Korean Air discontinued its seasonal flights between Seoul and Zagreb at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. The carrier has since restored its entire European network and added a new service to Budapest and Oslo. In late September and early October, it will operate a total of four charter flights on behalf of Korean tour operator Hanatour to the Croatian capital over the Chuseok holiday period, more commonly known as the mid-Autumn festival, which is one of South Korea’s biggest holidays and the busiest for international travel.
In its last year of operations to Zagreb in 2019, Korean Air handled 39.763 passengers on its flights to and from the Croatian capital, according to the European Union’s Statistical Office. The carrier’s average cabin load factor on the route for the entire year stood at 70.5%, however, average loads peaked at 89.5% in the month of May of that year. Since the airline initially maintained year-round flights between the two cities, loads were notably light during the first quarter of 2019 because the service was operated with a triangle routing Seoul - Zagreb - Zurich - Seoul, with the majority of seats being taken up by passengers flying to or from the Swiss city. The airline operated a total of 241 flights in 2019 (both directions included). It utilised the 218-seat A330-200 aircraft on 69% of its Zagreb flights and the 269-seat Boeing 787-9 on the remaining services.
Makes sense
ReplyDeleteof course it makes sense, no wonder Korean Air hasn't restarted noumber of routes it once served in Europe. Same goes for JAL/ANA. War in Ukraine is expected to last at least another 3 years, and economic sanctions against Russia for at least same period. Korean Air might be flying long way around to land at Zagreb, but it is not ideal, it is more expensive and flight last at least 2 hours longer.
DeleteRead the article. Korean Air has restarted every single route to Europe they served in 2019 and added Budapest and Oslo. The only one they haven't restarted is Zagreb and they had to cancel Moscow when the war started. So don't spread misinformation.
DeleteI love when people comment but have not read the article, and then their comment ends up being foolish.
DeleteHappens quite often.
Delete@ 15:33
DeleteTrue dat! He really should have read it.
Is this the reason Korean Air has also not returned?
ReplyDeleteNo since they started Budapest and Oslo as new routes.
DeleteDefinitely not the reason for Korean Air. Remember Korean and T'way have completely different cost structures.
DeleteI doubt Korean Air is coming back now that they are serving Budapest.
DeleteExactly
DeleteIt also has a lot to do with associated airport costs. Korean has no doubt be given a good deal by BUD which has worked hard to attract Asian traffic and have a lot of Chinese routes and airlines flying there since Covid. On the other hand Zagreb Airport management has not attracted a single new airline since Ryanair which says everything.
DeleteThat's true. Crazy to think that no new airline has launched flights to Zagreb in 2 years.
DeleteDidn't Finnair launch flights?
DeleteKorean Air doesn't fly regularly to OSL only some seasonal charters.
DeleteI just thought the other day what was happening with this. Thanks for the update.
ReplyDeleteNo surprise here.
ReplyDeleteFlew this airline recently in their business class from Bangkok to Seoul. Got to say I was really impressed and ticket price was just 400 USD. Not bad for flat seats.
ReplyDeleteAre flat seats really necessary on a 5-hour flight?
DeleteThe flight departed at 1am and arrived after 9am, so it came in handy. You have some issue with that?
Deletepeople are very opinionated and fussy on this blog 😆
DeleteI have also noted on trip reports people in the comments who seem to be very judgmental if someone flies business class. Even if if it is a 45 minute flight, why do you care? If a person can afford it, they are allowed to do whatever they want with their money. It doesn't hurt you in any way.
Delete+1000
DeleteI feel like Korean Air never really advertised its Zagreb flights properly as a transfer option. It was mostly just used by Korean tourists. But there were great transfer opportunities to the rest of Asia and even Australia.
ReplyDeleteKorean Air flights were quite pricey
DeleteI also searched their fares once and return ticket on the route was almost 1000 EUR.
DeleteCroatian diaspora from Australia started to consider the Korea option before covid. It was talked about often with a handy 1 or 2 night layover in Seoul that people appreciated.
Deletehopeful that these airline challenges get resolved soon.
ReplyDeleteSeoul-Ljubljana-Zagreb-Seoul would work for them.
ReplyDeleteIt would?
DeleteIf there were 500,000+ Korean tourists coming each year (pre-Covid) and only about 40,000 flying with Korean Air then there is a huge untapped market on this route.
ReplyDeleteMost Korean tourists come by bus.
DeleteI mean they come by bus to Croatia
Delete"Most Korean tourists come by bus"
DeleteLOOOL
Just because there was a huge market pre-COVID doesn't mean that there is one now. Let's not forget that what catapulted the popularity of Croatia in Korea was Game of Thrones and the Korean reality TV show that was shot in Dubrovnik. Both are ancient history in terms of pop culture nowadays.
DeleteI see this mindset in Croatia all the time - people think that once a certain country starts emitting tourists to Croatia, it will be the same in 5 years' time, and they are shocked when this doesn't happen. We need to think bigger and constantly tap into new markets, not rely on established ones.
@Anon 9.26
DeleteWhat's funny? The statement is absolutely true, most Koreans fly to Vienna and Budapest and visit Croatia as part of a bus tour.
@9.26 it is true. Slovenia also has a lot of Korean tourists (pre Covid) even though it has no flights. And this is because they come by bus. It is these same tourists that continue to Croatia.
DeleteUnfortunately the same tourists are counted several times in Croatia, depending on where they sleep. Just simplify it like this and imagine: There's a group of 100 Koreans arriving to Croatia via Zagreb for a 3 days trip. First night they slept over in Zagreb, second day they moved to Split and stayed overnight there. Third day they went to Dubrovnik, spent another night there and left the country from Dubrovnik the next day. This group of 100 Koreans will appear as 300 tourists in Croatian records. Sad but true.
DeleteI know it is true, but although I know they arrive by plane to Austria, Hungary or Germany and after it by bus to Croatia, it was not written so and it was really funny to read that they Koreans arrive by bus.
DeleteOne might think they arrive by bus from Korea.
That's not the way it is counted. They are counted when they enter the country through passport control. That might have changed now that Croatia has entered the Schengen zone.
DeleteThe fact is that tourists from the Far East, Korea one of the most important markets, come to Croatia. It was more before pLandemic but their number is not irrelevant even today, and will highly likely grow again, year by year. And it's very true they come to neighbouring airports and are then bussed to HR. Here we come to what I talk all the time : If Croatia had any strategy in economy, tourism, traffic, aviation, you name it, Croatia Airlines should have long time ago had flights to New York, Chicago, Toronto, Seoul, Bangkok, Delhi.... and in this particular case, one part of Korean tourists should have been carried by OU between Asia and ZAG, and then bussed to the Balkans, Slovenia, Hungary, within Croatia. Unfortunatelly Ivan Misetic handed over Croatian market to Germans and instead doing business, OU is now kissing their fat ass
DeleteSo all these long haul flights would work, but flights from ZAG are not profitable for airlines to fly to Berlin and Lisbon.
DeleteYes. Markets and airports are different. Demand can be created and increased. You have for example SKP as an example of successful LCC base, non-existent till recently. Or BEG as an example of hub airport where demand is created and increased by Air Serbia and which wouldn't have North America flights if there was no JU. Or you have example of SPU as highly seasonal leisure market. And ZAG is an example of an airport with the highest long-haul potential within ex-yu and Pan Am, Air Canada, Air Transat, Emirates, Qatar Airways, Korean Air, Malaysian and ex-JAT which all operated or are operating long-haul to ZAG are proof for that. The "only" problem is lack of strategy and incompetent and useless flag carrier based there.
DeleteSeasonal flights of these long haul destinations to Split or Dubrovnik from may untill october would be enough.
DeleteWhy ZAG has the highest longhaul potential?
DeleteLocal demand is not sufficient for Ryanair and OU to coexist, but suddenly there is huge potential for longhaul, where does it come from? Croatian disaspora?! Maybe it is sufficient for seasonal set of charter flights. Serbian, Bosnian, Macedonian diaspora is huge either, why their potential is lower?
For me the fact that all those companies used to fly to ZAG ć, but don't do it anymore tells more about the potential. It's weak, thin, very seasonal and overall, not sufficient for the profitability during 12 months.
@12.28
DeleteYou are partially right. ZAG alone has not enough potential to sustain all long haul routes I listed. None of the airports within ex-yu has, BEG included, except DBV to North America in peak summer season. But, if OU in sinergy with OU had created real hub in ZAG, and had redirected part of the entire Balkans ethnic traffic through OU 's developed regional network, if it attracted its own ethnic traffic which is now transferring to long-haul via big european hubs, mostly Star Alliance, if you add to that tourists coming to Croatia from distant markets, if you add to that proximity of Slovenia which could use ZAG as well for long-haul travel, which is all but insignificant, if you add to that non-existent codeshares OU could have potentially made on both ends of its long-haul network, then we come to fully unrealized potentials of ZAG in long-haul. And for the end : I don't believe ZAG would ever be bigger airport with more traffic than BEG. BEG will always have more gasto european traffic then ZAG, BEG will always have more charter and leisure traffic because Serbia has no coast and has bigger population, BEG will always have more traffic with China and Russia because of the relations between the two. But comparing the two, overall ZAG potentials in long-haul are bigger then ones of BEG, and OU which serves as pathetic LH feeder is the only reason why that potential is wasted and currently in favour of BEG as well.
@poz why you write ex-JAT but no ex-PanAm?
Delete@15.47
DeleteWow, I was really not aware of it. Thanks for drawing my attention. Will be corrected in future. Maybe a psychologist could answer to your question. There must be some reason, but I could only guess it. Anyhow, thanks again!
You are most welcome comrade.
DeleteFrom what I saw compared to pre-covid years, there were hardly any Asian tourist in Croatia this year so the Asian market is still no where near recovered. Maybe in a few years, things will be different.
DeleteMust admit I've never heard of them.
ReplyDeleteThey are bigger than any ex-Yu airline. They handled over 7 million passengers in 2019.
DeleteWhat does T'way mean?
DeleteTramway
DeleteOdd name lol
DeleteThere is an airline in Thailand called "Really Cool Airlines". They are definitely running out of airline names.
DeleteUnfortunate
ReplyDeleteThe issue is that other than Air Transat no long haul flights have returned to ZAG and this is despite incentives scheme for long haul flights to Zagreb.
ReplyDeleteAnd the question is if even Transat would return had AirSerbia launch Toronto.
DeleteIt was not realistic that they would start flying to Croatia as they do not fly to Europe at all.
ReplyDeleteEven if they start covering Europe it will be more logical first to start with much stronger touristic destinations than Croatia.
Apart from real steady tourist destinations such as Budapest:)
DeleteThey have said that Croatia will be their first European market. They can't fly wherever they want because Korea allocates which markets each airline can serve internationally. This may change when/if Korean Air - Asiana merger goes through, because they will have to give rights to other airlines that were held by Asiana to avoid monopoly.
DeleteIs there any news when this merger may occur? It feels like it is taking years.
DeleteT'was does not fly to BUD.
DeleteHahahah T'was .... aghahah
Deleteaghahah
Deletehahahaha
@10:02
DeleteIt is taking years because it is a massive merger that will create one of the biggest airlines in the world. It's not a sure thing it will happen since various regulators across the world have to give their blessing. The EU is not happy about the merger.
Impossible! I've heard multiple times on this forum that the demand for Croatia is huge in Asia:)
ReplyDeleteThey are still waiting to recover from corona. Unlike others who have already done it, and many have exceeded the figures from 2019.
DeleteFunny how the war in Ukraine did not impact demand from Korea to Hungary or Poland.
ReplyDeleteMy thoughts as well.
DeleteIt's not about demand, it's about operating costs. And it's two different airlines you are talking about. T'way air does not fly to anywhere in Europe.
Delete@9.24, 9.25 might be worth reading the article.
DeletePoland and Hungary are more to turn north so operating costs are worse than to Croatia. Let's just call it what it is: no demand.
DeleteYou still don't understand that it is two completely different airlines.
Delete@09:24
Delete100%
Plus no demand.
@Anon 9.44. Let them be. They read the headline and then came to comment.
DeleteNot to mention that the airline flying from Warsaw is LOT and not actually any airline from Korea.
DeleteBoth Hungary and Poland are places where the Korean companies have significant investments. So, the flights are for business people, not for tourists.
DeleteThe demand from BUD is high enough for both Korean and LOT to operate this route successfully (good load factor, good yields).
Simple, WAW and BUD have higher yields and better connectivity.
Delete@09:41 Being farther up north reduces the operating costs as the route is shorter. That's like elementary school geography.
DeleteEver since 2014. and troubles in Ukraine, not to mention last year, the main route form the East to Europe, and depending on where the starting point is, even to the east coast US...goes over Romania and Hungary.
T'Way doesn't fly anywhere else in Europe either and if Croatia ever gets back those hundreds of thousands of Korean tourists, Korean will be back in one form or another. At the moment that market hasn't recovered yet.
The real problem is the endemic one; both the Croatian government and most business people are basically sitting on their behinds and waiting for the tourists to come back on their own. Almost everyone, as per usual, is waiting for more tourism to simply happen as though we were entitled to it. And in the meantime, they simply keep on raising prices. It's embarrassing.
Hoping T’Way Air can find a feasible solution to launch these flights
ReplyDeleteWhen the war ends it will come.
DeleteWhich airlines Koreans predominately take to arrive in Croatia?
ReplyDeleteLufthansa, Turkish and Qatar.
DeleteMost Koreans do not actually arrive in Croatia.
DeleteThey just appear.
DeleteTeleportation. The future has started already in Croatia. At least for Koreans. Who just appear.
DeleteI wouldn't count on this starting anytime soon since there is no indication the conflict will end. And by the time it does, the Korean-Asiana merger will probably be complete and T'Way will get flying rights to a lot more countries.
ReplyDeleteGlad to see their long haul expansion is doing well. I wasn't overly optimistic when they started it last year.
ReplyDeleteWhen I read the first sentence I thought you meant ZAG :D
DeleteInteresting to see how external factors can shape an airline's operations and route decisions. Let's hope for a resolution to the conflicts so that T’Way Air and others can eventually launch their services.
ReplyDeleteWhat others?
DeleteOk, maybe time for ZAG to try and attract some new carriers from Asia. The air agreement with Japan was signed recently. Why not try there.
ReplyDeleteThey have been talking about US flights for years and still nothing so I wouldn't get my hopes up.
DeleteI remember they were talking that the flights from China to Croatia are "right behind the corner".
DeleteIt seems that corner got quite big.
China routes often require a political will. Unfortunately, Croatian politicians couldn't care less.
DeleteOk, if it is difficult to get flights to Asia, why not try the USA.
ReplyDeleteThey have tried and they haven't managed to produce results yet.
DeleteDidn't expect this would progress anyway
ReplyDeleteIs there any cargo demand on this route?
ReplyDeleteIndeed
ReplyDelete