Asian markets hold big potential for Zagreb Airport
Zagreb Airport saw strong demand for flights from Asian markets prior to the coronavirus pandemic, resulting in Korean Air and Emirates introducing operations to the Croatian capital over the past few years, while Air Asia X was to start charters from Bangkok during the summer of 2020. However, the global health emergency halted this development, and the ongoing boarder closures and strict entry requirements across the continent have made it difficult to attract any new airlines from the region. Once virus-related measures are eased, Zagreb Airport has the potential to become the regional hub for Asian connectivity.
Global air travel data provider OAG indicates that passenger flow to and from the Far East dominated among Zagreb Airport’s top unserved destinations in Asia prior to the pandemic. Tokyo saw the most indirect passengers, in excess of 20.000 per year, followed by Singapore, Shanghai, Bangkok and Hong Kong. Destinations in India also performed well. Plans were set in motion for Zagreb to secure flights from some of these hubs. Croatia and Japan were negotiating an Air Service Agreement in 2019 which is a precondition for the establishment of nonstop flights. At the time, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, “A tentative framework has been reached until the conclusion of an Air Services Agreement between the two countries. Considering the possibility and forecasts, there is sufficient air traffic demand for scheduled air services between Japan and the Republic of Croatia in the future".
Busiest unserved Asian destinations to/from Zagreb in 2019
Croatia has become a popular tourist destination for Singaporean travellers who hold one of the world’s most powerful passports. In addition to healthy point-to-point demand, a number of passengers transfer via Singapore to reach Croatia. This prompted initial contact between Zagreb Airport and potential carriers in the city-state prior to the pandemic. Middle Eastern airlines have dominated in the transfer of passengers between the two cities. Emirates (during the summer) and its partner Flydubai (over the winter) carried the most travellers between Zagreb and Singapore. They were closely followed by Qatar Airways and Turkish Airlines. LOT Polish Airlines, which launched flights from Warsaw to Singapore in 2018, also proved a popular choice with some of the cheapest fares on the market.
The Croatian Ministry for Sea, Transport and Infrastructure has led efforts for the introduction of flights between Croatia and China. Initial negotiations on establishing the route began in 2018. "We are attempting to reach an agreement over nonstop flights between Zagreb, Beijing and Shanghai. Croatia has been recognised by Chinese tourists as an interesting new destination in Europe", Croatia's Prime Minister, Andrej Plenković, said just prior to the pandemic. Despite growing demand, Croatia Airlines currently has no codeshare agreement in place with any Chinese carrier, nor does it have a codeshare partnership with other airlines on flights to China. Beijing Capital Airlines, a subsidiary of Hainan Airlines, was to introduce services between Beijing and the Croatian capital over the 2017 summer season, however, the planned operations were later cancelled. Initially, the carrier filed for a permit for a two weekly service with an Airbus A330-200 aircraft.
There has also been a surge in interest for flights from India to Zagreb, illustrated by indirect traffic flows from Delhi and Mumbai. Emirates' service between Dubai and Zagreb generated strong interest on the Indian travel market, in line with targets set out by both the airline and the Croatian Ministry for Tourism to produce more passengers from the Indian subcontinent to Croatia. Essa Ahmed, who served as Emirates' Vice President for India and Nepal up until the Covid pandemic, said, "Interest among Indians for our service to Zagreb was very strong. Tourism motivated by TV or movies has really exploded in India in recent years. Filming locations in Dubrovnik featured in popular TV series like "Game of Thrones", has seen a huge jump in tourist interest. These shows are inspiring the new breed of travellers to capture the striking landscapes that they view on shows on a daily basis and become a part of the fantasy tale that they love".
Korean low cost carrier T’way Air has confirmed it plans to launch operations between Seoul and Zagreb as the airline prepares to take delivery of its first wide-body aircraft, the Airbus A330-300, later this month. The company noted that, once Covid-related circumstances permit, it will commence flights from the South Korean capital to Zagreb, Singapore and Sydney. The budget airline is due to take delivery of a further two A330s this year. It aims to become South Korea’s second largest airline following the planned merger between Korean Air and Asiana Airlines. T’Way has received all necessary permits from the Korean Ministry for Land, Infrastructure and Transport to launch up to four weekly commercial flights between Seoul and Croatia. The General Manager of Zagreb Airport, Huseyin Bahadir Bedir, has said he believes long haul operations from Zagreb will be fully restored between 2022 and 2025.
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