While Dalmatia’s coastal airports are reporting record tourist traffic, new routes are being trialed in continental Croatia for very different reasons, reports ExYuAviation on October 10, 2016.
It is a long way from the enticing beaches of Dalmatia, whose airports of Dubrovnik, Split and Zadar are enjoying a bumper year, but in the half-forgotten eastern city of Osijek, close to the Serbian and Hungarian borders, Ryanair announced its first year-round connection to Croatia, with direct flights to London Stansted.
The tourism potential is there, but a more pressing reason for travel is the rapid emigration of Slavonia’s youth, who are leaving in their tens of thousands in search of better economic prospects, and an estimated 20,000 left in the first six months of 2016 alone.
A major destination is Ireland, the only English-speaking country in the EU to welcome Croatian workers upon EU accession in 2013, and the Croatian diaspora in Ireland is now estimated to be in excess of 10,000, with many coming from the region of Slavonia. Aer Lingus recently announced year-round flights from Dublin to Dubrovnik, but today’s news of Croatia Airlines’ plans for a direct connection between Osijek and Dublin will be of great interest to the growing diaspora in Ireland, as well as a bonus for those engaged in promoting the region’s tourism potential. As reported by ExYuAviation:
“Croatia Airlines will operate charter flights between Osijek and Dublin during the upcoming Christmas and New Year holiday period to evaluate interest for the route. Osijek Airport’s General Manager, Domagoj Marinić, says the charters will run on December 23, 2016 and January 2, 2017 and will serve as a trial for year-long flights which the airport expects will commence next summer season. According to Mr Marinić, the airport is in talks with both Croatia Airlines and Ryanair over introducing scheduled flights on the route in 2017. There is a growing Croatian diaspora in Ireland with Osijek also anticipating interest from travellers in neighbouring Serbia and Hungary.”
