PREMIUM
airBaltic has maintained limited operations to the former Yugoslavia over the past decade, concentrating primarily on the Croatian coast with seasonal flights to Split, Dubrovnik and Rijeka. The airline also operated flights between Riga and Belgrade from 2009 to 2011 but suspended the service along with a number of other destinations due to financial problems and a fleet shortage at the time. However, the carrier has avoided serving any capital city airport in the former Yugoslavia since. In recent years, Zagreb has proved to be a good opportunity for the airline with a large number of passengers travelling indirectly between the Croatian capital and airBaltic’s hubs in Riga, Tallinn and Vilnius.
During 2019, the last normal year for commercial aviation, the three Baltic capital cities were amongst Zagreb’s fifteen top unserved cities in Europe. That year, 6.698 passengers flew indirectly between Riga and the Croatian capital, 6.320 between Vilnius and Zagreb, as well as 5.476 travellers between Tallinn and Zagreb. In total, 18.497 passengers flew between the Baltic capital cities and Zagreb in 2019. This figure is prior to any market stimulation which would occur as a result of nonstop flights, as well as potential transfer options from Zagreb to the Croatian coast or from the Baltics to Northern Europe. Although numbers were significantly down in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Baltics and the Croatian capital still saw notable passenger flow.
Indirect passenger flow between Baltic capitals and Zagreb in 2019
Indirect passenger flow between Baltic capitals and Zagreb in 2020
Speaking to EX-YU Aviation News prior to the pandemic in 2019, the CEO of airBaltic, Martin Gauss, said, "There is good connectivity from Zagreb to other markets with Croatia Airlines. You are set up well in that region and linked with Lufthansa hubs of Munich and Vienna. If there was no connectivity, I'm sure we could do something more on the Croatian market but we are focusing on expanding first where we can see that we can fill aircraft the easiest, as all airlines do". airBaltic and Croatia Airlines are not codeshare partners. LOT has benefited the most from the lack of flights between the Baltic states and Zagreb. In 2019, it carried 2.893 passengers between Vilnius and Zagreb (45.8% of all indirect travellers), 2.704 between Riga and Zagreb (40.4% of all indirect passengers), as well as 2.509 between Tallinn and the Croatian capital (45.8% of all indirect travellers).
This summer season, airBaltic plans to operate 328 flights (return service included) from two of its bases to Croatia. The seasonal services will be introduced progressively from May 1 and run until the end of the summer season in late October. Routes include Riga to Dubrovnik, Split and Rijeka, as well as from Vilnius to Dubrovnik. Operations from Vilnius to Rijeka, which were inaugurated last summer but suspended shortly after due to the worsening epidemiological situation in Croatia, will not go ahead this year. The Latvian carrier will have 47.560 seats on sale on the Croatian market this summer, while all flights are scheduled to be operated by the Airbus A220-300 aircraft.
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| airBaltic Croatian network during summer 2021 |