Croatia Airlines dumps Rijeka

Croatia Airlines - a distant memory for Rijeka

Rijeka Airport has not had a good start to the year. The airport has lost most of its funding and is now loosing a customer. Croatia Airlines will terminate its only service from the airport - seasonal summer flights to London. In a statement, the airline explains its decision, “Due to business rationalisation and the restructuring of our timetable, Croatia Airlines will terminate flights from Rijeka to London during the summer of 2010. One of the reasons for such action is the low profitability of these flights”. The airline also states that it has no plans to introduce any new services from Rijeka and will therefore completely withdraw from the airport.

Rijeka Airport is also fighting a battle not to loose its status as an international airport. The director of the airport, Mladen Pasarić, believes that the airport will be hit hard by Croatia Airlines’ decision. “I believe that the termination of this service, which catered for our diaspora in the United States, is damaging, especially since tickets were selling well. For us, the damage is even greater. It’s not the same when the national carrier reduces frequencies rather than when it completely withdraws from your airport. Honestly, we thought that frequencies on this service would be increased due to high interest”, Pasarić said.

For the 2010 summer season, Croatia Airlines will be decreasing frequencies from some Croatian airports.