Croatia Airlines deploys turboprops on majority of flights


Croatia Airlines is utilising its Dash 8 Q400 turboprops on 71.6% of its flights this January as the coronavirus pandemic continues to crush demand for air travel. The aircraft is being utilised on 486 flights this month (both directions included), compared to the Airbus A319 used on 189 flights (or 27.8% of the time) or the A320, scheduled on just four flights during the month. Based on its current schedule, the Croatian carrier has deployed the 76-seat aircraft on almost all of its routes out of Zagreb and Split, many of which are operating with a mix of aircraft types throughout the month. The only exception is its service between Zagreb and London Heathrow which is served exclusively by the A319, while the A320 has been used once to Brussels and once to Frankfurt. 

Croatia Airlines has six Q400s in its fleet which have come as a useful asset during the ongoing period of reduced demand. The carrier previously noted, “As we continue to reduce costs, we have decreased capacity on many routes by deploying our Dash fleet. This winter, we will utilise the Dash aircraft much more than in previous years compared to the Airbuses”. It added, “The existing capacity we have is far too much under the current circumstances. During the first half of 2021 we expect to be using the Dashes more than before”. The usage of the Dash fleet peaked in November of last year when almost 80% of flights were served by the turboprops. 

Croatia Airlines recently said it would undertake rigorous cost cutting measures in order to safeguard jobs and preserve its liquidity. The state injected 91.4 million euros into the company over the past two months, 46.5 million of which through recapitalisation, 33.2 million as an equity loan and 11.7 million euros in direct aid. The Croatian carrier has so far introduced a number of measures to bring down costs and plans to maintain them in the coming months. In January, Croatia Airlines is operating 679 flights (both directions included) and has 64.848 seats on sale. It represents a 64.4% decline in capacity compared to the same month last year.


Comments

  1. Anonymous09:04

    Smart

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous09:04

    How long do the flights to Brussels and Amsterdam take on the Q400?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:06

      Close to three hours.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:26

      Around 2 hours

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:55

      2,30-2,40 hours

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:20

      Ouch. Very long on that plane

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:27

      Plus the noise and the bad seat pitch.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous13:30

      Aircraft is called Q400 for a reason. Q is for quiet, because it has active noise canceling.

      Besides, everyone can pop those cheap ear plugs for a trip or have headsets for music:)

      Delete
    7. Anonymous14:31

      What a joke!!!

      Bombardier Q400 continues to risk human lives

      https://www.aerotime.aero/20720-opinion-bombardier-q400-continues-to-risk-human-lives

      Delete
    8. Can you just answer me how many human lives were lost during the last few years by Bombardier, and how many by, for example, Boeing, and then I will tell you is it really a joke or not

      Delete
    9. Anonymous15:41

      You are quoting a 2 year old article. You're a joke my friend:)

      Delete
    10. Anonymous15:42

      Or you have shares in ATR stocks lol

      Delete
    11. Anonymous20:48

      Or you don't want to see the truth about Q400 my friend :-)

      It was nothing but pure lack that nobody got hurt. Try to read once again the article (where OU indcident in ZRH was not even mentioned) and than conclude what a "big pleasure" is to fly with that plane.

      Delete
    12. Anonymous10:44

      My friend. I am not just an aviation enthusiast. I flew the Q400... Not in the back seat but up front:) I have over 3000hrs on it...never a major incident other then occasional mechanical or software issue that are common with all aircraft. All I can say it is a pleasure to fly it and you do feel very safe operating it. No icing issues, performance issue during take off or climb up to FL250 365 days a year... APU to keep crew and passengers warm or cool when ever you desire. Relatively quiet cabin in terms of a turboprop perspective (I sat in the back many times).

      Not going to get into OU incident but it you want detailed report please read this link

      http://avherald.com/h?article=46918e03&opt=0

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:05

    this is depressing

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous09:05

    It was announced that Bombardier would be stopping its production once the remaining Q400s are delivered (I think around 20). They also said that their future remains uncertain. This is very bad news for OU since the Q400 is the backbone of their operations.

    Shame that they are broke otherwise they should start thinking about switching to E-jets. ATR has killed the Q400 program.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:30

      SMFH
      When did OU expressed interst in buying brand new Q400s from Bombardier?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:10

      Honey Bombardier said that they might have an issue with spare parts.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:17

      Sugar they did not! They said that they will continue to fully support the global Q400 fleet for decades to come.
      Sorry if that upsets you! ;)

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:21

      Straight from their mouth:
      "Longview says De Havilland and Viking will continue to fully support customers and provide technical service for in-service De Havilland and Viking Aircraft"

      Source:
      https://www.flightglobal.com/air-transport/longview-halts-production-of-q400s-and-twin-otters/137449.article

      Delete
    5. Anonymous08:12

      ATR is not to blame for that. Bombardier is just liquidating its entire aircraft industry which they have also publicly announced. They sold CS to Airbus, they stopped the production of CRJ's and LJ's and this time they are stopping the Dash-8. They will focus on their other divisions.

      Delete
  5. Anonymous09:08

    It makes sense. Fewer seats, fewer costs.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:17

      Smart move in my opinion.

      Delete
  6. Anonymous09:17

    perfect turboprop

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:23

      Very far from being perfect

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:30

      Exactly, huge problems with landing gear. That's why SK replaced them with CRJ. MA, OS, OU...all had incidents with the plane. Remember the OU crash landing in ZRH?

      Delete
    3. @An.10.30
      I 'm far away from being OU fan boy, quite opposite. But if you comment on the aviation portal, you should be at least aware of degree of dangerous situations in aviation, so we have incident, accident, emergency landing and crash landing. OU situation in ZRH was an accident. Using crash landing term for incident or accident just show you have no clue what you are talking about or doing it deliberately

      Delete
    4. Anonymous12:40

      Landing without gear on the runway is much more than an incident. They crashed on the runway without the front nose gear. saying it was an accident is ridiculous beyond any words.

      Delete
    5. Instead of arguing with you, I will just recommend you to read the following :

      "Swiss Confederation
      Swiss Transportation Safety Investigation Board STSB

      Final Report Number 2245

      Concerning the ACCIDENT involving the Bombardier DHC-8-402 aircraft, registration 9A-CQC, operated by Croatia Airlines under flight plan call sign CTN 464, on 27 September 2013... "

      But always good to know you know better than Swiss Aviation Authorities

      Delete
    6. And page 24/57 of the STSB report 2245 says :"There was no immediate danger to either crew or the passengers because the airframe remained intact, no fire broke out, the aircraft did not leave the runway and a rescue team was ready". But important is I am ridiculous beyond any words...

      Delete
    7. Anonymous17:34

      Well, if Swiss Aviation Authorities knew better then they wouldn't have allowed that unfortunate MD-11 to fly with faulty wires.

      Delete
    8. Typical example of person who thinks knows everything the best, despite lacking basic knowledge, and uses all kinds of manipulation just to prove right. If you knew the first thing about civil aviation, you wouldn't write what you wrote, because every national aviation authority, not only Swiss, had at least one accident or crash, some of them multiple. So no matter how hard you try nothing can change the fact that OU Q400 case in ZRH was accident, not crash, which you claimed

      Delete
  7. Anonymous09:18

    Airlines are looking at all way to cut costs. Unfortunately, the decline in demand justifies them operating Q400s on most international flights.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous09:18

    100 seater jets that they have been talking about acquiring for 10 years now would have come in handy in this situation.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous09:27

    They should have gone ahead with the lease of the Austrian Q400s as they planned for this summer. Much more valuable than the A319 they leased.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:55

      They only got the A319 because they could not terminate the lease. It was too late.

      Delete
  10. Anonymous09:29

    Smart decision.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous09:55

    Good ol' turboprops.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:02

      They are younger than the entire Airbus fleet ;)

      Delete
  12. Anonymous10:04

    It is good that they will have the freedom to switch around planes based on demand.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous10:11

    Remember that most of OU's Airbuses are contracted on power by the hour agreements, meaning the lease is not paid if they are on the ground.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous10:13

    Shane they don't fly to places like TIA or PRN to get some transfers.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous10:43

    They shoud lease Dash 8 - 100 on decreasing demand.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Anonymous11:12

    It will be a harsh winter and a hard one for aviation...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:43

      The winter will probably be mild.

      Delete
  17. Anonymous11:17

    I think they will need a lot more money this year as demand won't recover in spring.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Anonymous11:18

    We need Wizz in ZAG!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:22

      +1000
      Bravo!

      Delete
    2. Why for God's sake Wizz, the worst of all LCC's? I fully agree LCC's are needed in ZAG, but Easyjet, Transavia, Ryanair, Pegasus, Volotea, they are all much better companies than Wizz, and talking the base, I think Ryanair would be the best one. But unfortunately I don't see it happening

      Delete
    3. Anonymous12:41

      Continental Croatia is not rich and the diaspora is price sensitive. Wizz has lower costs than all those so yes, we do need them.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous13:06

      Shame they failed in OSI but I guess BEG, TZL and BNX can cover that region.

      Delete
    5. @An.12.41
      Not true Wizz has the lowest prices. Ryanair is absolute champion in low prices. Of course if one knows how to travel and sticks to the rules. And yes, continental Croatia Slavonija, Lika, are poor and relatively small and undeveloped markets but ZAG, and here we were talking ZAG, is the richest part of Croatia. And if Sofia can have Ryanair, and Wizz, and much others I don't see why ZAG couldn't, of course once corona sh.t is over and if protectionist policy comes to an end

      Delete
    6. Anonymous17:36

      Because Sofia handles 7 million people, Zagreb handles 3.2 million. Market is obviously not as big in Zagreb.

      As for costs, from a few years ago Wizz Air has the lowest costs in aviation.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous20:50

      And Ryanair service is the worst of all!

      Delete
    8. @An.17.36
      ZAG does not handle less passengers than SOF because lack of demand, but because of lack of offer, because of protectionist policy. If LCC were not literally chased away from ZAG, it would have had much more passengers. And "Wizzair has the lowest costs in aviation", frankly speaking I don't understand what you meant, I just know I travelled a lot on both, and Ryanair was always cheaper

      @An.20.50
      I agree absolutely, based on all facts you provided to back up your claim, LOL

      Delete
  19. Anonymous13:10

    Rational

    ReplyDelete
  20. Anonymous13:10

    It's unfortunate to see that some key routes are operated by turboprops :(

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous13:11

      It may be unfortunate but it's better than flying empty planes.

      Delete
  21. Anonymous14:00

    Just flown with it to FRA, earplugs in and no noise at all.. haha

    The only downside is they only served a small bottle of water on 1h45m flight.. shame and the ticket was actually expensive..

    ReplyDelete
  22. Anonymous17:54

    Crotia keeps on winning

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous23:39

      'Crotia' sure does.

      Delete

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