Croatia Airlines

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Croatia Airlines
IATA
OU		 ICAO
CTN		 Callsign
CROATIA
Founded 20 August 1989 (as Zagal - Zagreb Airlines)
Hubs Zagreb Airport
Focus cities
Frequent-flyer program Miles & More
Airport lounge Senator Lounge
Alliance Star Alliance
Fleet size 12
Destinations 27
Company slogan More than a comfortable flight
Parent company State Owned - Government of Croatia
Headquarters Zagreb, Croatia
Key people Krešimir Kučko
(President and CEO)[1]
Employees 1150 (2011)[2]
Website www.croatiaairlines.hr

Croatia Airlines d.d. is the government-owned national airline and flag carrier of the Republic of Croatia. Based in Buzin, Zagreb,[1] the airline is a member of Star Alliance and operates domestic and international services. Its main base is Zagreb Airport, with focus cities being Dubrovnik, Split, and Zadar.[3]

Croatia Airlines is the leading airline (in terms of passengers) from the former Yugoslavia, but has been loss-making for a number of years. The Croatian government has been seeking to restructure the airline, despite strong opposition from the company’s employees, and has been seeking a strategic investor.[4]

History

Croatia Airlines Airbus A319-100 (9A-CTI) landing at London Heathrow Airport, England in 2009.

The airline was established on 20 July 1989, trading with the name Zagal (formally, Zagreb Airlines), and started operations using a single Cessna 402 aircraft on cargo services for UPS. After the first democratic elections held in Croatia, Zagal changed its name to Croatia Airlines[3] on 23 July 1990.

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. Due to the Croatian War of Independence and the closure of the airspace over Croatia, the airline was soon forced to suspend operations. As soon as flights restarted, Croatia Airlines acquired three Boeing 737s from Lufthansa and became a member of the International Air Transport Association (IATA). That year also saw the airline open its first international route to Frankfurt.

Croatia Airlines head office in Zagreb.

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 one 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.

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.

By March 2009, the airline 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 Q400 aircraft, the first of which was delivered in May 2008.

The airline carried its 20,000,000th passenger in July 2009,[5] and has carried well over 1 million passengers annually from 2000.[6]

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.[4]

Corporate affairs

Ownership

Croatia Airlines Airbus A319 with Star Alliance livery taxing at Frankfurt Airport.

The largest shareholder of the airline is the Government Asset Management Agency for the Republic of Croatia, with 96.22% of the issued capital. The State Agency for Deposit Insurance and Bank Rehabilitation owns 2.16% of the airline and 1.62% is publicly held.[7]

Subsidiaries

In addition to its main operation, Croatia Airlines has several subsidiaries:[8]

  • Obzor putovanja
  • Pleso prijevoz
  • Amadeus Croatia

Croatia Airlines-Technical affairs

Croatia Airlines-Technical affairs is a maintenance organisation placed at Zagreb Airport. In 2001 the company received maintenance and technical performing certificates from the German aviation authority Luftfahrt-Bundesamt.[9]

It is the line and base maintenance provider for Croatia Airlines but also provides a service of maintenance to Lufthansa, Thomas Cook Airlines,Sky Work and many others.[10]

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
Turnover (kn m) 1.537 1,729 1,449 1,479 1,763 1,786
Net Profits/Losses after tax (kn m) 1.0 −89.2 −198.5 −156.2 −113.1 −487.8
Number of employees (at year end) 1,052 1,113 1,131 1,117 1,101 1,086
Number of passengers (m) 1.7 1.8 1.7 1.6 1.9 1.9
Passenger load factor (%) 64.9 65.2 61.4 62.0 67.0 69.1
Number of aircraft (at year end) 10 10 12 13 13 13
Notes/sources [11] [11] [12] [13][14] [13] [13]

Destinations

Main article: Croatia Airlines destinations

Codeshare agreements

Croatia Airlines has codeshare agreements with the following airlines:[15]

Fleet

Croatia Airlines Airbus A319 taxing at Frankfurt Airport.
Croatia Airlines Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 takeoff.

Current fleet

The Croatia Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft (as of December 2013):[16][17]

 Croatia Airlines fleet
Aircraft Total Order Passengers Notes
C Y Total
Airbus A319-100 4 4 12
12		 120
132		 132
144		 Order on hold until financial situation becomes clear.[18]
Airbus A320-200 2 0 18 146 164 To be replaced by Airbus A319 in the order queue.[19]
Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 6 0 10 66 76 9A-CQA/CQB/CQC/CQD/CQE/CQF|
Total 12 4
  • As of September 2013, the average age of the Croatia Airlines fleet was 10.4 years.[20]
  • Airbus and Croatia Airlines announced on 22 October 2008 the order of four additional 132-seat A319 aircraft, to be delivered from 2013.[21]
  • 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.[22][23]

Historic fleet

Croatia Airlines historic fleet
Aircraft Total Introduced Retired Details
ATR 42-300QC 3 1993 2009 [24]
Boeing 737-200 5 1992 1999 [25]
BAe 146-200 2 2000 2002 [26]
Fokker 100 1 2001 2005 [27]
McDonnell Douglas MD-82 2 1990 1991 [28]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Basic information". croatiaairlines.com. Croatia Airlines. Retrieved 12 April 2013. 
  2. ↑ "Društvena odgovornost u Croatia Airlinesu". croatiaairlines.com (in Croatian). Croatia Airlines. Retrieved 9 April 2013. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Flight International 3 April 2007
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Croatia Pushing Ahead With Croatia Airlines Restructuring". Retrieved 27 May 2013. 
  5. ↑ "Croatia Airlines: 20- milijunti putnik". Croatiaairlines.com. 
  6. ↑ "20 million for Croatia Airlines". Blogspot. Exyuaviation. July 28, 2009. 
  7. ↑ http://www.croatiaairlines.com/ResourceManager/FileDownload.aspx?rId=785&rType=2
  8. ↑ CA subsidiaries
  9. ↑ CA Technic
  10. ↑ Croatia Airlines Technic
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 "Annual Report 2008". Retrieved 27 May 2013. 
  12. ↑ "Annual Report 2009". Retrieved 27 May 2013. 
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 "Annual Reports". Retrieved 27 May 2013. 
  14. ↑ "Annual Report 2010". Retrieved 27 May 2013. 
  15. ↑ http://www.croatiaairlines.com/Plan-Book/Partners/
  16. ↑ "Fleet". croatiaairlines.com. Croatia Airlines. Retrieved 14 December 2013. 
  17. ↑ Croatia Airlines Amateur Fleet List
  18. ↑ EX YU Aviation News: Croatia Airlines to shed its fleet February 6, 2013
  19. ↑ CENTRE FOR AVIATION Croatia Airlines eyes return to profitability 29 Dec 2011
  20. ↑ Fleet Age
  21. ↑ Croatia Airlines to acquire four additional A320 family aircraft 22 October 2008
  22. ↑ Balkans.com Business News Croatia Airlines to Introduce 23 May 2011
  23. ↑ Balkans.com Croatia Airlines presents new economy class cabin 20 March 2012
  24. ↑ Airfleets. "ATR 42/72 in Croatia Airlines history". Retrieved 16 August 2010. 
  25. ↑ Airfleets. "Boeing 737 in Croatia Airlines history". Retrieved 16 August 2010. 
  26. ↑ Airfleets. "BAe 146 / Avro RJ in Croatia Airlines history". Retrieved 16 August 2010. 
  27. ↑ Airfleets. "Fokker 70/100 in Croatia Airlines history". Retrieved 16 August 2010. 
  28. ↑ Airfleets. "McDonnell Douglas MD-80/90 in Croatia Airlines history". Retrieved 16 August 2010. 

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