Low cost carrier easyJet is discontinuing four of its routes out of Croatia next summer season, affecting Rijeka, Pula and Dubrovnik. The development sees the budget airline pull out of Rijeka completely, which is still struggling to reach its pre-pandemic passenger figures. The airline will not restore flights from Basel and Berlin to Rijeka, from Paris Charles de Gaulle to Pula, as well as from Venice to Dubrovnik. All four routes were served twice per week during the 2024 summer season. easyJet will also reduce frequencies on its flights from London Gatwick to Dubrovnik, from nineteen to sixteen weekly during the height of summer, between Geneva and Dubrovnik, from three to two weekly, as well as from Amsterdam to the coastal city from four to three weekly rotations.
The development is expected to have an impact on Rijeka Airport which has struggled to attract new carriers in recent years. It is on course to handle fewer passengers in 2024 than it did last year, which itself was down on 2022, as well as on its pre-pandemic 2019 figures by 23%. Compared to 2019, Rijeka is no longer served by airBaltic, Volotea and Arkia Israeli Airlines. Furthermore, Croatia Airlines, Condor, Transavia and Eurowings significantly reduced their operations from the airport this summer when compared to five years ago. The only new service currently planned for Rijeka next year is to Hahn by Ryanair. While the carrier has scheduled the flights, it is yet to put tickets on sale.
Despite primarily maintaining summer-only operations to Croatia, easyJet is the country’s third-largest carrier by available seat capacity, behind only Ryanair and Croatia Airlines. This year, easyJet operated a total of 8.364 flights on the Croatian market, offering a total of 1.497.224 seats. Its busiest routes are London Gatwick - Dubrovnik, London Gatwick - Split and London Luton - Split. For the upcoming 2025 summer season, easyJet has scheduled a new service between Liverpool and Split, which will run twice per week. It is Split’s largest airline. At this point, easyJet has not scheduled any frequency increases on existing routes out of Croatia for next summer, however, it will bring forward the resumption of its London Gatwick - Dubrovnik service to February, with flights commencing on February 24. The airline’s projected capacity on the Croatian market for 2025 presently stands at 1.451.278 seats, which is 45.946 seats below 2024 levels. Changes to both network and capacity levels remain likely.
Big ouch for Rijeka, that airport is struggling in so many ways
ReplyDeleteThe airport is badly mismanaged.
DeleteOf course the airport is struggling, it's built on an island that is connected to the mainland by a bridge which closes very often because of heavy winds. If I had to fly somewhere from Rijeka I would not risk booking a flight from RJK and I would choose LJU or ZAG instead.
DeleteFlew from Rijeka this summer. The airport is literally like entering a time capsule.
DeleteThe airport has potential, but the lack of support and vision is evident.
DeleteSo what is the main issue with RJK?
DeleteThe main issue is that Rijeka and Kvarner and especially Opatija are areas which tourists visit by bus and car due to Schengen and proximity to Switzerland/Austria/Slovenia/Germany. There is not much that RJK can do there.
DeleteInteresting, thanks
DeleteZadar, like Rijeka, was also a car destination. Just compare the passenger numbers 10 years ago and today! Management makes the difference. Tourists from Great Britain, Scandinavia, Spain and France will not arrive by car
DeleteThe sad thing about it is that Rijeka was the first airport easyjet ever flew to in Croatia.
DeleteZadar was never a car destination. Rijeka, Kvarner and Opatija were tourist destinations centuries ago, before Zadar and the surroundings had a single tourist.
DeleteSo we will see that in Croatia only Zagreb, Split and Dubrovnik have a future, smaller airports will struggle. Its like Belgrade and Niš in Serbia. Morava is not working at all...
DeleteSocialists run Rijeka, one of the most neglected cities in Croatia. Socialists do the talk, but don't walk the walk. Rijeka Airport is a proof.
Delete@10.40 wow didn't know that. When did they start flights to RJK?
Delete2006
Delete11:10 Zadar is a small airport and profitable. Brac is doing well and is even privately owned.
DeleteI cant understand it! Joint project with Jadrolinija to activate Voz as a pick up spot for the islands and bus transfer from RJK airport to the ship. But no starts... a pity! I flew VIE-RJK hoped that the flights will be friday sunday, no they decided for thrusday monday. So back again to the car. a pity.
DeleteAnonymous10:53: If that is the case, ZAD shows even more what could be possible for Rijeka with the right management. And that despite such strong competition from SPU
DeleteNice pic of U2 on approach in Split :)
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteAdmin always has the best photo choices.
DeletePity. But I find it really interest how they are so big even though they fly mostly in summer.
ReplyDeleteExyu is a small market. A million seats is already quite a bit
DeleteTrue
DeleteEurowings cancels BEG-STR from STT 2025.
Deletewow nice to see them starting DBV as early as February. Shame about the route cuts.
ReplyDeleteYes a nice and unexpected surprise. The season is really starting earlier and earlier at DBV,
DeleteSad to see easyJet pulling out of Rijeka entirely. This airport desperately needs new routes to stay competitive.
ReplyDeleteThat airport building needs an upgrade. Hasn't changed since it was built.
DeleteI hope easyJet reconsiders some of these cuts
ReplyDeleteAt least there’s a new Liverpool-Split route! I think easyJet is just consolidating.
ReplyDeleteConsolidating? Launching new routes and cutting existing ones is something that LCC airlines do all the time.
DeleteRijeka losing easyJet is a clear signal that the airport management needs to rethink their strategy. Without aggressive partnerships and incentives, more carriers will leave.
ReplyDeleteLet’s face it, Rijeka’s decline isn’t just about easyJet. The airport needs a complete overhaul in its strategy. If they can’t attract even budget airlines, what’s the future for this airport?
DeleteManagement has nothing to do with that.
DeleteSplit remains strong! easyJet knows where the demand is.
ReplyDeleteWould be great if they opened a base in SPU.
DeleteIf they haven't done it so far I highly doubt they will do it anytime soon.
DeleteWhat would be the point of a base?
DeleteWhat is the point of Ryanair's base in Zadar then?
DeleteIt's about strategy. Ryanair in Zadar is a 3-aircraft base. There are something like 60 destinations with low frequencies. easyJet in Split has a totally different strategy. It has a few super-busy routes like London which has 4 flights a day, and it makes no sense to have a base for that.
DeleteMaybe too much competition from Ryanair in Dubrovnik.
ReplyDeleteEasyJet leaving Rijeka entirely is a major setback. The airport can’t seem to catch a break. They need to focus on partnerships with Ryanair or Wizz Air to fill the gap.
ReplyDeleteNot really. BSL-RJK and BER-RJK were both operated for just two months. It's hardly a major loss.
DeleteIt's a loss in terms of losing a major airline at your airport. And considering they have less passengers this year than last, which was also worse than 2022 let alone 2019, any route loss for Rijeka is a big deal.
DeleteWhy would losing a major airline be a major loss when the "major airline" flew to the airport two months per year?
DeleteBecause having a major airline in your portfolio creates interest, makes airlines want to have a look if they should do a feasibility and start flights. If you are served by few airlines and have a lethargic management you won't attract anyone new.
DeleteRijeka had easyJet, it had Lufthansa, it had flights to Heathrow, Ryanair flies there, charter flights, cargo flights etc. And it is still failing. No one cares about "having a major airline in your portfolio"
DeleteIs easyjet at all affected by the engine issue on Airbus planes?
ReplyDeleteNot at all. They chose different types of engines to Wizz Air. That's why they had record profit this year compared to Ryanair and Wizz. By the CEOs own admission it had a lot to do with engines and them being able to operate their entire fleet.
DeleteNo. easyjet uses CMF while Wizz and others that are impacted use Pratt & Whitney
DeleteThanks for the explanation
DeleteLucky
DeleteMaybe just making wiser choices rather than being lucky.
DeleteIt's luck. Who could have predicted this mess?
DeleteThey seem to be very passive in the region. Ok, they are big in Croatia but even there they are only seasonal. They withdrew from Macedonian market, shrunk in Slovenia, Serbia and Montenegro, they aren't even present in Bosnia.
ReplyDeleteeasyJet is highly seasonal everywhere. It has loads of planes parked right now. It is heavily leisure-focused and usually sticks to big markets only so it makes sense that it flies so heavily to Croatia and barely anywhere else in Ex-Yu.
DeleteBy the way, it is not shrinking in Montenegro, it is growing in Tivat. Look how many routes it has next year compared to pre-covid.
They are doing well in PRN too.
DeleteThey are actually the biggest airline in Pristina
DeleteThey fly where they have good profit. They take for base airports where they know that people woll spend money on extra things such as selection of seat, food, extra luggage.
DeleteThey also withdrew from Austria/Vienna entirely and are massively shrinking their ops to Germany. Seem to focus very much on routes from/to UK. Not sure what's their strategy but whatever they are trying to do, seems that they get a good profit out of it
DeleteSo how many pax will Rijeka have this year?
ReplyDeleteProbably around 130,000
DeleteDid RJK have a lot of traffic from Russia and Ukraine before the war?
DeleteNope
DeleteThere were zero flights to Russia and Ukraine.
DeleteThat was expected... That is the price when you are new in the Eurozone, it's called inflation . Greece is much cheaper than Croatia... As they managed to control prices there.
ReplyDeleteGreece didn't "manage to control prices", Greece is much poorer than Croatia and with far more landspace for building new hotels and apartments. It is also an air destination only, because of how far it is from central Europe.
DeleteWho cares about the data and being much poorer: GDP per capita in Greece 24,342 USD in Croatia 23,380 USD.
DeleteHere is a free lesson for you: You need to look at GDP per capita PPP which is the only serious measure of how wealthy an average citizen is.
DeleteMuch poorer? wow
DeleteJust asking since I really wandering how GDP of PPP is connected to the destination, meaning why this data would effect Croatia as a destination?
DeleteIt is poorer; as of this year, Greece is only ahead of Bulgaria, speaking of the EU.
Delete12:26 It affects one thing very clearly - prices are lower. That is why Croatia is more expensive.
DeleteApparently U2 will soon announce new routes from Rome and Milan. So maybe there is a chance to see some new routes to Croatia and ex-Yu in general.
ReplyDeleteMy guess is Dubrovnik and Split will get routes from Linate and Fiumicino. But Split-Rome is super busy so maybe not. Croatia Airlines, Ryanair, Wizz, Vueling...
Delete^ Would be good. Fingers crossed.
DeleteU2 got a lot of slots after ITA and Lufthansa deal was approved and will need a lot of aircraft for this new very lucrative routs.
DeleteThey got slots for Switzerland, Belgium and Germany from Linate airport.
DeleteRijeka airport is a real wasted opportunity. yes tourists from near countries drive there but Crikvenica is 20 mins, Opatija 40 mins..and Krk island ( beautiful) right there..It needs flights from Scandinavia ( only Ryanair sweden), Paris, Switzerland, more from UK, Spain, Riga,. interesting press reports recently about the airport director...
ReplyDeletereal pity.. such an easy airport.
What have been the reports about the airport director?
Deletehttps://www.novilist.hr/novosti/direktor-zracne-luke-rijeka-protuzakonito-sam-sebi-isplatio-36-tisuca-eura-nagrada/
DeleteProbably we can still remember the decision to block access for the buses in the peak of the season forcing tourists to walk with all their luggage to the terminal.
DeleteThis is disappointing especially since Rijeka Airport actively participates in the Udruzeno oglasavanje scheme.
ReplyDeleteSurprising since Rijeka is the cheapest airport on the Adriatic coast
ReplyDeleteEasyJet is performing exceptionally well at Tivat Airport (TIV), with plans for increased flight services in the Summer 2025 (S25) schedule, particularly for routes to and from the United Kingdom(multiple-daily-destinations). Additionally, flights to Berlin and Geneva continue to be strong performers.
ReplyDeleteExceptionally well? It flies to five cities. Six months per year.
DeleteWhere is the "Bravo Hrvatska" coment. LOL
ReplyDeleteI assume they will stop and SOF - MAN and SOF - LGW in the summer
ReplyDeleteThis is literally proof that everybody wants to visit Dalmatia and not Istria or Zagorje.
ReplyDeleteCome to Split, we have plenty of space!!
Read the text before posting a comment. Easyjet to Split and Dubrovnik will be a mixed bag in 2025. Some routes are cancelled or with reduced frequency, some are new or resuming.
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