Croatia Airlines posts improved numbers

Croatia Airlines sees notable profit and modest passenger growth

Croatia Airlines has seen its passenger numbers grow a modest 0.4% over the past nine months, while at the same time doubling its net profit. The carrier handled 1.441.250 passengers in the first three quarters, up 0.4% on the same period last year. Out of those, 1.009.859 passengers were welcomed on international flights (up 2%), 373.534 on domestic services (down 1%) and a further 57.857 travellers on charter flights (a notable 16% decline). However, it should be noted that charters account for only 4% of the carrier’s total traffic. The average cabin load factor stood at 69.6%, almost unchanged from 69.8% the year before. Overall, Croatia Airlines saw its numbers improve on flights to and from Belgium (+20.4), Bosnia and Herzegovina (+9.3), the Netherlands (+7.1), Germany (+4.8), France (+4.6) and Austria (+2.9). On the other hand, the carrier recorded poorer results on services to and from Italy (-12.1), Macedonia (-4.8%), the United Kingdom (-4.3%) and Switzerland (-0.4%). Passenger numbers on other markets detracted a total of 7%. On the whole, the airline operated 20.249 flights, up 2.3% on last year.

On the financial front, the Croatian carrier reported a net profit of 5.6 million euros during the first three quarters of 2014, which is more than double on the same period last year. The airline is now on track to post a net profit for a second consecutive year. In 2013 the Croatian carrier posted its first profit in six years totalling 87.450 euros. Revenue decreased 2% due to slower ticket sales. The airline managed to decrease its expenditure by 4%. It spent most on flight operations, then maintenance and passenger services. Croatia Airlines invested 3.1 million euros in its fleet, mostly on engine changes and the refurbishment of seats on its Airbus fleet. Furthermore, a total of five C-checks were carried out (on one A320 and four Dash 8s).

Overall, Croatia Airlines has twelve aircraft in operation, five of which it owns (one A320 and 4 A319s) and the other seven which are on financial lease (one A320 and six Bombardier Dash 8s). The average age of its aircraft stands at 10.4 years. Together, the fleet operated 28.886 block hours of flying time, up 2%. The airline has 967 employees (330 of which are non-operative) which is down from 1.041 staff at the end of 2013.

Comments

  1. Anonymous09:14

    Go Croatia Airlines!

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    1. Anonymous12:22

      Where to go? :)

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:14

    Hmm... the real question is what will they do with the cash since they said there will be no expansion until 2018.
    Could it go to repaying their debt?

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  3. Anonymous09:16

    Well well this is once again thanks to the price of fuel that was lower. Not thanks to good management. If everything was so good with Croatia Airlines. My question would be where are the buyiers.

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  4. Anonymous09:49

    OU tickets are crazy expensive!

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  5. Anonymous10:04

    Good on them for making some headway. However, their performance is completely overshadowed by that of Air Serbia. Viewed against this, their performance is poor. To have only managed an increase in pax of less than 0.5% over 9mths of the year, reflects poorly on the job that mgt has (or more correctly, hasn't) done.

    The fleet size is not so different from Air Serbia, yet over the same period, JU carried 1.8m pax - a little less than a difference of 400,000 pax.

    Air Serbia also doesn't have the catchment of the Croatian coast or a domestic market at all, making their performance all the more remarkable, while showing OU's for what it is.

    The most telling thing that this suggests - although no data has been provided re ASKs - is the poor utilization of OU's aircraft and the poor network serving these flying aircraft. If they aren't flying, they aren't making money - aside from variable costs associated with flying, aircraft cost you the same, whether on the ground or in the air.

    For this, OU mgt have an awful lot to explain. They have sold their shareholders and their passengers short on this.

    That said, they should be praised for reducing headcount and costs - neither of which is easy.

    On the whole though - nothing really great to report, other than the fact that it isn't continuing to bleed the Croatian taxpayer.

    My assessment though, would be to say that the glass is half empty rather than being half full.

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    1. Anonymous10:16

      I agree with you 100%. I would also add that the airline has not taken any measures to fight off the incoming competition. In my opinion, one of the most dangerous airlines will be Lot. This is because they will cover a large market that is currently not served, or it's underserved from Zagreb. I am referring to the Nordic countries, Russia and so on.

      More and more airlines are announcing flights to Croatia but OU is still not doing what's needed to survive. I know they have some restrictions but there are always ways around the system.

      I believe that these results are only temporary until real troubles start. They've already lost their monopoly to Amsterdam and soon they will lose it to Zurich as well. Things are not looking up for the carrier.

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    2. Anonymous11:20

      I am a Serb, but I think that unlike Air Serbia, OU doesn't have someone to fill in their financial gaps.

      Also, in order to launch and maintain a new route, OU needs a lot of thinking and planning, whereas (Air) Serbia can afford itself experiments like they did with Varna. Or launch a route and reduce prices extremely.

      Of course, this doesn't mean OU management is good, they have a lot of lines they would have success on, if opened, namely Belgrade, Russia, Scandinavia..

      Delete
    3. Anonymous11:50

      Varna was not an experiment, it was a result of good market analysis. That's why it's being brought back next summer.

      As far as OU goes, it's too passive and it doesn't know how to tackle modern day aviation challenges.

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    4. Anonymous12:03

      Dude - you are severely mistaken in your comments and assessments. OU has their Govt to "fill in their financial gaps". Who do you think has been doing so for the past several years ?

      JU no longer has that luxury. The Govt of Serbia is broke with no money to put into the new company - that is why they are waiving airport taxes/expense as a means of covering their investment obligation.

      Etihad is commercially savvy and astute - they are not in this to be pouring money down the drain - so there is no one to cover any financial gaps at Air Serbia - other than Air Serbia itself.

      Every single route has been evaluated and calculated PRIOR to launch. There is no margin for error and absolutely no games being played with any sort of "experimentation".

      The cash injection that Etihad initially provided back in August last year is all that Air Serbia have received. They need to pay their own way and have been doing so from cash flow they have been generating frm the business.

      No life lines whatsoever - that is not how businesses who operate to a commercial mandate work.

      OU is still 100% Govt owned, funded and managed - that is where the difference starts and ends.

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    5. Anonymous12:12

      Sometimes when you want to make money, you need to invest a lot. Example is Warsaw return ticket for less than 180 two days before the trip, Paris - Istanbul (Sabiha) for about 150, Belgrade - Bucharest for 120 just tso days before the trip, Sarajevo - Moscow 190 two weeks before the trip...

      Not every airline can afford that. Then, you form a network, people start knowing more about you, etc. Then you can launch cities like Tirana and have full planes.

      Croatian airlines should see if they could attract more transfer pax, from Bosnia maybe..

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    6. Anonymous15:12

      Actually, since Croatia is in the EU, govt cant give subsidies the way it did, except for domestic flights!

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    7. Anonymous15:35

      Yeah but it has been only one year, not a decade. We will still have to see how they perform on their own.

      Delete
  6. Anonymous10:59

    To samo dokazuje koliko je CTN nesposoban da iskoristi letnju sezonu.
    Mozete me proglasiti ponovo budalom ali niko ziv nece uzeti CTN to mogu garantovati .
    Trebaju prodati sve Airbus ili ostaviti samo jednog A319 posto ni za ZRH salju vecinom Q400 cak sam cuo i za AMS nekim danima :)
    INN-NS

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    1. Anonymous13:23

      Šalju Q400 jer su im karte brutalno skupe pa ljudi ne putuju s njima. Npr 2.400 kn povratna za Zurich

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    2. Anonymous21:11

      Vidi, malecki, ja nemam bas nista protiv ljudi koji vole "svoje", ukoliko ti isti ljudi ne mrze "tudje". Sledom toga, samo bih te priupitao kako to da za zemlju koja ima 4 miliona avioputnika godisnje tvrdis da samo sto nije pocela da leti sa sirokotrupcima, a za zemlju koja ima 7 miliona avioputnika godisnje tvrdis da treba da ima samo turbopropove. Aj' pliz samo mi to objasni (pitanje je samo retoricko, nemam namere ulaziti u diskusiju sa tobom), i uveri me da to nije zbog toga sto nedaj Boze, mrzis "tudje" odnosno neke ljude ovde koje zanima avijacija zoves "neprijatelji".

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    3. Anonymous22:00

      Gospodine ne mrzim ja nikoga imam ovde prijatelja iz razlicitih krajeva sveta .
      Ja ne tvrdim za zemlje nego za kompanije CTN nije ocigledno u stanju da napuni svoje A319 nije u stanju da iskoristi bombasticnu letnju sezonu u HR ,nekada cak i za AMS salju Q400 . ASL je sama i leti samo iz BEG za razliku od CTN koji leti na svaki aerodrom u HR. To da ASL moze da ima wide body avione za to govore mnoge stvari glupo ih je i pisati. Te moje ponekad cudne i preterane izjave su pocele kad je Purger i jos nekoliko Hrvatskih strucnjaka pocelo u Decembru-Januaru da svaku vest o ASL iznose neke netacne bljuvotine i gluposti i meni je tad to dosadilo pa ja reko da uzvratim ali samo istinom a ne neistinom kao oni jedino neki iz HR nisu pisali te bljuvotine kao ti gore navedeni( Zar Kucko nije trebalo vec da je otisao =DD ). Onda one najave da ce Air Croatia leteti sa F70 ili F100 za BEG i jos nekoliko destinacija pa to je glupost gde je gazda te kompanije nikad se nigde nije pojavio mogu i ja reci otvaram Serbian Airways. To je jedini razlog zbog cega ja nekad preteram o CTN ali barem ne lazem kao neki ovde .
      Jos jednom cu reci garantujem da niko nece kupiti CTN iz meni poznatih razloga koje necu da pisem ovde . Kako drugacije da ih nazivam nego neprijateljima koji su samo ljubomorni na ovo godisnji uspeh ASL.
      Ja ne mrzim nikoga ovde mnogo sam naucio ovde od ljudi zahvalan im na tome .
      Nebi skodilo nekim ljudima ovde malo kulture posto nekoga nazivati ogranicenim i raznim drugim uvredama kao pre neki dan budala ja mislim da to nije uredu pa sta god ta osoba pisala ;))
      INN-NS

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    4. Anonymous22:46

      Pa ti si stvarno strucnjak. TI znas da nece biti nista od prodaje. TI i tvoji prijatelji iz Austrije. Imas i koje druho saznanje? Cisto tako da se spremimo.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous22:50

      Kad pises bljuvotine o Talijanima, vrijedjas druge narode. I zato si ogranicen. Ali to nije uvreda gospodine. To samo znaci da su ti granice postavljene usko oko tebe. Bit ce bolje. Bez ironije. Pozz.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous23:00

      Ja nisam strucnjak niti sam ti ikada rekao . Ja imam prijatelje iz celog sveta .Pa i nece nista biti od prodaje to znam ;)) barem ne u naredne 2 godine ;))
      Ja sam istinu pisao da je Venecija prljava naspram Austrije . Pa vi ste onaj gospodin sto uvek komentarise dva komentara jedan za drugim , to pokazuje da vi imate neki problem . A ja da sam ogranicen nebi dobio medical 1 od doktora ;))
      INN-NS

      Delete
  7. Anonymous11:53

    Nadam se da ćeš imati hrabrosti da ostaneš na blogu kada bude objavljeno ime njihovog kupca.

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    1. Anonymous13:18

      Mozda ce B&H Airlines da kupi OU to bi bilo bas slatkoooo.
      Ili ASL pa da ga dovede u red :)
      Ja bi na njegovom mestu i te kako imao hrabrosti :D

      Delete
    2. Anonymous14:35

      Zaboravio si potpis. Greske su te odale :-D

      Delete
    3. Anonymous16:18

      Anonymous at 11:53 AM
      Cega da se bojim kad opet kazem garantujem da niko nece uzeti CTN ;) ako hocete mogu vam navesti .
      Anonymous at 2:35 PM
      Ja to nisam pisao ja se za razliku ne plasim da se potpisem kao ostali koji neznam iz kog razloga nece da se potpisu ;))
      INN-NS

      Delete
    4. Anonymous00:49

      +1 INN-NS :D

      Delete
    5. Anonymous11:22

      A ovo ispod tvog teksta je potpis?

      Delete
  8. Anonymous11:57

    At least OU publishes figures in a professional way for the airline business and not like ASL just selected ones.
    I think that OU should not approach a model similar to ASL to build a hub in ZAG, but rather concentrate on efficient and reasonable connections from Croatia to different major cities Europe wide and not just Star Alliance hubs.Lease out some fleet over the winter and hire seasonal staff for the summer. Close useless office and appoint more GSA's and handling agents around major cities. No one needs 4 highly paid airport supervisors at FRA airport just because some pax don't speak English or German. Reduce catering and increase ancillaries.....just a few ideas....

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    1. Anonymous14:10

      This is true but instead of cutting in FRA they did it in Amsterdam where their best Airport Manager was.The same goes for Brussels only Politicians fly there so why do you need your own staff ,take the example of other Airlines use GSA.

      Delete
    2. Indeed he was the best station manager OU had and ever will have. Even now we are talking daily about him. He teached us a lot and we miss him deeply!!!
      Bravo Victor Dos Santos!!

      Delete
  9. Anonymous12:40

    I think this is why ASL wants to focus om BEG only, because launching flights from Nis or Kraljevo would not be profitable, so they would be losing passengers and money. From the other side, flights from BEG are always full and from there they can perform up to 50 flights/day. Also, sending at least one plane such as ATR-72 to Nis would be losing one aircraft, 4 flights from BEG in one day and the plane probably would be empty, right? And even in BEG is already a little bit narrowly now, and they need more planes, I see they are sending 733s on some flights to cover fleet lack!

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    1. Anonymous16:57

      operating 733s could be crew shortage on 319s

      Delete
    2. Anonymous19:54

      You can't compare Nis and Dubrovnik!

      Delete
    3. Anonymous15:53

      Of course I can't, DBV is much better airport with much more passengers, I just said that ASL doesn't wants to do what OU did. They want to build a BEG as an real hub, not to fly from all cities which have airport in Serbia. They are focusing at BEG only, and I think that is a better option.

      Delete
  10. Croaciju nece kupiti niko ozbiljan. Jednostavno Balkan je mali, trziste je malo, celokupno, i ima mesta za samo jednog igraca, po svemu sudeci Er Srbiju.

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    1. Anonymous20:49

      predlazem samo jos malo strpljenja :)

      Delete
  11. Anonymous19:52

    Velika steta da jedna Croatia tako slabo posluje. Ne znam zbog cega je tako. Mogli su bit najveca aviokompanija na Balkanu. Imaju toliko aktivnih aerodroma, a opet slabo posluju. Bolje da su se kao Adria preorjentirali na polulowcost politiku. Vjerojatno su karte skupe zbog skupog odrzavanja zrakoplova. Nisam pametan. Dubrovnik i Split su popularni tjekom cijele godine. Mogli su imat po nekoliko zrakoplova na svakom od tih aerodroma i letjeti ka Europi, narocito Skandinaviji. Ne vjerujem da su ljudi u Croatiji glupi.

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    1. Anonymous11:16

      Najbolje znaju u samoj kompaniji. Recimo ako je kako ti kažeš Dubrovnik i Split isplativ cele godine onda bi trebalo raditi stapanje linija. recimo na nekom kasnom letu iz Inostranstva avion sleti u Zagreb i produži do Dubrovnika i prodaje karte u sve tri varijante (inostranstvo-ZG, Inostranstvo-DU te ZG-DU), u Dubrovniku prenoći pa onda ujutro opet preko ZG negde u inostranstvo i opet prodaje karte u sve tri varijante. Obave se dva domaća leta sa boljom popunjenošću kabine i letovi ka vani. Tako i treba skraćivati broj indivdulanih poletanja u lokalu stapanjem inostrane sa lokalnom linijom. Van letnje sezone domaće neisplative ukinuti, a one isplative raditi sa letelicama najmanjeg kapaciteta radi što bolje popunjesti kabine. Ili recimo ako drže liniju za Amsterdam i liniju za Brisel a obe nerentabilne stope ih u jednu da avion leti Zagreb-Amsterdam-Brisel-Zagreb a sledeći let obrnuto Zagreb-Brisel-Amsterdam-Zagreb ovde možeš dodati i neki domaći let Split ili Dubrovnik. Tako da svaki drugi dan imaš povratni let. Npr u ponedeljak odletiš do Amsterdama a u utorak se vratiš, ili u utorak odletiš za Brisel a u sredu se vratiš. Bili bi ograničeni pravom nemanja pete slobode za prodaju karata Amsterdam Brisel i obrnuto mada bi i to nekom regulatvom moglo da se odradi! Suština je popuniti kabinu i leteti profitabilno!

      Delete

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