Low cost carrier Ryanair restored seasonal operations between London Stansted and Osijek late last week following a six-year hiatus. It marks the third time the airline has attempted to maintain operations to the airport. The inaugural flight carried 185 passengers on board out of 189 available seats. A total of 16.000 tickets have been put on sale on the route this summer, with two weekly flights to be maintained. “For the first time since 2017 a Ryanair aircraft has landed in Osijek. I would like to remind the public that just two years ago we had no international flights out of Osijek, while we now have Munich and London. Osijek is registering record tourist numbers and I am confident this new route will only aid the figures. The average cabin load factor on these flights is excellent”, the Mayor of Osijek, Ivan Radić, said. The Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Croatia, Simon Thomas, added, “We have excellent and friendly relations between Slavonia and the United Kingdom, and now we have another connection. It is excellent to see Ryanair link Osijek and London. We are certain it will boost tourism in both directions”.

The inaugural service didn’t go without a hitch though, with the inbound flight delayed just over five hours out of Osijek due to a technical issue with the aircraft. Ryanair abruptly suspended operations between London Stansted and Osijek in January 2017 after the Croatian airport refused to provide subsidies in the form of advertising concessions to the airline. The route was Ryanair’s only year-round service to Croatia at the time. It was initially maintained seasonally from 2013 until 2016 before being extended into the winter months.