Croatia Airlines to reach pre-Covid traffic levels in 2024


Croatia Airlines is gearing up for the upcoming third quarter, its busiest of the year, however, the carrier is yet to fully recover from the coronavirus pandemic. Between July and September, the Croatian airline has 813.368 seats on sale, down 13.2% on the same period in 2019, which was its busiest to date. It will operate 7.639 flights, down 12.3%. However, the carrier’s biggest decline in flights and capacity will come at its hub in Zagreb where it faces stiff competition from Ryanair, which opened a base in the city in 2021. Croatia Airlines will run 4.461 Zagreb flights, down 24.7%. Capacity will decrease 26.1% to 474.172 seats.

Since the coronavirus pandemic, Croatia Airlines has not resumed its seasonal operations from Zagreb to Stockholm, Helsinki, Lisbon, Milan, Oslo, Bucharest, Prague and St Petersburg. Furthermore, the carrier is no longer operating flights from the Croatian capital to Dublin during the peak summer months. Out of its existing Zagreb network, the airline has the biggest growth in capacity on services to Copenhagen despite plans to operate the same number of flights as in Q3 2019. It is followed by Mostar and London Heathrow. On the other hand, the biggest decline in capacity, among routes which have not been discontinued, is Frankfurt, followed by Munich.

Croatia Airlines has been putting a bigger focus on its operations out of Split during the summer. Over the third quarter, it is operating 2.609 Split flights, representing an increase of 32.5% on four years ago. A total of 272.882 seats are planed on its Split operations, up 27.2%. The carrier has dropped just one route from its network out of Croatia’s second largest city - Belgrade - compared to 2019, however, it has added a number of new destinations including Stockholm, Bucharest, Dublin, Milan, Amsterdam, Skopje and Oslo. The airline has grown either frequencies or capacity on almost all its Split routes, with the exception being its domestic Zagreb service.

The Croatian flag carrier has said it is on the path to recovery. “The start to 2023 has been better than expected for the company and demand is still growing. Croatia Airlines is continuing to increase its frequencies and launch new routes. Traffic volumes from 2019 have still not been achieved in the aviation industry, but it is increasing and its return to pre-Covid levels is expected in 2024. Carriers across the world, including Croatia Airlines face a number of risks. The main risks which will have the biggest impact on Croatia Airlines’ operations in 2023 are fuel prices, emission unit prices and, consequently, liquidity risks. In the coming period, together with the mitigation of these risks, Croatia Airlines will further focus on implementing its post-Covid strategy”.



Comments

  1. Anonymous09:01

    Isn't it too early?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:17

      Sto bi se reklo, polako ali sigurno😂😂😂😂

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:49

      It would be interesting if you would write an article about LH just having lost the court case and the state help being ruled as illegal. LH returned the money... Will OU be able to do the same.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous12:43

      Samo se sprdajte. OU donosi veliku dodanu vrijednost, a to što imamo lošeg OM i ministra nije problem OU. Sprdati ćete se kad budemo letjeli nove A220

      Delete
    4. Anonymous16:01

      @12:43
      Who bought those A220?

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:04

    What a joke of an airline. So in summer they are on the coast bringing foreigners and then when winter comes they will remember there is Zagreb and come bck. By then everyone will move on to Ryanair and Lufthansa.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:14

      Now we know why Zagreb isn't seeing more significant growth considering they are a Ryanair base with many new flights and destinations. OU has cut 25% of flights and has 26% less capacity. It's good ZAG is growing as much as it is.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:38

      True. Imagine if OU just kept the route they had in 2019. Growth would have been huge.

      Delete
    3. Imagine OU doing 15 years ago, when they had ideal situation for it, what Air Serbia is doing now.
      Imagine OU operating long haul to America and Asia
      Imagine OU having much more than 10-15 % of the market share.
      With Kradeze and Jasmin in charge, unfortunatelly, we can only imagine

      Delete
    4. Anonymous11:13

      @9.04 what a joke of a statement. Imagine Croatia without the summer tourists

      Delete
    5. @11.13
      Imagine Croatia Airlines having more share on the coast with more flights, and more competitive flights, and 320F fleet, which could be partially ACMI leased out during winter. And in addition to that, imagine double or triple number( than announced new A220's), of older Embraers, flying extensive croatian and Balkans network and feeding its own A330 flights to America and Asia

      Delete
    6. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    7. @11.13
      Imagine Croatia Airlines having more share on the coast in the summer, with more flights, and more competitive flights, and 320F fleet, which could be partially ACMI leased out during winter season. Simultaneously, imagine Croatia Airlines having year - round hub in ZAG, with double or triple number of older Embraers (than announced new A220's), operating extensive croatian and Balkans network and feeding its own A330 flights to America and Asia. Maybe you think this is joke of statement as well. I think it's something that should have happened long ago, in reality.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous12:42

      Older embraces are costlier to maintain. A new fleet will cost less in maintenance! OU would of gone bankrupt a long time ago if they operated widebodies to the USA. Air Serbia receives unlimited amounts of funding, something OU isn't able to get as much of any longer due to E.U laws. Air Serbia uses older mid age Aircraft but their maintenance costs will be much higher this way.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous12:50

      ^ Most of what you wrote is actually completely untrue. Air Serbia recorded a profit during Q1 without any government subsidies which are no longer provided. On the other hand Croatia Airlines has received tons of questionable state aid in the last few years, not to mention nonsensical PSOs to Dubrovnik and Split, funding from "joint advertising", tourism boards, Split Airport etc. In 2012 it got over 100 million euros after which it went through restructuring which was a complete failure as it led to even bigger losses. It also mislead the public saying it is buying new planes only for it to turn out they will be leased and won't actually be owned by them.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous13:04

      Small correction only.

      According to official OU financial reports they got in 2012 exactly 140 mil EUR.

      Delete
    11. @12.42
      Lease costs for new planes are so high that reduction in operational costs, maintenance included, will not be enough to cover the LEASE. Current A320F fleet is their OWN.

      "OU would gone bankrupt if operated widebodies to the USA" . No they wouldn't. The money Lufthansa earnes for it, with OU getting peanuts for the feed, would be entirely earned by OU.

      And , as I gave you explanation why I claim what I claim, now you please explain why do you think what you think. Otherwise, I would have to think that you are here on Party duty, just giving excuses for uhljebs and AP

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:10

    Capacity and flight numbers are great but the real metric of recovery will be passenger numbers and whether there is enough to fill those seats.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:17

      Load factor would be interesting to see.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:21

      The real metric is financial results and these are not always linked to load factor or passenger numbers. A lot of factors impact on financial performance, from operational costs to cargo.

      Delete
    3. Good to know they are financial results are fantastic, due to succesfull feeder model they have

      Delete
    4. their financial results, autocorrect

      Delete
  4. Anonymous09:10

    It would be interesting to see which route is best performing. Both passengers wise and financially.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:50

      Frankfurt passenger wise. As for financially, I'm not sure.

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    2. Anonymous13:08

      N O N E

      Delete
  5. Anonymous09:10

    The number of flights is peanuts compared to other European airlines.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:15

      In the region is probably among the higher figures.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:23

      More than Aegean, Turkish, Wizz Air? Are you serious?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:47

      Most countries in the region don't have a national airline :D

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:52

      It is really sad that we are down to only two serious national airlines in ex-Yu.

      Delete
    5. It is really sad we are down to only one serious airline in ex-yu. Croatia Airlines is not serious airline. It is pathetic feeder and humiliated servant. It is tiny and irrelevant. It is full of incompetence and corruption. It's inert and unefficient. It makes huge losses. It has more to do with politics than with business. It did not realize a single one of the goals set on its beginnings. It cannot be called a serious airline.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous12:09

      thats true, if Croatia Airlines was serious it could have at least 30 planes by now and at least 18 million passengers through all airports.
      Only thing to hope for now is that the issue with P&W engines is sorted before the delivery or that it doesn't slow down delivery of A220 to the airline. Many airlines are suffering because of the supply issue.
      Also i do hope Croatia Airlines can capitalise on Air Serbia's failure to have focus on regional flight. Using the Dash-8 they can connect croatia to the whole region and reap the profit just like the route to Mostar.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous13:07

      Dash8 won't be part of OU fleet once A220 arrive.

      Delete
    8. Which would be huge and cardinal mistake for serious business. But as they are not primarily an airline in aviation business, but Kradeze branch serving political purposes, I guess it's ok

      Delete
  6. Anonymous09:11

    Hope bookings are performing well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous13:10

      They have 6 Airbuses and 6 Dash8 airplanes.... What bookings??? What is that? A fleet???

      Delete
  7. Anonymous09:12

    Most of the routes that they have not resumed from Zagreb are now on the airport's incentives list. Let's see if OU brings any of them back now so they are paid for flying there.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:16

      So the airport now has to pay for routes they had just a few years ago for free.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:42

      ^ Yes, unfortunately.

      Delete
  8. Anonymous09:13

    This is crazy. Almost all European airlines will be above pre covid levels this year.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:50

      Agree. Poor result.

      Delete
  9. Anonymous09:16

    Hope there will be a similar article about capacity/flight difference for JU :) that would be interesting to see.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:54

      Me too. Hope it's coming.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous13:08

      It will be incomparable to OU.

      Delete
  10. Anonymous09:20

    Bravo Hrvatska!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous09:23

    Bravo OU!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:54

      Can you tell us for what? I'm genuinely interested.

      Delete
    2. Another one here genuinely interested for what? Answer please, with explanation.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous13:12

      He/she is just doing what the party tasked.. 2+2=5, or whatever the party says it does

      Delete
    4. Anonymous17:26

      For reaching pre-Covid numbers, fantastic job! Maybe try reading the title of the article?

      Delete
    5. Anonymous17:27

      So bravo for reaching pre-Covid numbers in 2024? That's next year. Most airlines have already reached pre-Covid numbers.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous17:55

      Better late than never

      Delete
    7. @17.26
      Prvo skoci pa reci hop! Razanj na zeravi a zec u sumi! Nicija nije gorjela do zore! Ma bas su bili pametni ti nasi stari!

      Delete
  12. Anonymous09:23

    What is the share difference between OU and FR in Zagreb? I think Ryanair is getting close.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:29

      Ryanair has double the number of destinations to Croatia Airlines from Zagreb.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:40

      But Croatia Airlines has double the number of flights.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:41

      Ryanair flies twice per week to most of their destinations while OU has at least daily flights.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:47

      Actually I find that OU just has a lot of frequencies to LH hubs - especially Frankfurt while to others not much difference to Ryanair. I mean Rome is 3 times per week via Split...

      Delete
    5. Anonymous14:11

      No, it is not. Rome is 7 times per week via Split, and 2 times via Dubrovnik.

      Delete
  13. Anonymous09:27

    What happened to the "most complained" seasonality problem? Not an issue anymore? Or, is the company keen on solving this issue by adding more flights to/from Split?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:51

      Everything will be magically fixed with the A220.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:57

      ^ Many people seem to genuinely believe that. I think it will create more problems than solve things.

      Delete
    3. Of course it will create more problems, but who cares - AP will be heading to Brussels, LH will continue to have good feed for peanuts, uhljebs will go on going to Buzin to drink coffee and gossip, and poor croatian people will continue paying for it. So, no actual problems, except for some minor operational

      Delete
  14. Anonymous09:48

    Good luck OU

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous13:16

      They are out of luck

      Delete
    2. Actually they are out of effort and competence, luck they (still) do have, in the form of Kradeze life support provided with people's money. But how long the luck will last, remains to be seen

      Delete
  15. Anonymous09:48

    Croatia Airlines is heavily dependent on their state. Without the state, they would collapse in a matter of days.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:51

      But it is are also important for the state and its economy, otherwise it would not sponsor them.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:52

      That applies to almost every single flag carrier in Europe

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:59

      The subsidies made available to OU are in full compliance with EU regulations.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:02

      Yeah sure. LOL

      Delete
    5. Does compliance with EU regulations include butter lubricated aircraft doors?

      Delete
  16. Anonymous09:49

    Any estimates on how many passengers they could handle by the end of the year?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:51

      How many pax did they have in 2019?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:56

      2.2 million

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:58

      And load factor in 2019 was 73.6%

      Delete
  17. Anonymous09:52

    Very small numbers in general when you think about it

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:55

      Well it is a relatively small airline. I don't know what you would expect?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:39

      It is smaller than it was a few years ago.

      Delete
  18. Anonymous09:53

    Ryanair is a very tough battle for them in Zagreb, especially since they have shown to be very poorly prepared to compete.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous15:40

      Ryanair actually presents a bunch of opportunities for OU, they just don't realise this. People who never thought of flying before or never thought of fly through Zagreb will start to consider it and eventually some of these pax would end up on OU flights..... if they had those flights.

      Delete
  19. Anonymous09:55

    Their Split operations are developing nicely. It would be good if they could extend some routes into the winter.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:57

      Which ones could potentially work in winter?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous14:20

      There's nothing to work from the coast in winter, except domestic Zagreb flights.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous20:59

      Split - Vienna 3pw in Winter has to work

      Delete
  20. Anonymous09:58

    I hope they will be able to make a profit during Q3.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:38

      I think Q3 will again be a profitable quarter this year. The Q1 results are at least encouraging. Although it is a loss, it is smaller than usual.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:41

      It was the best Q1 since 2017
      https://www.exyuaviation.com/2023/04/croatia-airlines-sees-best-q1-in-six.html

      Delete
  21. Anonymous10:14

    pretty sure they can have Stockholm-Zagreb route with great LF year round..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:38

      Why Stockholm-Zagreb? What's special about that route.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous15:14

      so many people from croatia, bosnia are there, its a no brainer.

      Delete
  22. Anonymous10:40

    What about their capacity from Dubrovnik? Has it grown or decreased?

    ReplyDelete
  23. Anonymous10:42

    It is odd that they haven't added any new routes from ZAG in 3 years and I'm not counting Mostar because it is just a route resumption thanks to public money.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous13:20

      A L L of their routes are public money sponsored

      Delete
  24. Coast is extremely seasonal. They can't make money on the coast in the winter. In the summer that many legacy, leisure and LCC companies operate to the coast that it makes it very tough battle to make money as well. The only airport for year-round operations in Croatia and enough potentials is Zagreb and the only correct strategy would be that ZAG and OU in synergy create strong hub for SE Europe. Unfortunatelly Kradeze is against any success of Croatia on any of the economic fields and that's why OU, when it was still succesfull and growing, was made LH feeder, and ZAG, profitable and self-sustaining, with plans for growth on its own, was given into concession to French and Turkish. The results can be seen and are sad and painful. I just those Kradeze fans hailing here on daily basis Bravo Hrvatska and Bravo OU would finally come to their senses and open their eyes

    ReplyDelete
  25. Anonymous13:08

    And I just hope God gives good health to Jasmin just to break POZDRAV'S nerves !

    ReplyDelete
  26. Anonymous13:35

    most of us agree with Pozdravs positions but it gets boring and tiring repeating it on and on

    ReplyDelete
  27. @13.08
    I was not commenting on you personally. Instead of you commenting on me personally, I suggest you seek professional help

    @13.35
    You are more than welcome to just scroll down over my posts and skip reading them in the future if you find them boring and tiring

    ReplyDelete
  28. Anonymous15:29

    Pozdrav, I get our disappointment or resentment of OU, but buddy you 'overkilled' it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous18:17

      Pozdrav complains so that we dont have to .
      Also it shows that he really cares about that airline .
      If everybody in Croatia would care as much OU would be in a much better shape .

      Delete
    2. Anonymous18:37

      yes but in overdoing it the whole thing becomes a parody and thats not whats his intentions are because he really has a point

      Delete
    3. Anonymous19:06

      Very true

      Delete
    4. Anonymous22:07

      Anon@1529
      It is nothing to do with over-killing - it is about aggressive, confrontational, argumentative, dismissive and rather offensive style of communicating on this page.
      Trying to figure out what ‘ukljebs’ and ‘kradeze’ expressions actually mean in English in every of their predictive and by now extremely boring posts!?

      Delete
    5. Anonymous22:27

      An opinion is an opinion .
      A blog is not an expert forum .
      For expert opinions i suggest you to use CAPA or similar sites .

      Delete
    6. @15.29, 18.17, 18.37, 19.06, 22.07
      Thanks very much for both your understanding and/or constructive criticism

      @22.07
      Uhljeb na aparatima ☺

      Delete
  29. Anonymous18:24

    I actually do that (I am not anon 13.35 btw), I just skip the posts cause eventhough you have a point its very tiring and annoying reading the same thing everyday over and over again.

    ReplyDelete
  30. You have absolutely every right to do that. But how come then you are replying to my post which you haven't read? And big LOL for Kradeze voter, one of the more intelligent ones !!!!! ☺

    ReplyDelete
  31. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Is it just because I have no idea about aviation that I think OU is making a mistake to focus on Split at expense of Zagreb? It seems to me that OU is giving away Zagreb. I consider Zagreb to be the only city that can be sustainable for OU during the entire year.
    Honestly, I appreciate if someone can explain to me:
    A) Am I right to say that OU is focusing on Split/coast at expense of Zagreb?
    B) If OU is focusing on Split/coat why that is the case?
    I still believe that Zagreb/Croatia has great potential to develop an excellent airline. Far more so than Serbia.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Q400 remaining in the fleet, connecting North and South Adriatic and Slavonia with N and S Adriatic, twice daily, as decent PSO, and serve regional and ex-yu routes from OSI/PUY/RJK.
      A320F remaining in the fleet, serving Adriatic coast (SPU, DBV), on seasonal basis on scheduled and charter flights, and feeding ZAG hub in morning and evening wave. ACMI leasing out during the NH winter season.
      A321XLR and A330 even before, as the A320F CCQ types, based in ZAG, operating North America, India (reducing seasonality) and Thailand (codeshares to Far East, AUS&NZ),
      EMB (older) to be based in ZAG for extensive feed of its own network, adding much more ex-yu, Balkan and Near East flights
      Number of units : Q400 and A320F - current number, 13
      EMB 175/195 - 12
      A321XLR /A330 - 5

      @Nenad

      Above is OU how I firmly believe should have looked like long ago. Unfortunatelly it is not happening. I also firmly believe OU is not shifting focus from ZAG to SPU. They are just lost in space because they have no strategy, and trying this or that, here or there, with no results.

      With politicians interested only to lick a.s of EU bosses in order to join the team, appointing apartchiks to head OU, nothing else is to be expected. They are simply not interested in taking advantage of the biggest, most prosperous and most lucrative ex-yu market. They don't care. And the result is misery we have in form of OU, humiliated servant and pathetic feeder.

      Delete
    2. OU was and maybe still is a good position to take a big share of Kosovo market. If OU reacted at the right time, it could have had a base at Priština airport. So that is the only thing I would do that you did not mention. OU is, within the region in a much better position to be the main airline than AirSerbia.

      Delete
  33. Anonymous12:11

    Well funny to read the comments above me. The sentiment appears to be a combination of skepticism, disappointment, and optimism.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. As to optimism, I would say that Croatia has a good potential, far better than Serbia. If Serbia is on the way to develop a good airline, I believe Croatia should be able to do so. I'm not saying that AirSerbia is successful, nor am I sure that it will be successful. However, I do believe that AirSerbia shows that one can develop an airline even when one is faced with bigger challenges than OU. So, at least im my case, yes you are right, it is fair to say I'm disappointed, but I still believe Croatia has a chance and the last part is not me being an optimist, nor sceptic, I believe that is just correct. What do you think?

      Delete

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