Croatia Airlines has today made significant increases to its flight schedule by adding an extra daily flight to Frankfurt, resuming daily operations to Amsterdam, and re-organizing its domestic schedule. Let’s take a look at Croatia Airlines’ new schedule.
Croatia Airlines maintained connectivity despite COVID-19
For the duration of the COVID-19 crisis, Croatia Airlines never grounded its whole fleet. The Croatian flag carrier remained operational even when the Croatian Government had shut the country’s borders for weeks. The airline has been operating a single daily flight to Frankfurt out of its hub, the Croatian capital Zagreb, for the duration of COVID-19 travel restrictions. The purpose was to maintain connectivity between Croatia and the world and minimize the need for government-chartered rescue flights.
As travel restrictions in Europe are gradually lifted, and as Croatia re-opens its borders, Croatia Airlines is beginning to increase its flight network. Earlier this month it resumed domestic flights, with double-daily services from Zagreb to Split and Dubrovnik. Now it is increasing its international schedule too, and modifying domestic operations so that they may better connect onto the new international flights.
Zagreb-Frankfurt doubled, Zagreb-Amsterdam resumed
In a statement to Simple Flying, and as noted on its website, Croatia Airlines announced its revised network and timetable that begins today:
- NEW: Zagreb – Amsterdam, departs 08:20, arrives 10:55
- NEW: Amsterdam – Zagreb, departs 11:35, arrives 14:00
- NEW: Zagreb – Frankfurt, departs 08:50, arrives 10:40
- NEW: Frankfurt – Zagreb, departs 12:05, arrives 13:45
- Zagreb – Frankfurt, departs 15:05, arrives 16:35
- Frankfurt – Zagreb, departs 18:30, arrives 19:25
At the same time, the network consists of these domestic services:
- Afternoon rotation to Split
- Afternoon rotation to Dubrovnik
- Overnight rotation to Split
- Overnight rotation to Dubrovnik
The frequencies on the domestic routes (Split and Dubrovnik) remain the same, but the scheduling is different. The new scheduling includes overnight rotations, to optimize the transfer potential of the new flights to Amsterdam and the added daily flight to Frankfurt.
Domestic changes
Previously, Croatia Airlines aircraft left Zagreb for coastal cities of Split and Dubrovnik in the morning and returned to Zagreb straight away. They did the same in the evening. This was so that domestic passengers can connect onto, and from, the Zagreb-Frankfurt-Zagreb flights.
The scheduling will change to the following, from tomorrow:
- Dubrovnik, Zagreb, departs 06:35, arrives 07:40
- Split – Zagreb, departs 06:50, arrives 07:40
- Zagreb – Dubrovnik, departs 14:40, arrives 15:45
- Zagreb – Split, departs 14:40, arrives 15:30
- Split – Zagreb, departs 16:10, arrives 17:00
- Dubrovnik, Zagreb, departs 16:25, arrives 17:30
- Zagreb – Dubrovnik, departs 20:20, arrives 21:10
- Zagreb – Split, departs 20:20, arrives 21:25
The scheduling change allows for transfers of under one hour from Split and Dubrovnik to Amsterdam and Frankfurt via Zagreb, and for two daily transfers from Frankfurt to Split and Dubrovnik, and one daily transfer from Amsterdam to Split and Dubrovnik.
Do you think regional airlines are right to adopt a strategy of gradual service resumption while travel restrictions are still ongoing? Let us know what you think of this Croatia Airlines strategy in the comments below.