Croatia’s capital city could see additional flights from Korea this year.
Korea’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport has granted Korean Air approval to operate five weekly flights to Croatia in 2018. Whether the airline will exercise those rights remains to be seen, although previous announcements show that the airline is hoping to develop their presence in Croatia, reports Ex Yu Aviation on May 10, 2018.
“The Balkan region is an important market for Korean Air, and we are currently considering various possibilities to expand our destination network there,” Korea Airlines said to Ex Yu Aviation, who added that the Ministry assigned a total of 36 flights to nineteen different destinations by six Korean airlines. Currently, Korea Airlines operates flights between Seoul and Zagreb in the summer – and believe it or not, Zagreb leads Korean Air’s European summer charter program as the most served destination, followed by Oslo, Glasgow, and Marseille.
To further prove Croatia’s popularity among Korean visitors, in 2017, 444,132 Koreans traveled to Croatia, which is an increase of over 20% compared to 2016. Kristjan Staničić, the head of the Croatian National Tourist Board, commented on the growth of Korean guests: “This year we expect the number of arrivals from South Korea to continue growing. We are increasing our promotional activities on this market since Korean tourists primarily travel outside the peak summer months, helping us extend the tourist season”. One of Korea’s top travel agencies also noted that Croatia is becoming one of the most promising travel destinations for South Koreans visiting Europe. Croatia also hopes to open an embassy in Seoul later this year, which will put a greater emphasis on the Asian market.
Jin Air, the low-cost subsidiary of Korean Air, also announced that they would operate flights to Croatia’s capital city next year, and Asiana Airlines expanded their codeshare partnership with Croatia Airlines last month. This summer, Asiana will codeshare on services from Frankfurt to Zagreb, Split, Dubrovnik, Pula, and Zadar, from Paris to Zagreb, Split and Dubrovnik, and from London Heathrow to Zagreb.
