Croatia Airlines eyes Middle East return, network growth

Croatia Airlines is gearing up for the start of the height of the 2022 summer season with the carrier to station two aircraft in Split, shift several routes previously operated out of Zagreb and increase frequencies on a number of services from the country’s second largest city. From its main base in Zagreb, the airline will restore 2019 summer frequencies to several destinations. These include Amsterdam, Copenhagen, London Heathrow, Paris, Rome, Sarajevo, and Zurich, as well as its domestic flights. None of the destinations will be operating above pre-Covid levels from Zagreb. The airline plans to return to the Middle East with the resumption of a one weekly service from the Croatian capital to Tel Aviv starting June 3. Although the route has been added to the Global Distribution System, tickets are currently not on sale. Compared to the pre-pandemic period, Croatia Airlines will be operating eleven fewer destinations from its main hub.

Croatia Airlines Zagreb operations in June

Destination	Weekly frequency	Notes
Amsterdam	7
Athens	4	3 flights via Dubrovnik 1 flight via Split
Barcelona	3
Brussels	10	11 flights from JUN 21
Brač	2
Copenhagen	7
Dublin	2	suspended from JUN 9
Dubrovnik	23 - 28	27 flights from JUN 13 28 flights from JUN 20
Frankfurt	18 - 19	11 flights from JUN 13
London Heathrow	3
Munich	9 - 12	12 flights from JUN 6 10 flights from JUN 13 9 flights from JUN 27
Paris	7
Pula	10	3 flights nonstop 7 via Zadar
Rome	9	7 flights via Split 2 flights via Dubrovnik
Sarajevo	13
Skopje	10
Split	24 - 29	29 flights from JUN 6 24 flights from JUN 13
Tel Aviv	1	resumes JUN 3
Vienna	6 - 9	9 flights from JUN 6 6 flights from JUN 13
Zadar	8
Zurich	14

 

The Croatian carrier will maintain 21 destinations out of Split this summer. As previously reported, it will shift services formerly operated out of the capital, including Bucharest, Milan and Stockholm, while Dublin, which is still being maintained from Zagreb, will be suspended and moved to Split from mid-June. Amsterdam will complete the line-up of new routes from Croatia’s second largest city this summer. Croatia Airlines plans to have two aircraft stationed in Split over the coming months - an Airbus A319 and a Dash 8 turboprop. By doing so, the carrier will increase frequencies on a number of routes it has traditionally served from the city, outstripping pre-pandemic levels. These include Copenhagen, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Lyon, Munich and Vienna, while no destination will be served with fewer flights than three years ago.

Croatia Airlines Split operations in June

Destination	Weekly frequency	Notes
Amsterdam	1	starts JUN 14
Athens	1
Berlin	1
Bucharest	2	starts JUN 10
Copenhagen	3
Dublin	3	starts JUN 12
Dusseldorf	2
Frankfurt	9
London Gatwick	2
London Heathrow	1
Lyon	1 - 2	2 flights from JUN 15
Paris	3
Prague	1
Milan	2	starts JUN 12
Munich	10 - 12	12 flights from JUN 13
Rome	7
Vienna	5 - 7	7 flights from JUN 13
Osijek	1
Stockholm	2	starts JUN 12
Zurich	5
Zagreb	22 - 25	22 flights from JUN 6 25 flights from JUN 13

 

Apart from Zagreb and Split, Croatia Airlines will operate several international destinations from Dubrovnik, as well as Munich from Rijeka and Osijek. The carrier’s Head of Network and Revenue Management, Krešimir Mlinar, recently said, “Based on the outlook that leisure travel and tourism will recover quicker than business travel following the coronavirus pandemic, we made certain changes to our network. From June onwards, we expect high levels of fleet utilisation. Some aircraft types will be in use more than in 2019. That year we also had two jets on wet-lease so as to reduce seasonality. However, it was too risky to employ the same strategy this year”.

Croatia Airlines Dubrovnik operations in June

Destination	Weekly frequency	Notes
Athens	3
Frankfurt	6 - 7	7 flights from JUN 13
Osijek	1
Munich	4
Rome	2
Zurich	4
Zagreb	25 - 27	27 flights from JUN 13

 

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