In March I wrote about PRAGUSA.ONE, an airline startup that plans to fly from Dubrovnik and Prague to destinations around the world with Airbus A350 aircraft that exclusively feature premium economy. The airline now claims to be weeks from launching operations.
In this post:
PRAGUSA.ONE plans Los Angeles & Newark flights
PRAGUSA.ONE has announced plans to launch flights between Croatia and the United States as of June. The airline claims to plan to fly:
- 3x weekly between Dubrovnik (DBV) and Los Angeles (LAX) with an A340 that features 263 seats; service launches June 22, 2021, and operates on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays
- 3x weekly between Dubrovnik (DBV) and Newark (EWR) with an A330 that features 281 seats; service launching June 21, 2022, and operates on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays
PRAGUSA.ONE routes
As Kresimir Budinski, managing director at PRAGUSA.ONE, describes these routes:
“We worked hard since summer 2020 to create this unique product for avid travelers that are ready and steady to fly abroad. Point-to-point flight operations bundled with a full travel package and premium in-flight service are key success factors for the ultimate travel experience in the future. The US market represents one of the focus markets for Pragusa.One.”
Tickets will allegedly go on sale as of May 24, 2021. On the surface there’s no doubt a market for flights between the United States and Croatia, given that the country is open to Americans.
PRAGUSA.ONE plans to eventually fly A350s
I’m curious if this actually happens
Okay, so in theory there’s a market between the United States and Croatia (though with most of the European Union likely opening up to Americans soon, I’m not sure it’s going to be disproportionately huge), so this isn’t the wildest airline startup concept we’ve seen.
Still, I can’t figure out if this airline is serious or not. This whole concept is based around offering an all-premium economy experience on A350s, but for now the airline will just fly regularly configured and leased A330s and A340s? And the airline will launch flights less than a month after tickets go on sale?
Where is PRAGUSA.ONE getting its leased planes?
Where is the airline leasing these planes from? And will these be short term leases, or what? What exactly is the carrier’s plan for winter (which is the huge issue for any leisure-oriented long haul airline in Europe)? Does the airline have all the regulatory approval it needs?
I’m undecided as to where this startup falls on the scale of Global Ghana Airlines to Breeze Airways.
Bottom line
PRAGUSA.ONE claims to be launching flights from Dubrovnik to both Los Angeles and Newark as of the summer of 2021. While the airline plans to eventually operate A350s exclusively configured with premium economy, for now the airline will operate with a leased A330 and A340.
Whether or not this airline is serious and actually plans to launch operations remains to be seen. I’m not convinced…
What do you put the odds at of PRAGUSA.ONE operating flights this summer?
You may want to do a little research (Google search) on people before letting them use your articles and interviews as free advertisement.
Kresimir is clearly known for being involved in multiple scams and this will be one too.
FYI:
https://zamaaero.com/10/03/2021/analize/pragusa-megavizionarstvo-ili-scam/
and
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSHC4TTttgM
I would express my strong concerns.
Will be a certain failure. Most of the plan will be ficticious or even a lie.
If you research the founder and CEO you will quickly see that failure will be certain.
I can only recommend to watch the below if you would like to get an idea about Krsimir Budinski and his business ethics.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSHC4TTttgM
Until I saw that it plans to fly to Croatia, I thought the PRAGUSA name meant they flew between Prague and the USA.
perfect for me and my friends going to Ultra Europe in Split....beats connecting in a diff country w limited flights to Split...im down
We're all waiting for your flight review Ben.
@stogieguy7
Ragusa is the historical name for Dubrovnik, which fits quite well with the Prague element... I actually thought it was quite an ingenious name. I can see this airline working quite well as a seasonal leisure carrier to a bunch of niche European destinations in both summer and winter.
Any idea how these leased planes are going to be configured specifically? I’m not sure I understand what you mean by “regular” configuration
This actually makes sense, its a location that is currently popular as a summer beach connection and to capitalize on GoT, it is also in a country that wants US travelers and is allowing them in. Seems like a perfect route but i would imagine that AA and UA add more routes here.
How do people come up with these airline names and actually think they're marketable. PRAGUSA.ONE? WTF is that? A new bargain priced pasta sauce? Seriously, this all sounds a bit dubious.
Poor Croatia - more hoards of insipid tourists on the GoT tours looking for the perfect Kings Landing selfie. I wouldn't take free tickets to Dubrovnik in the summer- even with covid. Overpriced, too crowded, and sadly devoid of any local culture as it's been diluted by years of over-tourism. No thanks. Let's hope other places in Europe open up or there will be more Americans in Croatia than most US states. And thats a depressing though.
The A340 and A330 you described sound like they’re HiFly’s planes…in fact that illustration is just a picture of a HiFly A330neo with the PRAGUSA.ONE name photoshopped onto it. So my money is on this actually happening, because it’s sounding like they’ve genuinely worked out leases (presumably a wet-lease arrangement) with HiFly…