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Croatia Airlines Ltd.
Croatia-Airlines New-Logo.svg
Founded 7 August 1989; 36 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 15
Destinations 31
Headquarters Zagreb, Croatia
Key people Jasmin Bajić (President and CEO)
Employees 911 (2023)

Croatia Airlines Ltd. is the main airline of Croatia. It's like the national airline! Its main office is in Zagreb, and it flies to many cities in Europe. Its main base is Zagreb International Airport. It also has important bases in Dubrovnik, Split, and Zadar. Since 2004, Croatia Airlines has been part of Star Alliance, which is a big group of airlines that work together.

History

How it Started

Croatia Airlines began in June 1991. At first, it didn't have any planes! Later in 1991, the airline rented a McDonnell Douglas MD-82 plane from another airline. This allowed it to start flying between Zagreb and Split within Croatia.

Soon after, Croatia Airlines bought three Boeing 737 planes from Lufthansa. It also joined the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which is a group that helps airlines work together worldwide. On April 5, 1992, Croatia Airlines made its first international flight from Zagreb to Frankfurt, Germany. This was a big step for the newly independent country of Croatia.

Growing Bigger

In 1993, the airline added two new ATR 42 planes and two more Boeing 737s to its fleet. It also opened offices in many European cities. The company even bought a travel agency called Obzor to help people plan their trips. By 1994, Croatia Airlines had flown its one millionth passenger! Later that year, Pope John Paul II flew with the airline during his visit to Croatia.

In 1995, another ATR 42 plane joined the fleet, and the airline welcomed its two millionth passenger. In 1996, Croatia Airlines was the first airline to fly to Sarajevo after the war there. In 1997, the airline got its first Airbus A320 plane, which they named Rijeka. In 1998, they got their first Airbus A319 plane, named Zadar. In the same year, Croatia Airlines joined the Association of European Airlines (AEA). By 1999, two more Airbus planes had arrived, and Croatia Airlines started selling its Boeing planes. The airline had now flown five million passengers!

New Changes Since 2000

In 2000, two more Airbus planes joined the fleet. The airline also started using an automatic system for selling tickets. In 2001, Croatia Airlines received special certificates for its plane maintenance from Germany's aviation authority. On November 18, 2004, Croatia Airlines officially joined Star Alliance, a major airline group.

In 2008, Airbus and Croatia Airlines announced they would order four more A319 planes. These planes were planned to arrive starting in 2013. By March 2009, the airline stopped using its three ATR 42 planes. They replaced them with six Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 planes, with the first one arriving in May 2008.

In July 2009, Croatia Airlines flew its 20 millionth passenger! Since 2000, the airline has flown over 1 million passengers every year. In 2011, Croatia Airlines and Lufthansa announced that some of their A320 planes would get new, thinner seats. This would allow more seats on each plane.

The airline had some financial challenges for a few years. In 2012, the government said it would help the airline become more efficient. This included plans to reduce the number of employees and look for new investors. In February 2020, Croatia Airlines announced new seasonal flights to Podgorica and Sofia. In April 2024, Croatia Airlines rented an Airbus A319 plane from another Croatian airline, Fly Air41.

Getting New Planes

In October 2022, Croatia Airlines shared plans to get new planes. They decided to replace all their current aircraft with six new Airbus A220-300 planes by 2026. They chose the Airbus A220 because they could use money from old orders for Airbus A319s that were canceled years ago. In November 2022, it was announced that the airline might use up to 15 A220 planes, with 9 extra planes being rented. In January 2023, they agreed to rent the first six planes: four A220-300s and two A220-100s.

In September 2023, Croatia Airlines sold its Airbus planes to a company called World Star Aviation and then rented them back. This happened before the new Airbus A220 planes arrived. In November 2023, Croatia Airlines started to remove older planes from its fleet. The first plane to leave was an Airbus A319-100.

The first new A220 plane, named Zagreb, arrived on July 30, 2024. The second A220 plane, named Split, arrived on December 20, 2024. The third A220 plane, named Vukovar, arrived on May 14, 2025. The next six planes are expected to arrive in 2025, then four in 2026, and the last three in 2027.

Corporate Affairs

Who Owns Croatia Airlines

Croatia Airlines is a company where its ownership is divided into shares. This means many people or groups can own a small part of the company. As of 2023, the Republic of Croatia owns most of the shares.

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%

Where Croatia Airlines Flies

As of August 2024, Croatia Airlines flies to these places:

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

Working with Other Airlines

Croatia Airlines also has agreements with other airlines. This means they can sell tickets on each other's flights. This is called a codeshare agreement. Here are some of the airlines they work with:

Fleet

Planes Croatia Airlines Uses Now

As of August 2025, the Croatia Airlines fleet has these planes:

Aircraft In service Orders Passengers Notes
Airbus A220-100 0 2 127 New planes arriving since July 2024.
Airbus A220-300 3 8 149
Airbus A319-100 4 144 These planes will be replaced by the new Airbus A220s.
Airbus A320-200 2 174
De Havilland Canada Dash 8-Q400 4 76
Total 13 10

Planes Croatia Airlines Used Before

Croatia Airlines used to fly these types of planes:

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

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See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Croatia Airlines para niños

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