{"id":68139,"date":"2026-04-26T10:24:27","date_gmt":"2026-04-26T08:24:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sea-help.eu\/news-general\/lufthansa-cancellation-croatia-2026\/"},"modified":"2026-04-26T10:24:27","modified_gmt":"2026-04-26T08:24:27","slug":"lufthansa-cancellation-croatia-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sea-help.eu\/en\/news-general\/lufthansa-cancellation-croatia-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Lufthansa cancels around 20,000 short-haul flights through October 2026 : <\/span><\/span>Croatia is also affected, what vacationers need to know now"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

Due to sharply increased kerosene prices, the closure of the regional subsidiary CityLine and the focus on major hubs (Frankfurt, Munich etc.) and less on small, unprofitable routes, Lufthansa is canceling many flights this season. While all of Europe is affected, Croatia is hit as well. SeaHelp shows which Croatian airports are affected, what alternatives exist, and what travelers should consider in their planning.<\/strong><\/p>\n

100 years ago, on January 6, 1926, Lufthansa was founded in Berlin, at that time still under the company name Luft Hansa, created by the merger of the two airlines Deutscher Aero Lloyd AG and Junkers Luftverkehr AG. After many glorious years, the “Crane Airline” is currently flying through heavy weather.<\/p>\n

As stated in an official press release from the Lufthansa Group dated April 21, 2026 (\u201cLufthansa Group optimises flight offering in summer across all six hubs\u201d), around 20,000 short-haul flights will be removed from the schedule until October 2026 (\u201c20,000 short-haul flights will be removed from the schedule through October\u201d); the stated goal is to save around 40,000 tons of kerosene; \u201cunprofitable short-haul flights\u201d must therefore be reduced.<\/p>\n

At the same time, a concentration on large hubs (Frankfurt, Munich, Zurich, Vienna, Brussels, Rome) is taking place, and the network is to be \u201cconsolidated\u201d (i.e. merged\/restructured). Although the savings affect many destinations across Europe, the cuts are particularly noticeable in Croatia.<\/p>\n

Specific impacts exist at the following Croatian (and other) airports:<\/h2>\n
    \n
  1. Ljubljana, Rijeka and Tivat \u2013 Flights from Munich \u2013 Ljubljana, Rijeka and Tivat have been temporarily suspended (at least until the beginning of June)<\/strong>. According to Lufthansa, these routes are considered \u201cunprofitable\u201d. The future after that remains uncertain (permanent cancellation is even possible). As a result, many media outlets, especially in Croatia, reacted nervously.<\/li>\n
  2. General network change (incl. Rijeka, Ljubljana, Tivat) \u2013 These airports belong to connections that are being \u201crerouted\u201d within the group or managed via other hubs. In plain language, this means: fewer direct flights and more transfers (e.g. via Frankfurt or Vienna). At the moment, this is more of a restructuring than a complete abandonment.<\/li>\n
  3. Rijeka Airport (on Krk) \u2013 Here, Lufthansa connections (primarily via Munich) have been completely canceled for May. For a small, highly seasonal airport, this represents a significant cut, but since Lufthansa has previously only flown to Krk once a week, this should be manageable for passengers, as they have the option to fly with Star Alliance member Croatia Airlines<\/a> instead (Munich \u2013 Krk 2 x \/ week<\/a>).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Some articles referring to the mentioned press release from the Lufthansa Group convey the impression that Croatia is losing massive Lufthansa connections or that airports are threatened in their existence. This is likely not entirely correct, as the cuts affect many countries simultaneously (e.g. also Poland, Norway or Ireland). And: Other Croatian destinations such as Split or Dubrovnik are expected to remain connected (partly through other Lufthansa airlines).<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    \"Lufthansa<\/a>
    \u00a9 Markus Mainka | Adobe Stock<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

     <\/p>\n

    The goal of the restructuring at Lufthansa is said to be an increase in efficiency, not a withdrawal from entire regions<\/h2>\n

    The goal of the restructuring is said to be an increase in efficiency, not a withdrawal from entire regions. In this respect, the “panic” observed in some media is indeed based on actual developments \u2013 but is partially presented more dramatically than the facts warrant.<\/p>\n

    Important for Croatia vacationers: The press release itself does not name individual smaller airports (such as Rijeka, Ljubljana, Tivat), so the announcement remains deliberately at a strategic level: \u201cfewer unprofitable short-haul routes\u201d, \u201cmore focus on hubs\u201d and a \u201cnetwork consolidation\u201d are highlighted. The \u201caffectedness\u201d of individual airports thus does not come directly from the press release, but from subsequent media reports, such as dpa\/Reuters reports, which all refer to \u201cLufthansa information\u201d.<\/p>\n

    However, these reports state that Lufthansa has confirmed that connections are to be canceled or relocated, and that Ljubljana, Rijeka and Tivat are also set to be affected.<\/p>\n

    Where there are currently no more direct flights to the desired destination, you should look for alternatives in good time<\/h2>\n

    The fact is that vacationers planning a visit to Croatia in the coming months (for example to get to their booked charter yacht) should check carefully for available flights, plan long-term and book earlier than usual. Where there are no direct flights to the desired destination, you should look for alternatives in good time and, if necessary, adjust to a longer travel time with additional transfers.<\/p>\n

    This applies, for example, to the Munich \u2013 Ljubljana, Rijeka and Tivat routes, which have been completely suspended (for now) (at least until June 1, 2026)<\/strong>, as these routes are currently considered \u201ceconomically unprofitable\u201d. For travelers to Rijeka \/ Krk & surrounding areas, an alternative is, for example, a flight to Zagreb, the main hub of Croatia, or to Split or Dubrovnik, which are expected to remain well connected.<\/p>\n

    The onward journey (from Zagreb) to Rijeka could then be done by rental car (approx. 2 h duration); from Split to the island of Krk it takes a little longer. Rijeka is not completely \u201ccut off\u201d, but is no longer directly accessible via Lufthansa.<\/p>\n

    Passengers to Krk also have the option of rebooking with Croatia Airlines, which, like Lufthansa, is a Star Alliance member (as described above).<\/p>\n

    Also, anyone wishing to go to Slovenia (Ljubljana) has a problem, because the direct flight Munich \u2013 Ljubljana has also been canceled. Alternatively, travelers could fly to Vienna or Zagreb and continue by rental car (Vienna \u2013 Ljubljana approx. 4 h, Zagreb \u2013 Ljubljana approx. 1.5 h). Zagreb, in particular, is likely to become the \u201creplacement gateway\u201d for Slovenia.<\/p>\n

    Montenegro (Tivat) is also affected; the direct flight Munich \u2013 Tivat has also been currently canceled. An alternative here is a flight to Podgorica, or one uses other airlines with transfers, e.g. in Vienna. By rental car, it takes about 1.5\u20132 h from Podgorica to Tivat. Here, too, the goal is certainly reachable, but just much less comfortable.<\/p>\n

    Travelers should look specifically for connecting flights (not just direct flights), include other airlines (Austrian, Croatia Airlines, Low-Cost) in their search from the start, use larger airports as their destination (e.g. Zagreb instead of Rijeka, Vienna instead of Ljubljana) and combine flight and rental car. Here, too, the rule is: first come, first served \u2013 because it is questionable whether the rental car companies will be able to adjust to the growing demand so quickly.<\/p>\n

    SeaHelp will regularly provide updates on current developments here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Due to sharply increased kerosene prices, the closure of the regional subsidiary CityLine and the focus on major hubs (Frankfurt, Munich etc.) and less on small, unprofitable routes, Lufthansa is canceling many flights this season. While all of Europe is affected, Croatia is hit as well. SeaHelp shows which Croatian airports are affected, what […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":68138,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[145],"tags":[176,502,403],"class_list":["post-68139","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-general","tag-croatia","tag-destination","tag-holiday"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sea-help.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68139","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sea-help.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sea-help.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sea-help.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sea-help.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68139"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sea-help.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68139\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sea-help.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68138"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sea-help.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sea-help.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sea-help.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}