Star Alliance member Croatia Airlines is reacting to the forthcoming expansion of competitor Ryanair in Zagreb and Zadar. The carrier is relocating some routes to Split Airport, where there is significantly less competition.
These are the destinations Stockholm-Arlanda, Bucharest, Dublin, Milan-Malpensa and Amsterdam. Furthermore, on May 2nd, 2022, it will be the currently pausing route reactivate between Osijek and Munich. This will then be served twice a week, although no aircraft will be stationed in the Croatian city.
Ryanair has been expanding a lot in Croatia for some time. The Maltese airline Lauda Europe maintains bases at Zagreb and Zadar airports. Other corporate airlines also fly to the two airports from other bases. Croatia Airlines apparently sees itself as different from its Irish competitor increasingly under pressure. With regard to the product, an innovation was only recently introduced, and one at that slimmed down business class.
The Star Alliance member is offering increased non-stop connections to/from Split in the forthcoming summer season. There is less competition at this airport because the Ryanair Group focuses heavily on Zagreb, Zadar and Dubrovnik. Croatia Airlines will commence the new split routes in mid-June 2022 and will operate as follows: Milan-Malpensa three times a week, Amsterdam once a week, Bucharest twice a week, Dublin three times a week and Stockholm-Arlanda twice a week. The carrier expressly does not rule out the possibility of additional non-stop flights from secondary Croatian airports. These would then be at the expense of the Zagreb offer.
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