Turkish Airlines has seen its passenger numbers on flights between Istanbul and Zagreb exceed those prior to the pandemic during the first half of the year, as the airline marks 25 years of operations to the Croatian capital. This year the carrier has deployed wide-body aircraft to Zagreb on a regular basis for the first time, with its Sunday morning service on the route operated by A330 jets since August 8 up until October 22. The airline is utilising the twin-aisle jet on two more occasions this week as a one-off, with yesterday morning’s flight, as well as this evening’s service (October 12 and October 13) maintained with the A330-300 aircraft.
During the first half of the year, Turkish Airlines handled a record 92.235 passengers on its Zagreb service representing an increase of 23.3% on the pre-pandemic 2019. Its average cabin load factor during the six-month period stood at a high 83.7%. The majority of travellers flying between Istanbul and Zagreb are foreigners, with the rate of Turkish passengers being relatively low. Up until the pandemic, 60% of customers on the route were transfers from the Far East. However, this changed in the proceeding years due to the closure of many Asian markets. These are now bouncing back but the US market is also providing significant feed, particularly flights to/from Miami, New York and Los Angeles. Turkish Airlines has also benefited from reduced competition by Gulf carriers, with Qatar Airways still operating fewer flights to Zagreb than prior to the pandemic, while Emirates has relegated its service onto Flydubai.
Turkish Airlines Zagreb performance, H1 2023
Turkish Airlines commenced operations to Zagreb on October 27, 1998. At a celebration marking the occasion, Croatia’s Minister for Tourism and Sports, Nikolina Brnjac, said, "I congratulate Turkish Airlines on its great anniversary, but above all on its great service and reputation. In the context of the development of year-round tourism, good air connectivity is extremely important for Croatia, which is why we are very glad that we have a quality partner in Turkish Airlines that connects Turkey directly with Zagreb and Dubrovnik, and with a codeshare partnership with Croatia Airlines further connects Pula, Split and Zadar. I hope that this partnership will expand to other destinations, and I wish Turkish Airlines many more successful years".
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I wonder if we might see 3 daily flights on some days next summer
ReplyDeleteIf OU was smart it would have launched it.
DeleteAs far as I remember, Croatia Airlines flew to Istanbul until around 2013.
DeleteCorrect. They launched it in 2011 but it lasted just two years.
DeleteSurprising they failed
DeleteWhy? They stood no chance against Turkish.
DeleteThere is a bigger chance they launch Split-Istanbul seasonally than return Zagreb-Istanbul
Delete^ true
Deleteall the news airlines that introduce flights to IST don't have to compete with Turkish.
DeleteAlmost all the new airlines agree on a codeshare with Turkish that can benefit both airlines.
I have noticed this too.
DeleteFrom what I read here, Croatia Airlines has the smartest management team. Bravo paper pushers!
DeleteIndeed...
DeleteWell done TK
ReplyDeleteMakes sense, they took the passengers that used to fly on Aeroflot
ReplyDeleteOn Emirates as well
DeleteTrue. Forgot about SU. Aeroflot used to operate daily A320 flights to Zagreb with many transfers from Asia.
DeleteIt was A320 until they launched LJU. Then they downgraded ZAG to SSJ.
DeleteAnd Lju to 2x daily
DeleteLJU was a spectacular performer for them. We miss them.
DeleteKorean, Emirates, Aeroflot, and significant cuts with Qatar have all gone to Turkish.
DeleteYes, and Aeroflot @ LJU was also very useful for transfers to Asia. At least they were the few times I checked them out.
DeleteNice about the widebodies
ReplyDeleteHope they are a permanent fixture next summer.
DeleteInteresting. Would good to know how many passengers there was on the route from/to LJU. I don’t have numbers for this year but from January – June last year there were 164,674 passengers on Belgrade – Istanbul IST route.
ReplyDeleteThat's not a lot
Delete164,000+ passengers in six months in 2022 still impacted by covid (January-March) is not much to you? Ok
DeleteLjubljana had 81.184 pax on LJU-IST in first 6 months.
Deletejan 10.190
Deletefeb 11.837
mar 14.092
apr 15.558
maj 15.563
jun 13.944
How come June has less than April and May?
Delete"I hope that this partnership will expand to other destinations,"
ReplyDeleteIt has been 25 years and they have almost no cooperation despite being in the same alliance. I wouldn't get my hopes up.
The low level of cooperation between them is really baffling.
DeleteI am baffled
DeleteIt's not baffling at all. Making a codeshare agreement with TK would make mother Lufti mad.
DeleteGood load factor
ReplyDeleteVery
DeleteI wonder if the US transfers have shifted from Lufthansa.
ReplyDeleteA portion probably has. Turkish Airlines keeps expending its US network. They are starting Detroit soon.
DeleteShows how much people from the Balkans value price over comfort by adding several hours to their journey and going eastwards.
DeleteTK is a much more comfortable ride to the States than Lufthansa, despite the slight backtracking.
DeleteTK is dumping fares big time
DeleteI haven't checked their prices now but they weren't cheap this summer when I wanted to travel with them.
DeleteThey were not cheap this summer at all.
DeleteThere is nice bag allowance on TK vs like Lufthansa or swiss. I remember it's like 100 bucks for a checked bag on Lufthansa
DeleteWell done! I hope we eventually see a third daily flight on some days.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteHow are their Dubrovnik flights performing? Will they operate for the entire year or will there again be a break?
ReplyDeleteI can see a JU plane in the distance in the article photo :D
ReplyDeleteОко соколово, нема шта!
DeleteThat's a healthy number of passengers to Zagreb.
ReplyDeletePity they are not interested in OU.
ReplyDeleteI really hope they will consider transatlantic flights from an ex-Yu country soon. Istanbul-Zagreb-New York would be fantastic!
ReplyDeleteWhy would so that?
Delete*do
DeleteThat was their plan in 2013, but Kucko said no.
DeleteTK and OU need to cooperate more. I don't see why they don't
ReplyDeleteSimple. It would not serve in the interests of Lufthansa
DeleteAnd we know who is LH servant...
Deletebest airline in the world
ReplyDeleteQR is better
DeleteAegean too
DeleteI like everything about TK except their crew.
DeleteTheir ground service is horrible.
DeleteTurkish has a fantastic onboard product and unbeatable global network. Weak point is their business class product on their 777s, which will be upgraded soon. Crew can be hit or miss, agreed, even though I recently had great service onboard. Qatar is on a league on its own.
DeleteCouldn't agree more with the above comment.
DeleteEk and Qr are better. Also, Tk still has a very bad safety record compared to all other large western carriers which makes me (and not just meself) avoid them as often as possible.
DeleteDoes TK cargo have flights to ZAG?
ReplyDeleteNo
DeleteMNG Airlines operates IST-ZAG-CDG.
DeleteIs it a regular cargo route?
DeleteYes it operates every Saturday
DeleteTK is the airline with the largest number of destinations and worldwide coverage. They even fly to African villages nobody heard of. And if they launch Australia as they claim, then ZAG and DBV will most likely witness more frequencies. Yet again, they are indeed taking a great chunk of the previous Emirates 777 traffic in ZAG and maybe Korean Air.
ReplyDeleteEither way, ZAG is growing very nicely, not crazy but steadily. Time for some Turkish charters for ZAG as well to Antalya, Bodrum, Dalaman, etc.
Charters were tried this summer and they failed both to Antalya and Tunis
DeleteThere are ongoing charters to Antalya so I don't know what you are talking about.
DeleteThey were downsized and many cancelled. You have an article about it online
DeleteYou wrote there were none.
DeleteCharter attempts failed, there are no more flights to Tunis and barely any to Antalya.
DeleteAYT also ended early
DeleteSorry, my bad if I missed about the AYT charters. This is very strange that they were not materialised. AYT is a destination with huge demand. Then in that case, which charters would work better for ZAG? Canary Islands? Zanzibar? Mauritius? I am referring to winter warmer destinations.
DeleteRyanair is starting scheduled flights between Zagreb and the Canary Islands this winter.
DeleteThose are not charter flights, they are scheduled flights on Europe's favorite airline.
DeleteYes, that's what I wrote.
DeleteAny idea why sunday morning sees so much demand so widebody is regular?
ReplyDeleteAs reported by a reputable HR source it's because of cargo
DeleteYeah I'm sure they need cargo this Thursday and Friday too.
DeleteThey sent A330 on Thursday and Friday due to UEFA EURO 2024 qualifier between Crotaia and Turkey played in Zagreb yesterday.
DeleteGood to know. Thank you.
DeleteHow many seats on Turkish A330?
DeleteExcellent. I hope we see more widebodies and frequnecies added.
ReplyDeleteWell deserved. It is one of the best airlines out there.
ReplyDeleteTurkish Airlines' commitment to the Zagreb route is paying off, and the numbers speak for themselves. Not same can be said for Croatia Airkines
DeleteOU can offer transfers on domestic flights if it flew to IST and with a codeshare could connect onto TK's huge network. It's a no brainer.
ReplyDeleteYou are talking about OU management here, and like someone said, they are not doing it because of Lufthansa.
DeleteIt’s Bravo Hrvatska time
ReplyDeleteApparently Pegasus wants to launch flights yoo
ReplyDelete*too
DeleteTo Zagreb
DeleteYes, but only after Jazeera does so.
DeleteAt one point TK said it plans to launch Split. What happened with that?
ReplyDeleteTurkish Airlines is back stronger than ever.
ReplyDelete