Croatia's two airline companies, Croatia Airlines and Trade Air, operated six repatriation flights earlier this week to transport crew members of Carnival Breeze, a British-American dream-class cruise ship. The repatriation flights were operated out of Dubrovnik, where Carnival Breeze docked, to Minsk, Istanbul, Tbilisi, Rome, and Catania. Let's take a look.

Why is Carnival Breeze in Dubrovnik?

Hina reports that Carnival Breeze docked in Gruž, the main port of the Croatian coastal city of Dubrovnik, on Tuesday. This was one day earlier than anticipated because this British-American dream-class cruise ship was not allowed to dock in Italy due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Carnival Breeze carried on board 93 Croatian seamen, only a fraction of over 8,000 currently stranded across the seas worldwide. Also on board were citizens of almost all the countries in the region, including Italy, Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Bulgaria, but also Belarus. The boat previously made a stop in the United Kingdom, where it docked to allow citizens of other, mostly Northern European countries, to disembark.

trade air fokker
Trade Air operated the rescue flights with its Fokker 100 aircraft, pictured, and its Airbus A320. Photo: Trade Air

The repatriation flights

To get all these members of Carnival Breeze staff to their home countries, various modes of transport were arranged. Most could return to their countries by bus. However, those needing to travel outside of the immediate vicinity of Dubrovnik returned home by plane.

Two Croatian airlines operated these repatriation flights: the national airline of Croatia and the country's flag carrier, Croatia Airlines, and Trade Air, a 26-year old private airline that provides ACMI services and ad-hoc charter flights, but also operates PSO flights within Croatia. Simple Flying previously covered Trade Air's plans for 2020 when news emerged that the airline would be opening a base in Ljubljana to replace charter routes previously contracted to Adria Airways.

From the data available on flight tracking platforms, Trade Air operated the following flights:

  • Dubrovnik - Minsk on Tuesday 26th May, with a Fokker 100
  • Dubrovnik - Minsk on Tuesday 26th May, with an Airbus A320
  • Dubrovnik - Istanbul on Thursday 28th May, with a Fokker 100
  • Dubrovnik - Sofia (Bulgaria) - Tbilisi (Georgia), with an Airbus A320

Meanwhile, Croatia Airlines operated the flights to Italy:

  • Dubrovnik - Catania on Wednesday 27th May, with an Airbus A319
  • Dubrovnik - Rome (FCO) on Wednesday 27th May, with an Airbus A320
Croatia Airlines Airbus A319

Meanwhile in Croatia

The sudden demand for these repatriation flights comes at a good time for both Trade Air and Croatia Airlines. Trade Air has halted all its domestic scheduled services within Croatia due to the ongoing slump in demand, and Croatia Airlines is operating only two international routes.

Thus, any demand for charter services, even if it comes as a one-off, will be welcomed by the airlines of this country, which would normally be getting progressively crowded with tourists at this time of year.

Have you ever been on a repatriation flight? Share your experiences and let us know what you think of this story in the comments below.