EX-YU Aviation News spoke to the Director of Operations of Ryanair’s subsidiary Lauda Europe, Tadej Notersberg, about the Ryanair Croatia expansion, which should be expected soon.
“We can see that demand in Croatia is generally very high. We can also see that the Croatian market has huge potential. There were many routes missing, and the full potential of Croatia wasn’t utilized in the past. The Ryanair Group recognized this potential, and we, as Lauda Europe, are very happy that we can operate these flights for the Ryanair Group. There is also further growth planned for the future. This year we will operate three aircraft from Zagreb and out of Zadar as well. We won’t stop with these six aircraft in Croatia. Currently, we are planning operations with three aircraft from Zagreb this year. However, future growth is planned, and we are quite sure and optimistic that we will be able to increase operations out of Zagreb and out of Croatia in general soon,” said Notersberg.
“We were so overwhelmed by the response of our recruitment open day last week that we are very excited to offer another chance to join Lauda Europe’s expanding Croatian bases, where Lauda Europe will operate six A320s this summer. Over the coming years, the Ryanair Group and Lauda Europe will expand opportunities in Croatia that will deliver more traffic, new jobs, and career benefits”, Notersberg said. Namely, in addition to the already held recruitment days in March, there will be a recruitment desk at Zagreb Airport until March 14. Those interested can apply in person and potentially be interviewed on the same day.
How is the Zagreb Ryanair base going overall?
“Currently, we are really satisfied with the majority of the markets served out of Zagreb. For example, the UK market performs really well, and Ireland with the Dublin route, despite Croatia Airlines not operating the service in the winter. Then we see German and Swedish markets, Swedish markets … so we are very happy with the current demand. Of course, we are adding some new routes out of Zagreb in the summer, like Bratislava and Corfu. Some tourist destinations in the future are of interest to us too. We really believe that Zagreb can be attractive all-year-round, not just for families and the diaspora, but for tourists as well, so we want to use all these opportunities in the future”.
Ryanair recently halted its Zagreb-Lviv line due to the ongoing crisis in Ukraine.
“We see a lot of passengers from Slovenia on our Zagreb flights. Even if you go to Zagreb Airport, either in departures or arrivals, you will see that there are a lot of Slovenians. At the airport’s parking, one will notice many cars with Slovenian car plates. We know, and we are sure we are covering the Slovenian market well from Zagreb Airport”.
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