kids encyclopedia robot

Croatia Airlines facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
Quick facts for kids
Croatia Airlines Ltd.
Croatia Airlines Logo.svg
Founded 7 August 1989; 35 years ago (1989-08-07)
(as Zagal - Zagreb Airlines)
Hubs Zagreb
Focus cities
  • Dubrovnik
  • Split
  • Zadar
Frequent-flyer program Miles & More
Alliance Star Alliance
Subsidiaries
  • Amadeus Croatia
  • Obzor Holidays
Fleet size 13
Destinations 31
Headquarters Zagreb, Croatia
Key people Jasmin Bajić (President and CEO)
Employees 911 (2023)

Croatia Airlines Ltd. is the flag carrier of Croatia. Its headquarters are in Buzin near Zagreb, 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. Since November 2004, the airline has been a member of Star Alliance.

History

Early years

Croatia Airlines MD-82; YU-ANO, June 1991 DTV (5164294148)
A former Croatia Airlines McDonnell Douglas MD-82 in 1991.
Boeing 737-230-Adv, Croatia Airlines AN0203066
A former Croatia Airlines Boeing 737-200 in 1992.
Croatia Airlines ATR ATR-42-300 9A-CTU (21833697829)
A former Croatia Airlines ATR42-300 in 2006.
Bombardier Dash 8-Q402, Croatia Airlines JP6972016
A current Croatia Airlines De Havilland Dash 8-400.

The airline was established on 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.

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.

Development since 2000

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. 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, and has carried well over 1 million passengers annually from 2000.

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.

Losses have been made for several years; in November 2012, the government announced that it would provide HRK 800m ($ 136m) for Croatia Airline 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.

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

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. In November 2022, it has been stated that the airline will operate up to 15 A220 with 9 additional aircraft to be leased. 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.

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, starting in June 2024. 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.

Corporate affairs

Ownership

Croatia Airlines is a joint-stock company. Its share capital amounts to HRK 122.622 millions and is divided into 92.388 millions of ordinary shares.

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%

Business trends

The key trends for Croatia Airlines group over recent years are shown below (as at year ending 31 December):

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
Turnover (EUR m) 204 229 192 196 234 237 219 218 214 215 233 236 236 100 112 210 252
Net profit after tax (EUR m) 0.1 −11.9 −26.3 −20.7 −15.0 −64.7 0.2 0.9 1.9 1.0 3.5 −10.9 −10.6 −47.5 −38.3 −18.2 2.0
Number of employees (at year end) 1,052 1,113 1,131 1,117 1,101 1,086 1,041 908 898 967 962 959 999 980 920 909 911
Number of passengers (m) 1.7 1.8 1.7 1.6 1.8 1.9 1.7 1.8 1.8 1.9 2.1 2.1 2.1 0.6 0.7 1.4 1.7
Passenger load factor (%) 64.9 65.2 61.4 62.0 67.0 69.1 68.8 69.2 69.7 70.7 75.2 73.5 73.6 49.6 49.9 62.0 65.3
Number of aircraft (at year end) 10 10 12 13 13 13 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 13 12 13
Sources

Destinations

CTN HQ
Croatia Airlines head office in Buzin
Aircraft Hangar
Croatia Airlines aircraft hangar at Zagreb Airport

As of September 2023, Croatia Airlines flies to the following destinations:

Country City Airport Notes Refs
Albania Tirana Tirana International Airport Nënë Tereza begins 14th June 2024
Austria Vienna Vienna International Airport
Belgium Brussels Brussels Airport
Bosnia and Herzegovina Mostar Mostar International Airport
Sarajevo Sarajevo International Airport
Croatia Brač Brač Airport
Dubrovnik Dubrovnik Airport
Osijek Osijek Airport
Pula Pula Airport
Rijeka Rijeka Airport
Split Split Airport
Zadar Zadar Airport
Zagreb Zagreb Airport Hub
Czech Republic Prague Václav Havel Airport Prague
Denmark Copenhagen Copenhagen Airport
France Lyon Lyon–Saint-Exupéry Airport
Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport
Germany Berlin Berlin Brandenburg Airport
Düsseldorf Düsseldorf Airport
Frankfurt Frankfurt Airport
Munich Munich Airport
Greece Athens Athens International Airport
Ireland Dublin Dublin Airport
Italy Milan Milan Malpensa Airport
Rome Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport
Netherlands Amsterdam Amsterdam Airport Schiphol
North Macedonia Skopje Skopje International Airport
Norway Oslo Oslo Airport, Gardermoen
Romania Bucharest Henri Coandă International Airport
Spain Barcelona Josep Tarradellas Barcelona–El Prat Airport
Sweden Stockholm Stockholm Arlanda Airport
Switzerland Zürich Zürich Airport
Turkey Istanbul Istanbul Airport Seasonal
United Kingdom London Gatwick Airport
Heathrow Airport

Codeshare agreements

Croatia Airlines has codeshare agreements with the following airlines:

Fleet

Current fleet

As of October 2023, Croatia Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft:

Aircraft In service Orders Passengers Notes
Airbus A220-100 3 127 Converted from order of Airbus A320neo.
6 to be bought, 9 to be leased.
Deliveries from 2024.
Airbus A220-300 12 148
Airbus A319-100 4 144 All to be replaced by Airbus A220s.
Airbus A320-200 2 174
De Havilland Canada Dash 8-Q400 6 76
Total 12 15

Former fleet

Croatia Airlines formerly also operated the following aircraft types:

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

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Croatia Airlines para niños

kids search engine
Croatia Airlines Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.