Ryanair has proven to be a key force in Zagreb Airport’s recovery last year, pushing its passenger numbers to record levels. According to data by the statistical office of the European Union - Eurostat - the low cost airline fuelled the airport’s growth as the majority of other carriers continued with their post-pandemic recovery. Last year, Zagreb Airport had the largest number of nonstop destinations within its network since opening its doors. The airport’s management, upon announcing the launch of Ryanair’s base in the Croatian capital in 2021, said the carrier would help speed up its recovery, which data below indicates has been the case.
In 2023, Zagreb Airport welcomed 3.723.650 passengers, up 8.4% on its previous best result in 2019. Although Ryanair competes against other carriers on just a few routes from the Croatian capital, it goes head-to-head indirectly on a number destinations. This had a notable impact on routes such as Brussels and London Heathrow, however, when combined with figures for Ryanair’s operations to Charleroi and London Stansted, passenger numbers to the Belgian and UK capitals reached record levels.
Zagreb Airport is expected to have another record year in 2024, with the launch of a number of new routes by Ryanair and Croatia Airlines, as well as the resumption of long-haul flights from Far East Asia. During the all-important second a third quarters, Zagreb Airport will have 3.151.125 seats on scheduled flights, up 18% on last year and an improvement of 20.6% on 2019. During the upcoming summer, Croatia Airlines will hold a 33.9% share of Zagreb Airport’s scheduled capacity, with Ryanair hot on its heels with a 30.4% share.
The table below, provided by Eurostat, indicates passenger numbers for the majority of Zagreb’s scheduled destinations, although not all. The figures in the table account for just over 95% of Zagreb’s total passenger numbers in 2023.
Zagreb Airport's passenger performance by route, 2023
That's a lot of data, I love it
ReplyDelete+1
Delete+1
DeleteMe too although what is important is a change in capacity, otherwise the pax numbers are difficult to interpret.
Delete@Admin "During the all-important second a third quarters, Zagreb Airport will have 3.151.125 seats on scheduled flights, up 18% on last year and an improvement of 20.6% on 2019. During the upcoming summer, Croatia Airlines will hold a 33.9% share of Zagreb Airport’s scheduled capacity, with Ryanair hot on its heels with a 30.4% share."
DeleteWhat about first two quarters ??? Do you know how many seats are available ?? And total foe the entire year?
Q1+Q2
DeleteCroatia Airlines with 32.8% share of capacity
Ryanair with 28.2%
The share for the entire year is as follows, however, it will change since Q4 schedules have not been finalised by most airlines
Croatia Airlines with 36.5% share of capacity
Ryanair with 29.9% share
Thank you, what about total seats availability for entire year? You mentioned 3.151.125 seats for last two quarters, what about for the first two quarters ? Thank you.
DeleteRyanair does not have any winter flights on sale yet except Stansted and Lanzarote
DeleteThe medical anology would be to say that the cancer will contribute to the patient's overall well-being...
Deletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2024/01/zagreb-targets-over-four-million.html
Delete@Anonymous17:09
At this early stage, Zagreb Airport has 5.673.315 seats on the market for the whole of 2024, which is up 17.4% on the actual capacity provided last year.
@Anon 22:08 Second and third quarters aren't the last two quarters of a year. The last one is the 4th quarter, obviously.
DeleteSo as we see, the airport's decision to bring Ryanair made a lot of sense.
ReplyDeleteWhat is most interesting is that Ryanair is pushing leisure routes and they are doing well. They just added a third weekly frequency on the Girona-Zagreb route in the peak summer months.
DeleteSmart, especially now that Vueling has stopped ZAG, I'm guessing tour operators will move over to Ryanair.
DeleteThey already have. They bulk buy Malta flights heavily.
DeleteIt just amazes me that Croatia Airlines never thought of this...
Delete@9.23 no surprise hen that they are going daily ZAG-Malta this year.
DeleteIt definitely made sense for Ryan air...
DeleteOne of the reasons BRU has lost so much passengers is that Brussels Airlines used to fly BRU-ZAG in 2019, plus now there is Ryanair with Charleroi.
ReplyDeleteAny chance Brussels Airlines could come back?
DeleteThere is no point. Ryanair will fly daily to Charleroi this summer and Croatia Airlines goes twice daily on weekdays.
DeleteAmazing how Dublin and Rome exploded when FR started flights :D
ReplyDeleteWell FR flies nonstop to Rome, while OU has been providing flights via Split and Dubrovnik for 35 years!
Delete^ with turboprops.
DeleteWell Dublin exploded thanks to Ryanair and Croatia Airlines has now discontinued flights.
Delete"Croatia Airlines will hold a 33.9% share of Zagreb Airport’s scheduled capacity, with Ryanair hot on its heels with a 30.4% share."
ReplyDeletewow very close. I think in 2025 they will definitely overtake OU, unless OU expands with the A220s
Meaning in 2024 Ryanair will already take over in the number of actual passengers based on their loadfactor of at least 90% where OU doesn't reach even 70%.
DeleteYes, Ryanair will overtake Croatia Airlines this year.
DeleteBy passenger numbers yes
DeleteWill have overtaken. Proper English, please. And no, it will have never overtaken them.
DeleteThe irony of someone insisting on proper English and then proceeding to write "will have never overtaken" LOL
Delete@12:21 Please tell me your comment is a joke. Yours is one of the least grammatical comments of the day.
DeleteWhy has Munich been so impacted compared to Frankfurt for example. Does it have to do with Lufthansa shifting more flights to Frankfurt?
ReplyDeleteMore nonstop flights by FR so less need for transfers via MUC.
DeleteThat answer makes no sense because FRA is used for transfers too.
DeleteLH shifted focus much more on FRA during the pandemic and it has stayed that way. Same way they discontinued MUC-SJJ in favour of FRA-SJJ.
DeleteZagreb - Munchen is aprox. 6h of driving which is acceptable for 2+ passangers and full trunk of goods. I guess that's one of the reasons why FMM didn't work.
DeleteSchengen has caused a drop in all nearby airports.
DeleteLH had a daily flight less in comparison to 2019. This yaer they are bringing it back with 320
DeleteI'm honestly really surprised that DBV and SPU are in top 5, does those work off season too, or those are mostly tourists?
ReplyDeleteTourists, transfer passengers and locals. Majority of passengers are in June, July and August.
DeleteDon't know about SPU, but DBV works whole year as we down South are in the middle of nowhere, or as we would say it, "bogu iza nogu". I've flown so many times on this route during winter time, I have never seen LF below 60%, and most of the time it was much more than that.
DeleteHow long is the flight time on ZAG-DBV?
Delete50 min on Airbus and 1h05 on Dash 8-Q400, OU uses both aircraft on this route.
DeleteI took OU from SPU few times out of season last year and it was full.
DeleteP.S. I took that flights to catch FR in ZAG as OU doesn't know to make connections properly
Amsterdam did really well throughout the pandemic from/to ZAG. I remember that for some time KLM was the busiest foreign airline in ZAG. I'm guessing that growth on the Amsterdam route is mainly down to KLM rather than Croatia Airlines.
ReplyDeleteYes, KLM has great timings and excellent connectivity in AMS. Lufthansa's biggest problem is long layover times in FRA and MUC for intercontinental flights on the way back to Zagreb.
DeleteAnd considering all the strikes at LH, I would always choose KLM. They have better service too.
DeleteYou mean Strikehansa
DeleteStrike is English so "striken" makes no sense.
DeleteWhere is Turkish Airlines with Istanbul?
ReplyDeleteApologies, it got cut off in the table. Fixed now.
DeleteGood numbers for TK. They are very strong in the entire region. Top at almost all airports.
DeleteNo surprise. Great product and good fares.
DeleteThey also benefited from EK leaving and QR reducing ops.
Deletewow thanks for the numbers!
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteHow many destinations does Ryanair have now from Zagreb?
ReplyDeleteWith the new routes launching this summer 30!
DeleteImpressive
DeleteSo they will have 4 planes in Zagreb this summer.
DeleteYes
DeleteI guess it is not hard to imagine 5 airplanes based in Zagreb in 2025 and potentially 37 routes? in 2025 that is.
DeleteIt's a real possibility. But that would not be good news for OU.
DeleteNothing is good news for OU because they do not do anything.
DeleteAre the new routes Ryanair is introducing from Zagreb year round or seasonal?
ReplyDeleteYes, they are currently scheduled as seasonal.
DeleteI think some may stay year round. They are from finalizing winter schedule.
DeleteSo the busiest Ryanair route is Stansted. Makes sense considering the frequnecies.
ReplyDeleteYes, it was busiest from the start.
DeleteDubai route still impacted by the loss of Emirates. Figures should be better this year.
ReplyDeleteNo surprise considering they were flying with B777 daily.
DeleteExcellent job and statistics! :)
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteGoes to show how badly needed FR was. Right decision by management to bring them in. Now it would be great if they could also bring another LCC not to rely fully on FR.
ReplyDeleteConsidering issues with Wizz, easyjet might be the way to go.
DeleteThat was their plan. ZAG CEO said they wanted to attract Wizz with that connecting capital city model.
DeleteI think Croatian people are definitely traveling more with Ryanair around. Good job. Although these numbers show what a poor job Croatia Airlines has been doing.
ReplyDeleteRyanair did in 3 years what Croatia Airlines couldn't in 30. But that's not surprising considering what a giant Ryanair is. It's just a shame that Croatia Airlines never considered anything other than being a feeder.
Deletethey still have some Lauda livery?
ReplyDeleteAll the A320s have Lauda livery. It is their brand.
DeleteThey are better than Ryanair's B737-800s.
Deletethey WERE their brand, not anymore. just lazy to repaint it (saving costs)
DeleteWhat? They got rid of Lauda brand?
Deleteoops no. Lauda Europe in Malta
DeleteLauda Europe is an airline owned by Ryanair Group.
Deletethey are not lazy to repaint the aircrafts, Lauda became the brand of the Ryanair Group. Now they have the following brands: Ryanair, Ryanair UK, Malta Air, Buzz (Ryanair Sun), Lauda Europe. They are recruiting for Lauda bases; they have individual offices in Vienna and Malta. Cabin crews are wearing Lauda red uniforms. They didn't get rid of this brand. Lauda is a better brand for example in Vienna and they are very successful there too.
DeleteYes, I think they explained once that they kept the Lauda brand because it is so well known and loved in Austria.
DeleteI wonder how Croatia Airlines plans to remain competitive with their Zagreb-Split-Rome flights against Ryanair's 5 weekly Zagreb-Rome?
ReplyDeleteDo OU and FR fly to the same airport in Rome from Zagreb?
DeleteYes, to Fiumicino.
DeleteIt kind of makes you wonder where was Croatia Airlines? Why didn't it start Malta, Malaga, Marseille, Cyprus, Greek islands....
ReplyDeleteThey were waiting for state handouts. The management couldn't care less. That's why I laughed when some people were shouting Bravo for them introducing seasonal flights to Stockholm and Berlin this summer.
DeleteCroatia Airlines had 30 years to launch leisure routes. Didn't cross their mind.
DeleteStill can start SPU or DBV to Malta..many maltese would love to explore the Dalmatian coast
DeleteDid OU ever fly to Malta?
DeleteI believe they did in the late 90s/early 2000s.
Deletewithout FR they would have been somewhere at nr.4-6 in ExYu. Crazy
ReplyDeleteBut that's exactly why Zagreb brought Ryanair in.
DeleteYes, it turned out to be a smart decision. They foresaw OU would do absolutely nothing.
DeleteI think they gave OU a couple of years first. They certainly tried to work with OU. Once they realised there is absolutely no chance anything would come of it, Ryanair was the quickest and best way forward.
DeleteAlso, I think some passengers would have just suffered higher fares and flown with other airlines. I fly in and out of Zagreb around five times a year and I almost always fly with Ryanair now. I used to fly with Eurowings, Lufthansa and Croatia Airlines. I haven't flown with Croatia Airlines since 2022, and that was only because it was an interline flight.
ReplyDeleteBy the time OU starts A220 service, Ryanair will have leading marketshare in ZAG as established, well known carier with loyal customer base. Once higher density Boeings get deployed to ZAG, Croatia Airlines will have even tougher competitor to beat with those A220s. OU marketshare at ZAG will likely fall below 20% in a couple of years and below 10% in all of Croatia.
ReplyDeleteOU share at ZAG will eventually fall to 20%, but not in the next five years. Its overall capacity will increase with the fleet change and that will keep them above 30%till 2029-2030. But it won’t have the ability to continue growing due to its financial and management issues, therefore we may see its share decreasing to 20%’s after 2030.
DeleteCroatia Airlines' market share will not increase when the A220s arrive. The capacity market share will increase, but that's irrelevant because their passenger traffic market share will not.
DeleteGoing from 3% to 30% share in just a few years is really something. Well done FR!
ReplyDeleteNot surprising really when your main 'competitor' does not compete.
DeleteActually it was easy for Ryanair in Zagreb. They just had to come in and scoop up the traffic.
DeleteWould be interesting to see the load factors too.
ReplyDeleteVery cool data! Thank you so much, Ex Yu Aviation! 👍
ReplyDelete