Korean Air undecided about returning to Zagreb
Korean Air has yet to decide whether to continue flights to Zagreb next year. The carrier added seasonal summer flights to the Global Distribution System but did not open them for sale, a practice it has used frequently in the past three years since it last flew between Seoul and the Croatian capital. According to the provisional schedule, services are planned to be performed three times a week, every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, with an Airbus A330-200 aircraft with 218 seats. However, the Korean airline told EX-YU Aviation News that it is in the process of finalizing its summer flight schedule for 2023 and that a decision on future flights to Croatia has yet to be made.
The airline pointed out that it is rebuilding its network after the coronavirus pandemic. This winter the carrier introduced a new fortnightly service to nearby Budapest with the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, which is now due to increase to three flights a week next month. Korean Air planned to fly four charters from Seoul to Zagreb this year on behalf of Hanjin Travel, on September 30, October 7, October 14 and October 21, but the flights were not realized due to insufficient demand. On the other hand, a private Korean company still rented Korean Air planes to transfer its employees to Dubrovnik on four flights during November.
In September 2018, Korean Air launched year-round non-stop flights between Seoul and Zagreb. Services were maintained on a triangular route – Seoul – Zagreb – Zurich – Seoul – during the winter of 2018/19, while flights were reduced to seasonal ones in 2019. Summer capacity was to increase in 2020 from the A330 to the B787 Dreamliner. However, the flights never materialized due to the outbreak of Covid-19. During 2019, Korean Air served 43,123 passengers between the two cities. The Korean low-cost carrier T’Way Air previously announced that it plans to launch flights to Zagreb. Three A330-200 wide-body aircraft were delivered this year, although flights to the Croatian capital have yet to be scheduled.