In the period from 25th Match to 27th October in 2018, more than 70 new regular flight connections have been introduced, whilst the growth of the total number of turnarounds is 15% in relation to 2017. The mentioned growth represents an increase in the number of turnarounds from 29,843 turnarounds in 2017 to more than 34,400 turnarounds in 2018.
“The key goals which we have defined are the positioning of Croatia as an attractive year-round tourist destination which at the same time is very well connected transport-wise, particularly in the context of flight connections which are a key sector in the extension of tourist traffic in the pre- and post-season periods. It is precisely with this goal that this year for the first time we have implemented a more significant collaboration with airline companies and travel organisers from abroad”, said the Director of the Croatian National Tourism Board Kristjan Staničić.
“Apart from the emphasis on the quality of our overall tourist offer, we are following trends in the market and expanding the demand on those markets which have the greatest potential for the growth in tourist traffic. The airlines have an essential role in this and enable Croatia to become an even more competitive and interesting global tourist destination”, concluded the Minister for Tourism Gari Cappelli.
Analysing the summer schedule of flights by destinations, according to the absolute number of reported new turnarounds Split is leading with an increase of 27.7%, in second place is Dubrovnik with an increase of 19.6%, whilst in third place is Zagreb with a growth of 6%. And so Split this year, amongst others, is also connected with new flights by Volotea with Nice, Palermo and Bergamo, whilst it is connected with London, Bristol and Glasgow via Thomas Cook, and with Düsseldorf and Hannover via Condor. Dubrovnik is connected with new flights from easyJet to Naples, Venice and London, whilst it is connected with TUI flights to Nottingham, Newcastle and Deauville. Zagreb is connected to Toronto with a new route by Air Canada, whilst Croatia Airlines had introduced a new route to Dublin. Also exciting are new flights to Zadar which is connected by Ryanair flights to Frankfurt, Bremen and Allgäu Memmingen (Bavaria), as well as new connections with Pula from easyJet with Basel, Milan, Berlin, Liverpool and London.
Looking at the outbound markets, the greatest turnaround is planned between Germany and Croatia (+10% in relation to last year), and then follow connections with the United Kingdom (+8%), France (+7%), Italy (+39%) and Switzerland (+25%). The beginning of the summer season of flights, which in the first week saw significantly more turnarounds than was the case last year, is an additional indicator of the significant increase of flight connections in this year. Namely, as many as 536 turnarounds will be active in the first week, which in comparison to 451 turnarounds in the first week of last year represents a growth of 19%. The most new turnarounds in the first week were recorded in the airports of Dubrovnik, Zagreb and Split.
We should note that the mentioned analysis of airline connectivity of Croatia and outbound markets was carried out on the basis of information from Croatian airports in the mentioned period. In accordance with this, flight times are to a lesser extent subject to changes during the season.