Ryanair and EasyJet to fly from Zagreb

Zagreb airport will partner with a number of low-cost airlines and travelers will finally be able to fly on a limited budget.

Low cost carriers Spanair and Norweigan Air will be flying from Zagreb during the summer of 2010, a director of the Zagreb Airport Tonci Peovic said. He added that the negotiations with famous low-cost airlines Ryanair and EasyJet were also under way, Vjesnik reports.  

- We have made some savings within the company and realized that our prices may be cheaper up to ten percent. In addition to the basic price list, we also offer additional incentives for companies that have never flown from Zagreb before as well as for those that increase traffic to Zagreb - Peovic said. He also mentions that they reduced costs of international flights by 50 percent.

Pleso airport has reached an agreement with Norwegian Air to offer flights to Copenhagen and Oslo, and Spanair, who will offer flights to Barcelona. In addition to this, Easyjet should connect Zagreb with six European destinations.

Number of security irregularities

Peovic said that low cost airlines achieve 35 percent of total turnover in Europe's airports, and only 18 percent in Zagreb.

- However, we plan an increase of at least 30 percent. These low-budget companies are exactly what our airport needs, says Peovic.

Last year Croatia’s national carrier, Croatia Airlines, introduced direct flights to Barcelona and Madrid at affordable prices of around 900 kunas. They intend to do the same this summer and also to add a direct flight to Athens.

Negotiations with the Austrian Airlines concerning the introduction of direct flights to North America are also under way. Commission that monitors the airport’s security systems found some irregularities in the past, however Pleso’s management says that they resolved these issues.   

- Irregularities have been corrected and we are waiting for another inspection. If we meet the requirements, we will soon be able to offer flights from Zagreb to New York and Chicago - says Peovic.