Croatia Airlines posts stronger results


Croatia Airlines has reported improved financial and operational results for the first half of the year, when compared to the same period in 2016. The Croatian national carrier swung back to profit during the H1 period, partly due to the sale of its five weekly slot pairs at London's Heathrow Airport to Delta Air Lines. It confirmed that the transaction was factored into the result. The company recorded a net profit of 5.8 million euros, which is up on last year's 11.3 million euro net loss. Croatia Airlines sold its Heathrow slots for eighteen million euros on January 27. The carrier increased expenditure by 10%, while revenue grew 32% on last year. It spent most on flight operations, in part due to the higher cost of fuel, followed by maintenance, as a result of the overhaul of two aircraft engines, and passenger services. The airline took out a short-term loan amounting to one million euros in January, as well as an additional revolving loan in June. It noted that taking out short-term loans is standard procedure due to the highly seasonal nature of the Croatian market. At the end of the first quarter, Croatia Airlines had 923 employees and fourteen aircraft, two of which are on wet-lease from Air Nostrum until the end of the summer season.

The national carrier handled 903.188 passengers on board its aircraft during the January - June period, an increase of 9.8%. Of those, 223.071 travellers were carried on domestic flights, up 4.8%, while 662.326 passengers flew on international services, an improvement of 11.6%. The remaining 17.791 passengers were carried on charter flights, up 11.5% year-on-year. However, charters accounted for only 2% of overall traffic. The airline operated 12.684 flights during the first half of the year, which is up 2.4% compared to the same period in 2016. The average cabin load factor stood at 69.7%, up 4.2%. Loads improved on international flights by 4.5% for an average of 69.9%, while on domestic services they were up 3.8% to 67.4%. Passenger carrying capacity, measured in Available Seat Kilometres (ASKs), stood 968 million, up 6.8% year-on-year. The airline’s cargo operations recorded a decline of 17.5%, with 1.064 tonnes of mail and freight uplifted in the first half of 2017, compared to 1.290 the year before.

Croatia Airlines anticipates handling over two million passengers this year, making it its busiest on record. The growth is being fuelled by the introduction of four new routes this summer season from Zagreb, on top of the four new services launched from the Croatian capital last year. The airline says it competes against 100 other carriers, which maintain flights to its home market during the summer. It also criticised Zagreb Airport's new terminal over several mishaps which have occured since its opening in late March. It says such incidents are putting pressure on the airline's operational costs. "Keeping in mind some of the terminal's shortcomings, which were identified during the transition period (some of which have not been addressed to this date), as well as other frequent operational incidents since it opened, there is a growing risk of providing and maintaining the quality of our product, primarily our schedule, which has a direct impact on increasing operational costs, delays, passenger satisfaction and Croatia Airlines' image", the carrier said in its half-yearly report.

Comments

  1. Anonymous09:02

    Anyone know their profit without the sale of slots?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:21

      -14 million. So they were actually in huge minus, even bigger than last year.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:21

      Non profit

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:26

      If that is the case, it means that they are operationally not viable and going even backwards, if the result is worse than last year, despite flying to even more points.

      The only way to solve this is to desperately find an investor (4K perhaps ??), or to sell even more slots, which will bide you time but not solve it long term

      Delete
    4. well it is seasonality. they profit in the summer, suffer for the rest of the year and are somewhere about breaking even.

      cost structure would be interesting to see. they should had some engines repaired.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:53

      @9h21: Wrong!
      This year net loss for first half of year was at about -12m EUR. Last year -11m. OU had large spending on airplane and engine maintenance during this year's period, a lot more than just 1m EUR! That explains the difference.
      At the same time their operational revenue and income was higher than last year so regarding ops they were financially more successful this year so far (until June).

      Delete
    6. how much was the engine maintenance? on how many planes?

      Delete
    7. Anonymous09:58

      It says in the article they overhauled 2 engines.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous10:25

      18 Millions

      Delete
    9. Anonymous10:54

      Any half decent accountant knows that you can make reservations for scheduled maintenance costs (such as engine overhaul) in financial reports.

      So if engine overhaul costs X and expected engine lifetime on wing is Y, you create reservations (which equals to cost in financial terms) each year in the amount X divided by Y. Because if for example, you buy 100 new aircraft, you will have a lot of profit (and will have to pay tax on this profit) for first 10 years. Then in year 11 you will have to overhaul 200 engines and you will have significant loss.

      But I imagine here in exyu it's better to show lower loss every year and then claim "engine maintenance" as reason for bigger loss couple of years later.

      Delete
    10. true. but the maintenance reserve is an estimation, so the bill can go over that and maybe one or two mill could be due to that.
      but as you noticed, the practice in these parts is not to pay it and then beg for money from the government. same thing jat and mgx did.
      i don't know what is the practice in OU, but i doubt they are paying maintenance reserves for owned aircraft, for leased they probably do, due to leasing contract.

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:03

    Congarats OU!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:22

      Congratulation for selling slots on LHR
      or congratulation on taking leans?

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:05

    They don't seem too happy with Zagreb Airport's new terminal.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:07

      Well a baggage cart hit and damaged their plane just last week. I wouldn't be happy either.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:18

      And then there was the plane being denied landing and planes being delayed because there are not enough ground staff.

      Delete
  4. Anonymous09:05

    Znaci gubici reda desetak miliona jura. Bravo Hrvatska.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous09:07

    Bravo ... anyone?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous09:08

    Koji drugi ex yu carrier izvjescuje tako detaljno? Samo me zanima...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:09

      Croatia Airlines je sa Montenegro Airlines jedina 100% u vlasnistvu drzave.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:39

      Fully agree. They give the most detailed and transparent reports.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:42

      It's because they have to, not because they want to.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:42

      A prije privatizacija?

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:48

      JU je objavljivao godisnje izvestaje na svom sajtu. Za JP ne znam.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous11:24

      Tako detaljne? Samo sam znatizeljan. Nikakvo trolanje.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous11:25

      Na primjer, je li JP prije privatizacije izvjestavao na taj nacin? Ista situacija: drzavne firme u EU.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous11:33

      Ovo su Jatovi izvestaji (mozda ce trebati malo vise vremena da se otvori stranica)
      https://web.archive.org/web/20131015153353/http://www.jat.com/active/sr-latin/home/main_menu/about_us/financial_reports.html

      Delete
  7. Anonymous09:08

    For me the most impressive improvement is in load factor.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:20

      Agree. Very good considering they added capacity.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:28

      What's the point if it is not making you money ?

      Everyone here seems to think that LF is the be all and end all - it isn't. It is important, but not if it doesn't make you money

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:02

      I wonder how many on here regarding OU topics are trolling and who is actually serious.
      You do know that in first 6 months there are 5 weak months included (all but June)?
      In second half of the year you've got only 3 weak months and 3 strong ones (July, August, Sept).
      Therefore money is clearly to be made much more in second half of the year whereas costly maintenance and other larger expenditures are done primarily in first half of the year!

      Delete
  8. Anonymous09:10

    Nice to see their pax numbers improved. I expect over 2 million this year.

    ReplyDelete
  9. So, if you exclude extraordinary items (the sale of slots), the loss increased significantly from 11.3 million to 12.2 million EUR.

    The title is misleading.

    http://www.investopedia.com/terms/e/extraordinaryitem.asp

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:12

      All of their operational results are up on last year.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:13

      Kao i gubici.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:33

      Why such a nickname?

      Delete
    4. Naravno da je "gubitak" narasao kad su imali troškove reparacije motora. Te nisu imali 2016. Zbog toga su i prodavali slotove, genijalci...
      Jel vam sad jasnije? :)

      Oni barem imaju obraza objaviti brojke za razliku od nekih, ha, ha.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:46

      And what is the cost of engines overhaul?

      Delete
    6. it depends. if they've been paying maintenance reserve regularly then even maybe nothing. but if they didn't (and I expect they didn't) then somewhere in between 2-5mil€. you never know how much until you open the engine.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous09:59

      Anon 9:46 - Everyone talks about the sale of slots but no one dares to mention the additional maintenance cost. 2 engines overhaul should be roughly 4-5M EUR. If the company recorded 5.8M EUR profit in H1, than we can deduct the slot sale revenue and add engine overhaul cost to find a more comparable number with last year: 5.8-18+5= -7.2M EUR. That roughly means the company's financials improved by almost 4M EUR in H1 compared to 2016, if additional revenue (slot sale) and costs (engine overhaul) are excluded. Not that bad, deserves a congratulation.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous10:01

      So by that logic the cost of engine repair exceeded the value of the slot sale?

      Delete
    9. Anonymous10:08

      Anon 10h01: ?????
      Perhaps wake up, have a strong coffee and then think again :)

      Delete
  10. Anonymous09:15

    Does anyone know what are Croatia Airlines best performing routes in terms of LF?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:17

      I think Dubrovnik-Zagreb is doing great all year round.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:59

      I think German routes also have high LF.

      Delete
    3. Danijel11:29

      What I heard, Helsinki doing verry good, and I think Lisabon too.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous11:32

      If Du Zg is doing great all year, then why people here write that a LCC won't have any success on that route?

      Delete
  11. Anonymous09:16

    Bravo, OU!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous09:18

    And what happens next week when strike starts?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:24

      I don't think it has been confirmed for next week.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:24

      Adria will probably come to the rescue.

      Delete
    3. Purger says Aug 8.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous11:15

      They haven't announced the strike yet.

      Delete
    5. Alen Šćuric Purger15:45

      They decide about that yesterday. They have to announce that 48 hours before strike.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous15:46

      @frishkiAugust 1, 2017 at 10:38 AM

      I think you'll find, Pruger talks nonsense half the time, the other half he almost gets it due to low of probability, a "chaos" theory.

      Delete
    7. Alen Šćuric Purger22:54

      Hahaha...

      Well till now I was so good in those "nonsense and chaos theory". And you find that I don't know nothing but just guess. Finally you got my mask off.

      Delete
  13. Anonymous09:26

    Good news for Croatia Airlines. Losses should shorten during Q3.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous09:27

    btw how is a LF of 69% a good result

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:29

      It was 64% last year so it is an improvement.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:46

      LF is always going to be higher in second half of the year!

      Delete
    3. Anonymous12:01

      Because for the first few months of the year it was around 50%, and it will improve as the year goes on thanks to the summer season.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous19:27

      If it was 50%, then that is catastrophic ! Why on Earth are they flying empty aircraft and not parking them instead if there is really such little demand ??

      Delete
  15. Anonymous09:29

    Znaci OU nema pare ni da popravlja aviomotore zbog kojih je navodno otudjio slotove. Sledi prodaja ostalih slotova i onda polako krece raspad kompanije. Onda ce vlada da ubaci pare preko nekog entiteta u Linhenstajnu, Monaku sve kao zbog turizma.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alen Šćuric Purger15:51

      Na koji način Vlada može "ubaciti pare preko Liechtensteina ili Monnaca?". Za tako što apsolunot nema nikakvog legalnog načina, jednostavno legislativa EU i Hrvatske to ne dozvoljava.

      A ilegalni način bi EU odmah vidjela i sankcionirala. Konačno kako bi bilo koji ministar ili premijer mogao "prebaciti" novac bez rebalansa proračuna u Saboru? Pa za tako što bi završio u zatvoru iste sekunde. Vi znate da je jedan premijer Hrvatske radi daleko manje stvari još uvijek u zatvoru? I predsjednik godspodarske komore, niz gradonačelnika, župana, generala, direktora javnih poduzeća.

      Milijun puta sam rekao, Hrvatska nije ni blizu ona što je bila prije 10 ili 20 godina. Ovdje su se stvari bitno promijenile. Korupcija je daleko manje prisutna na nižem nivou, a gotovo da je nema na višem.

      Delete
  16. Anonymous09:31

    Financial performance this year will be shrouded by this slot sale. We won't know the exact numbers.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:34

      Not really. Just subtract the amount of the sale against the net result.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:36

      Student prve godine ekonomije zna da procita finansijski izvestaj i vidi koliko velike operativne gubitke prave. Vise putnika vise i gubitaka u njihovom slucaju.

      Delete
  17. Anonymous09:38

    selling LHR was a very good decision.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:51

      how exactly?

      Delete
    2. Danijel09:53

      Well, they are profitabile. If they didnt sell it, they not be. Problem is that there is not much to sell anymore.

      Delete
  18. Anonymous09:48

    Bravo OU! Bravo Hrvatska!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Anonymous09:49

    Adria Airways Crotaia is just waiting

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:35

      Ahahahahaha evo samo sto nije

      Delete
  20. Anonymous09:51

    They will record much bigger passenger growth in the third quarter because of new routes.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:55

      New routes were already there during second quarter.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:01

      Only for like a month.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:03

      But not money making till mid June...

      Delete
  21. Nemjee09:58

    OT

    This morning I arrived from LCA on JU 507 and when we landed there wasn't a single free gate for us so we were parked at B4 next to an Atr that went to VCE later on.
    I can't remember if there was ever a time when every single air-bridge plus remote C stands were occupied. I guess it has to do with JU launching JFK and with Wizz Air basing a second aircraft at the airport.
    I know BEG is not close to its maximum capacity but the airport is in desperate need of extra space during these busy periods. Will be interesting to see what will happen next summer, especially if QR increases BEG to ten weekly meaning their flight will arrive some time between 05.00 and 06.00.

    As for the loads:
    JU 506 BEG-LCA 124/144
    JU 507 LCA-BEG 137/144
    A319, YU-APJ

    About 65 passengers disembarked in BEG, the rest were predominantly Westerners heading to Paris, Vienna and Germany.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:06

      That's LF of 86% and 95%!!! Go ASL!

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:14

      That's commendable JU. Why is it then that JU is diminishing at such a rapid rate? Fewer routes and leasing off so many planes? When is JU releasing their financials for the last financial year?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:25

      Maybe they are failing because they are too expensive?

      Delete
    4. Anonymous11:27

      Seasonality is killing them and they have no real network to make it easier when winter comes.

      Delete
    5. In order to have better LF during winter you need to offer lower prices as EK does.
      JU can't expect to have same yield during the winter as in summer, but despite it they rather fly with half empty planes than to lower prices.
      I am not saying it would be profitable for them, but surely it would make their loss during winter lower.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous12:56

      It is JULY! When if not now would planes be full?

      Delete
    7. Anonymous13:51

      Well Moscow wasn't full last summer so they put it down to 10.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous14:36

      @troll at 10:14
      Why is it then that JU is diminishing at such a rapid rate?

      Because they sold all LHR slots and apparently sold both A330 engines. A330 will now sit on the tarmac every day. Happy?

      Delete
    9. QR 92118:22

      The reason behind the drop is that JU never invested in year-round destinations such as Kiev, Astana, Caucasus, North Africa etc. That's a must in order to offset the seasonality of the European market.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous18:58

      I am impressed there wasn't a single empty gate.

      Delete
    11. Anonymous20:09

      QR921 - gee, you really need to get an atlas out and study where each of these cities/regions are located ....

      They are all subject to the same seasonality fluctuations in the Northern Winter. Only destinations where the season is counter cyclical to Europe is the Southern hemisphere, or beach destinations in Asia, Indian subcontinent, Carribean - for which there is little to no scheduled demand

      Delete
    12. Anonymous20:12

      So how come Aegean manages to keep at least 5 to 7 weekly flights to the Middle East but JU can't? One can sell its seats while the other doesn't know how to. You figure out which is which. hehe

      Delete
    13. Anonymous20:14

      Maybe because Greek market is double the size and is one of the world's top travel destinations, even in winter.

      Delete
    14. Anonymous20:24

      And have you seen the amount of airlines that fly into Greece? Not to mention the ongoing economic crisis there which is only getting worse.

      So what do you think, Jordanian tourists who fly to Athens, who would they rather fly with? RJ or A3? ;)

      Delete
    15. Anonymous20:25

      If Aegean doesn't suit you then what about Icelandair or airBaltic?

      Delete
    16. Anonymous21:00

      Ankn at 8.12pm - Aegean has 3 times the fleet size of JU and 4.5 times the fleet size of OU - so they have many more destinations that they can fly to and connect - just in case you didnt know that. JU does fly to the Middle east - they serve Beirut and Tel Aviv - just in case you also didnt know thay

      Delete
    17. Anonymous21:23

      Aha and look at Aegean fleet five years ago and where they flew and compare to the situation today. Then compare where OU and JU were in 2013 and compare to today.

      Delete
    18. Anonymous22:00

      Good point !

      JU have more than doubled the number of passengers they carry; tripled the size of their fleet; are flying to almost 20 more destinations (when you incl the charter destinations) and refreshed and modernised their product.

      Unfortunately, OU were under EU restructuring, so they couldn;t do too much, but they have started to grow again over the past 12 mths, with new destinations and additional capacity leased in.

      Have i missed something ?

      Delete
    19. Anonymous22:18

      Just to update, A3 is expanding again for next summer. Some preliminary route searches on google/flights show key markets going to 3x or 4x daily and most "summer routes" are starting from early march instead if mid-june. Tel Aviv is 3 daily instead of 2 on most days, paris 4 daily on some days and milan 3 daily.

      Delete
    20. Anonymous23:06

      Tripled the size of JU fleet?

      Really. Jat in 2012 had 17 planes, Air Serbia today have 21 planes. So, how is that tripled????

      Delete
    21. Anonymous23:09

      I don't know where you pulled 17 planes out of. It had 10 operational aircraft.

      Delete
  22. Anonymous10:00

    They are doing the same thibg Adria did in 2014. Adria sold everything it had and presented a profit that year. Now OU sells slots and presents a profit.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:03

      Croatia Airlines still owns its planes unlike Adria. They also have Amadeus Croatia in their ownership.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:14

      As it has Adria somedays .... let us not be naive ... Croatia just copies Adria path...as someone has written before: Adria Croatia is just wating

      Delete
  23. Anonymous10:10

    Will they be adding any new destinations this winter?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:13

      Like it was written here before, Lisbon and Barcelona are becoming year round routes. So they are being added to winter timetable.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:14

      He asked about new destinations, not the extension of the old ones.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:23

      He asked if any new destinations are being added during the winter and these are new destinations during the winter since they have never been served during the winter before. Calm down.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:24

      I am not the one who needs to calm down, you are the one who is attacking him after he asked an innocent question.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:26

      Attacking him? Where on earth did I attack him?? Are you crazy?

      Delete
    6. What would be the point of introducing new routes during winter?

      Delete
    7. Anonymous11:24

      What about next year? Any more new destinations planned.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous12:42

      I think that might be it. 8 new destinations for 2 years is quite good. They would need to expand their fleet again if they are going to introduce more new routes and I think the objective for next year is to get two aircraft which they will keep (not wet lease like this year and last year).

      Delete
    9. Anonymous13:17

      Would be good if we saw some winter routes from the coast by OU.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous15:28

      @AnonymousAugust 1, 2017 at 10:10 AM

      No, not this winter, however in April, I anticipate they'll add Dublin, Lyon, Valencia,
      Sofia and Milan.

      This is if they can secure enough planes for 2018.

      Adding these 4-5 new routes would bring number or routes to 37 in summer months, it can be done with 12 aircraft, but it might put strain on the entire fleet and staff too.

      OU will be flying extra 4 destinations during this winter. So that's a biggie, as OU will maintain 28 destinations in winter months, usually OU maintains 24-25 destinations in winter months.

      Delete
    11. Anonymous22:51

      One thing that amazes me a lot ,as of late most of my friends in Zagreb, i should say all of them, have flown more often than I in past 12 months. I had flown only twice and some of them are flying 3-4 times per year bare minimum.

      Sure, all of them are professionals, but still, 3-4 times. Every time Croatian has good deals, tickets end up being sold with in days. On of my friends, flew to London - twice, Porto, Edinburgh, Dublin and is about to fly to Frankfurt next week. 6 times already and he plans to fly again in October and December. so that is 8 times. What my friend does for living, he is an teacher with pay of 7500 kuna. An enrage pay in Croatia is 6200 kuna, his pay is bellow average in Zagreb where he lives.
      He said, his pay will go up to 8600 kuna, but in September.

      Based only and purely on how my friends fly as of late, I predict numbers @Zagreb will skyrocket. If number of LCCs start to fly to Zagreb, I can easily imagine Airport hitting 10 million pax by 2025.

      Delete
  24. Anonymous10:22

    And what will happen when that strike occurs? Will they be able to keep that projection of 10% growth?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous15:32

      We don't know if there'll be a strike, perhaps the management is working things out with the staff. I heard that few administrative posts will go in marketing and sales, some 12 positions in Middle management too. In all OU might slash 25-30 jobs in sales, marketing, support (non flying) jobs, and hire more air side staff.

      However airline will maintain less than 1000 staff policy for foreseeable future, they need to bring profitability of the airline up a fair bit.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous18:14

      They have the right to strike, whether we like it or not! Still, hope that won't happen!

      Delete
    3. Anonymous19:22

      You don't go and harm the very thing that enables you to put food on your table.

      You're not happy ? LEAVE.

      You don't like it ? LEAVE

      You know of somewhere better ? LEAVE

      Delete
    4. Anonymous19:55

      Yeah, yeah, yeah... because it's always the employees' fault.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous20:00

      Ever heard of strikes, Anon 7:22? They actually happen, all over the world!

      Delete
    6. Anonymous20:16

      Sure they do ... and companies go bankrupt all over the world too.

      Do you need for OU to go bankrupt and have all 930 people lose their jobs ?

      How is that a good outcome for everyone ?

      Delete
    7. Anonymous20:21

      But it doesn't work this way anymore, having a national carrier is nice, but they missed all the opportunities, even when the government was able to help them! If they can't do their job properly, someone else will.

      Delete
  25. So, the net loss is actually 12,2 million euros, which is worse than last year. Presumably due to investments into new routes and less cargo. We'll see how they are really doing only at the end of the year.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:27

      Yeah but then it means that the extra passengers were carried at low fares or the new routes did not perform as well in terms of yields.

      Delete
    2. Danijel10:57

      Ali su ulozili u odrzavanje motora nesto. A to nije da se radi bas svake godine.

      Delete
    3. I too think that we have to wait for the full year results to have and idea on how they performed. Every financial report is the same. Big losses in the slow months which are pegged back during the busy summer months.

      Delete
    4. @Anonymous August 1, 2017 at 10:27 AM
      Too early to tell. Especially about the new routes, since they had only been around for a month at the end of June.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous15:17

      @MichaelAugust 1, 2017 at 10:24 AM

      OU makes most of its losses in first quarter, due to seasonality.

      Airline puts two or more aircraft out of service, performs C and D checks on scheduled aircraft, as you know D checks are done every 5 years and C checks every 2.

      D-checks are very expensive and for A320 type aircraft could cost as much as $3 million per check. C-checks are at least $1.2 million.

      B checks need to be also completed on the entire fleet too.

      New engines aren't cheep, each costing around $5.5 million.

      So it normal for OU in what is considered an investment cycle for most airlines, to lose money. €10-12 million is about right amount, or €1 million per serviced aircraft.

      However between April and October, airline is quite busy and they make huge profits, in fact they normally cover any losses made during the first 3-4 months and have enough to cover losses at the end of the year to still maintain profit margin.

      OU's turnover of 1.75 billion Kuna, or $270 million should generate around $15 million profit. However, due to seasonality, and poor utilization of the fleet during winter months, airline barely makes 20 million kuna profit. Hopefully things change now that 4 or even 8 extra destinations might be flown this year out of Zagreb. As things stand OU will have very busy year.

      Delete
  26. Anonymous10:49

    Great news! And soon the neos will start coming plus they will make a decision on 100-seaters.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Anonymous11:04

    It will be a good year for Croatia Airlines.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:07

      How? Creative accounting, fight for CEO position, crew to go on strike...

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:10

      Speaking of CEO, when will we know Kucko's replacement?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous19:18

      What;s with the Kucko brigade ? Leave the guy alone. He has delivered continued profits year after year ... what more do people want from him ?

      i can only imagine what people would be saying if he was presiding over massive losses like they are at JU

      Delete
    4. Anonymous19:49

      JU is profitable... just like OU is. ;)

      Also there is a general consensus that Dane must go, so...

      Delete
    5. Anonymous20:02

      Says who - you and your neighbor ?

      Delete
    6. Anonymous20:10

      Says anyone who has a clue about the aviation industry. You can't be seriously defending that man?! LOL

      Delete
    7. Anonymous20:13

      Since you have a clue, tell us what you would do better/different and why ?

      Delete
    8. Anonymous20:14

      You give us Dane, we'll give you Kucko haha ;)

      Delete
    9. Anonymous20:20

      Touche ! Great answer and i have no come back to that !

      Delete
    10. Anonymous20:21

      What I would do? I would bring back all those good working people that left the airline because of him, starting with the whole HR department.

      Delete
    11. Anonymous20:28

      Well, i was expecting a lot more from you - strategy especially, but hey, this suggestion is probably at the outer limit of your abilities, so yeah, this will surely turn things around dramatically.

      You should be the first one to come back ... your presence will surely make the world of difference. I've no idea how they missed that spark you so clearly demonstrate.

      just to add, employing more people - especially the HR department - will do wonders for the already overstaffed numbers at the airline

      Delete
    12. Anonymous20:32

      @8.21pm - you should simply get on with your life. It is too short to be bitter about losing your job. If you were adding value, you would still be there.

      Delete
    13. Anonymous20:33

      A friend of mine worked for the HR at ASL and she told me how many people left it. They weren't fired, they all left so I highly doubt that area is overstaffed.

      Also, I am not on the airline's payroll for me to come up with strategies. All I am saying is that if Kondic was a good businessman ASL wouldn't be alive today only thank to state subsidies. ;)

      Delete
    14. Anonymous20:35

      Anon 08.32
      I did not lose a job nor did I work for ASL, I am just an aviation enthusiast discussing aviation on an aviation blog. ;)

      Delete
    15. Anonymous20:38

      Poštovani gospodine Anon 08.32, možda da manje provodite vremena po blogovima a više u Beogradu u vašoj kancelariji AS ne bi rezala mrežu i zaposlene iz dana u dan.

      Delete
    16. Anonymous20:59

      Successful companies grow they don't get smaller.

      Delete
    17. Anonymous22:09

      @8.33pm - by your accounts, Kondic may not be a good manager, but neither were the managers over the previous 20 years - all of whom existed with thanks to the govt covering their losses year in year out.

      Maybe it is a curse with that airline - no matter who runs it, it is destined to make losses and have the govt cover it every year in order to keep it alive.

      Delete
    18. Anonymous22:13

      Anonymous at 8.38pm - one of the reasons that the company is reducing costs and manpower, is because people like you are not adding value. You are a dinosaur that has not been able to adapt to the new world we live in.

      We all know what happened to dinasours, don't we ?

      Delete
    19. Anonymous22:43

      'We all know what happened to dinasours, don't we ?'

      Are you threatening to kill/exterminate us? That's a serious threat

      Delete
  28. Anonymous11:53

    With additional flying and therefore additional capacity, the cargo performance is horrible. It is worse than last year and continues to deteriorate.

    Cargo volumes are not seasonal like passenger traffic, so there is no reason for such poor performance, other than people not doing their job and in mgt not giving any focus to cargo

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:02

      I think the more airlines start flying to Zagreb, the more cargo will go down. Could EK's entry had an impact on Croatia Airlines' cargo loads?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous15:53

      @AnonymousAugust 1, 2017 at 12:02 PM

      NO!!!

      EK arrived on June 1st, EK's Cargo started on August 1st.

      n the other hand DHL and Qatar Cargo did play their role. DHL has started cargo operations out of Zagreb in 2015, but only in 2016 they put B757 on the route. So that'll have an impact on OU. Qatar Cargo is also playing its part and now arrival of Emirates Cargo could put even more pressure.

      UPS is now looking at starting Cargo flights to Zagreb, and that'll put even more pressure.

      However, Zagreb with 3 million pax should really have around 25-30 000 tons of Cargo, 10-12 000 simply isn't good enough.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous18:56

      ZAG's biggest problem in terms of cargo is LJU.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous19:08

      Anon at 12.02 - what sort of logic are you applying ? The more that airlines fly to ZAG, the more the cargo volumes will go down ?

      Why then do their passenger numbers continue to go up if more airlines continue to fly to ZAG ?

      So it applies to cargo but not to passengers ?

      PAH-LEASE !!!

      Simple answer is that they have no focus on cargo or they have the wrong people selling cargo

      Delete
    5. Anonymous20:25

      Anon 7:08

      Unlike passengers, cargo isn't coming to enjoy the beauty of the Croatian coast, so there is no reason for it to grow as fast. So yes, OU cargo rates will drop further as new carriers enter the market.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous20:28

      But why isn't cargo growing in ZAG?

      Delete
    7. Anonymous22:16

      @8.25pm - OU's growth is at ZAG, not on the coast. So people that OU are carrying is overwhelmingly to ZAG and not the coast. That's where the cargo opportunity is - not on the coast

      Delete
    8. Anonymous22:39

      @AnonymousAugust 1, 2017 at 8:28 PM

      It is growing, just that slump, from 2008 - 2015 was a quite big, economic recession hit Croatia hard. For 6 years Croatia had no growth, finally Croatia started to recover in 2015 and this is when cargo volume started to go up, a bit.

      Zagreb airport Cargo terminal is very small, could theoretically handle around 15000 of cargo, 20 000 if you really push it. Zagreb airport needs new cargo terminal, and this will be the next investment, that should happen in next 12 months. Old Terminal, which is 200x60m building will be transformed in to a very large cargo terminal capable handling 100-150 000 tons of cargo per year.

      Once UPS, FedEx and few other cargo airlines arrive and start to service Zagreb, numbers will go up. Ljubljana cargo has little to do with Zagreb cargo numbers. Problem with Zagreb is lack of cargo airlines that serve Zagreb. DHL has arrived in 2015 and Qatar Cargo followed suit in 2016. Emirates Cargo just arrived. UPS has announced their arrival, and where is UPS FedEx follows suit. By 2020, you'll see major air-cargo players at Zagreb airport, and numbers should tell.

      Zagreb airport should be handling around 20-25 000 tons of cargo, by 2020 I expect airport will handle these numbers. So 2018, 2019 and 2020 we'll see massive growth of Cargo at Zagreb airport.

      By 2025, Zagreb airport could handle 50 000 tons of cargo, we'll see how things develop once all major cargo carriers set up their shop in Zagreb.

      OT:,

      BTW Croatian economy is finally waking up, projected growth 3.5% this year. even with Agrokor mess. Number of tourists is up by 20% across the board. 17.5 million visitors expected this year, 2 million more than last year, and if you add "foreign friends" that number is 18.7 million at least. 100 million nights, €12 billion revenue.


      Country is so confident of good times ahead, Croatian MOD is negotiating JAS-39 E/F purchase from Sweden. Aircraft will enter service in 2020/2021 replacing 12 Mig 21. Number of fighters is still being negotiated, between 12 and 16. Total cost of new fighter purchase, €1.5-1.7 billion.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous22:44

      ^ i hope the croatian government pays you for PR.

      Delete
  29. Anonymous12:08

    They posted a very respectable profit for H1. Don't know what all of you are complaining about?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:21

      Ne bunimo se. Mi necemo da ih placamo, ti ces.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:22

      everyone complains in ex-yu countries. It's a national sport.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous14:23

      It's hard not to complain, given the status of aviation in the exyu.

      Of course, if you keep your head in the sand, JU, JP and OU are the best airlines in the world, run by the best management and have the best service.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous19:10

      @12.08pm - they will continue to have respectable profits - as long as they have assets to sell

      Delete
  30. Anonymous12:43

    Good luck OU. Wish them all the best.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Anonymous13:07

    So it's interesting, a lot has been talked about load factors here. As it turns out during the first half Air Serbia had a higher load factor than Croatia Airlines.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous13:28

      Good for them, 1:0 for JU.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous18:58

      They had higher load factors for the simple reason that they managed their off season capacity much better than did OU.

      That's the reason why they are looking to lease out aircraft over the winter, or, to fly less - thereby saving money and improving their performance.

      It is not rocket science

      Delete
  32. Anonymous13:53

    Are passengers flying international on OU and then transferring onto domestic OU flight counted twice?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous14:05

      Off course. Same as any other transfer passenger.

      Delete
  33. Anonymous13:59

    OT: Sarajevo July 2017: 140.025 pax (+28%) :)

    ReplyDelete
  34. Anonymous14:06

    I really hope they manage to sort things out and a strike does not happen, especially like some are saying on 8 August because that is right after national holiday and in peak season. It will cause lots of disruptions.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous14:17

      They have the right to strike if they are unhappy.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous14:22

      They also have an EU passport and right to live and work in the entire EU.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous15:03

      So they should move to another country because the management is being cheap? Their pay has not increased in 5 years.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous15:21

      What about the inflation rate during the same period?

      Delete
    5. Anonymous16:03

      Not true. Their pay has not increase in 8 years, and 6 years ago they had cut of some 7% on their income. So, if they will get what they ask they will still have less then they had in 2011.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous19:02

      People who aren't happy don't stay - they leave.

      the reason they don't leave, is because they can't get a job elsewhere because they aren't good enough. Then, they demand the company meet their demands or else they strike - putting at risk the very company that feeds them.

      Super logic....

      Delete
    7. Anonymous19:47

      Hmm they can't find a job elsewhere because they are not good enough or because of the world economic crisis? ;)

      Delete
    8. Anonymous20:00

      All the more reason why they should protect what they have

      Delete
    9. Anonymous20:09

      Sometimes the best way to protect what you have and love is to take such measures so as to get rid of those who don't know how to run a business.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous20:11

      Sometimes the best way to protect what you have and love is to take such measures as to get rid of workers who add no value

      Delete
    11. Anonymous20:13

      In OU's case, I'd stick to Anon 8:09! Get rid of Kucko!

      Delete
    12. Anonymous20:20

      Yes but if the CEO starts kicking out too many people then you have to wonder who is at fault, one individual or all the other ones? ;)

      Delete
    13. Anonymous20:27

      Anon 8:20, besides introducing new routes, could you name me a few good things that Kucko has done for OU?

      Delete
    14. Anonymous20:30

      Year after year profitability - which is exactly what the shareholder wants

      Delete
    15. Anonymous20:31

      Shareholders want to make money through a sustainable business model. Selling engines to get some cash is far from it.

      Delete
    16. Anonymous20:37

      AnonymousAugust 1, 2017 at 7:47 PM:

      Pilot's market is probably at its best since 9/11. There are thousands of jobs out there for pilots.

      Delete
    17. Anonymous20:51

      The last time I checked it's not the pilots who are going on strike. ;)

      Delete
  35. Anonymous18:06

    ZAG-INI must be launched too, this service has potential too.
    On the other hand, why isn´t FR adding extra flights in Xmas/NY just like the rest of the destinations?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous18:15

      Haha

      Delete
    2. Anonymous18:55

      Adding extra flights to where? So far they added an extra destination this winter, Stockholm.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous19:27

      No, if you go to the FR website, you will see they´ve added extra flights around Xmas period. Example: TGD-CRL and TGD-STN both receive 1 extra flight during that period.
      As for OU, I hope they really include INI in 2018.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous19:46

      INI from ZAG would be nice, but I doubt it would happen in 2018.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous19:46

      ZAG-INI is perfect for their Q400 and it would be a good way to enter the market before JP does it.
      OU can offer connections to Germany as well as the rest of Western Europe, look how successful LX is there.

      Delete