Croatia Airlines will temporarily reduce frequencies on a handful of routes during February, which is considered the slowest month in the aviation industry, compared to its original plan. The reductions will only impact the carrier’s services from Zagreb, with a total of seven routes to see cuts. They include Vienna, Brussels, Sarajevo, Frankfurt, Munich, Skopje, and Zurich. The carrier has removed twelve weekly flights from its schedule, or around 7% of its weekly Zagreb operations. Vienna and Brussels will see the biggest reduction in flights with both to loose three weekly rotations. Sarajevo will be cut by two weekly frequencies in February, while all of the other abovementioned routes will see a reduction of one weekly flight. Changes remain possible.
February network reduction
All other routes remain unaffected. For some of the abovementioned destinations with more than one weekly frequency cut from the schedule, the reductions will be gradually introduced during the month.
Overall, during February, Croatia Airlines has removed a total of 47 departing flights out of Zagreb. However, it will still boast more operations than in February of last year, with a 3.6% increase in flights. During the month, it will run the greatest number of services to Split, followed by Dubrovnik, Frankfurt, Zurich and Munich. The reductions are not expected to have a major impact on Zagreb Airport itself, as it will see a 15.5% increase in the number of flights and a 19.6% increase in capacity this February when compared to last year’s record, following Croatia Airlines' network revision.
Croatia Airlines has begun wet-leasing a Trade Air Airbus A320 aircraft as of last week. In line with previous reports, the jet, registered 9A-BTH, which is 22 years old, will initially be based in Zagreb, and will be relocated to Split for the summer. The aircraft will operate on behalf of Croatia Airlines until the end of the year. The Croatian carrier is also eyeing a second A320 wet-lease for the 2024 summer season. A wet-lease is a leasing arrangement whereby the lessor provides an aircraft, complete crew, maintenance and insurance to another airline.
I'm sure getting wifi and usb plugs will help them fill a 130 seater instead of the 80 seater in February 2025!
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteWhy worry.. It's a government run airline.. Paid by its citizens... Its not a big deal.
DeleteAgain, this is what Governments do. They implement their policies using public funds. That in a nutshell is what politics is all about. It is completely legitimate, especially because OU brings added value in tourism. The problem is, people like you don't get it and instead keep themselves focused on growth and numbers is really not my problem.
DeleteeasyJet brings more value to tourism than OU.
DeleteIt does not. Easy does not pay taxes in Croatia and does not pay pension and medical for their employees in Croatia. It does not buy fuel in Croatia either.
DeleteWhy are you switching the discussion to taxes, pension and medical? The argument was that OU brings added value in tourism. Something that is patently untrue considering their pathetic market share on the coast in the summer.
DeleteBecause, OU not only brings added value to tourism, but also brings added value to overall economy. So, if your point is that I was not precise enough, I stand corrected. My point is, they take home more than what they cost.
DeletePathetic is a relative term, only goes to show that people using it are nasty and lack basic understanding of macroeconomics.
DeleteLol OU doesn't pay net taxes in Croatia either because much more government money is wasted on it than any taxes it will ever pay
Delete>It is completely legitimate, especially because OU brings added value in tourism
DeleteNot true. If it was, Malev would still be around. Malev also brought added value in tourism but it didn't matter.
Unfortunately OU does not bring added value with tourism. The tourists that actually visit Croatia all arrive to Croatia with any other airline. that's why RyanAir will overtake OU as Croatias largest airline. Easyjet and RyanAir bring tourists to croatia with cheap tickets from western europe.The rest get their with LH group flights or TK.
Delete@anon 12.05
DeleteI say "pathetic" because it's my qualification of the company's management and the results they are producing, nothing to do with macroeconomics. OU has been around for more than 30 years, and after all that time, they haven't managed to capture more than 15% of the total inbound tourist traffic to the coast by air. That is pathetic by any stretch of the imagination and in a functional country the whole management would be immediately sacked over it.
And a certqin analiticar said this would never happe
DeleteHahahahahahahaha, uhljebi sa clanskom iskaznicom pravomocno osudjene zlocinacke organizacije na aparatima, pokusavaju obraniti neobranjivo 😃
DeleteCan someone tell me what is the rationale of selling your own plane and then wet leasing a 22 years old dinosaur?
ReplyDeleteIf it was close to a B/C check then it makes sense
DeleteFinancial, it's a financial rationale. Google it, instead of asking other people to tell you.
DeleteTry to buy and fly a 22 years old dinosaur by yourself, instead of talking so much about it ;)
DeleteBtw, when you’re changing fleet and factory does not comply with the dates… then you have to lease a dinosaur🤫
Why are so many airline reducing flights compared to what they planned? Is demand lower than what they expected it would be?
ReplyDeleteObviously
DeleteI was watching Simply Aviation yesterday and they flew on LH A321 FRA-LYS, the flight was empty. Scary.
DeleteThe post-Covid effect is over. People have spent all the money they saved during the pandemic and with inflation everywhere there will be less demand.
DeleteYears ago I was told by a hotel manager in Busapest that they are always thinking of closing the hotel from mid January to Easter. It is just such a period.
DeleteWe will have to see how German demand performs in the future, it's not looking great:
Deletehttps://www.ft.com/content/b81fff40-eee3-481c-9cde-f39282070c0e
Funny enough I was in Germany not too long ago on holiday. Everything was full, flights to and from, too.
DeleteYet Germany is slow to reach its 2019 levels. Your flight was full but others are obviously not my good old Anonymous friend.
Delete@9.09 just stop it pls
DeleteGermany keeps adding and increasing taxes. Airlines are moving capacity elsewhere. It is the most expensive major market to fly from.
DeleteFR made another threat to Germany the other day.
DeleteAnon 10.14
You are like an ostrich with head in sand.
Anon 9:09.
DeleteI was think this too, this year could see some major stagnation in terms of passenger numbers if the economic situation starts to bite. (and I am talking everywhere).
Time will tell I guess...... Could also be another record year lol
@09:09 huh? People travel more and more every day, its not that they did till now because they have saved money when we were all home. What are you talking about?
DeleteFebruary and November are always the slowest months for every bussines, we spend money for the holiday celebrations at home, for traveling somewhere for the holidays, buying new clotes and furniture and many other things which are on discound for these kind of periods and of course most of us try to spend less in February and November cause we spend a little to much in the period before these months. But there are still people who can afford to travel in this period and people who need to travel for other purposes.
I find all type of Croatia Airlines news painfully boring. Everything they say are false promises, their actions are divorced from reason and for years it's all a one step forward, two steps back dance.
ReplyDeleteDon't read it.
DeleteReduction is not that big, but like someone mentioned above, what will they do when they no longer have Q400s and have to fil A220s to Skopje and Sarajevo in winter.
ReplyDeleteSKP is a massive problem for OU because we read here that LH affected them big time. Then there is also Wizz to LJU which is slowly strangling them.
DeleteI wouldn't say the reduction is so small considering it involves over 50% of its international network from ZAG.
DeleteNot just tat but their offer is already pathetic and they managed to make it worse.
DeleteMaybe OU should consider the ATR42/72, maybe operate a mixed fleet. The ATR42-500 could really improve their domestic and regional offering along along with the ATR-72 using this aircraft where the ATR42 might be too small. 6 ATR types along with an initial fleet of 15 220's would finally be somewhat of a positive move by the airline but they would really have to get over this spat with Zagreb airport and turn Zagreb into a mini hub for the airline to have any real chance to survive if they want to remain as a "traditional" airline.
DeleteRyanair is not going anywhere anytime soon so they really need to put their big pants on and learn to deal with competition and not look to retreat whenever something does not go there way.
They took the chance to survive by feeding Lufthansa, I don't see them changing that strategy anytime soon... So - no ATRs in OU fleet and no mini hub at ZAG.
Delete@12.19
Delete15.41 is absolutely right. They will not put their big pants on. You should understand that they are deliberately shrinking and deliberately remaining pathetic feeder. They are controlled by Mafia and local Mafia chiefs have debts to main Bosses/Godfathers, which is preventing their growth and change of feeder role, so.....
Putting aside the reductions, it is impressive OU serves all these routes with so many frequencies.
ReplyDeleteOU 13x weekly to MUC, while JU does it 0 times. Clearly OU>JU lolol
DeleteIt would be better for OU to have the same number of frequencies to MUC like JU. They are not making any money flying there. They are forced to by their German overlord.
DeleteSource??
DeleteImpressive frequencies, two daily on major routes on turboprops? Impressive my ass. In which century are you stuck? Airlines operate 5, 6, 7 frequencies daily on their main routes, on jets with much bigger capacity, sometimes even every hour or two. Or you simply have an impressive Party duty to write it, rewarded with sandwiches?
DeleteSeems to be happening across the board.
ReplyDeleteWhere is it happening? Which airlines?
DeleteWizz, Ryan, JU...
DeleteKLM too
DeleteStill fewer cuts than JU.
ReplyDelete9:24, and still fewer routes.
DeleteAnd less perspective.
DeleteOU could cut their whole network and it would still be fewer cuts than JU. It's not a long way to the bottom when you're already halfway there.
DeleteLMAO!!!
DeleteOU could stop their operation and guess what? Nothing would happen
DeleteAll their routes outside Zagreb in winter are subsidized so of course they will not reduce it.
ReplyDelete"The reductions are not expected to have a major impact on Zagreb Airport itself, as it will see a 15.5% increase in the number of flights and a 19.6% increase in capacity this February when compared to last year’s record, following Croatia Airlines' network revision."
ReplyDeleteThis is pretty good news. February will be very strong.
Is this growth mostly thanks to Ryanair - Croatia's new national carrier?
DeleteThere was a table recently about who is growing at ZAG in the first quarter
Deletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2024/01/zagreb-targets-over-four-million.html
Love it when there is growth!
Delete09:30,trying to be funny but only being nasty and limited.
DeleteSo this will only be during February?
ReplyDeleteYes
DeleteFor now
DeleteAirlines do this all the time in quiet periods of the year. No surprise.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone have any news about the new livery? Is it still on, or did they cancel that project too?
ReplyDeleteIt's not cancelled. It will likely be on the first A220s.
DeleteWrong address. They have serious Uhljeb position for what you are asking - Corporate Design Manager. That's where you should ask.
DeleteWill the other plane they wet lease also be from Trade Air?
ReplyDeleteNo, all their other planes are contracted.
DeleteProbably the likes of Smartlynx
DeleteI don't know. Most likely they still don't know either.
DeleteOf course they don't know. It's too early
Deleteit's just the slowest part of the year and some routes are reduced
ReplyDeleteBetter than losing money
ReplyDeleteAgree.
DeleteFrom what we read here OU loses more money when they are flying.
DeleteOuch
ReplyDeleteMinken Vrankvurt, Vrankvurt Minken
ReplyDeleteSeems like many airlines overestimated the demand for this winter
ReplyDeleteIt is normal. You schedule flights and then based on demand you modify the schedule.
DeleteActually OU has almost never done this. So it is concerning.
DeleteMaybe it shows that they realize they can't burn money like before.
DeleteI don't know why people are complaining. What would you rather? For them to fly empty?
ReplyDeleteI would rather they do something to increase demand. They have one of the lowest load factors in Europe on an annual basis.
DeleteEvo sa'ce to Jasmin, docim ispije kahvu...
DeleteThey could try by decreasing their overinflated fares for the less than basic service they offer and many demand would grow.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteLosses are smaller if you fly less. Easy as that.
ReplyDeleteAs long as everyone in Buzin gets their salary...
Delete@10.53
DeleteAre you telling us OU shouldn't exist and shouldn't fly at all, because only in that case they would make no losses? Easy as that?
Interestingly, there was no year in which OU operated 14 weakly flights to BRU.
ReplyDeleteThey achieve the best results when they don't fly...
ReplyDeleteWell it's kind of true. They had best results during Covid pandemic.
Deletesome wise men knew that long time ago.....“Ko leti, vrijedi, ko vrijedi, leti, ko ne leti, ne vrijedi.” “Tko izgubi dobitak dobije gubitak!”
ReplyDeleteBravo OU, smart business decision. You will shine with world class A220!! Svaka Cast!
ReplyDeleteHahahahahahahaha, hahahahahahahaha, hahahahahahahaha, LOL, LOL, LOL, LOL, LOL!!!!!
DeleteE hvala ti Jasmine ka bratu sta me 'vako od srca nasmija. Ocemo li po kahvu? 😃😃😃😃😃
DeleteTell us again about the WiFi and built in USB charges.
DeleteHow many planes do they have now with he wetlease?
ReplyDelete12
DeleteYes, 12, compared to just for example 45 of Air Baltic, coming from double smaller country, with similar economic strength, smaller diaspora, no tourism, and unfavourable transfer position. Miserable. Pathetic. Shameful. Sad. Painful. Disastrous. But some here, either uhljebs, or on Party duty, or simply blinded and brainwashed, will continue hailing Bravo to the misery, and crime and corruption which led to that misery.
Delete