New Airlines Flock to North Adriatic Coast

Starting from next year, several new airlines are starting flights from Rijeka to Germany, Britain, Lithuania and Latvia, in a bid to bring new development to the Kvarner region of northwest Croatia.

The five companies that have decided to start flights from Rijeka airport in 2015 are Ireland's low-cost company Ryanair, Germany's Germanwings, Lithuania's Novaturas Gruop, Norwegian Air Shuttle and Latvia's Air Baltic.

The city of Rijeka, with population of 150,000, on the north Croatian Adriatic Coast, serves as regional hub, attracting tourists on their way to the Istrian peninsula or the Kvarner islands.

However, the lack of direct flights to the city has slowed expansion. Now the small but developing airport on the nearby island of Krk is trying to connect the Rijeka region more closely to those European regions from where the majority of tourists come.

Croatian Airlines will also intensify activities at Rijeka airport, connecting Rijeka with Munich in Germany over the whole year, and with London's biggest airport, Heathrow, from April until October.

Germanwings will connect Kvarner region with Koln, Stuttgart, Berlin, Hamburg and Dusseldorf between April and October. Novaturas will connect Rijeka and Vilnius from June until September, while Air Baltic will connect Kvarner with Riga over the same period.

The companies and routes reflect the results of a recent survey, which showed that most tourists to the Kvarner region come from Germany, Sweden, Britain, Belgium and Lithuania.

Rijeka already has connections with other Croatian airports in Zagreb, Split, Osijek and Dubrovnik.