Flight delays and cancelations at Croatia Airlines

Croatia Airlines has been forced to cancel many of its flights today as the union of Croatia Airlines pilots, cabin crew, airline technicians and the “Novi sindikat” planned to begin a 24 hour strike. However, late last night they announced they were cancelling today’s strike. Nevertheless all of the planned flight cancellations remain in place. Despite spending over a year discussing the terms of their collective agreements with the airline’s management, no solution has been found. Today's strike was only supposed to be a warning to the management and further industrial action could be taken in the coming months if no agreement is reached. Despite the fact that the strike was supposed to last from 06.00 this morning until 06.00 tomorrow morning, the Croatian national carrier was forced to cancel its evening service to Sarajevo yesterday, since the aircraft would be unable to return to Zagreb in the morning and several flights will be cancelled tomorrow as well. Furthermore, passengers can expect delays on early morning flights tomorrow until operations resume to their full capacity.

The unions note that Croatia Airlines will be operating 80% of its scheduled services. Today, the airline has cancelled its flights to Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Brussels, Zurich, Dubrovnik, Split, Rome, Priština, Vienna, Munich, Pula, Zadar, Sarajevo and Skopje. As a result, return flights from Pula, Zadar, Sarajevo and Skopje, which are scheduled to operate on March 9 have also been cancelled. It should be noted that on some of these destinations, Croatia Airlines operates more than one daily flight and in most cases only one of the daily flights has been cancelled.

Croatia Airlines’ management is fuming over the planned walk out by staff saying that the industrial action is unnecessary. It has been further angered after employees said that they wouldn't strike with the airline unable to resume normal operations today. The carrier claims that the terms set out by the unions go against the airline’s cost cutting measure while seven of the eleven conditions set out by the unions go against Croatia’s state laws. Furthermore, the management says the strike will cost the airline 200.000 euros. Croatia Airlines is offering passengers the opportunity to be either rebooked on other flights or compensated to the full amount of their ticket price. Latest strike details can be found on the carrier’s website here. Those interested in viewing the collective agreement from 2011 that unions want to be changed can view it here (PDF document - in Croatian).

Dubrovnik underperforms as other airports grow

In the first month of 2012, the airports in Zagreb and Dubrovnik saw passenger numbers slide after a record breaking 2011. Other airports in Croatia managed to record passenger growth.

Croatia’s busiest airport Zagreb welcomed 131.068 passengers, a decrease in of 5.6% compared to the same month last year. Zagreb’s slow start was followed by a significant fall in the number of transit passengers passing through the airport. Dubrovnik, which was Croatia’s second busiest airport in 2011 and the fifth busiest in the former Yugoslavia, saw an even bigger decline than its counterpart in Zagreb. Dubrovnik handled 17.843 compared to 21.288 passengers in 2011, a decrease of almost 20%.

Other airports in Croatia had better luck with Split, Pula, Zadar and Osijek all recording a passenger growth. Split’s numbers were better than those of Dubrovnik as the airport welcomed 24.678 passengers through its doors. Pula Airport will be content with its January performance as it recorded a passenger increase of 24.2%. Both Rijeka and Brač airports saw triple digit growth but together handled only 47 passengers.

Below you can review the performance of Croatia’s airports in January 2012. Overall, Croatian airports handled 176.929 passengers, a decrease of 5.6% compared to January 2011. The statistics have been provided by the Croatian Bureau of Statistics.

Airport	Passengers JAN 2012	Passengers JAN 2011	Change (%)
Zagreb	131.068	138.370	▼ 5.6
Dubrovnik	17.843	21.288	▼ 19.3
Split	24.678	24.428	▲ 1.1
Zadar	2.216	1.848	▲ 16.6
Pula	995	754	▲ 24.2
Rijeka	31	11	▲ 64.5
Osijek	56	35	▲ 60.0
Brač	16	1	▲ 1500.0
Mali Lošinj	26	72	▼ 63.9

easyjet dumps Dortmund service

The low cost airline easyJet will suspend its flights from Dortmund to Zagreb from May 20, leaving the no frills carrier only with services from London Gatwick to the Croatian capital. The flights from Dortmund in western Germany operated twice per week over the winter and will increase to three weekly flights from March 25 until their suspension two months later. It follows a decision made by easyJet in December last year to terminate flights from Paris to both Zagreb and Ljubljana. Germany has the most flights and seat capacity out of Zagreb.

It will be the second time Zagreb has lost a link to Dortmund. Previously, in 2010, Wizz Air scheduled flights from Dortmund to Zagreb but cancelled the route. The news will be warmly welcomed by Croatia Airlines which has previously accused Zagreb Airport of giving special waivers to low cost airlines operating to the airport. It even threatened to suspend routes on which it competed with low cost airlines. In late 2010 Tonči Peović, the head of Zagreb Airport, told the press that he offered easyJet to operate flights to Zagreb out of six different cities, although the airline settled only for Paris and London and later introduced Dortmund. easyJet will maintain five weekly flights between London Gatwick and Zagreb over the coming summer.

Despite pulling out on the Dortmund - Zagreb service, easyJet will launch several seasonal flights to both Dubrovnik and Split. They include flights to Dubrovnik from Berlin, Madrid, Milan, Rome, Geneva, Paris and London as well as flights to Split from Amsterdam, Berlin, Bristol, Geneva, London, Milan, Paris and Rome.

Passenger numbers slide at Zagreb Airport

Zagreb Airport has recorded a second consecutive month of declining passenger numbers, on the back of a weaker performance by its main customer Croatia Airlines. While the passenger slump in December 2011 was only slight, standing at 0.2%, the gap widened in January when Zagreb handled 131.068 passengers. Therefore, the airport saw a decrease of 5.3% compared to last January when it welcomed 138.370 passengers. The number of flights operating to and from the Croatian capital increased marginally, by 0.4%, in the first month of 2012.

Other airports in Croatia also underperformed in January with numbers significantly down at Dubrovnik, which handled only 17.843 passengers, a decrease of 16.2% compared to last year making it its worst January performance since 2008. Full January results for all of Croatia’s airports will be published by the end of the month.

Zagreb Airport will hope to overturn its results soon. This summer, Croatia’s busiest airport will enjoy new seasonal summer services and charters by Croatia Airlines. The airport will also see Lufthansa inaugurate flights from Berlin while Qatar Airways introduces daily flights from Doha via Budapest.

Priština overtakes Ljubljana as third busiest airport in the former Yugoslavia

Priština has finished 2011 as the third busiest airport in the former Yugoslavia, for the first time since it opened its doors in 1965. The dethroned Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport fell into fourth place with Dubrovnik Airport hot on its heels. A total of six airports managed to handle more than one million passengers.

Ljubljana Airport was affected by Adria Airways’ crisis last year and its significant reduction of flights, which were felt during the months of August, November and December. Since January the airport has recorded declining or break even numbers compared to those from 2010, with the exception of April when the airport saw significant growth. As a result, Slovenia’s capital city airport welcomed just under 1.370.000 passengers, a decrease of 1.3% compared to 2010. It should be taken into account that Ljubljana was closed for almost an entire month in 2010. Since 2008, when Ljubljana saw record traffic by handling 1.673.050 passengers, its figures have steadily decreased each year. Ljubljana Airport expects lower traffic volumes and revenue in 2012. Still, the airport says that Adria’s decline should be substituted by foreign airlines and charter flights this year.

Priština Airport handled 1.422.302 passengers, an increase of almost 9%. The three busiest airlines operating out of Priština were Edelweiss, Adria Airways and Belle Air. The most popular destinations out of the city were Zurich, Vienna and Dusseldorf. As has previously been reported, Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport is well ahead of its competition and in 2011 strengthened its position as the busiest airport in the former Yugoslavia. Other notable achievements were recorded by Zagreb, Dubrovnik, Skopje, Ohrid and Tivat. Joining Ljubljana as the only EX-YU capital city airport to see its figures decline in 2011 was Podgorica.

Below you can review the number of handled passengers by the ten busiest airports in the former Yugoslavia in 2011:

Airport	Passengers 2011	Passengers 2010	Change (%)
Belgrade	3.124.633	2.698.730	▲ 15.8
Zagreb	2.319.098	2.071.561	▲ 11.9
Priština	1.422.302	1.305.532	▲ 8.9
Ljubljana	1.370.000	1.388.651	▼ 1.3
Dubrovnik	1.349.501	1.270.062	▲ 6.3
Split	1.300.381	1.219.741	▲ 8.1
Skopje	759.928	681.080	▲ 11.6
Tivat	647.169	542.000	▲ 19.4
Podgorica	611.666	651.478	▼ 6.1
Sarajevo	599.996	563.266	▲ 6.5

Spanair ceases all operations

At midnight Spanair, Spain’s second largest airline, ceased operations after the carrier failed to find a buyer. On Friday, Qatar Airways had walked away from talks to take over the money losing airline after months of negotiations. The government of Spain's Catalonia region is Spanair's main shareholder, while Spanair's former owner, Scandinavian airline SAS, still owns an 11.9% stake. However, the Catalan government says it can no longer finance the airline.

Spanair has ceased all operations, suspending with it scheduled flights to Belgrade and its planned seasonal summer service to Zagreb and Dubrovnik. During this winter season, Spanair operated three weekly flights between Barcelona and Belgrade and on Friday morning announced it would increase the service to four times per week during the summer. Furthermore, the airline has also operated seasonal flights from Madrid to the Serbian capital in the past. Zagreb Airport will also be at a loss as Spanair operated seasonal flights to the Croatian capital from its Barcelona base. Last summer, Spanair also operated flights from Barcelona and Madrid to Dubrovnik. As Star Alliance partners, Spanair and Croatia Airlines code shared on each others' flights.

As a result, Jat Airways is now likely to resume seasonal summer flights to Girona while Iberia and Vueling Airlines will be operating flights from several Spanish cities to Dubrovnik and Split. Croatia Airlines should resume seasonal summer flights from Zagreb to Barcelona.

More flights from Belgrade to Croatia

Jat Airways is making further changes to its upcoming seasonal flights to the Croatian coast. The airline has increased the number of weekly flights from Belgrade to Dubrovnik to three per week, from the original two flights planned. The service from Belgrade to Dubrovnik turned out to be successful for the airline when they were resumed last year after a twenty year suspension. Furthermore, Jat is expected to be the sole operator on the route in 2012 as Croatia Airlines is unlikely to resume the flights, although no firm decision has been made yet. The revised details for the service, which launches June 15, can be found here.

The Serbian carrier has also made changes to its two weekly Pula service, which is now set to begin on June 2 rather than a month later as originally planned. Flights to Split, which will be resumed after 21 years remain unchanged and are set to be inaugurated on July 3.

Back in 1963

Besides flights to Croatia, Jat will be operating seasonal flights to London Gatwick and Ohrid this summer. It is unsure whether the airline will resume its seasonal flights to Girona in Spain which it launched over the summer of 2011, proving popular with passengers. Jat plans to operate its 2012 summer network with 13 out of its 14 member fleet.

Zagreb to Belgrade after 21 years

The CEO of Croatia Airlines, Srećko Šimunović, announced at a recent Star Alliance meeting in the Ethiopian capital Addis Abeba, that the national carrier will launch seasonal flights from Zagreb to Belgrade this summer. It will mark a resumption of services between the two cities after twenty one years. No flight details for the planned service were revealed. Last February, at a meeting between the Serbian and Croatian national carriers, it was initially arranged for Croatia Airlines to operate flights between the two capital cities, although little of the agreements made back then were carried through.

JAT Yugoslav Airlines operated its final service from Zagreb to Belgrade on August 6, 1991. There have been no revenue flights between the two cities since. Most flights were operated with the DC9s although due to the amount of frequencies and connecting services, the flights also saw B727s, B737s and DC10s. During the 1980s, the Belgrade - Zagreb - Belgrade service was the airline’s second busiest, trailing behind the Belgrade - Dubrovnik - Belgrade flights.

If all plans are carried through, Belgrade will be served from four cities in Croatia - Zagreb (Croatia Airlines), Dubrovnik (Jat/Croatia Airlines), Split (Jat) and Pula (Jat) this summer season, all of which will be operated on a seasonal basis. Meanwhile, Croatia Airlines has suspended plans to launch new services from Dubrovnik to Munich. They were scheduled to be launched on April 16, two times per week.

Croatia Airline expands into Eastern Europe

The CEO of Croatia Airlines, Srećko Šimunović, has said that the national carrier plans to expand its services into Eastern Europe by 2014. As has previously been reported, Croatia Airlines will inaugurate flights to Moscow this summer season. In 2014 the airline will be launching flights to Sofia and St. Petersburg, which should coincide with the arrival of new aircraft. Although the first of four ordered Airbus A319s are set to begin arriving from 2013 through to 2014, there are indications that the arrivals could be pushed back until 2015 and 2016.

Despite frequency increases throughout the network over the summer and the introduction of flights to Moscow, plans are also being made for the carrier to suspend several loss making routes. The action is needed in order for Croatia Airlines to reach its goal of operating with a profit in 2012. Last year showed encouraging trends as the airline managed to slash its losses.

Croatia Airlines has also made an announcement that it will resume its seasonal summer flights from Dubrovnik to Belgrade, launched last year. It will once again compete against Jat Airways on the route. On its new Zagreb to Moscow service, Croatia Airlines will face competition from Aeroflot.

Passenger plunge at Dubrovnik Airport

Despite a record breaking year for most Croatian airports, growth somewhat slowed in November compared to the same month last year. The number of passengers using Croatia’s main airports decreased by half of a percent compared to the same month last year.

Zagreb Airport, which launched a new look website earlier this week, continued to report positive figures by handling 156.755 passengers, up 3.2%. Overall, growth this year has amounted to 8% with 2.083.366 passengers passing through its doors. In November, Zagreb was joined by Split, Rijeka and Mali Lošinj as the other airports also to record growth. In Rijeka it amounted to 753% with the airport handling 111 passengers (up from 13 last year), while growth at Mali Lošinj reached 304% with 97 passenger welcomed.

On the other hand, Dubrovnik saw disappointing results. The coastal airport handled 26.007 passengers, down 20.3% on last year. Numbers were also down in Pula which saw only 1.051 passengers.

Below you can review the performance of Croatia’s airports in November 2011. Overall, Croatian airports handled 212.410 passengers, a decrease of 0.5% compared to November 2010. The statistics have been provided by the Croatian Bureau of Statistics.

Airport	Passengers NOV 2011	Passengers NOV 2010	Change (%)
Zagreb	156.755	151.908	▲ 3.2
Dubrovnik	26.007	32.626	▼ 20.3
Pula	1.051	1.201	▼ 12.5
Split	26.666	25.905	▲ 2.9
Zadar	1.657	1.672	▼ 0.9
Osijek	66	130	▼ 49.2
Rijeka	111	13	▲ 753.9
Mali Lošinj	97	24	▲ 304.2

Soon in Dubrovnik

S7 Airlines and Malmo Aviation have announced flights to the Croatian coast next summer, while Belle Air Europe will be launching another destination from Priština, thus strengthening its base.

The number of Russian tourists visiting Croatia has sharply increased over the past few years and Russian carriers are looking to cash in. S7 Airlines has announced that it will launch flights from Moscow Domodedovo Airport to Dubrovnik from June 7, with a one weekly flight. The service will compete against Aeroflot which will operate daily flights to Dubrovnik (up from three weekly this year) from June 1, although services originate from its base at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport. Furthermore, S7 will resume flights from Moscow to Split, which were launched during the 2011 summer season, with an added weekly service, totalling to two per week. Flight details for the Moscow Domodedovo - Dubrovnik flights can be found here. Meanwhile, Malmo Aviation will launch services from Billund in Denmark to Split. Flights will operate from June 23 once per week with details available here.

Belle Air Europe plans to inaugurate flights from Priština to Hannover in Germany next summer. It will be the fourteenth destination to be served by Belle Air from Priština. Flights are set to take off in late June. Belle Air is fast becoming the most dominant airline at Priština Airport. Since Belle Air (which operates flights from Priština to Switzerland) and its subsidiary Belle Air Europe are coded as separate airlines they have been recorded as the third and fourth busiest airlines operating out of Priština in 2011 respectively. However, if the two are combined they are ahead of competition with a 19% share of flights from the city, in front of Adria’s 15% and Austrian’s 12%. Several days ago the Swiss based Helvetic Airways launched services from Priština to Bern. After Germany, Switzerland is the biggest market out of Priština Airport.

Rijeka Airport most improved in October

In October Zagreb Airport surpassed the two million passenger mark by handling 208.384 passengers, an increase of 11.3% compared to the same month last and thus handled 2.083.384 passengers in the first ten months of the year. Zagreb is on target to reach its best result in history since it opened its doors in 1962.

There was also good news for all of Croatia’s other major airports in October as well. Dubrovnik handled 107.546 passengers, an increase of 4.5% and has so far welcomed 1.287.991 passengers. Split also did well standing at 92.698 passenger, up 8.3% on October 2010. The most improved airport in the month of October compared to last was Rijeka, which saw passenger figures rise by 52%. Also worth mentioning is Pula, which with 15.415 passengers improved its result by 43.9%. The busiest airports in 2011 after Zagreb, Dubrovnik and Split are Pula, Zadar and Rijeka.

Below you can review the performance of Croatia’s airports in October 2011. Overall, Croatian airports handled 459.538 passengers, an increase of 9.7% compared to October 2010. The statistics have been provided by the Croatian Bureau of Statistics.

Airport	Passengers OCT 2011	Passengers OCT 2010	Change (%)
Zagreb	208.384	187.286	▲ 11.3
Dubrovnik	107.546	102.963	▲ 4.5
Pula	15.415	10.714	▲ 43.9
Split	92.698	85.592	▲ 8.3
Zadar	26.587	25.590	▲ 3.9
Osijek	2.697	2.311	▲ 16.7
Rijeka	5.503	3.620	▲ 52.0
Mali Lošinj	230	217	▲ 6.0

Like old times … Jat to Pula, Dubrovnik and Split

Jat Airways has announced that it will launch flights to Split and Pula next summer and will resume its seasonal service to Dubrovnik which was launched during this year’s summer season. Flights to the Pearl of the Adriatic will resume on June 15, flights to Pula will commence on July 2 and services to Split will be inaugurated on July 3. All of the abovementioned routes will operate two times per week using the regional ATR72. Jat had major success with its Dubrovnik route over the summer, despite direct competition from Croatia Airlines, with the load factor often exceeding 90%.

Jat resumed flights to Pula after seventeen years in 2008 as a seasonal service. Due to bureaucratic bungling between the two countries the route was not resumed a year later. Flights to Pula will now operate every Monday and Wednesday afternoon. Details can be found here.

The Serbian national carrier will link Belgrade and Split for the first time in almost 21 years. JAT Yugoslav Airlines operated its final service between Belgrade and Croatia’s second largest city on August 6, 1991. Jat will serve Split every Tuesday and Thursday. Details can be found here. Services to Dubrovnik will operate on the same days and at the same times as it had over the 2011 summer season.

Zagreb Airport strike

Major delays are expected today at Zagreb Airport as employees launch a five hour strike from 11.00 to 16.00 CET. All flights set to depart during these hours will be affected, according to the workers union. A fresh 24 hour strike will be launched on Monday, closing Zagreb Airports' doors. Employees are unhappy with worker rights, low pay and a future concession.

New flights to Zageb, Zadar, Split and Dubrovnik

The German national carrier Lufthansa will be introducing several new services to Croatia next summer season. From its new base at Berlin Brandenburg Airport the airline will launch flights to Zagreb, Split, Zadar and Dubrovnik. Additionally, Lufthansa will also inaugurate new flights from Frankfurt to Dubrovnik. It marks one of the biggest expansions undertaken by Lufthansa on the Croatian market. Germany continues to be the lead country market out of Croatia.

Services from Berlin to Zagreb will commence on June 3, 2012 when the new airport opens its doors. Flights will operate four times per week with an Airbus A319. Flight details can be found here. Lufthansa, together with its low cost subsidiary Germanwings, will cement its position as the second busiest airline operating out of the Croatian capital after Croatia Airlines. Besides the addition of Berlin, the two airlines offer flights from Frankfurt, Munich, Stuttgart and Cologne. As a result of Lufthansa’s new Berlin flights, Germanwings will terminate its service from Berlin’s Schonefeld Airport.

The German national carrier will also operate flights from Berlin to Dubrovnik and Zadar once per week from June 9 and a three weekly service to Split starting June 7. The airline will complete its expansion with a one weekly flight from Frankfurt to Dubrovnik, operated by an Embraer E190 jet.

Croatia Airlines to launch new flights from Dubrovnik and Zadar

Croatia Airlines is planning ahead for the next summer season, in 2012. The airline will introduce new flights from secondary hubs in Dubrovnik and Zadar. A new service from Dubrovnik to Munich will be inaugurated on April 16 with two weekly flights. Services will operate with a Dash 8. However, the airline will suspend its flights from Dubrovnik to both Vienna and Istanbul. On the other hand, the Croatian national carrier is launching flights from Zadar to Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport on May 1. The flights will operate with an Airbus A319, once per week. The airline has also confirmed that it will resume its seasonal service from Zagreb to Athens which operated over the 2011 summer season. Flight details for the Dubrovnik - Munich route can be found here while information regarding the service from Zadar to Paris can be found by clicking on this link. Croatia Airlines can expect strong competition from other airlines at its secondary hubs throughout the country with many airlines announcing new services to Croatian cities from the 2012 summer season.

There is no news whether Croatia Airlines will resume its seasonal flights from Dubrovnik to Belgrade which were launched over the summer for the first time. The airline’s CEO, Srećko Šmunović, announced in June that the carrier plans to extend its Dubrovnik - Belgrade flights to an all year round service, while flights from Split to the Serbian capital would be introduced during the summer of 2012.

Meanwhile, the airline has announced that it has managed to reduce its losses. Croatia Airlines recorded a loss of 5.2 million Euros for the first nine months of the year. At the same time last year losses amounted to 14.5 million Euros. Croatia Airlines has seen a record year in passenger numbers.

Croatian airports record growth in September

Last week Zagreb surpassed the two million passengers mark, an impressive 48 days ahead of last year. The passenger was travelling from Zagreb to Istanbul on a Turkish Airlines flight. In September, Zagreb saw 240.805 passengers, an increase of 12.6% compared to last year.

Elsewhere in Croatia, Dubrovnik and Split both recorded a passenger increase compared to September 2010. The two have handled a total of 2.307.811 passengers this year and during November managed to surpass the end of year result from last year. Pula also recorded a passenger increase with the airport seeing almost 8% more passengers this year compared to last. With 886 passengers at Mali Lošinj this September, the airport grew 82.3%.

On the other hand, Zadar is continuing to record a passenger slump. Numbers fell by 3.5%, although so far this year the airport has seen growth of some 3%. Osijek handled 2.475 passengers, which is down on last September. Osijek Airport won’t see any scheduled flights until the end of the year, meaning its figures will significantly decline from now until March 2012.

Below you can review the performance of Croatia’s airports in September 2011. OveSeptember 2010. The statistics have been provided by the Croatian Bureau of Statistics.

Airport	Passengers SEP 2011	Passengers SEP 2010	Change (%)
Zagreb	240.805	213.876	▲ 12.6
Dubrovnik	203.360	187.630	▲ 8.4
Pula	55.763	52.770	▲ 5.7
Split	182.459	171.066	▲ 6.7
Zadar	36.928	38.266	▼ 3.5
Osijek	2.475	2.821	▼ 12.8
Rijeka	13.557	9.870	▲ 37.4
Mali Lošinj	886	486	▲ 82.3

Winter changes

The 2011/2012 winter season begins tomorrow.

As has been previously reported, B&H Airlines will suspend flights to Amsterdam this winter. Compared to the 2010/2011 winter season the airline has terminated a total of six destinations. Since flights to Copenhagen will now operate via Banja Luka and all four weekly frequencies from Sarajevo to Zurich will also make a stop in Banja Luka, the second largest city in Bosnia and Herzegovina will see six weekly flights operated by B&H, which is an increase of one compared to last winter. The frequency for the airline’s Zurich service has decreased by one flight since last winter and will be served four times per week. Flights to Istanbul remain unchanged.

Croatia Airlines won’t be making too many changes to its winter line up of destinations and frequencies compared to last year. Flights from Zagreb to Istanbul, which were launched over the summer, will remain throughout the winter period while Priština will also see an extra weekly flight. Facing competition from easyJet, Croatia Airlines will decrease its Paris flights from daily last year to five per week. On the other hand, it will continue to operate to the French capital from Dubrovnik two times per week, which is a new addition. As has been the case in the past few years, the airline won’t operate flights from Rijeka and Osijek during the winter.

Montenegro Airlines will see frequency cuts across the board over the winter period. However, it should be noted that last winter the airline practically operated its 2010 summer season timetable. Flights from Podgorica to Belgrade, Frankfurt, Moscow, Rome and Zurich will all be decreased while flights to London suspended. However, the airline will continue to operate flights from Tivat to Moscow which were launched during the 2011 summer season.

By clicking on the links below, you can view the 2011/2012 winter season changes in more detail.

B&H Airlines • Croatia Airlines • Montenegro Airlines

Dubrovnik Airline 2004 - 2011

Local newspaper “Dubrovački vjesnik” has reported that the charter company Dubrovnik Airline has been permanently grounded and put out of business. The debt stricken airline operated its final service on Sunday and is expected to declare bankruptcy soon. However, it is important to note the airline’s Managing Director, Zeno Singer, is still to officially confirm the news. Dubrovnik Airline has had major financial problems since the start of the global financial crisis which hit the aviation industry in the former Yugoslavia in 2009. Dubrovnik Airline was left with a single aircraft this year during the peak summer season. Adding to Dubrovnik Airline’s financial problems was the decision made earlier this year by the shipping company Atlantska plovidba, who set up the airline, to pull out of its ownership structure. After the decision was made, many employees at Dubrovnik Airline lost their jobs bringing the number of down to just 78.

Dubrovnik Airline was launched in December 2004. Over the years it has contributed greatly to its main hub Dubrovnik as well as Split. During its highpoint the airline operated a fleet of five aircraft and employed some 200 people. In the last year it announced several times its plans to expand and even introduced regular all year round flights.

In a poll conducted by Source : EXYU aviation news : http://exyuaviation.blogspot.com earlier this year, asking visitors which smaller former Yugoslav airline had the biggest potential to grow, the most votes (215 out 623 or 34%) went to Dubrovnik Airline.

Rijeka Airport sees largest passenger growth in 2011

Most of Croatia’s airports maintained passenger growth throughout August. Rijeka continued its comeback, Zagreb saw solid growth while both Zadar and Osijek saw numbers slide.

In August, Zagreb handled 249.159 passengers, an increase of 7.8% compared to the same month last year. So far in 2011, Croatia’s busiest airport has handled 1.568.005 passengers, an impressive surge of 14.2%. However, growth in Dubrovnik slowed with numbers increasing only 1% despite an increase in the number of flight being operated to and from the airport. In the first eight months of the year Dubrovnik has welcomed 977.085 passengers while Split saw 944.907. With 18.282 passengers, Rijeka Airport enjoyed a 35% increase. So far this year, Rijeka has seen the biggest boost in passenger numbers out of all of Croatia’s airports by handling 59.694 passengers, improving its figures by 24.5% on last year's result. In 2010 due to sliding figures and finances there were suggestions to shut down the airport.

On the other hand, Zadar continued its downward slide. With 49.956 passengers, numbers fell by 11.8%, even though the number of flights operating this August increased. Meanwhile, Osijek handled only 4.124 passengers.

Below you can review the performance of Croatia’s airports in August 2011. Overall, Croatian airports handled 932.045 passengers, an increase of 4.1% compared to August 2010. The statistics have been provided by the Croatian Bureau of Statistics.

Airport	Passengers AUG 2011	Passengers AUG 2010	Change (%)
Zagreb	249.159	231.155	▲ 7.8
Dubrovnik	262.262	259.638	▲ 1.0
Pula	86.686	78.996	▲ 9.7
Split	257.031	246.221	▲ 4.4
Zadar	49.956	56.624	▼ 11.8
Osijek	4.124	5.041	▼ 18.2
Rijeka	18.282	13.544	▲ 35.0
Mali Lošinj	1.797	1.298	▲ 38.4

Split Airport busiest in Croatia in July

In July Croatian airports recorded steady passenger growth when compared to last year. The country’s main airport, Zagreb, once again recorded a formidable result while last year’s star performer Zadar saw its numbers slip.



Zagreb’s Pleso Airport handled 256.256 passengers in July, an increase of 9.5% compared to the same period last year. The number of flights operating to and from the airport increased nearly 2%. By the end of July, Zagreb has seen 1.318.846 passengers pass through its doors, an impressive increase of 15.5%. Both Dubrovnik and Split fared well in July with Split recording a 10% passenger increase while Dubrovnik did even better with a 13% increase. Split handled more passengers than Zagreb thus becoming the busiest airport in the country in July. Rijeka Airport’s positive run continued with it handling 21.210 passengers, 36.7% better than last year.



On the other hand, Zadar and Osijek saw their numbers decrease on last year. Zadar was directly impacted by a decrease in the number of flights operating to and from the airport. It saw 50.890 passengers use its facilities in July which is down 8.3% on last year. Osijek saw a second month of sliding passenger numbers.



Below you can review the performance of Croatia’s airports in July 2011. Overall, Croatian airports handled 946.547 passengers, an increase of 9.4% compared to July 2010. The statistics have been provided by the Croatian Bureau of Statistics.

Airport	Passengers JUL 2011	Passengers JUL 2010	Change (%)
Zagreb	256.256	234.071	▲ 9.5
Dubrovnik	252.869	223.800	▲ 13.0
Pula	86.357	81.877	▲ 5.5
Split	270.791	246.084	▲ 10.0
Zadar	50.890	55.466	▼ 8.3
Osijek	4.013	4.477	▼ 10.4
Rijeka	21.210	15.517	▲ 36.7
Mali Lošinj	934	1.224	▼ 23.7