May the 19th, 2023 – More than 480 airlines are set to bring masses of tourists into Croatian airports and then off to various destinations this year from across Europe and beyond.
As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, more than 483 airlines are expected to bring passengers in and out of Croatia this summer, mostly from European countries like Germany, Great Britain, France, the Netherlands and Italy, and if it is planned and implemented, it will bring a double-digit increase in the number of air operations compared to the summer of 2022, as was reported this week by the Croatian Tourist Board (HTZ/CNTB).
Information on the expected number of unique airlines in this year’s summer flight schedule was collected by HTZ from Croatian airports, where they noted that these are announcements, that is, changes are still possible as time goes on.
The director of HTZ Kristjan Stanicic emphasised the importance of air transport in connecting Croatia with the rest of Europe and indeed the world, and this is especially the case with the far south of Croatia despite Peljesac bridge having made driving that bit easier.
“Far better transport connectivity of Croatian destinations compared to last year suggests a further recovery of air transport and is great news ahead of the main, summer part of the tourist season. A large number of airlines confirms the popularity of the Republic of Croatia on the tourist map of the world and is a continuation of the positioning of Croatia as an aviation destination, well connected with many foreign airports,” Stanicic assessed.
According to HTZ data, during the summer flight season, Croatian airports will be flooded with passengers as the plan is to have direct connections with 130 cities, or a dozen more than in last year’s summer season, in 38 countries, mainly here in Europe, while connections with destinations on other continents are planned from the US market, Canada, Israel, Qatar and the UAE.
According to the announcements of the Croatian airports so far, the most air operations are expected at Split Airport, 32 percent of the total number, and at Zagreb Airport (30 percent), followed by Dubrovnik Airport (22 percent). All these lines to Croatia are planned by 57 different airlines, which is also more than last summer, when there were about 50 of them, and among them the most flights are planned by Croatia Airlines, Ryanair, Easyjet, Eurowings and Lufthansa.
HTZ added that this summer, there will be lines of both regular and low-cost or charter carriers, such as Aeroitalia, Air Connect, Braathens Airlines, Enter Air, Jettime, Peoples Viennaline and others. As a reminder, at the beginning of May, the leading European airlines reported large amounts of summer bookings, as travellers plan their summer holidays despite the ongoing crisis due to the rising cost of living and inflation.
IAG, which owns British Airways, Iberia, Vueling and Aer Lingus, said stronger-than-expected summer and winter ticket sales would drive higher profits this year than earlier estimates. Such positive assessments of that company are also in line with other major European airlines. Current expectations from Lufthansa, easyJet and Ryanair also point to strong summer bookings.
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