CROATIA: Croatia Airlines Starts Flights From Zagreb To Pulkovo St. Petersburg Airport

Croatia Airlines has started regular air service from Zagreb (Croatia) to Saint Petersburg (Russia). The route will be launched for the first time in the recent history of Pulkovo airport. The carrier will operate the flights from 2 June to 23 October.

Travelers will be able to fly from the Northern capital of Russia to the capital of Croatia twice a week, on Thursdays and Sundays. Comfortable Airbus A319s with a capacity of 144 passengers will be operated on the route.

Before 2015, Pulkovo airport only had direct air service with Croatian resorts Pula and Split. In 2010-2014, over 62,000 passengers used direct flights between the two cities and St Petersburg. In addition, more than 21,000 travelers flew from Pulkovo to Zagreb and back via transfers in other airports, in 2010-2014.

“Every year many Russians choose Croatia, the country of rich history, magnificent nature and landscape, as their vacation spot. With the new route opening travelers will now be able to visit other points in Croatia, Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina using convenient connecting flights via Zagreb. At the same time, St Petersburg remains one of the most visited cities in Europe, with cheap Russian ruble making traveling to Russia even more attractive. It is our strong belief that the new Croatia Airlines service to St Petersburg will be in demand both among Russian and Croatian tourists, say Evgeniy Ilyin, chief commercial officer at Northern Capital Gateway LLC, the operator of Pulkovo Airport.

The tickets are already available with promo rates starting from €199 for the round trip.

Other new routes planned for launching from Pulkovo in the summer season 2016 include Shanghai (China), Corfu, Zakynthos (Greece), and Batumi (Georgia). In addition, flights to Naples (Italy), Brussels (Belgium) and several other European cities will be renewed.

Croatia Airlines is the flag carrier of Croatia and a Star Alliance member. In the summer season 2016 the airline’s route network will include 34 points in 20 European countries.

SERBIA: Air Serbia Reintroduces Belgrade-Zagreb Sector

Zagreb Airport welcomed with a special event the resumption of Air Serbia’s flights from Belgrade following a 23-year hiatus.

While the sector will be served twice-daily utilising the airline’s ATR 72s, the inaugural flight was operated by Air Serbia’s A319 “Novak Đoković” aircraft, named after Serbia’s most famous tennis player and piloted by Air Serbia’s COO, Davor Mišeljić, while the First Officer was Biljana Savić, one of Air Serbia’s three female pilots.

Air Serbia, formerly known as JAT Airways, increased its European offering with the addition of a new destination on 12 December – Zagreb (ZAG), from its Belgrade (BEG) hub.

The 348-kilometre sector to the Croatian capital was resumed following a 23-year hiatus, and will be served twice-daily utilising the airline’s 62-seat ATR 72s.

No other carrier serves this airport pair. Commenting on the route launch, Dane Kondić, CEO, Air Serbia, said: “Zagreb is Air Serbia’s fourth destination in Croatia, after Dubrovnik, Split and Pula, which have thus far operated as seasonal routes. Just this past summer, we were pleased to have carried close to 50,000 guests to these attractive summer destinations. With the introduction of Zagreb, our intention is to further develop year round inbound tourism, by offering our guests all of these destinations in Croatia, especially through our equity partner Etihad Airways.”

FINLAND: Finnair To Launch New Edinburgh-Helsinki Route In 2016

Finnair is set to launch a seasonal service from Edinburgh to Helsinki in 2016, offering travellers faster connections to Finnair’s network of Asian destinations.

The service begins on April 18th 2016 and will operate to October 27th 2016.

Edinburgh will be served by three flights a week operated by a Finnair Airbus A319.

“The new Edinburgh route will open up travel to Finnair’s extensive Asian network for Scottish passengers with short connections at Helsinki Airport.

“Edinburgh Airport is seeing a continuous growth in demand for international flights, recently announcing a 10.2 per cent growth year-on-year to July 2015 and we look forward to welcoming these passengers on board Finnair,” said Petri Vuori, Finnair’s vice president of global sales.

Finnair is the European launch customer for the next-generation Airbus A350 XWB aircraft.

The completely new aircraft type substantially raises the bar for passenger comfort, environmental performance and operational efficiency.

Finnair is also the first airline in the world to operate the A350 on scheduled services to China, where Shanghai will be served with a daily A350 service from October 25th 2015, followed by Bangkok and Beijing, with Hong Kong and Singapore A350 services to be added in 2016.

The Edinburgh service is one of four new routes launching in summer 2016, with the launch of services from Helsinki to Billund, Denmark; Pula, Croatia; and also the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard in the Arctic Ocean.