Croatia and Ireland are about to get much closer in 2018 as new flights connecting the two countries have been announced by both Croatia Airlines and Aer Lingus. The Croatian national airline, Croatia Airlines, stated a few days ago that they were looking into expanding their European operations and destinations in 2018 and one of the first moves seems to be flights between Zagreb and Dublin.

There are several potential reasons for this new line, firstly the growth in the number of Irish tourists and secondly the increasingly large number of Croatians living in the Emerald Isle. In fact, Ireland and Sweden and the two fastest growing Croatian diaspora communities in Europe, mainly thanks to a relaxed visa regime.

And the biggest Irish airline, Aer Lingus, have also announced a step-up in operations to Croatia in 2018. The airlines flies to three cities in Croatia, Dubrovnik, Split and Pula, and for this summer season will add an extra weekly flight meaning that Dublin and Dubrovnik will have daily connections through the summer months.

"We are delighted to announce the further strengthening of our network to Croatia with these additional flights. The extra frequencies to Dubrovnik, Split and Pula will allow us to continue offering the choice, service and value that delivered our Skytrax four-star accreditation and we look forward to welcoming guests on board these services to Croatia in 2018", commented Aer Lingus to the specialised website Ex-Yu Aviation.