Croatia Airlines expects to see a 5% increase in passenger numbers by the end of the year and is holding off on major changes to its route network prior to the conclusion of its ongoing privatisation process. The carrier plans to add an additional weekly flight to Brussels this coming winter season, for a total of twelve per week, and has partially upgraded its seasonal Dublin service, which will run until late January. On the other hand, flights to Lisbon, which were maintained for part of the winter last year, will end in late October and resume during the 2020 summer season. At this point, the airline has dropped plans to extend the wet-lease for one of Air Nostrum's Bombardier CRJ1000 jets into the winter.

This summer, Croatia Airlines accounts for just under half of all scheduled seat capacity in Zagreb, well ahead of its nearest rival, fellow Star Alliance member Lufthansa, which, combined with its low cost subsidiary Eurowings, accounts for around 12% of the airport’s capacity. After launching four new international routes from Zagreb in 2016 and 2017, and a further two in 2018, Croatia Airlines has not added new destinations to its network this year. Conversely, it has not dropped any routes either. During the peak of the summer season, in August, the carrier will have the most Available Seat Kilometres (ASK) on flights from Zagreb to Frankfurt, followed by Zagreb to Dubrovnik, Zagreb to Lisbon, Zagreb to Amsterdam, Dubrovnik to Frankfurt, Zagreb to Tel Aviv, Zagreb to Paris, Zagreb to Brussels, Split to Frankfurt, Dubrovnik to Paris, Zagreb to Split, Zagreb to Skopje and from Zagreb to Copenhagen.

Croatia Airlines' CEO, Jasmin Bajić, recently said the carrier requires some 33 million euros in order to launch a new investment cycle which would include new aircraft and routes, in order to make it more competitive against its rivals. It is hoped a new strategic partner will be able to provide the necessary funds. The carrier recently selected a consortium made of the Privredna banka Zagreb and Germany's DVB Bank to act as its privatisation advisors. During the ongoing initial phase of their work, the advisors are analysing Croatia Airlines' business and results. The second phase will involve identifying the best privatisation model, while the third will include the transaction itself. The Croatian Minister for Sea, Transport and Infrastructure, Oleg Butković, said, "The company's privatisation process should be completed by the end of the year, and I believe we will deliver within the set timeframe".

Croatia Airlines will mark its thirtieth anniversary on August 20.