After a pleasant stay in Split, it’s time to fly to Zagreb, from where I’ll reach Dubrovnik, my final destination.

Why go through Zagreb when there are direct flights between Split and Dubrovnik? In order to test twice Croatia Airlines that I did not know and to accumulate a lot of miles for cheap (the Croatia Airlines flights “score” enormously on my SAS Eurobonus program with regard to price and distance and I found this flight at 60 euros in business).

For the record the routing of this trip.

But nothing ever goes according to plan, and this flight, which was due to take place in the afternoon with a short connection in Zagreb, was rescheduled at 6.15am with a 7h30 stopover in Zagreb. Where others would have seen a problem, I saw a huge opportunity: of course I could have done without such an early wake-up time, but it left me 7h30 to leave the airport and visit Zagreb, which I didn’t know. All to my advantage!

So here I go for my first flight on Croatia Airlines!

Booking

I booked on the Croatia Airlines website 2 months before my trip. I can’t say that the experience was exceptional, but in the end I came out of it without any unpleasant surprises.

So I had the choice between direct flights and connecting flights to Zagreb, which logically no one takes…hence the unbeatable price in my opinion. 60€ in business for a Split-Zagreb-Dubrovnik, I take it! And as you read above, a schedule change that should not have been pleasant allowed me to visit the Croatian capital during my connection.

Check-In and ground experience

Online check-in at Croatia is a disaster. Depending on the airport of departure, it doesn’t take place on the same site (here on the airport site itself) and in the end nothing works. I’ll just have to check-in at the airport. Given that for once I have luggage to check-in, this only bothers me half-heartedly, but it does mean that I have to take a security margin that I could have done without for a flight taking off at 6.15am.

The journey from the hotel to the airport is much faster at this time of day, and the place is empty when I arrive.

Split airport is small but modern and pleasant.

There’s no one at the check-in desks…

Well, there’s nobody at all.

My flight is posted and will be the first to leave.

It gradually fills up, the agents settle in and check-in can begin. I’m first in the business queue.

I take the stairs up to the security checkpoint, which gives me one last look at the landside terminal.

The lounge at Split airport

The lounge? Which lounge? There are no lounges for Croatia Airlines passengers on domestic routes.

Well, there was one. It seems that my arrival wakes up the gate agent, but he checks my boarding pass and lets me in.

It’s brand-new, minimalist, but has the advantage of existing.

The service is equally minimalist.

There’s a great view of the departure lounge.

As the time approaches, I head for my gate.

Boarding in Split

The aircraft is there waiting for us.

There are only two gates dedicated to domestic flights, the rest being dedicated to international flights. Logical.

The crew arrives just when we should have boarded. But in the end, it won’t change the take-off time.

Everyone waits unhurriedly at the door.

Boarding begins. It’s all a case of jumping backwards as we find ourselves stuck on the tarmac waiting for the aircraft to be ready.

We are finally invited to board. One last look at the terminal and I head for the aircraft.

Croatia Airlines 319 business cabin

There are 3 rows of business on this flight.

Nothing special at first glance, with rows of seats arranged in a 3-3 pattern. The posters stuck on the luggage compartments look a little cheap and amateurish.

The appearance is correct without more. In business, the central seat is of course neutralized.

Nothing to get excited about, but nothing catastrophic either.

Legroom is decent, but no better in Row 1.

The airline’s literature is available in the seat pocket.

Ah, at least there are screens for safety instructions and geovision…

Well, I don’t need to go any further: I wasn’t expecting anything from the product so I’m not disappointed. Croatia is a small regional airline and I wasn’t expecting anything special, especially for a domestic flight of just over 250 kilometers. We’re not on Turkish Airlines, which flies 777s with a real business cabin between Istanbul and Izmir for a flight of 300 km .

The flight and the service

At the closing of the doors, we are given a bottle of water.

A glimpse of the Adriatic Sea.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/thetravelguys/51434865042/in/album-72157719845174450/

Without waiting, we are handed a “box” with the morning’s service.

Yoghurt and cookie. The service may seem cheap, but for a 45-minute domestic flight from door to door, you shouldn’t expect anything else, except from Turkish Airlines.

Besides, it wasn’t bad.

Crew and service on Croatia Airlines

What to say about such a short flight? They did the job with a smile and that was all. Given the service, there’s not much chance of making mistakes or, conversely, of delighting the customer.

Arrival and disembarkation in Zagreb

We start our descent very quickly and land in Zagreb 10 minutes ahead of schedule.

We arrive at an empty airport. The few stores and cafés on the airside aren’t open yet, and it’s still too early for me to go sightseeing in town. What’s more, it’s still very cool at this time of day, given my outfit.

So I’m going to leave the airport and go back to the departure level to see if there are more options there. It’s not much livelier…

…but at least there’s an open café with a terrace.

So I’ll have a few coffees while I wait for the time to pass and around 8:30 I’ll take an Uber to visit Zagreb.

Bottom line

A fairly unremarkable flight, neither good nor particularly bad given its duration and the airline. But for the price, it allows me to add another airline to my collection and spend a few hours in Zagreb before heading for Dubrovnik.

But at 60 euros for the two flights and a gain of 1,200 miles/points, it was an excellent deal!

For the record, all the articles related to this trip.

#	Type	Review
1	Hotel	Moxy Charles de Gaulle
2	Lounge	Sheltair Lounge Roissy Terminal 2D
3	Flight	Paris-Vienna in business class on Austrian
4	Lounge	Austrian Business Lounge (Non Schengen) in Vienna (T3 G)
5	Flight	Vienna-Split in business class on Austrian
6	Hotel	Le Méridien Lav Split – Deluxe Sea View Room
7	Restaurant	Restaurant Süg Split
8	Restaurant	Restaurant Kadena Split
9	Flight	Split-Zagreb en business class sur Croatia Airlines (here)
10	Flight	Zagreb-Dubrovnik in business class on Croatia Airlines
11	Hotel	Sheraton Dubrovnik Riviera Hotel – Deluxe Room
12	Restaurant	Restaurant Konoba Bonaca Dubrovnik
13	Restaurant	Restaurant Heritage of Dubrovnik
14	Restaurant	Restaurant Zuzori Dubrovnik
15	Restaurant	Dubrovnik Restaurant Dubrovnik
16	Flight	Dubrovnik-Vienna in business on Austrian
17	Flight	Vienna-Paris in business on Austrian