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Croatia Airlines

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Croatia Airlines Ltd.
IATA ICAO Call sign
OU CTN CROATIA
Founded7 August 1989; 35 years ago (1989-08-07)
(as Zagal - Zagreb Airlines)
HubsZagreb
Focus cities
Frequent-flyer programMiles & More
AllianceStar Alliance
Subsidiaries
  • Amadeus Croatia
  • Obzor Holidays
Fleet size14
Destinations31[1]
HeadquartersZagreb, Croatia
Key peopleJasmin Bajić (President and CEO)[2]
Employees911 (2023)
Websitewww.croatiaairlines.com

Croatia Airlines Ltd. is the flag carrier of Croatia. Its headquarters are in Buzin near Zagreb,[2] the capital, and operates domestic and international services mainly to European destinations. Its main hub is Zagreb International Airport with focus cities being Dubrovnik, Split, and Zadar.[3] Since November 2004, the airline has been a member of Star Alliance.

History

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Early years

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A former Croatia Airlines McDonnell Douglas MD-82 in 1991.
A former Croatia Airlines Boeing 737-200 in 1992.
A former Croatia Airlines ATR42-300 in 2006.
A current Croatia Airlines De Havilland Dash 8-400.

The airline was established in June 1991 with no planes and already with poor economic prospects. Later in 1991, Croatia Airlines signed an agreement with Adria Airways which allowed it to lease a McDonnell Douglas MD-82 to commence domestic jet services between Zagreb and Split. Croatia Airlines acquired three Boeing 737s from Lufthansa and became a member of the International Air Transport Association (IATA). As the flag carrier of newly independent Croatia, the airline launched its first international service on 5 April 1992, from Zagreb to Frankfurt.[4]

In 1993, two new ATR 42s and two more 737s joined the fleet and representative offices were opened in several European cities and the company bought the travel agency Obzor to organize travel packages for groups and individuals. By 1994, Croatia Airlines had welcomed its millionth passenger. Later that year, Pope John Paul II flew the airline on a trip to Croatia.

In 1995, another ATR 42 was welcomed, as was the two millionth passenger. In 1996, Croatia Airlines became the first airline to fly to Sarajevo after the Bosnian War. In 1997, the airline's first Airbus A320 arrived and was named Rijeka. In 1998, another first plane of a new type arrived when the airline's first Airbus A319 joined the fleet. This airplane was named Zadar. In the same year, Croatia Airlines became a member of the Association of European Airlines (AEA). By 1999, two more Airbus jets had arrived and Croatia Airlines started selling the Boeing part of their fleet. The airline flew its five millionth passenger.[citation needed]

Development since 2000

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In 2000, two more Airbus planes arrived and an automated ticketing system was inaugurated. In 2001, the airline received maintenance and technical performing certificates from the German aviation authority Luftfahrt-Bundesamt. On 18 November 2004, Croatia Airlines joined Star Alliance.

Airbus and Croatia Airlines announced on 22 October 2008 the order of four additional 132-seat A319 aircraft, to be delivered from 2013.[5] By March 2009, the airline also retired its fleet of three ATR 42 short-haul aircraft, after operating the type since 1993, and replaced it with a fleet of six Bombardier Dash 8 Q400s, the first of which was delivered in May 2008.

The airline carried its 20,000,000th passenger in July 2009,[6] and has carried well over 1 million passengers annually from 2000.[7]

Croatia Airlines and maintenance partner Lufthansa announced on 23 May 2011 the introduction of new slim-line Recaro economy seats to be retrofitted into certain A320 Family aircraft from summer 2012, increasing seating capacity by two rows.[8][9]

Losses have been made for several years; in November 2012, the government announced that it would provide HRK 800m ($ 136m) for Croatia Airlines to become cost-effective from 2013 on. The government is seeking to restructure the airline, which includes plans to cut its workforce by ten percent within two years and it is also looking for a strategic investor.[10]

In February 2020, Croatia Airlines announced two new seasonal flights to Podgorica and Sofia operated by Bombardier Dash 8 Q400.[11]

In April 2024, Croatia Airlines concluded an agreement on the lease of an Airbus A319 aircraft with the Croatian airline Fly Air41, which is otherwise a sister company to SundAir.[12]

Renewal of the fleet

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In October 2022, Croatia Airlines announced plans to reduce their fleet and replace all current aircraft with six new Airbus A220-300 by 2026. The airline decided against the competing Embraer E2 as it was able to use downpayments for a former and since cancelled order for Airbus A319s nearly 15 years ago.[13] In November 2022, it has been stated that the airline will operate up to 15 A220 with 9 additional aircraft to be leased.[14] In January 2023, a lease was agreed for the first six aircraft of four A220-300 aircraft and two A220-100 aircraft. The lease was concluded with Air Lease Corporation Clover based in the Republic of Ireland as the lessor.[15]

In September 2023, Croatia Airlines sold and leased back its entire Airbus fleet from lessor World Star Aviation. Four Airbus A319 and one Airbus A320 were sold prior to the Airbus A220 delivery.[16] In November 2023, Croatia Airlines has started retiring aircraft prior to its first Airbus A220 deliveries with the first aircraft to leave the fleet being an Airbus A319-100.[17] The arrival of the first aircraft was confirmed for July 2024, while the second new A220 was expected at the end of the same year. The following six aircraft would be delivered in 2025, then four in 2026, and the last three in 2027.[18] On 30 July 2024, first airplane named Zagreb, landed on Zagreb Airport.[19]

Corporate affairs

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Ownership

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Croatia Airlines is a joint-stock company. Its share capital is divided into 92.388 million ordinary shares (as of 2023):[20]

Share owner Number of shares Percentage
Republic of Croatia 91,610,821 99.16%
Zagreb Airport Ltd. 477,121 0.52%
Hrvatska poštanska banka for the Republic of Croatia 173,768 0.19%
JANAF 22,000 0.02%
Others 104,243 0.11%
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The key trends for Croatia Airlines group over recent years are shown below (as at year ending 31 December):[21]

Year Turnover
(€ m) 		Net profit
(€ m) 		Number of
employees[a] 		Number of
passengers (m) 		Passenger load
factor (%) 		Number of
aircraft[a] 		Sources
2007 204 0.13 1,052 1.7 64.9 10 [22]
2008 229 −11.9 1,113 1.8 65.2 10 [22]
2009 192 −26.3 1,131 1.7 61.4 12 [23]
2010 196 −20.7 1,117 1.6 62.0 13 [24]
2011 234 −15.0 1,101 1.8 67.0 13 [25]
2012 237 −64.7 1,086 1.9 69.1 13 [26]
2013 219 0.19 1,041 1.7 68.8 12 [27]
2014 218 1.1 908 1.8 69.2 12 [28]
2015 214 1.9 898 1.8 69.7 12 [29]
2016 215 1.0 967 1.9 70.7 12 [30]
2017 233 3.5 924 2.1 75.2 12 [31]
2018 236 −10.9 959 2.1 73.5 12 [32][33]
2019 236 −10.6 999 2.1 73.6 12 [34]
2020 100 −47.5 980 0.61 49.6 12 [35]
2021 112 −38.3 920 0.78 49.9 13 [36]
2022 210 −18.2 909 1.4 62.0 12 [37]
2023 252 2.0 911 1.7 65.3 12 [38]

Destinations

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Croatia Airlines head office in Buzin
Croatia Airlines aircraft hangar at Zagreb Airport

As of August 2024, Croatia Airlines flies to the following destinations:[39]

Country City Airport Notes Refs
Albania Tirana Tirana International Airport Nënë Tereza
Austria Vienna Vienna International Airport [39]
Belgium Brussels Brussels Airport [39]
Bosnia and Herzegovina Mostar Mostar International Airport [39]
Sarajevo Sarajevo International Airport [39]
Croatia Brač Brač Airport [39]
Dubrovnik Dubrovnik Airport [39][40]
Osijek Osijek Airport [39]
Pula Pula Airport [39]
Rijeka Rijeka Airport [39]
Split Split Airport [39][40]
Zadar Zadar Airport [39]
Zagreb Zagreb Airport Hub [39][40]
Czech Republic Prague Václav Havel Airport Prague [39]
Denmark Copenhagen Copenhagen Airport [39]
France Lyon Lyon–Saint-Exupéry Airport [39]
Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport [39][40]
Germany Berlin Berlin Brandenburg Airport [39][40]
Düsseldorf Düsseldorf Airport [39]
Frankfurt Frankfurt Airport [39][40]
Munich Munich Airport [39]
Greece Athens Athens International Airport [39]
Ireland Dublin Dublin Airport [39]
Israel Tel Aviv David Ben Gurion International Airport Resumes 13 May 2025 [41]
Italy Milan Milan Malpensa Airport [39]
Rome Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport [39]
Netherlands Amsterdam Amsterdam Airport Schiphol [39][40]
North Macedonia Skopje Skopje International Airport [39][40]
Norway Oslo Oslo Airport, Gardermoen [39]
Romania Bucharest Henri Coandă International Airport [39]
Spain Barcelona Josep Tarradellas Barcelona–El Prat Airport [39][40]
Sweden Stockholm Stockholm Arlanda Airport [39]
Switzerland Zürich Zürich Airport [39]
Turkey Istanbul Istanbul Airport Seasonal [42]
United Kingdom London Gatwick Airport [39]
Heathrow Airport [39][40]

Codeshare agreements

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Croatia Airlines has codeshare agreements with the following airlines:[43]

Fleet

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Current fleet

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As of September 2024, Croatia Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft:[44][45]

Aircraft In service Orders Passengers[44] Notes
Airbus A220-100 — 2 127[15] Deliveries from July 2024.[14][18][19][46][47]
Airbus A220-300 2 11 149[18]
Airbus A319-100 4 — 144 All to be replaced by Airbus A220s.[46][48]
Airbus A320-200 3 — 174
De Havilland Canada Dash 8-Q400 6 — 76
Total 15 13

Former fleet

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Croatia Airlines formerly also operated the following aircraft types:

Croatia Airlines historical fleet
Aircraft Total Introduced Retired Notes
ATR 42-300QC 3 1993 2009 [49]
BAe 146-200 2 2000 2002 [50]
Boeing 737-200 5 1992 1999 [51]
Fokker 100 1 2001 2005 [52]
McDonnell Douglas MD-82 2 1990 1991 [53]

Notes

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  1. ^ a b at year end

References

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  1. ^ "Croatia Airlines on ch-aviation". ch-aviation.com. Retrieved 21 November 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Basic information". croatiaairlines.com. Croatia Airlines. Retrieved 12 April 2013.
  3. ^ Flight International 3 April 2007
  4. ^ Croatia Airlines turns 25 at EX-YU Aviation News, 12-8-2014, retrieved 1-12-2015
  5. ^ Croatia Airlines to acquire four additional A320 family aircraft Archived 2008-10-27 at the Wayback Machine 22 October 2008
  6. ^ "Croatia Airlines: 20-milijunti putnik". Slobodna Dalmacija (in Croatian). 24 July 2009. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  7. ^ "20 million for Croatia Airlines". Blogspot. Exyuaviation. July 28, 2009.
  8. ^ "Croatia Airlines to Introduce Lufthasa's Recaro seats". Balkans.com. 23 May 2011. Archived from the original on 2015-04-02.
  9. ^ "Croatia Airlines presents new economy class cabin". Balkans.com. 20 March 2012. Archived from the original on 2015-04-02.
  10. ^ "Croatia Pushing Ahead With Croatia Airlines Restructuring". Retrieved 27 May 2013.
  11. ^ "Croatia Airlines uvodi letove iz Zagreba u Sofiju i Podgoricu". Retrieved 11 February 2020.[permanent dead link‍]
  12. ^ "Croatia Airlines je uzela u najam još jedan zrakoplov tipa Airbus A319" [Croatia Airlines leased another Airbus A319 aircraft]. Croatian aviation (in Croatian). 21 April 2024. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
  13. ^ aerotelegraph.com (German) 5 October 2022
  14. ^ a b flightglobal.com - Croatia Airlines to operate up to 15 A220s as it places firm order 29 November 2022
  15. ^ a b "Croatia Airlines ugovorio zakup šest zrakoplova A220" [Croatia Airlines contracted the lease of six A220 aircraft]. SEEbiz (in Croatian). 16 January 2023. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  16. ^ "Croatia sells Airbus aircraft". 15 September 2023.
  17. ^ "Croatia retires A319 jet". 24 November 2023.
  18. ^ a b c Topić, Dario (12 June 2024). "Croatia Airlines dobiva najmoderniji avion: Pogledajte što će nuditi putnicima, znamo gdje će letjeti, a imat će i posebno ime" [Croatia Airlines is getting the most modern plane: Look at what it will offer to passengers, we know where it will fly, and it will have a special name]. Večernji list (in Croatian). Retrieved 13 June 2024.
  19. ^ a b Vajdić, Karlo (30 July 2024). "Airbusom A220-300 počela pola milijarde eura vrijedna obnova flote Croatia Airlinesa" [With the Airbus A220-300, the renovation of Croatia Airlines' fleet, worth half a billion euros, began]. Bloomberg Adria (in Croatian). Retrieved 30 July 2024.
  20. ^ "Najveći dioničari" [The largest shareholders]. Croatia Airlines (in Croatian). Retrieved 18 May 2023.
  21. ^ "Financial Reports | Croatia Airlines". www.croatiaairlines.com. Retrieved 2024-07-25.
  22. ^ a b "Croatia Airlines Annual Report 2008" (PDF). Croatia Airlines. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 April 2015. Retrieved 27 May 2013.
  23. ^ "Croatia Airlines Annual Report 2009" (PDF). Croatia Airlines. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 April 2015. Retrieved 27 May 2013.
  24. ^ "Croatia Airlines Annual Report 2010" (PDF). Croatia Airlines. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 April 2015. Retrieved 27 May 2013.
  25. ^ "Croatia Airlines Annual Report 2011" (PDF). Croatia Airlines. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
  26. ^ "Croatia Airlines Annual Report 2012" (PDF). Croatia Airlines. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
  27. ^ "Croatia Airlines Annual Report 2013" (PDF). Croatia Airlines. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
  28. ^ "Croatia Airlines Annual Report 2014" (PDF). Croatia Airlines. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
  29. ^ "Croatia Airlines Annual Report 2015" (PDF). Croatia Airlines. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
  30. ^ "Croatia Airlines Annual Report 2016" (PDF). Croatia Airlines. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
  31. ^ "Croatia Airlines Annual Report 2017". Croatia Airlines. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
  32. ^ "Croatia Airlines Annual Report 2018". Croatia Airlines. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
  33. ^ "Croatia Airlines flew a record number of passengers in 2018". croatiaairlines.com. Archived from the original on 31 May 2019. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  34. ^ "Croatia Airlines Annual Report 2019". Croatia Airlines. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
  35. ^ "Croatia Airlines Annual Report 2020" (PDF). Croatia Airlines. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
  36. ^ "Croatia Airlines Annual Report 2021". Croatia Airlines. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
  37. ^ "Croatia Airlines Annual Report 2022" (PDF). Croatia Airlines. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
  38. ^ "Croatia Airlines Annual Report 2023". Croatia Airlines. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
  39. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah "Our destinations". Croatia Airlines.
  40. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Liu, Jim (29 July 2024). "Croatia Airlines A220 Operations – 29JUL24". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 19 August 2024.
  41. ^ "כל העדכונים השוטפים של חברות התעופה: פספורטניוז עושה לכם סדר". פספורטניוז (in Hebrew). PassportNews. 6 August 2024. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  42. ^ "Flights from Istanbul | Croatia Airlines".
  43. ^ "Profile on Croatia Airlines". CAPA. Centre for Aviation. Archived from the original on 2016-11-01. Retrieved 2016-11-01.
  44. ^ a b "Fleet". Croatia Airlines. 10 July 2023.
  45. ^ "Croatia Airlines obnavlja flotu, postojeće zrakoplove zamijenit će Airbusom 220" [Croatia Airlines is renewing its fleet, the existing aircraft will be replaced by Airbus 220]. N1 (in Croatian). 4 October 2022. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
  46. ^ a b "Airbus A220 macht bei Croatia Airlines das Rennen" [Airbus A220 wins the race at Croatia Airlines]. aero.de (in German). 29 November 2022.
  47. ^ avioradar (27 June 2024). "Croatia Airlines changed the order for Airbus A220". Retrieved 30 June 2024.
  48. ^ "Croatia Airlines to start phasing out the Dash 8 in 2024" [Croatia Airlines to start phasing out the Dash 8 in 2024]. aeroTELEGRAGH (in German). 2 December 2022.
  49. ^ Airfleets. "ATR 42/72 in Croatia Airlines history". Retrieved 16 August 2010.
  50. ^ Airfleets. "BAe 146 / Avro RJ in Croatia Airlines history". Retrieved 16 August 2010.
  51. ^ Airfleets. "Boeing 737 in Croatia Airlines history". Retrieved 16 August 2010.
  52. ^ Airfleets. "Fokker 70/100 in Croatia Airlines history". Retrieved 16 August 2010.
  53. ^ Airfleets. "McDonnell Douglas MD-80/90 in Croatia Airlines history". Retrieved 16 August 2010.
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