteGood luck OU!
ReplyDeleteDifficult road ahead
ReplyDeleteWhat's going to happen with OU this year?? Not sure government will be allowed to give more funds.
DeleteI think the government will find ways to pump money.
DeleteWell there go my hopes of them resuming Helsinki, Milan and Stockholm from ZAG.
ReplyDeleteAt one point I was hoping these would become year round. So much for that...
Deletehttps://dubrovacki.slobodnadalmacija.hr/dubrovnik/vijesti/turizam-i-gospodarstvo/zbog-rata-u-ukrajini-usporen-booking-amerikanci-otkazuju-cak-i-rezervacije-u-glavnoj-sezoni-1172062
ReplyDeleteLet's see what the season will be like in the end. As mentioned in the article there will be no pre season which we saw the other day on here when it was reported that FR was delaying some routes from ZAD to June.
On top of that, Croatia is experiencing massive drop in bookings due to the Ukraine crisis. Maybe OU rushed to the coast to launch routes where there will be a lot of competition at a time when demand might be softer than last year. Can they fight easyJet and others now when it will be more difficult to get passengers?
Wouldn't this put OU in an even more difficult position? They just started selling tickets from Split to new destinations the other day. If bookings are decreasing because of the war, then it will be OU that is going to be the biggest looser.
DeleteThat is what I am saying. Market on the coast is extremely volatile unlike ZAG which has more gasto demand and OU is handing over this market to FR. Once passengers get used to FR what can OU offer to them to bring them back? These people only care about the price, not Miles and More or if the airline flies to main airports and uses airbridges.
DeleteAt the end of the day, a network like this will bring them money. What is the point of flying loss making routes from ZAG just to show in the statistics that you are flying to a certain amount of cities.
ReplyDeleteNothing guarantees them that they will make money on the coast. They first need to get passengers to fly with them and then to make sure they pay enough for their ticket so that they actually make money.
DeleteI would have thought that the best way to counter Ryanair in Zagreb would be to grow your network significantly in the region and the west and offer great connections via Zagreb. Guess I was wrong.
ReplyDeleteI agree and it would put them in a good position once Croatia enters Schengen as regional passengers can do passport procedures in Zagreb instead of Germany, France, Austria...
DeleteTheir Star Alliance membership would also help in attracting more transfers.
DeleteAnon 09:39 Do not worry, you are right in what you had thought. Unfortunately the people in charge of OU (I don't mean the CEO or any other employee of the company) have some other agenda, which in our era is destined to lose.
DeleteUnfortunately this is going to be another lost year for OU.
ReplyDeleteThe most exciting airline in Ex-yu....
ReplyDeleteAhahahahaha.
DeleteYou really made me laugh!
Number of pax will be slightly more than last year, but looks like OU is stagnating big time. I wish them good luck nevertheless.
ReplyDeleteThe key is how big the loss will be.
Deleteuninspiring
ReplyDeleteSame old same old
ReplyDeleteSame old - same good :)
DeleteWhy the focus on Split and not Dubrovnik? Genuinely interested. I always would have though DBV had the more potential, being such a famous destination.
ReplyDeleteThey used to have a big focus on Dubrovnik. Then when the restructuring started they discontinued a lot of routes, much to the anger of DBV authorities.
DeleteShame
DeleteDo we know if they're planning to maintain their seasonal flights year-round ? because they said they are planning to reduce seasonality. It would be great to see year-round route ZAG-ATH for example.
ReplyDeleteIn order to make it year-round, it has to exist at first. What we have today is DBV-ATH flight. When a passenger has to disembark the plane, pass security control and embark the plane again, it is not a direct flight anymore. Otherwise we have to call a ZAG-JFK connection by Lufthansa via FRA also a ZAG-JFK flight.
DeleteYes but ZAG-DBV-ATH are all under one flight number. So its not like Lufthansa from Zagreb to JFK via Frankfurt.
DeleteDo people from Zagreb flying to Athens have to leave the plane in Dubrovnik?
DeleteAnon 22:06 Not only leave, but also pass through security check and passport control as well. In practice, this flight is not a transit one but a transfer connection.
DeleteIt is shocking how passive they suddenly became in ZAG and decided to focus on SPU instead when ZAG is supposed to be a year-round destination. Why not fight like Tarom or Bulgaria Air which were both ferociously attacked by Wizzair and Ryanair on many routes, by getting bigger machines such as the A320. Deploy them on busier routes such as London, Dublin and slash the rates. Get rid of the stupid free catering for short flights and introduce more competitive fares. Use the A320s in winter and launch special charters to Zanzibar, Egypt, Canary Islands, etc. Focus more on domestic routes.
ReplyDeleteWhat about the UK?? Huge market with lots of potential. Birmingham, Edinburgh, Liverpool and recover or buy new Heathrow slots. Make agreements with Virgin Atlantic or AA.
Try with secondary potential destinations such as KTW/KRK, CLJ, VAR, SKG. Room for lots of growth.
They simply don't care bro, they know salary will be paid by the state aid no matter of the results, they drink coffee and gossip , travel on ID tickets, and waiting for retirement to come. They are mentally stuck in 1950's. As simple as that.
DeleteMakes you wonder if OU should keep their LHR slots but focus its long-term London strategy on expanding either at LGW or LTN. Lower costs mean lower fares and they can be competitive like that especially compared to FR.
DeleteIf OU launches LTN or LGW then they will give a massive blow to FR which flies to the middle of nowhere (STN).
They won't sell LHR slots because they get a lot of feeder traffic from London (especially to the US).
DeleteToo little to late...
ReplyDeleteThe fares for the new Split routes are quite good actually.
ReplyDeleteNot a bad network at all
ReplyDeleteAre you serious?
DeleteWhere are the flights to Hamburg, Leipzig, Nurnberg, Dusseldorf, Dortmund, Paderborn? Germans love the Croatian coast.
ReplyDeleteAll operated by foreign airlines.
DeleteAF will increase ZAG this summer to 14 weekly
ReplyDeleteHow is that related to Croatia Airlines?
DeleteSo OU is not serving any city in Scandinavia?
ReplyDeleteThey fly to CPH.
DeleteAnd a couple of years ago they flew to Oslo, Stockholm, Helsinki...
DeleteFrom ZAG they could start MAD, WAW, IST, DUS, TXL, SOF...
ReplyDeleteMany opportunities