Ex Yu Aviation reports that Ryanair is looking to launch domestic flights in Croatia after its new Zagreb base officially launched earlier this month. The airline’s CEO, Eddie Wilson, noted it could be done without subsidies.
“At the moment, all the domestic routes are subsidised. Seems bizarre that you must pay an airline to fly up and down Croatia when Dubrovnik is such a nice place to go to. We would have no difficulty flying internally with zero subsidies. We have just done that in Ireland, where there was one of these Public Service Obligation routes, which is just a way of channelling money to airlines. Why should the taxpayer pay for that on 300 euros fares to Dubrovnik in the height of summer when commercial airlines can do that for no subsidies? We would be quite prepared to do those routes”.
European funds are available for ‘unprofitable domestic routes deemed vital for the economic development of the region they serve’ through the Public Service Obligation (PSO) scheme in Croatia. Croatia Airlines and Trade Air hold the existing PSO contracts, and new contracts should be opened by the Croatian government later this year.
As part of the current PSO contracts, Croatia Airlines covers routes from Zagreb to Dubrovnik, Split, Zadar, Pula, and Brač, and Trade Air from Osijek to Dubrovnik, Split, Pula, Zagreb, and Rijeka. Croatia Airlines annually receives 10.3 million euros for domestic services, while Trade Air receives 2.6 million euros per year.
The Ryanair Zagreb base will operate on 24 lines to and from 16 countries – Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Malta, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. In the first year of flying on routes from and to Zagreb, Ryanair will transport about 700,000 passengers.
Follow the latest on flights to Croatia HERE and the latest travel updates and COVID-19 news from Croatia HERE.
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