As of October 4, Croatia and Ukraine are re-establishing an air route with a direct Zagreb-Kiev flight, which has been announced by the Windrose airline, the Croatian National Tourist Board (HTZ) said on Tuesday.

Windrose will fly between Zagreb and Kiev twice a week until 24 March 2021, said the HTZ’s director for Russia and Ukraine, Rajko Ruzicka.

He said the HTZ expected the flight to “mark the continuation of good trends from that market… in the autumn and winter period.”

In August, Ukrainians generated 230,000 overnights in Croatia, which was 80% of the August 2019 numbers. Their favourite destinations were Makarska, Porec, Rovinj and Dubrovnik, and they stayed mostly in hotels.

Ruzicka said that despite the pandemic and drop in tourism turnover, investment in Croatia’s promotion in Ukraine as a top destination had paid off.

Charter flights from Kiev to Pula, Split and Dubrovnik considerably increased the number of Ukrainian arrivals in Croatia this summer, and a certain number of Ukrainian tourists arrived by road as well, he added.