Croatia Airlines has reported strong financial and operational results for the first three quarters, while at the same time strongly criticising shortcomings at Zagreb Airport's new terminal building. 

During the nine-month period, Croatia Airlines registered a record profit of 13.4 million euros, up from 609.600 euros last year. The carrier noted that the strong financial results were fuelled by the January sale of its five weekly slot pairs at London's Heathrow Airport to Delta Air Lines amounting to eighteen million euros. The carrier increased expenditure by 10%, while revenue grew 18% on last year. It spent most on flight operations, primarily due to the higher cost of fuel (+32%), followed by aircraft leasing, as a result of the wet-lease for two Air Nostrum Bombardier CRJ1000 aircraft, then maintenance, due to the overhaul of two jet engines and C checks on three aircraft, as well as passenger services. "Expenditure has partly increased due to daily operational issues witnessed since the opening of Zagreb Airport's new terminal", the airline said. Other financial indicators show that passenger yield, based on revenue passenger kilometres, amounted to 11.6 euro cents, down from 12.1 last year. Croatia Airlines has taken out loans from local banks amounting to 9.3 million euros, of which 5.6 million are long-term and 3.7 million euros short-term.

The national carrier handled a record 1.654.396 passengers on board its aircraft during the January - September period, an increase of 9.1%. Of those, 406.680 travellers were carried on domestic flights, up 5.8%, while 1.193.550 passengers flew on international services, an improvement of 11%. The remaining 56.166 travellers were carried on charter flights, up 0.2% year-on-year. However, charters accounted for only 3% of overall traffic. The airline operated 21.531 flights during the first half of the year, which is up 3% compared to the same period in 2016. The average cabin load factor stood at 74.2%, up 3.9%. Loads improved on international flights by 4.2% for an average of 74.1%, while on domestic services they were up 4.6% to 72.5%. Passenger carrying capacity, measured in Available Seat Kilometres (ASKs), stood at 1.7 billion, up 6.5% year-on-year. The airline’s cargo operations recorded a decline of 15.9%, with 1.681 tonnes of mail and freight uplifted in the first three quarters of 2017, compared to 1.998 the year before.

Croatia Airlines has again criticised Zagreb Airport's new terminal and the negative effects the organisational inadequacy is having on its business. In its most strongly-worded statements to date, the carrier said, "Given the shortcomings the airline noticed during the testing phase of the terminal (some of which have still not been resolved), as well as the regular operational incidents since the opening of the facility, there is a growing risk in providing and maintaining product quality, i.e. Croatia Airlines' schedule, which directly impacts on the unplanned increase in operating costs, delays, passenger dissatisfaction and the company's image". The carrier noted that the number of its flights being delayed at Zagreb Airport have increased 38% this year. "There have been numerous problems since the opening of the new terminal, noticeably an increase in delays due to the late arrival of transfer passengers caused by poorly thought-out passenger flow, problematic pushback procedures, handling, baggage transfer, as well as long waits at baggage claim. It is also necessary to improve passenger check-in and boarding procedures. Along with the issues concerning Zagreb Airport's management and the handling agent, there are also growing delays in the supply of fuel. Furthermore, there are issues with requests being made by boarder control and the processing of crew". For its part, Zagreb Airport said last month, "We regularly hold meetings with airline representatives where we discuss all problems and shortcomings. We then seek out joint solutions". The airport noted that, as a result of the new terminal and the implementation of new procedures and technologies, some problems may occur, but added that the management is trying to remedy the situation.