Croatia Airlines has resumed ticket sales on its flights from Zagreb to London Gatwick Airport. The service, which was originally planned to be shelved this summer season will remain part of the carrier’s network, although flights will operate only twice per week compared to last year’s four. As was previously announced, the airline will suspend its flights from Zagreb and Dubrovnik to Istanbul while flights from the Croatian capital to Podgorica, discontinued last week, will not be operating through the summer either. Services from Pula to Paris and Hamburg as well as the Zadar - Paris service have been cancelled.
Passengers affected by the cancellations will be rerouted onto other Croatia Airlines flights. The network downsizing comes as a result of cost cutting and the departure of an Airbus A320. “Due to the shortage of a plane in the fleet in comparison to last year, we are forced to reduce the offer of domestic and international Croatia Airlines routes. The changes in the timetable are part of the process of restructuring, so as to consolidate the company's operations and to remain competitive in the market”, the airline said in statement. Croatia Airlines will reduce frequencies to several destinations this summer, including Amsterdam, Vienna, Rome and Priština. The airline is considering transferring all of its Heathrow flights to Gatwick in the summer of 2014.
Meanwhile, the airports in both Dubrovnik and Split are continuing to record strong passenger growth, on the back of a solid performance in January. In February, Croatia’s second busiest airport, Dubrovnik, welcomed 17.154 passengers, an increase of 9.1% compared to the same month last year. So far in 2013, the airport has welcomed 36.033 passengers. On the other hand, Split Airport handled 22.522 passengers resulting in 7.5% growth. Source; Ex-YU Aviation News