Split Air: The Enigma of a New Company with an Existing Name

About ten days ago, information about the establishment of a new company, Split Air, was published on the Total Croatia News website, stating that from June 28, the company will organize regular flights to Venice, Mostar, and Sarajevo, as well as seaplane transport to Croatian islands. The site does not contain any official contact information, except for the information that the operator is registered in Split and that ticket sales will begin on May 1.

It is incredible that there is already a company registered under the same name in Split – Split Air d.o.o., owned by Ivan Raos, which also deals with aviation services; however, Raos denies any connection with the website offering seaplane flights.

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– Split Air has existed since 2003, and until now we have offered aerial filming and parachute flights, which is visible on our original website www.split-air.hr, which has nothing to do with the new site. Our new offering includes panoramic flights; however, we are still in the process of obtaining all necessary approvals from the Civil Aviation Agency. There is no mention of seaplanes; I think someone from my former company, European Coastal Carrier (ECA), is trying to set me up. Someone malicious created a new site from some café in Düsseldorf about ten days ago and wants to connect me with seaplanes, Raos briefly commented.

The owner of the ‘original’ Split Air, a company whose revenues have been declining year after year and is currently operating at a loss, is known to the public as a former pilot of the mentioned European Coastal Carrier who was seriously injured in an aircraft accident three years ago, in which two of his colleagues lost their lives. Raos, the son of the renowned Croatian pilot Matko Raos, reproached ECA director Klaus Dieter Martin for not providing him support during difficult times. However, Martin is already frustrated with Raos’s accusations, claiming that the pilot, along with colleagues, hijacked the aircraft on a day off, and that none of them were trained or had permission to fly that type of aircraft, and that ultimately Raos is responsible for the deaths of the two pilots. The conflict between Martin and Raos has been dragging on in the courts for some time; Raos is trying to obtain compensation, but he did not want to discuss it. And while Raos is clearly expanding his business, Martin is trying to save ECA by bringing in Chinese investors who would rescue the company from bankruptcy.