Croatia Airlines has said it has made no final decision on the future make-up of its fleet, over half a year after contact was made with global aircraft manufacturers such as Airbus, Boeing and Embraer over a potential order. In a statement to EX-YU Aviation News, the Croatian carrier noted, “Renewing Croatia Airlines’ fleet is of strategic importance for the company, although no final decision about the matter has been made yet. The lease of an additional aircraft is, at present, under negotiation”. The airline is believed to be considering a long-term lease of an Airbus A320-family jet.
Croatia Airlines’ twelve-member fleet currently averages 16.7 years with both the A319s and the A320 being on average over twenty years old, while the Dash 8 turboprops are close to thirteen years old. The addition of newer generation aircraft is envisaged in the company’s post-Covid strategy, which must be approved by its main shareholder – the Croatian government. A final decision is expected to take place this year. Croatia Airlines has conducted aircraft market research. Potential options with multiple aircraft manufacturers have been considered and possible fleet renewal scenarios developed. It previously said certain market conditions must be met for the fleet renewal to commence, without specifying details.
The airline had previously said the A220 would be a “perfect fit” for its future fleet, while Embraer noted, “The E2 family is comprised of three family members, from ninety to 146 seats, which will offer Croatia Airlines great flexibility to operate the ideal capacity on their future network”. Most recently, Boeing floated the idea of providing its MAX jets to the Croatian carrier saying, “We strongly believe that the 737 MAX family is the perfect choice for Croatia Airlines’ short and medium haul network. The 737 MAX offers unmatched performance for smaller markets with the possibility of increasing aircraft capacity within the same family of aircraft in order to meet increased demand, which we expect to occur on the Croatian market in the coming years”.
The leased A320 is arriving this month!
ReplyDeleteWhich airline?
DeleteI mean which airline will they lease it from? Or is it from a leasing company?
DeleteAlmost a year since they started looking for new planes and still nothing.
ReplyDeleteActually if they are making such a big decision that will affect the company's entire future by replacing the entire fleet, a decision shouldn't be made hastily and should take a year or even more to finalize.
DeleteWhat fleet renewal? They are barely surviving.
DeleteYeah, Plenkovic is busy these days
ReplyDeleteWhat do you mean?
DeleteAaaaa there you are, phh I was really worried about you. How's the weather in Rijeka?
DeleteI’d much rather read Pozdrav’s comments than the Bravo Hrvatska guy. Blindly following our politicians and fooling ourselves that we’re “the best” is what is keeping the Balkans so underdeveloped.
DeleteI'd much rather read neither of them
DeleteBasically this ain't happening.
ReplyDeleteAs expected, nothing will come of this.
DeleteJust wait a bit more
DeleteLike with the numerous privatization advisors which have been paid over the last 5 years, it seems that BCG advisor was just another one of those where Croatia Airlines or the Croatian government gives numerous amounts of money for absolutely nothing. It would have been better spent on improving the network.
ReplyDeleteThe BCG job really seems like a wasted investment.
DeleteStill waiting for that post-covid strategy to kick in like new routes, aircraft order... so far I have seen nothing but talk.
DeleteThe longer we wait the less hope I have in any meaningful change.
DeleteThe only reason why BCG was there is to split money between them and selected members of the fully convicted criminal organization, as was the case with many other former "consultants" and former fraudulant contracts and corruptive acts
DeleteI have lost all hope
ReplyDeleteI was holding out for some surprise, that OU will give us new routes and planes this summer but these latest quotes from the airline are really discouraging.
DeleteA year after FR entered Zagreb, no response from Croatia Airlines whatsoever. As if nothing is happening.
ReplyDeleteWell they did move some routes to Split.
DeleteThat is just reshuffling.
DeleteJust another year of doing nothing.
DeleteI think they have actually done a bit in the past year. Maybe it's not as visible but they have become much more proactive in marketing, made quite a few deals with airport, tourist boards in Croatia, they reorganized their fare structure, they introduced a more user friendly website... So it's not as if they have been doing nothing. I think more changes are ahead.
DeleteThey are in the business of flying not website making so OU should be judged by how well they do the core business. The market share is giving you the answer on that question and it's bad.
DeleteYou are wrong. They are not in business of flying. They are in business of filling pockets of the few selected individuals, and nesting "deserved" Party members
DeleteStop talking nonsense. You're the only fraudster in Croatia?
DeleteKako se odmah prepoznaju Uhljebi i aparatcici, pa se krenu dizat na zadnje noge
DeleteThe A220 is a fantastic plane. Hope they go for it.
ReplyDeleteVery expensive too.
DeleteThe A220 would be a good move by CTN. They actually need a plane between the Dash and A320.
DeleteIt's not about the aircraft type. It's about missed opportunity to do what LOT, Air Baltic, Aegean or Air Serbia are doing. Feeding LH and remain small proved to be very unsuccessful. Continuing doing it with the most expensive aircraft currently at the market, and not growing, will result in more and more losses. It's time for new strategy and drastic change which will not happen until convicted criminal organization is making decisions in Croatia because their only strategy is taking care of themselves and their own pockets, not public ijterest
DeleteIt is a piece of garbage.
DeleteThe original list price was 90 mio$, they took their pants down immediately for Delta that payed 19 mio$ a piece (of garbage).
The company Bomaedier went to sh*it over this project. It is a total failure. Airbus had other reasons for buying them...
I still don't understand from what money are they supposed to get new planes from? The aid they are just about to receive from the government?
ReplyDeleteThe tax payer will cover everything. So 99% will pay so that 1% can fly arround. To the backstage operation (Pozdrav iz Rijeke describes that in detail) has to roll unhindered while the pantomime of flying will continue on the main stage.
DeleteThis fleet renewal has become a new saga.
ReplyDeleteSequel to the A320 order, which turned into an A320neo order, which has no turned into this.
DeleteThe saga with the Airbus order should really come to and end. Its been going on for 14 years.
DeleteHope something will happen
ReplyDeleteThey have made so many statements about fleet expansion that their fleet should have been double the size it is now.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunate. So much potential, so little has been done.
ReplyDeleteThose Airbus planes are getting rather old.
ReplyDeleteI hope they hurry up and finally start replacing them.
DeleteYes, all except 1 A319 are over 20 years old.
DeleteThat one is 9 yrs old, that arrived at OU during Covid.
DeleteHow many planes does Croatia Airlines own?
ReplyDelete5 airbuses. 4 A319s and 1 A320.
DeleteAlso I think the Q400s are on financial lease. So when they pay it off they should become OU property.
DeleteBoth anon 09:41 and 09:49 are wrong. CTN has 6 Airbuses, one A320 and 5 A319. Also, Croatia has 6 Q400s, and all of them are on operational leasing agreement, so they won't become CTN's property.
Delete^^ I noticed you asked how much aircraft they OWN. Sorry, my bad. But still, even some of the aircraft in original fleet are sold and leased back, so that info is also partially correct.
DeleteI think they need to invest in more Q400s.
ReplyDeleteQ400s saved them during Covid. The plane can easily turn a profit on thin routes. And let's be honest, the majority of their routes are thin. Especially in winter.
DeleteThey are actually looking at potentially operating a single type fleet in the next 5 years. Meaning Q400s will likely go.
DeleteAt Anon09:49... You do NOT HAVE A CLUE what you are talking about. Not a clue. The Q crap spends more fuel per passenger seat than Airbus, the handling is somewhat cheaper but overall cost is not that much different.
DeleteBest choice at this point for CTN would be partial "renewal" with used A319/320 jets. Company is in no position for type change, not at this point.
ReplyDeleteAlthough best option regarding new planes would be Embraer in my opinion, that idea is very unlikely because Croatia has no political interest for Brazilian planes. On the other hand, Boeing has probably offered most favorable sale conditions, but again, Croatia needs political points for Schengen and other EU topics so yeahh, if they are going with new planes, A220 is the choice.
Fully agree. Just think "other EU topics" should be clearly identified as buying Plenkovic an armchair in Brussels
DeleteBest of luck to OU
ReplyDeleteIdeal fleet IMO: 10 Q400, 6 A220-100 and 2 A220-300.
ReplyDeleteI think they still need some bigger capacity planes, even if they choose A220 for fleet renewal. Maybe 5 A220s and 2 A320neos would be best. Plus the 6 Q400s.
DeleteInstead of the A320neo, a much better solution would be the A320XLR which could reach Boston, NYC and Montreal. At least 4 of those would be needed to maintain these 3 routes. For the feeder routes such as Frankfurt, Munich, Amsterdam, London and Vienna, keep the current A319s and A320 for another 5 years (It would also be great if Istanbul could be added as one of the feeder routes). And then to end it all for the more "random" routes such as Barcelona, Rome, Stockholm, Copenhagen ect. use a variety of Embraers. Its important that OU starts opening these "random" routes to expand their network. New ones could include Berlin, Prague, Bucharest, Madrid, Oslo, Tel Aviv, Ankara, Riga, Tirana and Belgrade. All these planes could add up to a solid fleet of 20 which could well be profitable and respectable.
DeleteYou meant A321XLR I suppose. And generally, I think that's exactly what should be done, of course just as one small part of the total change. And also, A321XLR range reaches more distant destinations than those 3 you mentioned. But the chances for something like that to happen are next to zero, and they will continue with their pathetic and loss making LH feeder role
DeleteOU changes its strategy every few months because they themselves don't know what kind of business they want to be.
ReplyDeleteLots of talks and no action.
DeleteOh YES they do, yes they do... It is theft.
DeleteYou have to be crazy to buy new aircraft knowing the financial status of the company. Better to lease out older planes.
ReplyDeleteThere are many ways they can finance acquisition of newer planes. Loan guarantees by government, sale and lease back arrangements, sale of existing owned fleet....
DeleteThey have been an Airbus customer for decades and bought planes directly from them so I'm sure they will manage to sort things out.
Delete^^^ Tell that to Qatar Airways :D
DeleteThey have an 8 million deposit with Airbus that will be used towards a new aircraft order
DeleteThey will sell existing planes
They will get state backed loans
That's how they will finance additional planes.
The 8 million deposit and existing planes are neligible. The only thing that will be able to get them the new planes are loans and maybe a strategic partner and a new owner.
DeleteInstead of being Air Baltic of balkans they are another Adria Airways
ReplyDelete+1000
DeleteAny wide bodies planned?
ReplyDeleteYes that's really what they need right now...
DeleteWhy not? They could fly to markets which are biggest source of tourism in HR and feed short haul network.
DeleteWhich short haul network?
DeleteShort haul network to be created. You can't expect them to have that widespread network, they are new, they just started. 30 years only 😃
DeleteThey're never gonna decide ... Sad Aegean is not interest anymore for OU they could rebuild OU and make it a strong airline as they really know what summer tourism means.
ReplyDeleteOU may have the chances of becoming the second all A220 operator in the world after Air Baltic. This is the perfect addition and will look quite prestigious with the Star Alliance logo...
ReplyDeleteCut the BS please
DeleteWhy? Anything wrong?
DeleteNothing. PiR is just rude
DeleteOur reality in Croatia as a country, and in OU, both destroyed by Adeze, is far far far away from "second in the World" or "prestigious". I am just calling Adeze bots propaganda by its real name - BS. Nothing rude in it.
DeleteBtw there should be another special logo created for Star Alliance corrupted insignificant pathetic feeders and servants only
DeleteI haven't seen any positive development at OU for the last 3 years.
ReplyDeleteThe A220 is the best jet replacement on the market for the A320s.
ReplyDeleteIsn't it smaller than the A320?
DeleteA220-300 is comparable with A320, it goes up to 160pax. While A220-100 is smaller
DeleteWould be cool if they could work out a deal with Airbus and start replacing existing fleet.
ReplyDeleteCan somebody please explain to me what is happening here. One minute I am reading that OU is loosing money and is getting aid to inject cash flow the next minute I am reading that they are considering renewing their fleet.
ReplyDeleteThere are various ways you can finance fleet expansion. But they announced they would expand their fleet back in September and we it is now June 2022 and nothing has happened. I am starting to think more and more that this will end up like their announcement to open bases across the Balkans which never happened either.
DeleteI would love to see Boeing make a comeback to OU fleet. With MAX jets no less :D
ReplyDeleteThe 737 might be too big for the airline
DeleteWhat I dont understand is why wont the government invest in Croatia Airlines or at least sell it for 1 euro to a foreign airline. Wasnt Aegean interested in buying OU. They both operate in the same circumstances and dont affect each others markets (theyre far away from each other). This endless money aiding isnt going to help in any way. Its just going to prolongue the inevitable which is the downfall of OU if no big investments occur. Its either go big or go home
ReplyDeleteWhy would anyone buy a grossly mismanaged airline with a mountain of debt, a bloated workforce, and no network or assets to speak of? It's a terrible investment even for 1€.
DeleteThere is value to it. The buyer of OU will get access to the Croatian market which is well on the rise. It gets a hub in the capital city of an EU member state and 5 coastal cities as its fucus cities. If OU falls in the right hands it could easily grow and profit from Croatia's booming tourism.
DeleteAnon@16.48 - on paper, your logic is correct. In reality, why would anyone invest in such a basketcase of an airline that comes with so much baggage - unions, bloated workforce, govt appointee's/intervention, old equipment etc etc etc ? It would be easier/cheaper to start a new airline from the ground up or better yet, see an EU carrier start a base in Croatia and do without all of the headaches for a fraction of the cost
DeleteYou're probably right. Thats why I hope that TradeAir or ETF will start with regular services once both carriers reach a certain amount of planes.
DeleteNever gonna happen as long as Adeze rules and as long as Croatia is banana republic. The latest one month after starting regular services they are losing their AOC. Seen already, look under : Air Adriatic and Dubrovnik Airline. Or are their CEO'S threatened death, look under : Dalmatian.hr
DeleteIs the Croatian government gonna be able to help them finance the new equipment or is OU gonna start a GoFundMe?
ReplyDeleteAll jokes aside they should try to break even first then get new planes.
Until they take the final decision, what is the ratio of the employee numbers vs fleet? I think OU here is leading the charts compared to JU. I am not talking about the pilots for the time being.
ReplyDeleteWho’s also here just to read pozdrav iz rijeka’s furious comments?! 😅
ReplyDeleteNe mogu vjerovati pod kakvim debilizmom se ova institucija vodi. Kakav Boeing, kakav Embrear? Po kojoj logici bi A320 služio OU? Oke, nikakav problem u reorganizaciji, ali ljudi budite ekonomisti, učite od drugih poput Air Srbije ... Stvorite si network onakav kakav Hrvatskoj paše te da zadovolji internacionalne interese avio svijeta ... Onda gledajte avione s većim sadržajima. A220 ili nista drugo. Ne možete miješati jabuke i kruške, tko uzimlja u obzir da se piloti trebaju doškolovati za Boeing? Nitko.
ReplyDelete