Croatia Airlines facts for kids
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Founded | 7 August 1989 (as Zagal - Zagreb Airlines) |
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Hubs | Zagreb |
Focus cities |
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Frequent-flyer program | Miles & More |
Alliance | Star Alliance |
Subsidiaries |
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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.
Contents
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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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:
Aircraft | Total | Introduced | Retired | Notes |
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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 |
Images for kids
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A former Croatia Airlines Boeing 737-200 in 1992
See also
In Spanish: Croatia Airlines para niños