Croatia Airlines has confirmed plans to sell its lucrative slots at London's Heathrow Airport in line with its self-contribution measures. Annually, the carrier has generated losses of between one and three million euros on its Zagreb - Heathrow route and registered an average cabin load factor of 75%. Croatia Airlines has denied the move is in relation to improving the company's balance sheets in order to present a profit by the end of the year. The carrier owns nine weekly slots at one of the most heavily slot restricted airports in the world. At this point, it is unclear whether the Croatian carrier will give up on the London route altogether or transfer its operations to another less expensive airport.
Croatia Airlines is believed to be in talks with Ireland's Aer Lingus over the slot sale with a starting price of seventeen million euros. Only a minority of slot transfers are publicly disclosed. The most lucrative ones are in the morning, followed by afternoon arrival and departure times. The evening slots are in less demand with their value depreciating up to 50% compared to those in the morning. Croatia Airlines has departure slots at Heathrow Airport at 10.50 and 16.50, as well as landing slots at 10.05 and 16.05. The Croatian carrier competes directly against British Airways on flights between Zagreb and Heathrow. Starting next summer, low cost carrier Monarch Airlines will commence services from London's Gatwick Airport to Zagreb as well. In 2013, Croatia Airlines suspended its flights to Gatwick.
Heathrow Airport, as one of the most congested in the world, operates at maximum capacity for most of the day. Recently, Oman Air broke the record for buying the most expensive slot in Heathrow’s history at 75 million US dollars from Air France - KLM. It surpassed the previous record holder American Airlines which bought a slot off SAS Scandinavian Airlines for sixty million US dollars. Rumours of Croatia Airlines' intentions to sell its Heathrow slots have been circulating for over a year. Last winter, the company told EX-YU Aviation News, "We can confirm that the sale of slots at London Heathrow is one of the possible self-contribution measures, which are an integral part of Croatia Airlines’ restructuring program".
Loosing 9 weekly frequencies could have an impact on ZAG too. Hopefully they just relocate the airport in London.
ReplyDeleteSad. I can't believe they went for this. 75% LF isn't that bad actually.
ReplyDeleteThey could have sold 4 slots and kept flying there 5 times per week.
ReplyDeleteZlatko Širac's dream finally comes true.
ReplyDeleteWho is Zlatko Sirac?
DeleteDoesn't matter, he had a dream.
DeleteCCO and he has been talking about this to pilots, unions for a year selling it as a good move.
DeleteSo I guess this was in the making for a while now. They knew it was inevitable I guess. Such a shame, OU seems to be spiraling out of control lately.
DeleteBolje im je da odustanu od toga, jer jednom kad prodaju Heathrow nece ga vise nikad dobiti natrag. Stvarno moras biti budala da napravis to. Svima je isplativo letiti za Heathrow jedino OU nije? Kao sto je netko rekao - ako prodaju onda ce to kao prikazti kao pozitivan rezultat na kraju godine. I sta onda sljedece godine prodati Schiphol, druge CDG? Koji nesposobni ljudi....
ReplyDeletePlanirana prodaja prije smjena direktora da se jos nesto novaca makne iz kompanije....�� jadno...
DeleteSo they are leaving LHR where they couldn't make any money but they think they will do fine in LGW where they will face direct competition from an LCC? Sure.
ReplyDeleteOr maybe they will be as smart as CY and launch STN flights. lol
By leaving LHR, OU will have no competitive advantage over its competitors on the ZAG-LON market.
They are desperate for hard cash right away! Hmmm... definitely bad news for the future of this company!
ReplyDeleteZašto ne zatvore tvrtku? Mislim, žao mi je dijela zaposlenih, ali ovo nisu problemi koji su nastali jučer! Gubitak na letovima za London? Haha, kako da ne!
ReplyDeleteU povijesti najvisa cijena prodaje slota je 75 mil.$ a nasi ce ga prodat za 17mil.$....
DeleteNaravno da ce se odmah prodat....
Did Adria use to fly to Heathrow too? They fly Gatwick now but can't remember if they used to fly to LHR.
ReplyDeleteOh yes. Many, many years ago. It swaped LHR with Gatwick in early 90's.
DeleteNo, it still flew in the late 90's, possibly even after 2000.
DeleteIt is never a good idea to sell the family silver......pity
ReplyDeleteThey could make a lot of money for 9 slot pairs.
ReplyDeleteNadam se da ce nova vlada pod hitno nesto poduzeti. Ako nastave tako, najbolje da propadnu sto prije. Zagrljaj Lufthanse je koban za svakoga. Amen.
ReplyDeleteSta mogu da urade? Verovatno niko od njih ne zna dve stvari o vazduhoplovstvu. Kucko ce im predstaviti ovo kao jedino resenje da se spase firma tako sto se gasi neprofitabilna linija.
DeleteNe razumijem koliko dugo treba da se makne Kucko s mjesta CEO, ipak je postavljen od strane Zorana Milanovica? Ako su uspjeli maknuti idiota Hasanbegovića, zašto sad ne postave svog čovjeka?
DeletePurgera za ravnatelja !
DeleteVerovatno je Kucko nasao vezu u novoj Vladi kako bi parazit preziveo.
DeleteMa ne vjerujem, ova vlada je tek formirana, a prošla je preživjela tek kratko vrijeme. Svakako bi trebali reagirati što prije jer je OU firma od nacionalnog interesa.
DeleteOU postade firma od LH feeder znacaja.
DeleteNetko je tu nedavno napisao da su mu produzili mandat do 3 mjeseca iduce godine. Taman da novi CEO ne moze postaviti ljetnu sezonu. Problem Hrvatske je da se previse oslanja na Njemacku, sve sto Njemacka kaze je ok. U biti kolonija.
DeleteSvaka Ex-Yu zemlja je kolonija na svoj način, koliko god netko mislio suprotno!
DeleteThey should change the managment ASAP before the deal is done.
ReplyDeleteLH grupa dobija repliku Air Dolomita, mozda ce novo ime OU biti Air Dinaroidi.
ReplyDeleteTuzno
So say they agree to sell these slots does it come into affect straight away or would they keep flying until the end of winter?
ReplyDeleteHonestly I'm a bit surprised they owned so many slots. They could have sold a few like someone suggested and kept the others.
ReplyDeleteThere is no need to sell those slots at all, the management is obviously lying that they are making loss on that route in order to show some profit! This is disgraceful!
DeleteIf Jat could make money on their LHR route then OU sure can as well, especially since HR is in the EU.
DeleteNot just that but Croatian citizens don't need visas to the UK. Plus you can fill the plane with tourists during the summer.
DeleteMaybe ZB and BA will increase flights to ZAG now. BA surely will...but they will also probably increase their fares. :(
DeleteMore than OU has steadily over 200 € ? I don't think so! At last let croatian people enjoy LCC prices from let's hope some more than one LCC carrier, like the half of Europe does to London!
DeleteI am not trying to defend this move whatsoever but keep in mind guys that you actually have to pay each year to mantain these slots.
ReplyDeleteYes but you also carry paying passengers on the route.
DeleteAnonymus 9:41, so what do you actually suggest? If your approach is conservative, you'll never develop the company. This way then can really fly only to Munchen and Frankfurt. Very sad.
DeleteThe restructuring process is done, but no new routes, no new planes, no strategy, what's happening?
ReplyDeleteSince I live in Dubrovnik and often travel to Zagreb, I can say that OU planes on the DBK-ZAG route are almost always full, even during winter, but Kucko said that none of the routes (including DBK-ZAG) is bringing profit. How is that possible?
ReplyDeleteHe probably wants to create a perception that massive cost cutting measures are needed like selling LHR slots. It's impossible for all route to be losing money otherwise their annual loss would be €100 million.
DeleteIt is not...the line is subsidezed.
DeleteCan someone tell me how much a slot costs on a airport like LHR, CDG, FRA as a prime category...and than in VIE, MUC, HEL...itc?
DeleteGood question...how much in BEG, ZAG, LJU ...?
DeleteBEG, ZAG, LJU are begging for some airlines to come , there is plenty room for slots!
DeleteSince comments on yesterday's topic is closed I have to post it here:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.blic.rs/vesti/ekonomija/izvozicemo-jagnjetinu-i-govedinu-u-kinu-srbija-dobila-sertifikate-sad-je-na-drzavi-i/6yf7mex
Does anyone know how this meat will be exported to China? Could we see an increase in cargo movements? Maybe some cargo companies will keep on using INI? Or will this fly on TK Cargo?
This is never a good sign.
ReplyDeleteWhere is Purger when you need him?
ReplyDeleteJeah, baš je potrebana "ekspertska" analiza za ovu svinjariju OU.
DeleteVec znas njegove odgovore.
DeleteSve o LHR prodaji slotiva sam napisao. To nije svinjarija nego veleizdaja.
DeleteLHR ima izvanrednu popunjenost, owerbooking je cesta pojava. Cijene su visoke. LINIJA NE NOSI GUBITKE!!!!! To ili je laz ili je uprava stvarno toliko nesposobna da bi bilo bolje staviti puckoskolca da ju vodi.
ispada da ce prednosti novog terminala najmanje putnici OU
DeleteManagement zagrebačkog aerodroma bi trebao reagirati, ali očito je i njima svejedno, nažalost!
DeleteNe može i ne smije im biti svejedno jer ako do 2020. ne ostvare 5 mil putnika moraju plaćati penale - takav piše u koncesijskom ugovoru. Uostalom, takva vijest je za sad izašla samo u večernjem listu, a Kučko se nije ništa oglasio, tako da ne treba (još) uzet ovu vijest preozbljno...možda je to samo dio plana, ali sumnjam da će se realizirati.
DeleteNadzorni odbor je odobrio prodaju! Dakle, stvarno je ozbiljna.
DeleteCek cek cek... ko mora imati 5 mil putnika? ZAG ili OU?
DeleteZagreb. Purgeru, može li se poništiti odluka o prodaji slotova(od strane ministarstva, recimo)?
DeletePostoji samo jedno riješenje, a to je protest javnosti vezano uz poslovanje Croatie Airlines. Nažalost, postoji mali broj ljudi koji prati avio svijet i općenito zna nešto malo više o tome. Možda najgora stvar u cijeloj priči je to što ni nadležni Ministar neće imati pojma o zrakoplovstvu pa će ono što mu predstavi Uprava ove očajne kompanije samo i prihvatiti.
ReplyDeleteVrijeme je da se ova kompanija da nekome drugome u ruke, ovako će samo kroz koju godinu nestati sa neba. Na kraju, ne bih se bunio preuzimanju od Lufthanse, jer ovo što se sada nudi nije ništa bolje od onoga što bi vjerovatno dobili sa LH. Barem se pojedinci neće moći okoristiti novcem nacionalne kompanije.
Isplati se letjeti za St.Petersburg ali ne i za Heathrow? Budale....
Potpisujem svaku riječ.
DeleteIF OU goes bankrupt, who do you think will step in: Mutter Lufthansa, Ryanair, someone else? All of them maybe?
DeleteEurowings najvjerovatnije
DeleteGood, so cheaper flights, I suppose? How about domestic routes? Croatia can subsidize domestic carriers only?
DeleteCheaper flights on EW if OU is gone? Forget about that, no airline is a charity. Only competition and choice brings lower fares.
DeleteStrange how Kucko hasn't said anything about this yet (in the last few days, I mean). They confirmed it to Croatian daily newspaper only.
DeleteApparently they will move to LGW.
ReplyDeleteWhat a desperate management! They should rather lease that and fly to STN. But anyway they have no future, so many good routes in general and their route network is just so bad. The country where the tourism is everything they struggle. Hope they bankrupt soon - that would be the end on their monopoly in ZAG and DBV. Croatia would benefit much more from other carriers. We all know the reason why Ryanair doesn't fly to ZAG, SPU and DBV
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the comments on thos topic, I feel that Kucko is not doing this to save the airline. The money which he would gain from the slots will go to into his and his friends and families pockets.
ReplyDeleteOT ASL is cutting frequencies to JFK, true or not ? Seems to be interesting topic.
ReplyDeleteOT2 What is the purpose of YU-APB positioning flight JU1050 to AUH, anybody knows something about this ?
Reduction to JFK is a done deal, three weekly.
DeleteThe route will not be there for connecting passengers but solely for the p2p market.
JU is moving away from the hub and spoke model and is increasingly concentrating on point to point traffic.
"JU is moving away from the hub and spoke model and is increasingly concentrating on point to point traffic."
DeleteWhat is your source on this, since if true this would be a massive change in everything.
There is no source. Ut's his own oppinion.
DeleteAn opinion based on facts and recent developments.
DeleteWell on many foreign travel sites selling air tickets, the schedule is still on for 5 flights per week .
DeleteAir Serbia is not moving away from hub model
DeleteMozda je ostao KBP i da su dodali IKA nebi moralo da se smanjuje ali i dalje je dobro .
DeleteINN-NS
"JU is moving away from the hub and spoke model and is increasingly concentrating on point to point traffic." and "opinion based on facts and recent developments"
DeleteFact: Emirates are shutting down Dubai-Abuja on Oct 30, currently 4pw with 77W. Following your logic, conclusion: EK is moving away from the hub and spoke model.
Air Serbia is not moving away from hub/spoke either. Your conclusion is dead wrong.
Are you comparing Emirates' model to Air Serbia's? Also, airlines are fleeing Nigeria not because the market is not there but because of the government's decision regarding financial transactions and money exchange.
DeleteAre you telling us that JU suspended KBP, BUD and WAW for the same reasons and that they are reducing HAM and JFK because of it too? Hm.
They are moving away from the hub model because they are forced to. Unless you think they can be a serious player in CPH (4x), HAM (3x) and so on...
KBP wasnt suspended, it was seasonal just as LED and HAM. Hamburg became all year and upgauged from CRJ to A319, so no reduction, capacity has increased.
DeleteBEG will never be the next FRA/CDG/LHR or Europe, but it can replicate VIE....over time. But alot needs to be done to make that happen. BEG hasnt done much to change as much as what traffic has the past couple of years, and this will become problematic. Note that tourism is not that big in Serbia nor has the tourism board done much in that regards, leaving alot of lost opportunities. Business travel will only increase as Serbia eases up the process to do so.
So what happens now? Do they move to Gatwick? Then they will again have to compete against Monarch there from next year.
ReplyDeleteThis will bite them on the backside. Long term loss for a short term financial gain is always a bad move.
ReplyDeleteThis is not self-contrubution measure! Those measures were part of restructuring programme which was succesfuly finished at the end of 2015. Main purpose of restructuring is to enable an airline to continue operations on long-term and sustainable way. So, what does this decision actualy mean? CTN runs out of cash only few months after restructuring...
ReplyDeleteObviously hard time for company... it's a pity that they do not believe in strategic partnership...
It's a problem that no one is interested in OU and also that our government is highly addicted to Germany and doesn't want to find the way for OU to be sold, they are not trying at all!
DeleteSo they are destined to fail?
DeleteMozda bi bilo bolje. Ako imaju namjeru tako nastaviti, nek zatvore butigu.
DeleteDo you think ZAG would be forced to lower their charges or would they keep them as it is?
DeleteZAG is not root cause of their problem at LHR. Simply UK is not profitable p2p market for HR year around. You simply need good product and connections beyond. But selling the slots before you explored all other possibilities on revenue side is total disaster and should not be approved.
DeleteYeah but that's the thing, BA didn't launch ZAG because of connecting passengers, it was primarily because of O&D ones.
DeleteMaybe they plan a sale and leaseback of slots.. Is it possible?
ReplyDeleteNope, no such option.
DeleteDoes anyone know to which destination OU has the best LF?
ReplyDeleteProbably MUC and FRA.
DeleteFRA, MUC, AMS i CDG su najpopunjeniji.
DeleteGuys who really cares about OU an what they do...let them just fly to history!
ReplyDeleteWe have some domestic routes in Croatia, so people care. I also think they should go bankrupt, but I still think it's a shame!
DeleteThe only reason you have those domestic routes is because they are subsidized by the government.
DeleteOf course it's (legally) subsidized! I think it's better to subsidize a domestic company over a foreign one, don't you agree?
DeleteSo let's subsidize Trade Air.
DeleteAgree, Anonymous 7:07! They should lease some regional jets for domestic routes only!
DeleteHaha, maybe JP will take over OU's domestiv routes. Kind of goes well with their multiple bases concept :)
DeleteVery bad news! Kucko has lost the plot, it's about time he was sacked !
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, OU still has the best livery in Ex-Yu region. What a shame they're falling apart!
ReplyDelete75% average load on flights to Heathrow and with OU's prices and they are supposedly making a loss on this line??! That is such an obvious lie. Bordering on criminal.
ReplyDeleteOcito se OU nikako ne snalazi. Uprava ZAG jos ih podrzava ne pustajuci LCC tipa Ryanair. Kolko ce jos trajati ta farsa? Vlada spava?
ReplyDeleteI think that this is a smart move from OU. If I were their CEO would do the same and will move operations to London City Airport.
ReplyDeleteAnd which aircraft would you use to land on LCY? Q400?
DeleteYou're probably trolling, there's no other explanation.
If CTN had more of Balkan and Euro-Mediterranean network then maybe LCY would be feasible. The Q400 is more than easily capable of doing ZAG-LCY.
DeleteBut ZAG isn't enough of a financial center for LCY flights and CTN doesn't have enough of a network.
LCY is very high yielding.
Maybe a seasonal flight to connect to the Croatian coast because LCY has a good number of seasonal fights to Spain and Greece.
LCY tends to be more expensive than LHR because it's more space constrained.
DeleteThey fly to JFK from LCY. Do you think that they fly with Q400 to JFK LOL???
DeleteI'm sorry guys but selling all your slots at LHR in the aviation world is pretty much a symbol of your company's last move before bankruptcy.
ReplyDeleteIma toliko opcija koje su mogli pre da izkoriste nego da prodaju Slotove na LHR .
ReplyDeleteMogli su 5 dati na leasing ako bas nema toliko para.
I svakako ako dodje novi Management nece im biti lako popraviti firmu ako stvarno dodje do prodaje.
INN-NS
Marko, slotovi na LHR se ne mogu dati na lizing. Uprava te primorava da ih koristis, da ih vratis ili da ih prodas nekom drugom.
DeleteA win for the low cost carriers!!!
ReplyDeleteThey should stop operating UK after they sell the slots on LHR. LCY is not possible with A320 family and Q400 makes no sense...
ReplyDeleteHow come LCY isn't possible for A320?
DeleteHow do you think they fly to the JFK from there?
They fly with an A318. Yes, it does make a difference, A318 is much smaller
DeletePurger has no real experience in airline industry, he is only ambitious amateur without any real business competence.
ReplyDeleteSvakako. Profesionalci tj. sijaset bivsih stjurdesa i salterskih sluzbenika koji su za svoje zasluge tj. suucesnistvo u sitnom i krupnom kriminalu napredovali do neslucenih razina. su naravno mnogo kompetentniji. Za razliku od njih gospodin Alen je, vjerujem, dobronamjeran covjek pa iako neke stvari ne zna, niti moze znati jer ne razumije npr. prodaju i distribuciju posto nije imao priiliku to raditi u ovoj bransi, svakako je njegov doprinos ogroman. Covjek pokusava pokrenuti neke konstruktivne diskusije i postavlja legitimna pitanja i usput daje svoja rjesenja s kojim se ja pocesto ne slazem ali mi ih uvijek zadovoljstvo procitati i razmisliti o njima.
DeleteDa, ali on jedino i piše o network strategiji, prodaji i distribuciji pa ako tu nema kompetencija ne razumijem gdje je onda njegov nemjerljiv doprinos ? U ground i flight operationu ?!
DeletePisati moze svatko po plotu i to je demokracija ali predstavljati se kao ekspert u području u kojem nemaš ni dana staža ni škole je šarlatanstvo i prevara...
Delete