New Route of the Day (15 November 2021): Croatia Airlines between Osijek and Munich

Croatia Airlines on Monday 15 November began 2-weekly service on the 610-kilometre route from Osijek in eastern Croatia to Munich in southern Germany. The airline, which has not launched many new routes in recent years, will use its Q400s on the new link. No other carrier connects these two airports. The aircraft will serve the route as part of a “W” routing, operating Zagreb-Munich-Osijek-Munich-Zagreb. This becomes the airline’s third route to Munich this winter as it also operates daily service to the Bavarian hub from Split and 6-weekly service from Zagreb, both using Q400s. Munich is one of Lufthansa’s two hubs and as Croatia Airlines is also a member of the Star Alliance, passengers will be able to connect easily via Munich to many destinations across the globe.

Trade Air and Croatia Airlines only airlines currently in Osijek

Osijek, located on the banks of the Drava River, is Croatia’s fourth largest city with a population of just over 100,000. Other airports that are within 150 kilometres of the city include Tuzla and Banja Luka in neighbouring Bosnia & Herzegovina, and Belgrade in Serbia. Osijek’s scheduled services in 2021 have, until now, been purely domestic routes, with Trade Air utilising Embraer Brasilia’s to connect the airport with Pula (2-weekly), Rijeka (2-weekly) and Zagreb (6-weekly). Croatia Airlines complemented these services with weekly flights during the summer to Dubrovnik and Split, using its 76-seat Q400s.

Eurowings, Ryanair and Wizz Air have all operated routes

Prior to the launch of the Munich route the airport’s last international services were operated in October 2019 by Eurowings, with 2-weekly flights from both Cologne/Bonn and Stuttgart. Wizz Air from Basel/Mulhouse (up to 3-weekly from May 2017 to June 2019), as well as Ryanair from London STN (2-weekly from April 2014 to October 2016) and Frankfurt HHN (2-weekly from May 2009 to October 2011) have also served Osijek.