NEWS FLASH
Croatia Airlines has begun preparations for the delivery of its first Airbus A220 aircraft early next year. The carrier will be participating in an upcoming Airbus Training Conference, which will be held in Zagreb from May 17 to 19, followed by the Airbus Maintenance Conference, where the company will devise plans for its A220 “entry into service program”. Late last year, the Croatian carrier concluded a lease agreement for four 149-seat A220-300s and two 127-seat A220-100s with the Air Lease Corporation and paid a deposit for the jets. The carrier plans to eventually replace its entire fleet with the A220s, with the lease of a further six jets of the same type earmarked for 2025 and 2026. The carrier also has the option of adding a further three units in 2027.
When's the arrival of the 1st one planned? Q1 2024?
ReplyDeleteWe shall see...
ReplyDeleteThere will be no social peace as it is colloquially called in Croatia... Perhaps the company won't exist till then... Maybe better so.
What engine was ordered?
ReplyDeleteI think A220s are exclusively PW powered. Lets hope they get brand new, factory fresh engines, since these are aparently fixed now
DeleteI am glad that company is not applying its famous "too early" approach and has started preparing for the new airplanes. I hope this includes preparations for routes and their optimisation. Either way, I wish Croatia all the best with the new airplanes and may they serve them well and reliably. Unfortunately, I still think this was a bad move and hope they will reconsider keeping some other types in the fleet.
ReplyDeleteA220-300 is a great plane. With 149 seats it should be competitive on typical routes against competitors flying A321NEO with 239 seats.
ReplyDeleteFor Croatian market 149 seats is more than edequate, Croatian Airlines will retain A320/A319 for summer season but eventually they'll be replaced by A220s as well.
DeleteSounds good. Someone needs to tell Wizz and Ryan A321NEO and 737-10 they ordered are less than adequate for Croatian coastal summer market
DeleteIt is at the same time too small and to large. To small to compete with airlines utilizing larger airplanes and to large for their zone and type of operation. Also the overall costs will be significantly higher as they will pay the highest possible price.
Delete@ Anon. 18:52Exactly, you name it “ adequate for Croatian coastal summer market”
DeleteUnlike for Wizz and Ryan the market for them is not a summer market but their home market with a long winter. So 150 seats is more than adequate.
No. More than adequate would be A320/A330 fleet which could be flown by same crews with CCQ, which would reduce seasonality by opening new more distant markets and partly ACMI leased out during NHWS. In addition to that, second more adequate would be Embraer older generation fleet for comprehensive regional feed, where you could get 3 units instead 1 of A220. But that would be against Kradeze's policy of destroying and emptying the country in favour of their own private and foreign corporate interests plus it's something sandwich eating trolls and bots are not able to understand
DeleteBelonging to a prestigious airline alliance requires a prestigious aircraft type. OU took the right and correct decision with the A220 and will have the newest and most modern fleet in the region. As ZAG is expected to reach the 4 million mark and the coastal airports booming especially SPU and ZAD, it will further be beneficial. Bravo Hrvatska!!
ReplyDeleteHaving the newest and most modern fleet is all you need to have the best airline.
Delete^ yeah right
DeleteVery prestigious indeed for Lufthansa's Dalmatian regional operator!
DeleteZero logic in this comment. Just a bunch of political and marketing slogans that don't mean anything. Let's try and scrutinise this:
Delete- Prestigious alliance - Star Alliance is prestigious? Based on what? On how it treats Croatia? Or even Austrian?
- Prestigious alliance require prestigious airplanes - is that so? I don't see that their members' fleets are all MAX, neo's and A220...
- How exactly will ZAG, SPU and ZAD benefit from this airplane? Specifically? Will they also benefit from Croatia removing Dash and A319/320 from service?
- Bravo? A loss making company buying expensive airplanes that currently have maintenance issue with their engines and that it cannot afford and planning on unifying the fleet around it without any obvious reason to do so (except to focus on feeding FRA and MUC), while never even thinking about addressing more important issues such are non-existing logic in their schedule, absolute lethargy as a business model, huge number of incompetent and unnecessary staff, and so on? Bravo indeed!
And as I said before, I have no vested interest in Croatia, never used their service and not likely that I will anytime soon, but how they operate is just such a waste! And I wish them all the best - primarily to change their leadership and wake up!
@Anonymous14:11
DeleteWas this a sarcastic comment ??? Also, I don't think Zagreb is expected to hit 4.0 million this year, projections are for 3.75 million.
@14:33 Good points you highlighted here but....
Delete1. Star Alliance has leading airlines such as Singapore Airlines, Turkish Airlines, Thai, Air New Zealand, Aegean (one of the best regional European airlines), Swiss and Ethiopian which is basically the number 1 airline of Africa.
2. ZAD and SPU may be connected to destinations with a longer range such as DXB, FNC, TFS/LPA, etc. opening new markets for Croatia. Same applies to ZAG, it can be used to operate winter exotic destinations in Africa and Middle East.
3. There are currently many airlines worldwide that are not making money and those making few money are heavily backed by their governments. Even Air France is not in its best shape for instance. Same goes to Air Moldova and the recent bankruptcy of the Indian Go First airlines and more are expected in the LATAM region.
OU feeding MUC and FRA is not necessarily a bad thing. Those are one of the largest airports in Europe. Many other airlines have spa agreements via LHR, AMS, CDG, etc, etc. Obviously, this is bringing money to OU.
4. It would be first great to use the airline various times, make a deep analysis and you are welcome to highlight all the negative points without pointing not even 1 sole positive one.
5. OU may not be in the best shape at the moment, but so is Europe because of the war and high prices. Aviation is not yet fully recovered in many countries with some exceptions of course. There is a general pilot and staff shortage. Ryanair team had to fly all the way to Latin America in search of pilots that will be needed for their massive 300 Max orders.
Once OU gets the A220, their operating costs will immediately drop as they will be, similar to Air Baltic, use 1 fleet type and much newer and cheaper to operate aircraft.
6. An airline should start from somewhere to start its reform and this is what OU is likely going to do. Regarding leadership, we saw many failed leaders in the last years that have led airlines towards doom. Especially the ones related to the Etihad Group or the smaller airlines of Europe.
Just suggesting to try using different glasses for a while and try and see things from another angle and perspective.
@16:12
Delete1. Star Alliance does have some of the biggest airlines, but it also has some that are complete mess. There is nothing prestigious about Star Alliance, or any other alliance and pointing this out as an argument is just empty.
2. This argument is not valid - A220 doesn't have a greater range than A319/320, so there is no route that they can operate with A220 that they weren't able with the existing fleet.
3. I do agree that some airlines need and should be subsidised. However, that does not justify incompetence and doing your job poorly. I don't agree that Croatia exclusively feeding LH is not a bad thing. Not only that it is not obvious that this brings money to OU, it is almost certain that OU is losing money on this deal - LH is profitable and OU is not, LH is selling tickets on OU flights cheaper than OU itself. So, no, this is not valid either.
4. Not sure I understand what you are saying here.
5. This is also a false argument. OU doesn't exist in a parallel universe - same conditions affect other companies, yet they are not in such mess. There are some that are, but they will be closing down soon - I don't wish that for OU.
"Once OU gets the A220, their operating costs will immediately drop" - is this a joke? Replacing airplanes that you own for the most expensive airplanes on the market for which you need to pay leasing costs and you expect that operational savings will cover that? Not to mention expenses related to training of the crews and support for the new aircraft.
6. I absolutely agree. An airline needs to make the first step. But, that should be a reorganisation, getting professional management, reorganising schedule and fleet utilisation, making plans for expansion and following through, not buying the new airplane. New airplane will not fix the aforementioned problems and you will have the same situation, just with a more expensive (and comfortable) airplane. Let me explain this - OU had €18 million loss in 2022 and then makes almost no changes in their operations for 2023! What are they thinking? They are not even going to try to fix things? Just waiting till A220 arrives, because that will fix everything? That's what the first step should be - fixing what is not working. And the fleet is not it.
Regarding using glasses, yes, I really do try to look at things from different perspectives. But living with your head in the sand or pink glasses on is not going to make things all right. Quite the oposite.
OU feeding MUC and FRA is not necessarily the bad thing, is where I stopped reading
Delete@An.14.58
DeleteUnfortunatelly it was not a sarcastic comment. Unfortunatelly, there are few deluded and delusional individuals here, who are not aware that Croatia Airlines is not any kind of any partner in any alliance, but tiny, insignificant, irrelevant, pathetic feeder and humiliated servant, kept on life support by its poor tax payers, which will remain like that no matter which type it operates, as long as it does not change its strategy and start using all wasted potentials and missed opportunities of the market, if it's not too late already
If someone in Croatia and slovenia had sense. They would make an airline together
DeleteLike air France and KLM.
Slovenia and Croatia airlines could form partnership and if done well could be very successful.
A comment form the CORPORATE BS GENERATOR... The technical dept., crews etc... are already trained for the a320 family... Madness.
DeleteAnon 9:58 Adria and Croatia had an opportunity for many years to merge but they didn't as it would not work. LH would be opposed to it.
DeleteCroatia Airlines didn't even apply to fly Slovenia subsidized routes. That's all you need to know if idea of joint CRO-SLO airline ever crosses your mind again.
I hope they bring back the light blue belly on the A220s, it looked so much better than the current 'smart' livery
ReplyDeleteIf you really think the belly colour is the biggest issue in OU, than I can just say OMG
DeleteThere is a saying in Croatia...
DeleteSelo gori, baba se češlja.
I believe every one reading this portal will understand the meaning.
That's not a saying in Croatia.
DeleteLet's see how long they actually fly once delivered and before the Pratt curse strikes...
ReplyDeleteBravo Hrvatska!
ReplyDeleteUnfortunatelly I can't agree today. A220 is political decision. Hrvatska needs politics to withdraw from the economy, and especially from the aviation. OU needs to stop to be LH feeder. New A220
Deleteis the worst possible choice. OU is not in the position to operate brand new and the most expensive aircraft in its category. Their needs and demand require much bigger fleet and definitely not single type and almost the same capacity fleet. You have every right to hail Bravo Hrvatska without any single argument. I gave several arguments why it's not Bravo Hrvatska. Let's other followers conclude who is right
I believe mr. Anon 19:16 said it all in my opinion. But f course you have every right to stop reading where it suits you best.
DeleteAnd you really want all of us here to believe you are not here on Party duty, being on standby at midnight to answer to any criticism within 10 minutes?
DeleteAnd this will be my last post on this article because I don't even want to talk to Kradeze machinery. I am disgusted with you.
DeleteYou're take even less than that. Kudos to you
DeleteTaking*
DeleteDo you really think its only PW the problem on this aircraft?
ReplyDeleteThen you are lost, this aircraft has many other serious problems....
Such as
DeleteThe biggest problem for Croatia Airlines is that their management is politically appointed .... they are not business oriented ...
ReplyDeletePerfect for Osijek to Mostar.
ReplyDeleteOsijek to Maribor as well. And with DB tickets onwards to Cartel destinations
DeleteBravo OU!
ReplyDeleteBravo AP!
DeleteHeading to Brussels
DeleteA220 is not the best choice, any technical problem and the plane will be grounded because of no spare parts. Air baltic got 3 planes stored. Embraer could be easier and lighter to operate... With a E175/190 they could even operate 2 flights daily, good for transfer passengers...
ReplyDeleteAir Baltic has 11 out of 30 stored due to engine problems
DeleteWith such a small fleet of a (still) niche aircraft, I think OU will see a number of pilots leaving, feeling restricted in their careers. It will be much more difficult to get a job with other carriers after the whole fleet changes to A220. If some of them want to fly any Airbus widebody in their career, it would be so much easier to get a job as an A320 pilot anywhere in the world rather than an A220. Also, just a few companies fly A220, so if they look for a better contract there is no many companies to look to. Present EU operators of A220 employ mostly local pilots whose unions are strong in protecting local labour interests.
ReplyDeleteZoran Milanovic is anti globalism and is doing a GREAT job against this international cabal of traitors who don't want there to be nation states or patriotism .. Well done ZORAN! Keep going.. If Andrej Plenković had any decency he would resign immediately.
ReplyDelete