Croatia Airlines plans to retire five aircraft this year as part of its fleet modernisation program and transition to a single-type Airbus A220 operation. The carrier recently phased out one Dash 8 Q400 turboprop, while one Airbus A320 and four A319s will be removed during 2026. The A320 will exit the fleet on February 15, marking the end of A320 operations at Croatia Airlines. The remaining aircraft expected to be withdrawn this year are those registered 9A-CTG, 9A-CTH, 9A-CTL and 9A-CTN. By the end of the year, the airline is still expected to operate three Dash 8s and a single A319 as part of its remaining legacy fleet.
As previously reported, Croatia Airlines is expected to take delivery of seven A220 aircraft this year, bringing its total fleet of this type to fourteen. A final aircraft is scheduled to arrive in 2027, at which point the remaining Dash 8a and the last remaining A319 are expected to be withdrawn from service. The airline has confirmed that the Dash 8s will be replaced with wet-leased turboprop aircraft, which will be operated by another carrier on Croatia Airlines’ behalf. The deployment of the incoming A220s is expected to result in significant capacity growth during the 2026 summer season. Croatia Airlines is scheduled to offer more than 2.396.000 seats, representing an increase of 9% compared to 2025.
Croatia Airlines will launch new seasonal flights from Split to Nantes and from Dubrovnik to Stuttgart this year. However, the carrier will also discontinue its seasonal services from Split to both Amsterdam and Bucharest. Although no new routes are planned from Zagreb, the airline will increase capacity in the Croatian capital by 144.000 seats, primarily through the earlier start of seasonal operations. In Split, Croatia Airlines plans to boost capacity by 10%. Dubrovnik capacity is expected to grow 1% on last year.
What the hell is the point of keeping the A320 for the whole dead winter period and then sending it back on the day school holidays start in Croatia? And a few weeks before Easter?
ReplyDeleteBecause not enough A220s have been delivered from Airbus yet. It doesn't seem too difficult to understand.
DeleteYou are the one who does not seem to understand. If they are keeping the A320 all winter, why not just keep it for a few more months until September?
DeleteThere are contracts you have to meet and part out slots too. You can't just pick and choose.
DeleteBecause they do not need to extend leases and keep different flight crews for it during the summer. They already have scheduled a large increase in summer capacity with the existing and incoming A220s.
DeleteI don't see what's so difficult to comprehend.
What's difficult to comprehend is that an airline which only makes money in the summer is getting rid of its biggest aircraft (the one that it can fill easily for charters and all coastal operations) just before the start of school holidays. And it's an aircraft that is on a pay-by-hour contract.
DeleteEnding A320 operations is symbolic but in practice the aircraft was already an orphan in the fleet. One frame made no sense economically.
DeleteBut they only have 3 remaining Dashes at the moment, or am I wrong? Dakmacija just got to Canada a day or so ago
ReplyDeleteYes 9A-CQD left on the 2nd of January bound for YUL. Anyone knows the fate of 9A-CTK?
DeleteBravo Hrvatska!
ReplyDeleteI'm not surprised that they are keeping the Dashes till last. Should not have gotten rid of these planes.
ReplyDeleteShould not have gotten rid of the ATRs for Dashes. That decision had burned millions itself.
DeleteThis is a very strange company.
ReplyDeleteIt is not company. It is Party fraction, uhljeb sanctuary and money laundering machine
DeleteI forsee another large financial loss this year.
ReplyDeleteImpressive capacity increase both in ZAG and in the coast.
ReplyDeleteCroatian tourism is going to have another fantastic season this year!
It is, but not thanks to Croatia Airlines. The national airline carries only about 8% of all passengers in Croatia in the summer.
DeleteA double digit increase is very impressive.
DeleteAnd just like all tourist hotspots their national airlines carry a small minority of the total number of visitors.
But double digit increase in capacity is not translating to double digit increase in passenger numbers. Do national airlines have 60% load factors in tourist hotspots too?
DeleteCheck ITA and Cyprus airways for clarification. Do they carry a double digit percentage of the tourist traffic coming to Italy? Or Cyprus?
DeleteTheir load factors are over 60% that is for sure.
DeleteITA Airways' load factor for the first nine months of 2025 was 83.4%.
DeleteHow many tourists visiting Italy actually fly in with ITA,
DeleteA lot more than with OU on a significantly more competitive market.
Delete@Anonymous 09:38
DeleteIs it? How much exactly is their share? You seem to know...
How on earth can anyone know the share of tourists on any network carrier. Passengers don't register as a tourist, business person, VFR when they fly.
DeleteITA is profitable, it generates large transfer traffic through Milan and Rome, it flies to FIVE continents and it brings millions of tourists to Italy every year. Croatia Airlines does precisely ZERO of these things.
Delete@09:19 "A double digit increase" is not impressive. Croatia Airlines is only growing capacity because it's replacing Dash planes with A220s so every Dash route now has more seats on sale. It's actually a failure rather than a success because the load factor is 60%.
DeleteAnd it goes down to 45%
DeleteI think they would of been more competetive If they were to get A320s rather than 220s because of more capacity and just all of the issues surrounding the 220 but let’s see how they Play their cards
ReplyDeleteAirbus A320 plus Embraers was what they should have gotten. The A220 fleet is an absolutely disastrous idea.
Delete+1
DeleteI am glad there are more people who share my view and opinion on single type fleet, the worst decision ever made in history of OU, result of highly corruptive BCG deal and final nail in OU coffin
Delete@PIR I doubt this is the final nail in the coffin as long as the ruling party stays in power but the reconstruction should of not only happend in the Fleet but in the entire management sector too I mean at some point somebody has to say enough is enough, right?
DeleteThe A220 is probably the best aircraft Croatia Airlines could have chosen. Now the question is whether management can build a competitive network around it.
DeleteIt’s not best ac for them, they need bigger birds for summer and smaller for winter. Isn’t that the most obvious thing in OU’s business and Croatia’s market?
Delete12.24
Delete3 airline companies fly nonstop long-haul to Croatia, plus dozen legacies which transfer long haul passengers via their hubs, Qatar and Flydubai almost exclusively. More than 2 million tourists from distant markets yearly in Croatia. A220 isn't long-haul aircraft.
Several domestic and regional secondary or tertiary airports with existent or potential or cut services, even suitable for (EU funded) PSO, much too small for A220 capacity/size, even-100.
Coastal airports which handle 2,3 or more million passengers yearly, where direct competitors operate 180-280 seat aircraft, where A220 is too small, too expensive and not competitive.
The only part where A220 is not probably but definitely the best aircraft for Croatia Airlines, is to provide continued and higher quality feeding to LHG.
Warm regards to Buzin and Središnjica!
I think the A220 is a good aircraft but it’s not cheap. Lease rates, training and spare engines all add up. The real question is whether yields will grow enough to justify the investment.
DeleteCapacity growth of 9% is respectable but route development still feels very conservative. No new destinations from Zagreb is disappointing.
ReplyDeleteInteresting that Dubrovnik growth is only 1%. For a city that is still booming with tourism, this feels extremely cautious. Are they leaving too much room for competitors again?
DeleteCapacity is only growing because Croatia Airlines got bigger planes and it's just replacing Dash routes with A220s. There is absolutely nothing positive about this capacity growth.
DeleteI don’t mind the retirements at all. The A319s were getting old and inefficient. What matters now is reliability and cost control
ReplyDeleteThe A319s were not old by European legacy standards and they were certainly not inefficient. Croatia Airlines owned these aircraft whereas the A220a cost millions just to lease.
DeleteWell they were inefficient, otherwise the model's popularity would not have suffered last years.
DeleteAny insight what is going to happen with old Airbuses and Dashes afterwards?
ReplyDeleteI heard something about CTK going to Flyair41 or something but nothing about the rest
DeleteFrom a passenger perspective the A220 is a huge upgrade compared to the old A319s.
ReplyDeleteSays you. I much preferred the A319. The A220 is better compared to the Dash though.
DeleteStill waiting to see how this fleet renewal translates into better connectivity.
ReplyDeleteCroatia Airlines is finally doing what it should have done years ago. Now the focus needs to shift from fleet renewal to network ambition.
ReplyDeleteGetting rid of aircraft it owns and leasing A220s that are too big for regional routes but too small for summer Adriatic routes is something that it "should have done years ago"?
DeleteThey'll have ATR for regional routes. Even wet leased, that should have better economics than flying Dashes.
DeleteDidn't zamagirl say that Q400 are way better than ATR's?
DeleteWell, it has muscles (it's faster), but in airline industry such models always lost battle to superior economics (Coronado, VC 10... Concorde). An analyst should know that.
DeleteWill Split to Nantes and Dubrovnik to Stuttgart start in 2026 or 2027?
ReplyDelete2026.
DeleteThe A319s served the airline well
ReplyDeleteI’m more interested in what happens after 2027. Once the last A319 and Dash 8 are gone, will Croatia Airlines finally look at growth beyond replacement capacity?
ReplyDeleteAccording to the management, when all A220s arrive everything will magically become good at the airline.
DeleteManagement is confusing cost simplification with business optimisation. They’re not the same thing.
DeleteSeven A220s in one year is a big step operationally.
ReplyDeleteIt is. But it will likely increase losses this year because of everything involved in bringing so many planes to a relatively small airline.
DeleteThe star alliance A320 is leased on per operational hour basis, which makes this decision even worse...right before the summer season too
ReplyDeleteThey have changed planes but nothing has changed with their strategy.
ReplyDeleteThe A220 is being treated as a miracle solution, but aircraft choice doesn’t replace market reality.
DeleteThe Dash 8 replacement strategy worries me a bit. Turboprops are essential for domestic connectivity, and outsourcing them could weaken the network if not managed properly.
ReplyDeleteWhy wouldn't it be managed properly? They will just get a long term wet lease partner.
DeleteReplacing Dash 8s with wet-leased turboprops is basically admitting that management doesn’t believe the A220 can do the whole job.
DeleteWhy wouldn't it be managed properly? Maybe because it's run by politically appointed aparatchiks instead competent professionals? Maybe because it's been the case for over 30 years? Maybe because except for new aircraft type nothing else changed? Maybe because Croatian market is too diverse for single type operations? Maybe because intention behind it is to continue providing feeding to LHG at any cost? And many more maybies...
DeleteOnce the fleet is fully standardised there will be no more excuses for losses. Time to find something new.
ReplyDeleteEngine issues will be the next excuse. Mark my words.
DeleteWell done Croatia Airlines
ReplyDeleteLOL
DeleteI'm guessing the A319 leave after summer?
ReplyDeleteYes
DeleteThey have 7 new planes, getting 7 new planes this year and just 2 new routes? I don't get it.
ReplyDeleteWhat is difficult to get?
DeleteThey are both replacing aircraft that leave the fleet and increasing frequencies and capacity on existing routes.
Seriously you can not "get" that?
It is difficult to get because what you wrote is false. They are increasing frequencies on 5 routes. You write as if they are increasing frequencies across the network. The increased frequencies are all one additional flight.
DeleteAlso they "new routes" they are launching are just shifting capacity because they are discontinuing 3 routes.
Growth is very modest because OU has no idea when the new planes will arrive, they just have an outline. Airbus has constantly delayed deliveries and OU can't plan anything. Last year they planned to start new routes in late May and early June but had to move it to July because plane deliveries were late. To avoid unplanned wet leases at a time where they are on the brink of bankruptcy, they plan a very conservative schedule despite bigger fleet.
DeleteAlso last year they had situation where they launched new routes and then suspended them a month later.
DeleteFrom a maintenance perspective, this simplifies everything. One jet type, one set of spares, one pool of engineers.
ReplyDeleteI love the A220 as a passenger but I’m less convinced from a business point of view.
DeleteSingle-type fleets reduce training costs but increase commercial risk. When demand shifts, you’re stuck with the wrong capacity.
DeleteA single-type fleet might work for low-cost carriers but Croatia Airlines isn’t one. A network carrier serving domestic, regional and seasonal routes needs flexibility.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteIf you still need turboprops, then by definition a single-type fleet doesn’t work. You’re just outsourcing the complexity instead of managing it.
@22.03
DeleteTell that to Air Baltic.
airBaltic has had major financial issues over the past 2 years and is wet leasing half of its fleet. If it was the right strategy, they wouldn't be wet leasing so many aircraft and they would not have needed for the government to intervene to prop them up and to sell shares to Lufthansa.
DeleteAlso not to mention that Air Baltic has also had to wet lease planes for itself. So it is wet leasing out its own planes, only to wet lease in aircraft from other airlines. It's a prime example of how flawed their fleet strategy was. Let's hope Martin gauss does not decide on an all A220 fleet for Gulf Air.
DeleteOnce the Dash 8s are gone, Croatia Airlines will effectively be a jet-only airline in its own operation. That’s a big strategic shift for a country with many short routes.
ReplyDeleteIf the airline truly believed in a mono fleet, it wouldn’t be planning wet leased turboprops at all.
DeleteExactly. If the A220 was truly the perfect solution, there would be no need for wet-leased turboprops. The contradiction is obvious.
Delete01.32
DeleteI sign under everything you wrote, except for one word: it should have been "wrong strategic shift" instead of "big strategic shift"