Croatia Airlines confident in post-Covid strategy success


Croatia Airlines will soon mark a year since adopting a post-Covid strategy, drafted jointly with the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), and is confident the measures, which are to be implemented for a further two years, will improve the company’s finances and make it more competitive. The strategy was developed during the first half of 2021 and adopted by the airline’s Supervisory Board on August 31 of last year. “The strategy opens up the path for further discussions with Croatia Airlines’ owner, the Republic of Croatia, and other stakeholders to ensure the long-term success of the Croatian national carrier and Star Alliance member”, the company said. It added, “The implementation of the defined strategic initiative will enable sustainable operations and a future. It also represents a new development cycle for Croatia Airlines. In addition to increasing efficiency and competitiveness, the company faces key operational and structural challenges that include fleet renewal and the optimisation of the year-round flight network”.

Although the airline is yet to make a crucial decision on the renewal of its fleet, it has implemented a number of changes over the past year to improve the business. The carrier has launched several new routes from the Croatian coast during the peak summer months and has implemented new Customer Relationship Management (CRM) technology to manage and analyse customer interactions and data. Furthermore, it is currently testing SAP Cloud for Customer solution to help manage day-to-day sales and service interactions, both with general and corporate clients. “The implementation of this system will enable a more efficient use of human resources, but also ensure the mobility of sales representatives who will be able to respond to the needs of clients in real-time since the system’s functionalities will be available through a mobile application”, Croatia Airlines said.

Croatia Airlines has also launched a new-look website with a number of new features aimed at driving up sales and ancillary services. It is currently in the third and final phase of developing new applications for its web pages. “The company is rigorously working on implementing new services. We have already made possible seat selection for a fee. We are working on a ‘Time to Think’ option, which will enable customers purchasing their tickets online to save their reservation for a limited time for an additional fee so they can think through whether to go ahead and make the booking”.

Despite a number of new initiatives, the airline still registered a notable loss of over 21 million euros during the first half of the year. “The implementation of the post-Covid strategy and the continuation of the privatisation process, once conditions are met, will reduce the risks related to the company’s ability to continue operations in the future. However, it should be noted that given the unpredictability of the pandemic, its scale and duration, as well as the impact virus-related restrictions have had on business operations, we do not rule out the possibility for the need of additional financial support from the owner”, Croatia Airlines concluded.



Comments

  1. Anonymous09:04

    The last sentence is key

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:10

      Haha so true

      Delete
    2. Anonymous14:05

      +1

      Delete
    3. Anonymous14:21

      + 1

      Delete
    4. Or shortly : New strategy is to continue to receive state aid collected by tax payers, in order to survive by feeding Lufthansa. Brilliant!

      Delete
    5. Anonymous19:39

      Dosadan si.

      Delete
    6. Ma naravno, vazno da Bravo Hrvatska nije dosadan. I jos jednom, tikaj onog s kim si cuvao ovce a ubuduce cu i ja tebe, i bit cu ovdje jos vise, i jos naporniji, i jos dosadniji, dok god Uhljeb Airlines ne postane prava Croatia Airlines, ona kakvu smo zamisljali 1991. A nicija nije gorjela do zore pa nece ni vasa.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous22:12

      @ pozdrav

      Certain people, unfortunately, do not realise that you comment the way you do because you care. And that’s true patriotism.

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:07

    It's good that they have made some technological improvements and joined the 21st century (seat selection for a fee has been around for years at most airlines). But this seems to have very little positive impact on their bottom line.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous19:41

      They have statted to use a techological breaktrough... Corporate BS generator... Great tool.

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:07

    Too little too late

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous09:11

    Bravo Hrvatska!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous09:12

    Was this worth the price they paid to BCG?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. BCG wasn't there for any strategy but to split money with Mafia, like many times before and highly likely many more times in the future

      Delete
    2. Anonymous19:39

      Dosadan si.

      Delete
    3. Ima samo jedan dosadniji od mene, onaj opsjednut bolnom istinom o Croatia Airlines koja je jad, bijeda, tuga i hrvatska sramota, i koji to pokusava skriti pljujuci po meni koji o tome govorim

      Delete
    4. Anonymous22:51

      Nedaj se Riki!

      Delete
  6. Anonymous09:12

    Would be nice to have some responsibility for managing company and generating so big losses. Also, this is taxpayer money, so why make referendum about "financial" support. Almost every single company is having positive result this year, but Croatia needs more financial support.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:16

      In fact the opposite happened. Guy that has been acting CEO for years and who hasn't had a profitable year under his leadership had been promoted by the government for a full CEO position recently.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:37

      My advice to them would first be to replace the management and those that make the decisions behind the scenes. A lot of issues would be resolved that way.

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    3. That's exactly what they don't want to do because they are stealing together. It's the answer to the question why nothing is changing in over two decades

      Delete
  7. Anonymous09:12

    Difficult road ahead.

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  8. Anonymous09:17

    Let's see how things turn out. I wish them good luck

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous09:20

    SAP is very expensive

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous09:29

    Sounds quite ridiculous.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:39

      Why? Sounds fine. Problem is that it should have been done years ago. Pre-covid.

      Delete
  11. Anonymous09:30

    They should explore new market opportunities i.e new routes.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. New routes? And stop feeding LH in MUC and FRA? No, no, no, no, it's 18 bad boy 😃

      Delete
  12. Anonymous09:35

    And they needed BCG to tell them this?

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:38

      Again, they hired some external advisors to give them millions for an outcome that most likely won't be worth it.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:40

      Consultancy rip off.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:42

      Well at least it seems BCG didn't conclude that feeding LH hubs is the best way forward and the only way to make money.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:43

      BCG is a big and successful company and they have advised many large airlines.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous22:17

      Airlines should have CEOs who know the business inside and out and not external consultancy firms.

      Delete
    6. Vlad22:45

      Consultancies are rarely hired because there's insufficient internal knowledge in a company, that's a fairytale for business students. The two leading reasons you hire big external consultants are:

      1) You want to know what your competitors are doing, and/or
      2) You want to outsource political responsibility for your actions

      Of course, when state-owned companies are involved, it's also an opportunity for firm partners and the executive board to line their pockets a little.

      Delete
  13. Anonymous09:37

    This process is moving so slowly. Meanwhile Ryanair keeps growing from Zagreb.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:39

      Their clock is ticking

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:44

      I'm not sure OU has the strength to compete against Ryanair in any way. Some very challenging times coming.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous11:10

      Ryanair hasn’t grown their number of routes from Zagreb since last year so…

      Delete
    4. Anonymous11:32

      They have. They launched two new routes this summer season.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous12:45

      They launched Brindisi, Bratislava and Corfu.

      Delete
  14. Anonymous09:40

    I hope things improve financially.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous09:42

    I think this is a positive step. Let's hope for a good outcome.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:43

      Hopefully OU can turn things around.

      Delete
  16. Anonymous09:57

    At least OU is not receiving so many government sweet and cheap help compared to other ex-Yu carriers.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:58

      Hahahahaha

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:48

      that means everything is fine, there is someone who is even worse?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:53

      Bravo Hrvatska!

      Delete
  17. Anonymous10:54

    Their post Covid strategy seems to be making loss and requiring more help from Croatian taxpayers.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Anonymous11:21

    Damn, so they didn't advise to launch Havana?!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:31

      No, they advised them to make 21 million loss with 5 daily Frankfurt flights.

      Delete
  19. Anonymous14:02

    I only wish they found an external consultant to advise them years ago. It might be late now

    ReplyDelete
  20. Anonymous14:17

    Wait, so they have a strategy?

    ReplyDelete
  21. Anonymous16:24

    Croatia Airlines slogan should be, corruption, nepotism, and ineptitude, welcome aboard.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous16:48

      OU already has a well established company slogan that is " Dont Rush Things " -
      better known here at the blog as " Its Too Early " ....

      Delete
    2. Anonymous18:49

      how 'bout, best feeder airline in the region.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous22:47

      The consultant's airline. We do what others say we should do because we have no idea about the airline business.

      Delete
  22. Anonymous18:03

    It's matter of time when Croatia Airlines will end up like Adria Airways.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous19:41

      It's matter of time... LMAO!

      Delete
    2. Anonymous22:20

      I think it’s already there. Only, the hard-working Croatian tax-payer is still willing to keep it afloat apparently, while the Slovenian one wasn’t willing to do so at this point any longer.

      Delete
  23. Anonymous22:55

    OU is the regional leader and will be around for a very long time to come with the help of government support and EU funds!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous23:03

      Regional leader in what? It flies to 13 international destination from its hub at the height of summer.

      Delete
    2. And it has 6 small planes and 6 turboprops. Moldova and Albania are better. But I do agree they are regional leader in theft, crime, corruption, nepotism, inertness and incompetence

      Delete
  24. Anonymous09:08

    Anything named "Croatian" can't be allowed to fail. simple as that!

    ReplyDelete

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