The pandemic has brought significant changes in the last two years in connecting Kvarner with its most important markets. Last year, after many years, the region was left without Ryanair. On the other hand, in the first pandemic year, a completely new line arrived – the RegioJet railway line from Prague, reports Novi List.
This line proved to be a complete success in the first year, and RegioJet introduced Split into its itinerary last year and changed the route, which included Budapest and Zagreb instead of Ljubljana.
From the end of May to the end of September, they transported a total of 90,000 passengers with an average occupancy rate of more than 90 percent, and compared to 2020; they had 50 percent more passengers.
As things stand, the region expects to strengthen the connection this year, including the return of air traffic.
Ryanair has already announced three routes to Rijeka Airport, and RegioJet, in addition to the current line from the Czech Republic, is also announcing a line from Poland.
Specifically, according to current announcements, Ryanair will fly from Krk to Brussels, London and Stockholm. This low-budget airline, which opened a new base in Zagreb last year, first announced the Brussels-Rijeka route at the end of last year.
There will be flights from Brussels Charleroi Airport from March 27, with the line running twice a week, on Thursdays and Sundays. The B737-800 aircraft with a capacity of 189 seats will service this route, offering more than 23,000 seats on this line. Recall, Rijeka Airport had a direct line with Brussels before the pandemic, only in the peak summer months.
At the end of last year, Ryanair also released tickets for the Rijeka-London route, as usual, for Stansted Airport. However, this line was also canceled after the pandemic, and the region did not directly connect with Great Britain.
On 62 return flights, Ryanair will offer more than 23,000 seats next summer between Rijeka and London. In addition, Rijeka will be connected to Stansted, an hour’s bus ride from central London, starting March 27. Fights will run twice a week, on Thursdays and Sundays, throughout the summer flight schedule until the end of October.
From March 27 to October 27, the line to Stockholm is also announced twice a week, on Thursdays and Sundays. Ryanair already flew from Rijeka to Stockholm, but to the secondary airport Skavsta, with this line being interrupted before the pandemic.
Ryanair will now fly to Stockholm’s main airport, Arlanda, instead of Skavsta. For now, Condor flights to Düssledorf and Frankfurt, and a Lufthansa line to Frankfurt are also announced.
This year’s novelty is that the Czech RegioJet will introduce a new railway line from Poland into its itinerary. Not all the details have been defined, but the recognizable yellow trains will likely run from Krakow.
Namely, RegioJet submitted a draft timetable to the competent Czech railway office, applied in the 2022 summer season. The train will run three times a week, Polish media write.
According to Nakolei.pl, the Railway Office has published a request from RegioJet regarding the launch of a passenger train on the route Kraków Główny – Rijeka / Split – Kraków Główny.
The carrier has expressed readiness to provide a new passenger transport service from June 15 this year to September 26, 2026, with the new service to be provided every year from June to September during the summer school holidays.
This shows that the Czechs are counting on this line in the long run and that they see potential in the Polish market, which this year was extremely important for Croatia and is one of the four strongest markets for Croatia. Namely, Poles achieved an 8% better turnover in Croatia in 2021 than the record 2019.
Therefore, it is clear that RegioJet is counting very seriously on this large Central European market and the desire of Poles to spend their holidays and holidays on the Adriatic.
Preliminary agreements say that RegioJet plans three lines a week, on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays from the Rijeka / Split station and three lines a week on Tuesdays, Fridays, and Sundays from the Krakow Główny station.
However, in case of high demand for tickets, the carrier leaves open the option of trains running daily during the summer, as is the case with the line from Prague, which runs daily through July and August.
According to Polish media, the train will be available in Poland only in international traffic, so the new RegioJet service will not be available for domestic transport.
Although the RegioJet timetable is still under development, it is estimated that the new railway line would depart from Krakow in the afternoon and pass Katowice, Tychy, Rybnik, Wodzisław Slaski, Ostaw, Hranica na Morawie, Przerów, Otrokowice, Brzecław, Vienna, Wiener Neustadt, Graz, Zagreb and Ogulin.
As with the line from Prague, the train would be divided into two, and one part of the wagon would go on to Rijeka and part to Split. The train will consist of 7 to 15 carriages.
For more on flights to Croatia and other travel announcements, make sure to check out our dedicated travel section.
