Croatia Airlines saw its busiest April on record, managing to offset the declining passenger numbers registered during the first quarter. The carrier welcomed 172.758 travellers on board its aircraft last month, an increase of 16% year-on-year. It carried an additional 23.359 passengers compared to 2018 and overtook its previous April record set in 2011 when it handled 151.231 travellers. The strong growth was in part due to the Easter holidays falling later on in the month, as well as the 16+1 CEEC - China summit, comprising of sixteen Central and Eastern European nations and China, which took place in Dubrovnik, with the Croatian carrier operating several additional flights to the city. The continued growth of Croatia's tourism industry also aided the figures, as well as the airline's resumption of the majority of its seasonal services almost a month in advance. As a result, Croatia Airlines managed to overturn its passenger decline in the first quarter, during which it handled 345.800 passengers on board its aircraft, a decline of 2.4%.
During the January - April period, Croatia's national airline carried 518.557 travellers, up 3% on the same period last year, with its average cabin load factor standing at 69.9%. "Considering strong advanced bookings and demand, we expect for the passenger growth to continue for the rest of the year, particularly over the tourist season during which Croatia Airlines will serve 38 destinations in 24 European cities", the company said. It anticipates registering a 5% increase in passenger numbers by year's end. In 2018 the airline handled a record 2.168.863 travellers. The airline will carry Zagreb Airport's millionth passenger of the year this Sunday on flight OU513 from Dublin to the Croatian capital.
Croatia Airlines has made only minor tweaks to its 2019 summer operations compared to last year but brought forward the resumption of the majority of its seasonal Zagreb flights. The carrier will extend its services to Dublin into the winter this year. It is also considering prolonging flights to a select number of seasonal destinations in the lead-up to Croatia's presidency of the Council of the European Union, which will take place during the first half of next year. Furthermore, it has scheduled a wet-leased Bombardier CRJ1000 aircraft on a number of routes for the 2019/2020 winter season. The carrier wet-leases two of the jets during the summer months from Spanish regional carrier Air Nostrum in order to maintain its busy schedule. In a statement to EX-YU Aviation News, Croatia Airlines said, "It is true that the CRJ1000 aircraft is being set up in the reservation systems for some flights during the 2019/2020 season, but at this moment we can't confirm that the company will extend the lease for one of them after the summer timetable".
Haters are going to hate but the hard work at OU is finally starting to show. This government has done a lot for Croatian aviation because they are led by patriotism and love for Croatia. I am sure this summer season will help OU put its finances into order and make it ready for the winter season.
ReplyDeleteOU's time has come! Great results overall, I am sure more will follow.
Can I ask why do you think the airline which has been making losses for years will suddenly turn a profit this year?
DeleteBecause they finally got their house in order?! Aren't you aware how much effort was put into bringing OU back on its feet.
DeleteHow did they get their house in order when losses are increasing year by year?
DeleteLet me just remind you...
Deletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2019/05/croatia-airlines-hit-by-poor-q1.html
I am sorry but no need to be always negative. April will most likely be the first of many months when results improve. After all the night is darkest just before dawn. #q1
DeleteApril managed to improve passenger numbers but I honestly doubt it managed anyhow to improve financial result that is terrible in first quarter.
DeleteSo, try to be realistic as no matter how many passenger certain airline has at the end of the day it is going to survive or not based on the profit or loss they made. And they have terrible loss.
Simple as that
Actually it was the first time in a longtime that OUs passenger numbers contracted in the first quarter.
DeleteNewsflash, April is not Q1. Keep on hatin'.
Delete"This government has done a lot for Croatian aviation because they are led by patriotism and love for Croatia". Kad sam to procitao, bilo mi je dosta. Reality check needed. Nadam se samo da te Ministarstvo propagande dobro placa.
DeleteIt has nothing to do with hate, just with reality.
DeleteLet me try to explan you one more time...OU had terrible money-wise and passenger-wise result in Q1.
It got improved in April due to the listed factors, but one month can't make it up for whole quarter. So the financial result for first 4 months is still in red.
No matter how pink your glasses are, these are the facts.
Why do you think nobody is interested in buying Croatia Airlines sure not due to good results like you say but due the financial situation the company is in , if it financial situation was so good you could be sure that there would be serious interest ,000 interest that says enough .
DeleteJasno je da Croatia može biti uspješna kompanija no za to joj je potrebna rekonfiguracija flote, smanjenje broja zaposlenih, aktivan management i vizija privatizacije koja će to omogućiti (privatizacija manjinskog udjela vlasništva). Uvođenje dva do tri Boeing 767 u flotu i zamjena DASHeva flotom CRJ omogućava letove za USA i Kanadu i povećava frekvenciju i kapacitet. Treba izabrati najbolji financijski model djelomične privatizacije koja će omogućiti rekonfiguracija flote. OU ne prodavati Lufthansa grupi!!!!!
DeleteThe numbers of passengers are going up, but the revenue is constantly in red. That's a success in your book?
Delete"anon 10.00" - B767 ni u ludilu uvesti. prije A330 200..ili cak nove A330 800 neo. za Dashove se slazem, zamijeniti ih CRJ900 ili 1000. treba im flota od ukupno 15 aviona, 6 CRJ, 6 319/320 i 3 330.
Delete@frishki: you really seem to be frustrated by your not being taken up for job in OU.
Delete"The numbers of passengers are going up, but the revenue is constantly in red. That's a success in your book?" ==> Where do you read this?
So you take the first 4 months for you claim that pax numbers grew, but only Q1 that revenues shrank???
Think why? Maybe it is good you are not in aviation business....
Wow dude. Your obsession with me knows no boundaries.
DeleteWhat job at OU you're rambling about? You think if someone makes a rational comment on a topic and not praising the subject after the first good news after loads of bad ones, wants to work for the company? You must be some special kind of masochist.
Tell me again, how did OU do for the last several years?
That's nice but at the end of the day it is profits that matter the most.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteCroatia Airlines should launch flights to Podgorica, Pristina, Ohrid and Sofia.
ReplyDeleteKiev too.
DeleteBaku and Ankara as well.
DeleteOU didn't make it in Istanbul, I don't know how they would make it in Ankara.
DeleteHow about Izmir? There is currently no ex-Yu connection with it.
DeleteI think they should think otuside the box and launch Adana. Qatar seems to be doing well there and there is a large diaspora in Germany which is good for OU.
DeleteMaybe Bursa
DeleteBursa makes sense, they could run it as Zagreb-Bursa-Diyarbakir.
DeleteThat's exactly what I meant!
DeleteBursa is not far away from Istanbul. Izmir has a traffic of almost 13 million and many new Euro carriers are launching flights:
Deletehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Izmir_Adnan_Menderes_Airport
I think OU must consider ADB before JU, JP, 6W or YM do.
Madrid, Istanbul and Edinburgh are potential destinations.
DeleteI highly doubt Istanbul will be launched. They were crushed by Turkish Airlines on this route just a few years ago and Turkish took over the same slots at Istanbul.
DeleteNo chance for Istanbul against TK.
DeleteThey had discussions with TK two years ago for them to introduce one daily afternoon flight to IST and TK was all for it. In the end it didn't go according to plan.
DeleteKiev, Madrid, Glasgow, Baku, Tel Aviv (year round), New York, Los Angeles or San Francisco. Shanghai or Hong Kong, Tokyo. ...my wishful tinkhing :)
DeleteThey should consider opening nonstop Zagreb-Athens next year without the stop in Dubrovnik to better compete against Aegean.
DeleteNo chance of beating Aegean now. They should have just what you proposed before. You snooze you lose.
DeleteNow it is better if they make an extensive codeshare agreement with them.
Well Q1 was simply influended by Easter. April was graet because of Easter. To see if things went up, you have to compare the first 4 months with the firts 4 last year.
ReplyDeleteFirst four months:
Delete"During the January - April period, Croatia's national airline carried 518.557 travellers, up 3% on the same period last year, with its average cabin load factor standing at 69.9%."
"Croatia Airlines saw its busiest April on record, managing to offset the declining passenger numbers registered during the first quarter."
DeleteSo it is just a matter of looking at things...
Bravo OU!
ReplyDeleteHa? How did they manage to carry an additional 23.359 passengers with 10 one way flight due to the 16+1 summit?
ReplyDeleteA list of reasons have been listed. Easter, summit, starting seasonal flights a month early...
DeleteNot too bad results at all. Those percentage increases look quite reasonable.
ReplyDeleteIt's also interesting that DUB has now been upgraded to a year-round destination.
DUB is strongly dominated by FR but I am expecting them to launch flights to ZAG one day.
Statistics indicate that there are now around 22,000 Croats in Ireland!
https://www.thedubrovniktimes.com/news/croatia/item/6284-number-of-croatians-moving-to-ireland-increase-tenfold
This reminds us a bit about the sudden arrival of so many Poles to Ireland, back in 2004 when the country joined EU.
I think it will soon be one of the busiest routes from/to ZAG, either having more OU fliights to DUB or the arrival of FR.
Predsjednica kaze kako se Hrvati vec masovno vracaju u domovinu. Puzzled. Lol.
DeleteHaha masovno ali u drugom smjeru.
DeleteI hope they find someone to buy them this time around.
ReplyDeleteUnless its some business consortium, turnaround "experts" or financial fund I don't see a viable partner.
DeleteThe last thing management or any of the OU staff want is for the airline to be privatized.
DeleteIn the end nothing will happen. They will waste money on privatization advisors and will stay state owned.
DeleteAverage Load factor is rather poor.
ReplyDeleteIt is actually disaster
DeleteWell they are using the wrong planes and the fact that they will lease the CRJ1000 into the winter when seasonality seems to be a big issue, in other words not enough work for their fleet just goes to show the airline did a terrible job 'restructuring' ignoring the key problems facing the airline and just sweeping major issues under a very messy rug.
DeleteWhich planes would be optimal for OU in winter?
DeleteIn winter and in summer they need 100 seat regional jets. CRJ1000 since they have experience with them or if they could change the A319NEO order to A220-100s and get them ASAP appose to 4 years time that would be the best scenario.
DeleteKeep the existing A319/320 for high capacity summer flights (maybe even add some A321s) and park these in the winter or use them for leasing/charter.
Not too bad when you consider the extra competition and indirect competition on key routes.
ReplyDeleteI don't think the competition on key routes is more intense then say last year.
DeleteOU needs to grow - routes and fleet. Expand towards east, place one plane in Sarajevo, increase winter season frequencies to Dubrovnik and Split. Expand the fleet.
ReplyDeleteKucko had similar ideas.
DeleteAnd then he left
He went east so to speak :D
DeleteHow would OU get an AOC to operate out of Sarajevo?
DeleteAs an EU airline they wouldn't need a Bosnian AOC. Same as Wizz Air doesn't need a Bosnian AOC to have a base in Tuzla.
DeleteTrue, forgot about that.
DeleteKučko's legacy lives on!
DeleteI wonder how he is going over at Gulf Air haha.
DeleteJos ga nisu ocerali......onda mora kako nesto cini kako valja
DeleteHe was the smartest one of them all.
DeleteKučko is criticized and even mocked, but it looks like he'll be remembered as the one who saved the nose diving company.
DeleteOU should open a base in OMO. They could have a single Q400 there and fly a few flights per week to Milan, Rome and Germany.
DeleteBravo Hrvatska!
ReplyDeleteCongrats OU! It's a shame that this airline is in the situation it is in. Good luck OU in privatisation and I hope the management does the right thing.
ReplyDeleteThe management said they need 33 million euros for the airline to expand or it will shrink next year. Good luck with that.
DeleteCongratulations!
ReplyDeleteCroatia Airlines has newish planes and superb inflight service so not surprised.
Lol these comments sound like they are written at OU HQ.
DeleteHow do they already know the flight on which Zagreb's millionth passenger will be flown? Incidentally it's on a relatively new route?
ReplyDeleteThey know based on the number of people they processed and plan to process but it's usually never on that exact flight. They just choose it depending on which destination or airline they want to promote.
DeleteGo Croatia!
ReplyDeleteApril was good but overall results are negative. This just proves bad management in Croatia means good management but sorry negative saldo is negative how creative book keeping you do .This Ceo would have been fired long time ago.
ReplyDeleteMy opinion is that OU is actually doing great job considering the ticket prices. They are so expensive during the summer months
ReplyDeleteAgreed, I use Croatia Airlines at least once a month or so, sometimes the prices can be decent, but mostly they are too high!
DeleteYes, but it's a legacy airline. Catering, water and everything is included in the price.
DeleteNe's ti vrijednosti u flasici vode.....
DeleteCongrats Croatia Airlines. Always a pleasure to fly with :)
ReplyDelete+100 :)
DeleteSamo ako bas bas moram
DeleteWell done, let's hope they don't collapse by the end of the year.
ReplyDeletethey wont´t ;)
DeleteWill they be introducing any more new destinations next year?
ReplyDeleteThey would need to expand their fleet again if they are going to introduce more new routes
Delete@10.10 it will depend on the privatization process.
DeleteI hope they make Helsinki, Milan and Stockholm year round.
ReplyDeleteNo chance for Helsinki and Stockholm. These flights are mainly for tourists. DY couldn't make Stockholm work year round from Zagreb either,
DeleteThere is always option to fly via BEG for all of these destinations year round
DeleteOr via many more logical hubs like Frankfurt, Munich, Vienna...
DeleteWhat is more logical for the passenger is only his/her decision depending from the personal preferencies, price...
Delete"It is true that the CRJ1000 aircraft is being set up in the reservation systems for some flights during the 2019/2020 season, but at this moment we can't confirm that the company will extend the lease for one of them after the summer timetable".
ReplyDeleteWTF??? How does the company not know if they will keep the plane or not and at the same time they are scheduling it for winter???
Well its most likely cheaper to park an A319 and have a leased CRJ1000 do the work instead. If they don''t lease it, they have plenty of free capacity during that period so no drama in that sense.
DeleteI realize that but its May. Shouldn't they already have everything planned for October?
DeleteIf it's cheaper as you say Q400 to wet lease CRJ (with crew and everything) than run your own (albeit leased) equipment with crew that is already on payroll... they are in a big time trouble.
DeleteOni svakim prevezenim putnikom stvaraju gubitak.
ReplyDeleteSto vise prevezenih putnika, veci su i gubitci......
Pa ti sad vidi koliko je ovo dobra vijest.
+1
DeleteNice. Congratulations Croatia Airlines. I hope you introduce more serious flights from the coast. I don't get the point of one weekly Split-Copenhagen. Not to mention how many weekly flights there are from SAS and DY.
ReplyDeleteIt is nonsense to expect a hub&spoke carrier to launch flights out of its base. Spreading its limited capacity to three airports is already weakest part of Croatia Airlines' business.
DeleteHow big of a role did they play in ZAG's growth in April?
ReplyDeleteSeems like quite a bit. Especially with the seasonal flights starting in April and not May,
DeleteLooking forward to see what rest of the year brings. I really hope they will manage to overturn the bad financial result but I'm not so optimistic. Also more interesting what will happen with the privatization.
ReplyDeleteIt depends if they will manage to sell any of the assets they still own...
DeleteNice to see their pax numbers improved but LF is still quite bad.
ReplyDeleteLjetna sezona letenja je počela početkom travnja pa su zato veće brojke. Mogle su biti i veće. Problem kojeg ima CA (osim aljkavog menadžmenta) leži i u neurednom redu letenja koji onemogućuje konekcije. CA ima dobre feeding destinacije, ali da samo malo uvede reda u pojedine rute, omogućila bi daleko bolju konektiranost između 1. i 3. vala s jedne te 2. i 4. vala s druge strane. S postojećom flotom i dva iznajmljena zrakoplova mogla bi pojačati pojedine linije i uvesti par novih letova, poboljšati povezanost, samo da se koncentrira na tržište u Zagrebu jer je u Splitu, Dubrovniku, Zadru i Puli već izgubila tržišnu utakmicu od EasyJeta, Ryanaira, Volotee, Aegeana, Norwegiana i SAS-a. Ali eto, selo gori, a baba se češlja.
ReplyDelete