British Airways will suspend its flights between London Heathrow and Zagreb over the upcoming 2025/26 winter season, which begins on October 26 and runs until March 28 of next year. EX-YU Aviation News has received official confirmation the route will not operate over the winter and ticket sales have now been discontinued. The airline plans to resume seasonal summer operations on March 29. Since relaunching flights in December 2012 following a ten-year hiatus, British Airways has maintained a year-round service between London and the Croatian capital, with some disruption during the pandemic. The Oneworld member originally planned to run four weekly rotations between the two cities this coming winter.
Zagreb will retain air connectivity to London, with Croatia Airlines maintaining three weekly flights to Heathrow and Ryanair operating ten weekly services to Stansted. The route to Heathrow has seen a decline in passenger numbers since Ryanair entered the London market in summer 2021 with four weekly flights. Demand for the Heathrow service has failed to recover post-pandemic in the wake of the low cost carrier’s arrival. During the first quarter of 2025, British Airways and Croatia Airlines handled a combined total of 6.667 passengers, down 29.4% on the same period last year. In comparison, Ryanair welcomed 13.239 travellers on its Stansted route, up 19.9% on Q1 2024.
Passenger numbers between Zagreb and London Heathrow
For the first time in years, British Airways will not serve any markets in the former Yugoslavia during the upcoming winter season. The withdrawal follows the discontinuation of its Heathrow – Belgrade service last year, as well as the downgrading of its Ljubljana route to a summer-only operation. The airline had previously terminated its Pristina service in 2022 and downgraded its Dubrovnik route to summer seasonal in 2023. British Airways is focusing on strengthening operations in core European markets and expanding long-haul capacity, particularly to North America and Asia.
