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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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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Jat’s big plans for Croatia

Jat Airways recently started service between Serbia and Croatia (Belgrade and Pula) resuming traffic after a 17 year absence. The new line which is operated twice a week is doing extremely well. Jat Airways has a license to fly to Pula until September but Jat management is announcing continuation of the flights well through the winter schedule, if the Croatian aviation board approves a license extension. Pula’s citizens are not hiding their happiness as the new flights swing into full operation and bring with it an enormous increase in tourists from Serbia. The management of the “Tourist Organisation of Istra” states that an aggressive promotional campaign has commenced to attract Serbian tourist. The organisation hopes that by 2011 a total of 100.000 Serbian tourists will visit the Istrian coast requiring air services to operate on a daily basis. Most of Jat Airways’ tickets to Pula have already been sold. However, the management has been surprised by the large interest from Pula residents to travel to Belgrade. The Pula - Belgrade line is, at the moment, more successful than the Belgrade-Pula line.

Due to the interest, Jat Airways is now working on ideas to open new lines to Croatia next year. Currently the airline plans possible lines between Belgrade – Zagreb, Belgrade – Dubrovnik and Belgrade – Split with this line continuing on to an Italian city. Pictured above are passengers from Jat’s first flight to Pula after 17 years, operated on July 3.

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Jat's historic flight to Pula a success

After 17 years, Serbia has taken the first step in re-establishing air services between its country and Croatia with Jat Airways introducing direct Belgrade – Pula flights. The ATR72 departed on time from gate A6 at Belgrade’s Nikola Tesla Airport. The time of departure being 12.50. The most interesting news so far is that Jat has already sold 50% of its seats on all planned flights to Pula. Tomorrow 75 Croatian travel agencies will join a network to sell Jat tickets from Pula to Belgrade. If all goes to plan and Jat reaches its goal in the amount of tickets sold it will continue flights to Pula throughout the winter season. The current flights to Pula are expected to run until August 31.

JU740 landed in Pula on time at 14.20. The return flight JU741 departed from Pula on time at 15.10. The plane arrived at Belgrade's airport gate A4 at 16.34 (6 minutes before its scheduled arrival). Jat officials say that the airline has already sold 1.300 tickets in only one month since tickets are on sale. Showing that there is great interests in Croatia's Istrian coast.

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Jat Airways prepares for Pula flights

By introducing flights to Pula from July 3 to August 31, Serbia’s national air carrier, Jat Airways, will re-establish air travel with Croatia after 17 years. Flights between Belgrade and Pula will be operated twice a week, Thursday and Friday with an ATR72. On Thursday the aircraft will depart from Belgrade at 12.50 with its expected arrival time in Pula at 14.20. The return flight from Pula will depart at 15.10, with its arrival in Belgrade at 16.40. On Sunday Jat’s flight will depart at 8.55 with its arrival in Pula at 10.25 and its return to Belgrade commencing at 11.50 and arriving into Serbia’s capital at 12.45.

In 1967, the Yugoslav National Army (JNA), the City of Pula and Ljubljana Airport signed an agreement for the Pula military air base to be redeveloped into a civilian airport. A terminal building was constructed and JAT Yugoslav Airlines introduced scheduled direct flights from Belgrade and later Zagreb. The airport was named Ljubljana-Pula. As time passed Jat introduced Pula as a tourist destinations to foreigners, placing it into its charter flight schedule. Jat’s last flight from Pula was operated on September 13, 1991. With the introduction of this new destination Jat now operates to 40 destinations in 27 countries with 235 weekly flights.

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Back in Croatia after 18 years

For months now the public has been aware that Serbia’s national airline Jat Airways will commence service to Pula, Croatia. However the flights were subject to government approval and the Croatian government wasn’t that keen on giving Jat a license however it is now confirmed that the Croatian government has given the green light to Jat and the airline will, after 18 years, return to Croatia starting July 3, 2008. Regular service would begin July 31 twice weekly – Thursdays and Sundays. Tickets will be on sale on Wednesday, June 4. Jat Airways (or as then known JAT Yugoslav Airlines) ceased services to Croatia in mid 1990 following the outbreak of civil war between Croatia and Serbia. Pula will be flown as a destination during the summer but many hope the airline will soon start services to Zagreb and Dubrovnik.

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