Croatia has eased long-standing restrictions on its domestic coach transport market, partially opening it to competition after nearly 10 years of restrictions. Amendments to the country’s Road Transport Act and an implementing ordinance allow carriers greater flexibility in scheduling and route planning through a timetable harmonization procedure run by the Croatian Chamber of Economy.

FlixBus, which has operated in Croatia since 2016 and consistently advocated for domestic market liberalization, is expanding its network immediately, connecting almost 130 destinations across the country and giving passengers more frequent departures across all domestic routes.

A decade of market presence and advocacy

FlixBus entered Croatia in 2016, introducing online ticketing, on-board Wi-Fi, and standardized service quality at a time when those features were uncommon in the market. During that period, the domestic coach market operated under significant regulatory constraints that limited how operators could plan routes and schedules. The company publicly supported liberalization throughout, citing the impact of comparable reforms in other European markets on competition, prices, and passenger access.

Greater connectivity and the road to full liberalization

The expanded network launches December 1, 2025, with Slavonia, Istria, and northwestern Croatia among the regions with the most significant gains in frequency of daily departures.

FlixBus has stated its support for full liberalization of the Croatian coach market as the next step, following the model already in place across Germany, France, Italy, Portugal, and, as of mid-2025, Romania.