British Airwayshappy with Dubrovnik results

During the winter season 2008/09 British Airways will be flying to Dubrovnik 4 times a week – Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday, which is an increase compared to the previous winter season when flights were operated 3 times a week. This is because the airline has been recording good results to Dubrovnik. During the summer season, when flights were operated on a daily basis from London-Gatwick, British Airways transported 24.000 passengers to Dubrovnik while the load factor amounted to 90%, an extremely good result for an inter-European holiday destination. British Airways’ representative for Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina stated that the airline is extremely happy with the amount of passengers on the line mentioned above which is becoming more popular every season. The airline plans to introduce more frequencies from the 2009 summer season. British Airways does not operate to the country’s capital Zagreb or any other city in Croatia.

Flights from Dubrovnik this winter season will depart on Tuesday and Sunday at 16.40 while on Thursday and Friday they will depart at 14.40. Flights are operated using a Boeing B737-400 and last 2 hours and 45 minutes.

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Croatia Airlines winter 2008/09 Mass reduction of service from Split

On October 25, 2008 Croatia Airlines, the national airline of Croatia will begin with its winter schedule. As usual for this time of the year Croatia Airlines will be decreasing its regular frequencies however there are a few surprises.

Regionally Croatia Airlines is increasing its 3 weekly flights to Priština to 4 times a week. Flights OU310 will be operated 3 times a week by an Airbus A319 and once by an Airbus A320. Flights from Zagreb to Sarajevo will decrease from 18 weekly flights to 14 with the ATR42 completely removed from the line. Flights to Skopje will decrease only by one to daily flights using the Airbus A319. Other regional destinations will remain with the same number of flights although the ATR42 will be removed from the Podgorica line and replaced with the Dash 400.

Croatia Airlines is cancelling its services from Zagreb to Tel Aviv while it will also see large reductions of services from Split, Pula and Dubrovnik. From Dubrovnik, Croatia Airlines is ending flights to Amsterdam, Dusseldorf (only a seasonal destination), London-Gatwick, Paris, Tel Aviv and Zurich while it will keep flights Dubrovnik-Rome and Dubrovnik-Frankfurt. Similarly, Split will see a major reduction of destinations with flights to Amsterdam, Brussels, Dusseldorf, London-Gatwick, London-Heathrow, Lyon, Munich, Paris, Vienna and Zurich all edning while flights to Frankfurt will be operated on a daily basis and Rome will be operated 5 times per week. The big withdrawal of services from Croatian airports (outside of Zagreb) continue with flight to Amsterdam and London-Gatwick also cut from the schedule from Pula leaving the city only with flights to Zagreb, Zadar and Zurich operated by Croatian Airlines.

Any related updates will be posted. Any question our readers might have regarding the new schedule can be posted by using the “comments” option or contacting us using our e-mail address. Soon B&H Airlines’ 2008/09 winter schedule will be published on the blog.

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New arrival for Dubrovnik in 2009

Jet2.com, a popular British low-cost airline, has today announced the launch of four new routes starting May 20, 2009 with one of them including the Croatian Adriatic town of Dubrovnik, to be operated from their base in Leeds Bradford.Speaking about the announcement, Philip Meeson, boss of Jet2.com, commented: "At Jet2.com we are committed to ensuring that holidaymakers in the UK have unprecedented choice when it comes to their holiday destination. These new route launches really underline this commitment to our customers and we are confident that they will be an extremely successful addition to our schedule. Dubrovnik is an especially exciting addition for us as it is the first time that we have flown into Croatia. With its Italian influences and miles of clean, sandy beaches, it is a destination which is fast becoming one of Europe’s leading holiday hot spots".

With this addition a total of 16 scheduled airlines now operate to Dubrovnik Airport. Croatia Airlines and Dubrovnik Airlines are the only airlines from the EX-YU region to operate flights to the holiday town. Jet2.com does not operate any flights to any former Yugoslav republic.

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Croatian aviation booms

In the first half of the year Croatian airliners have transported over 1 million passenger while both international and domestic airlines have transported over 2 million passengers in Croatia, a record for the country as the tourism industry continues to grow and the standard of living continues to increase. According to data from the Croatian agency of statistics, local Croatian airliners have transported nearly 1.03 million passengers (both domestic and international traffic included), which is a 7.1% increase compared to last year’s result. When including both local and international airlines the number of transported passengers rises to 2.08 million, a 9% increase compared to the same time last year. This only includes passengers that have either boarded or disembarked from scheduled international and domestic destinations by all airlines from or to Croatia.

In the Croatian domestic air market 456.000 passengers were transported, a large increase of 18.8% compared to last year. In the first half of the year 32.000 arrivals and departures were operated by foreign airlines, a 3.6% increase. The number of transported cargo has also significantly increased – by 10%. The large increase in passenger numbers can be largely thanked to the national airline which has introduced new lines, particularly in the region as well as the fact that more people are travelling due to an increase in living standards.

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Dubrovnik expands and renovates

Dubrovnik Airport, located in Southern Croatia on the Adriatic Coast is currently going through a period of reconstruction and change. Not only has is a new terminal, the largest in Croatia (until the construction of Zagreb’s new terminal begins) , with an area of 36.500m² and 4 jet ways under construction, the original terminal also getting a face lift. Recently a new VIP lounge was opened as well as a tourist attraction – the Đurović Cave located underneath the airport.

The grand opening ceremony of the Đurović Cave was held on Thursday August 7, 2008. Research and works on the decoration of the cave lasted for 7 years and a total of 2.2 million Kuna (Croatian currency - HRK) was invested. This unique tourist about 156 metres long and the lowest level of the cave is 25 metres underneath the very runway. The cave was visited and used by local inhabitants, who used it to collect water and find shelter in war battles until 1962, when the entrance was closed due to construction of the airport. Meanwhile as a part of the “Reconstruction for 2 million passengers” project, Dubrovnik Airport renovated its VIP lounge, offered to state officials, delegations and all other passengers requesting VIP treatment. Dubrovnik Airport established cooperation with prominent hotel group “Adriatic luxury hotels”, which designed, furnished and equipped the lounge. The VIP lounge is located in Terminal A and has 2 exits/entrances to the apron and the front of the terminal building.

Dubrovnik is serviced by 16 scheduled airlines and a large amount of charter airlines operating on a seasonal basis. From the EX-YU airlines only the local Croatia Airlines and Dubrovnik Airlines operate flights to Dubrovnik. In 2007 Dubrovnik Airport served 1.143.168 passengers.

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