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| Croatia Airlines eyes 100-seater jets |
Croatia Airlines’ CEO, Krešimir Kučko, has announced plans to renew the carrier’s fleet with up to six jets. The addition of new aircraft, through an operating lease, could begin as early as this winter. Speaking in an interview to “Jutarnji list”, Mr. Kučko says, “Our aim is to renew our fleet as soon as possible. We have given this serious consideration and could begin renewing our fleet this winter, with the addition of 100-seat jets”. He adds, “It is part our medium-term strategy and its realization does not depend on a strategic partner. However, it will impact on the pace of the acquisition”. Operating leases are short-term aircraft leases, usually no longer than ten years, which allow airlines to add jets and capacity quickly in case of a planned expansion.
Croatia Airlines currently has four Airbus A319 aircraft on order. The 175-million euro deal with the European aircraft manufacturer was made in 2008. Although the new jets were originally to be delivered by the end of 2013, the order has been put on hold. The airline has put off the aircrafts' arrival due to its financial situation. Although some have suggested the order was politically motivated at the time, Croatia Airlines has denied such claims, saying the acquisition was a sound business decision. “We are in discussions with Airbus regarding our order and I am very pleased that they have recognised the situation our company is in, as well as our demands. We are counting on and want to continue our cooperation with them. However, the delivery of these aircraft currently depends on a range of factors”, Mr. Kučko says.
Croatia Airlines currently has twelve aircraft in its fleet - six Bombardier Dash 8 Q400s, four Airbus A319s and two A320s. “Within the next four years we will certainly add another four to six aircraft, which have the capacity to seat 100 passengers”, the CEO says. In comments made last year, Mr. Kučko hinted at the possibility of introducing Embraer jets to the carrier’s fleet. “If Croatia Airlines were to buy more aircraft today it would choose an Embraer model, but other manufacturers will be considered when the time comes. What we are missing now is 100-seaters”, he said. The Brazilian plane manufacturer has two aircraft types that would fit Croatia Airlines’ needs. The E190 jet can seat 94 passengers in a two-class configuration, while the E195 version can welcome 106 passengers on board with a business and economy class section. Montenegro Airlines is the former Yugoslavia’s only Embraer operator, with both the E190 and E195 versions in its fleet.
Comments
Wake up No business plan what so ever he is really fighting to keep is position because he knows if Croatia Airlines would be sold he would be the first to lose his job
I treba da se rese Airbus flote skroz.
INN-NS
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10 Q400
6 CS 100
2 CS 300
Sa slicnom flotom je Air Baltic ostvario veliki profit.Sa tom flotom bi mogli odlicno da se brane.
INN-NS
I nazalost u INN ostaje samo Tehnika posto upravna zgrada je vec prazna skoro.
INN-NS
Uz to CTN treba A319 zbog chartera ali i nekih jakih linija (SPU, DBV, LHR, FRA, TLV, jednog dana CAI, Bliski Istok...)
Idealna flota bi bila:
4 A319
6 Q400
10 E190
8 Q400
8 CS 100
4 CS 300 u mesto A319
CTN bi se vise isplatilo da ima cistu Bombardier flotu .
Prvi put kad sam pisao o idealnoj floti nisam razmisljao o jakim linijama.
INN-NS
New and more efficient planes can't be treated this way because they are too expensive to have sitting around idle for part of the year.
INN-NS
most likely look of OU fleet around 2020,
8x A319 - 128 two class configuration or 144 seat single class configuration
6x Q400 - 78 seat configuration all one class
6x CS100 - 108 seats two class configuration.
IF Qatar airways invests in to OU next year and buys out 49% steak ($150 million) than OU might go for CS100s to join the fleet sometimes in 2018, four A319s are joining the fleet in 2017, two A320s will be sold off around 2020 as last CS100 joins the fleet. OU will maintain 20 aircraft fleet, with very little likelihood of larger fleet than that. Croatia is a small market and 20 aircraft is more than sufficient for such small market.
OU should be able to hit 3.0 million pax by 2020 and 5.0 million by 2030 with this fleet.
Irkut MC-21, no doubt OU needs these, 20 of them. i am being sarcastic just in case someone didn't get that.
By that year maybe Qatar Airways or Etihad might not even exist!!? I know unlikely, but you never know so far in advance. Who the hell predicts numbers 15 years advance. War? Environmental disaster? ukraine scenario? Civil war? Economic crises?
Well yes, we can have the end of the universe by 2022, so everything is possible, should the end be postponed for few decades, no wars and gradual and steady growth curve is maintain OU should be able to hit 5.0 million by 2030, this is only 200 000 pax increase on previous year.
I think 3,0 million for 2020 is quite likely, for airline is aiming for 2.0 million this year and if expansion as suggested does happen, than I see no problem in hitting above targets.
I searched for flights RUH-----> BEG
Cheapest price is 600 euro which is decent for July and August, but listen to this sweet yet weird thing
My friend is going from RUH-AUH-LHR-BEG
I am stunned! Why on earth would somebody even sell this tickets? Too bad I am not travelling :( , since as aviation enthusiast is a DREAM!!!!
The option to go via BEG and direct is like 200 euros more expansive? So can somebody explain how is this economically possible?
Flight 316 332
more Riyadh (RUH)
Abu Dhabi (AUH)04:00am - 06Jul,Mon
07:05am - 06Jul,Mon Nonstop
Coach Etihad Airways
Flight 5995 319
more Abu Dhabi (AUH)
Belgrade (BEG)08:35am - 06Jul,Mon
12:15pm - 06Jul,Mon Nonstop
Coach
Operated by Air Serbia
Flight Duration : 7hr 45minLayover Duration : 1hr 30minTotal Trip Time : 9hr 15minSelect this Departure Etihad Airways
Flight 6022 319
more Belgrade (BEG)
London Heathrow (LHR)10:25am - 02Aug,Sun
12:25pm - 02Aug,Sun Nonstop
Coach
Operated by Air Serbia
Etihad Airways
Flight 20 388
more London Heathrow (LHR)
Abu Dhabi (AUH)03:05pm - 02Aug,Sun
01:00am - 03Aug,Mon Nonstop
Coach Etihad Airways
Flight 315 332
more Abu Dhabi (AUH)
Riyadh (RUH)02:05am - 03Aug,Mon
02:55am - 03Aug,Mon Nonstop
Right now, airlines are going through a rather easy time because of low fuel prices, high demand for air travel, and such. What happens if in a few years fuel prices go up again, perhaps air travel stagnates. The least competitive carriers will suffer.
What all carriers in ex-you need to do is further move towards the LCC business model. This has many times been proven to be the what the consumers are looking for. What is the point of Air Serbia having a business class at all when it is rare for there to be more than 2 or 3 business passengers to ever be on board?
JU being a full service carrier is nice for prestige and all, but it's more important to think about what is sustainable in the long term. taking out those 8 recliners and putting in 12 economy seats will simplify everything and reduce costs, and most likely increase revenue during the summer when more capacity is needed.
JU could have CASMs close to that of true LCCs because of a lot of things, so they should actually capitalize on it and attract passengers by offering lower fares
-low wages in Serbia
-BEG airport offers discounts to JU for handling 500.000+ pax per year
-Serbia has lower fuel prices than some other European countries
-Joint aircraft procurement and fleet maintenence with Etihad
Can somebody share their own experience on loads in business
Perhaps if some other people weren't anonymous on this website, I could go back years and dig up something they once said that was wrong.
Now back to the topic of business class, has anyone perhaps considered that maybe the reason why almost no other European carrier has a dedicated business cabin for short haul traffic is because everyone else now realizes that the only major consideration when the vast majority are buying tickets is price, and nothing else. Nobody cares about how elegant and credible airlines are, or anything. If people cares, then LCCs wouldn't be ruling the European short haul market.
btw I dont know anything about the atr thing, I was just referring to the business class point you made
The only reason why foreigners fly with Air Serbia (other than the insignificant number of airline travel enthusiasts) is because of the price. Business class, when averaged over the entire network (not just cherry picking a few select routes) has a very poor load factor, and these yields are not even that great.
So everyone arguing against me can take a few different possible positions,
-JU business class is profitable
-JU business class is not profitable, but the costs are justified because of added prestige.
-Aleksandar is talking bullshit, he was wrong once about ATR 42s and now his credibility is destroyed evermore.
So which argument do you choose, or perhaps something I didn't forgot to mention?
Ja licno nebi voleo da ASL promeni koncept poslovanja u LCC posto bi imali problema sa letovima za USA koji ce ako bude sve uredu poceti za nekoliko meseci .
Gospodine Aleksandre ne nervirajte se sta vam popuje neki Anonymous posto oni ne znaju sami mnogo toga inace bi se potpisali.
INN-NS
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INN-NS
And yet, nobody has any clear argument for business class. There is talks of several routes being filled, yet I never denied such. I only said, overall, across the entire network, the business class is very poorly filled. I assert this only from my own knowledge, since I cannot name my source. Because of this, to respond to me, someone must only give the same amount of evidence that I present, which is nothing. Does anyone here claim that JU's business class, when taking into consideration the entire network, not just ZRH, CDG, and SVO, is filled enough to make it profitable?
INN-NS
To je njegovo misljenje a ne morate vredjati ovde.
Problem bi bio kad ASL krene sa letovima za USA ako bude sve uredu a da nema business klasu na Evropskim Destinacijama:
INN-NS
You do understand that a more typical config for a a319 when business class is eliminated is to seat 144-156 depending on pitch and how many galleys and toilets are removed? With 150 seats, which isn't too cramped, this is a increase of 22 seats.
The funny thing is that you say I am "a cote de la plaque", which means I have no clue. Too bad you haven't noticed that Air France, Lufthansa, and British Airways have all removed dedicated business class products from their narrow body fleet, with the exception of British Airways having some A321 with recliners, mainly for routes outside of the EU. I certainly have a clue of what is happening in the industry.
Perhaps you haven't noticed that all European carriers are rapidly back pedaling on costs in a attempt to remain competitive with LCCs, which are now the market leaders in short haul traffic.
And to INN, I never said anything about long haul traffic. I doubt JU or anybody can sustain long haul service without some premium product. Even Norwegian Airlines offers something.
1) There is absolutely no need for business class on routes in the region and ex yu
2) There is a need for business class to medium haul routes such as Moscow, London, Paris, etc.
3) For the long haul there must be some kind of premium product ( small business class and maybe premium eco)
Vaske, here is my amended list:
1) there is a need for 80-100 euro return fares in the region and ex-yu
2) there is a need for 120-250 euro return trip fares for inter-Europe travel
3) there is a need for 800-1200 euro return trip fares for traffic between West Coast North America and South-East Europe
4) There is a need for a competitive premium product for inter continental traffic.
Now consider how many people (non aviation enthusiasts) even know or care about seat pitch, pillows in economy, or anything. People when buying tickets search for their destination and then sort the tickets by cost, and perhaps also take into consideration schedule and convince. They have no idea what plane they are flying on either.
Should they have an LH "business class"? Depends solely if there is a demand for it. If enough people are wiling to pay extra for it, and some profit can be made, then it is worth it.
Adding extra products such as business class and premium economy and what not is hard because it adds a whole different level of complexity. LCCs quickly found out that eliminating these things meant fewer staff, fewer flight attendant, quicker turn arounds, and less things that could go wrong in day to day operations.
My view on transfer passengers is that they are absolutely necessary, but should not be given priority compared to O/D passengers. Overall, I think JU should completely redesign the pricing model to be more like LCCs, where flights aren't advertised as return trips, but a return trip is the sum of two one way fares. A transfer passenger should never have a cheaper fare than an O/D passenger because that makes passengers upset, in other words, ZAG-BEG-SVO should never be less expensive than BEG-SVO.
On a side note, my father is an electrical engineer. For about a decade, he worked in an industry that meant he had to travel on multiple flights per month. He was a specialist, in that he had a particular set of skills that were rather valuable to his employers. Because of this and his seniority, he was at one time the highest paid employee in the entire company of nearly 100 people. He even earned more than the managers of the company. Despite all of this, he never was put in business class once.
Change is definitely needed in their pricing department
This is really crap what he is telling.
Total panicking!