



Korean Air has been granted approval by the country's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, which allocates air transport rights on an annual basis upon request, to operate up to five weekly scheduled services to Croatia this year. The Korean carrier may or may not exercise those rights, although the airline recently said it was exploring opportunities to expand its presence in the country. Korean Air currently maintains charter flights between Seoul and Zagreb over the summer with its Airbus A330 aircraft. "The Balkan region is an important market for Korean Air, and we are currently considering various possibilities to expand our destination network there", the airline told EX-YU Aviation News. The Ministry assigned six Korean airlines a total of 36 flights to nineteen different destinations.





Zagreb is the most served destination in Korean Air's European summer charter program, followed by Oslo, Glasgow and Marseille. Croatia is looking to step up its cooperation with South Korea, with plans to open an embassy in Seoul this year, while the Croatian National Tourist Board will put a greater emphasis on the Far East Asian market. Korean Air's long haul low cost subsidiary Jin Air previously announced its plans to introduce services to Zagreb next year. Meanwhile, Korean Air's rival, Asiana Airlines, concluded a codeshare partnership with fellow Star Alliance member Croatia Airlines last year, which was expanded just last month. As of this summer season, Asiana codeshares on Croatia Airlines' services from Frankfurt to Zagreb, Split, Dubrovnik, Pula and Zadar, as well as from Paris to Zagreb, Split and Dubrovnik and from London Heathrow to Zagreb. In return, the Croatian carrier has its designator code and flights number on Asiana's flights from the above-mentioned European cities to Seoul.





Last year, 444.132 Korean holidaymakers visited Croatia, representing an increase of 20.2% on 2016. The country has become increasingly popular in South Korea following several reality shows which were filmed in places such as Dubrovnik. A spokesman for Korea’s top travel agency, Hana Tour, said that Croatia is emerging as one of the most promising travel destinations for South Koreans who visit Europe. Korean Air operates flights to a range of European destinations including Amsterdam, Prague, Frankfurt, Milan, Rome, Vienna, Paris, Moscow, Madrid, Barcelona, London and Zurich. The head of the Croatian National Tourist Board, Kristjan Staničić, said, "This year we expect for the number of arrivals from South Korea to continue growing. We are increasing our promotional activities on this market since Korean tourists primarily travel outside the peak summer months, helping us extend the tourist season".