Croatia Airlines is due to take delivery of its first of fifteen Airbus A220 aircraft in around two months, with the carrier preparing to unveil a host of onboard upgrades for passengers. One of the biggest innovations will be the availability of wireless connectivity. The carrier has selected Panasonic Avionics for its inflight WiFi, opting for the technology company’s Ku-band antenna, which became available on the market only last year. This includes support for both LEO (low earth orbit) and GEO (geostationary orbit) satellite networks, higher speed throughput, greater aerodynamic efficiency, gate-to-gate operations, and reduced operating costs. Panasonic’s customers include Singapore Airlines, Japan Airlines, United, Egyptair and Icelandair, to name a few.
Croatia Airlines’ CEO, Jasmin Bajić, said, “We are thrilled to announce the introduction of onboard connectivity for the first time in our 35-year history, coinciding with the arrival of the A220 aircraft. This agreement with Panasonic Avionics aligns with our mission to enhance the in-flight passenger experience and deliver top quality connectivity to our valued customers”. Apart from WiFi availability, the carrier will feature its own digital content which will be available to passengers through the airline’s application, accessible while airborne. Croatia Airlines’ A220-100s will have the capacity to seat 127 passengers, while the A220-300s will welcome 148 customers in a two by three seat layout.
Each seat on Croatia Airlines’ A220s will feature USB A and USB C ports, as well as smartphone and tablet holders. The aircraft’s spacious overhead compartments, the largest for a jet its size, will allow for every passenger to accommodate one roller bag. “We have been continually working on increasing the quality of our service”, Mr Bajić noted. Croatia Airlines has not specified the exact arrival date of its first A220 jet, however, it is expected in June, with the second by the end of the year. The aircraft are yet to be scheduled for deployment. The Croatian flag carrier also plans to unveil its redesigned branding with the arrival of its first jet, with an emphasis to be put on revamping the carrier’s logo. Croatia Airlines’ initial logo was chosen in an international competition in 1993, while the carrier’s existing livery was adopted in 2004.
Bravo Hrvatska!
ReplyDeleteBravo OU! The next improvement needs to be the catering offer, especially for Business Class!
ReplyDeleteIndeed. Connectivity is important, but catering is something everyone notices
DeleteBusiness class is overrated imho, on short routes totally pointless to have it, longer route must be more substantial then just simple seat with more legroom. I want proper comfy 6 business class pods/seats and 120 economy seats on A220-100 or 9B + 130E seats on A220 300.
DeleteOU offers olives and taralini on its flights, which is nice, after all Croatia is a Mediterranean country, with large olive oil output and great way to promote your country is through produce I guess. But for god sake, please offers more choice to business class, we are not Lufthansa or Austrian.
Overrated yes, but needed to offer a seamless travel exprience and pricing on connecting flights. JFK-MUC-ZAG in Business is needed to offer a through product. Most pax care about the longer leg anyway.
DeleteOU with the purchase of 6 A220 300 and leasing further 9 A220 should be able to plan a good network with noumber of connecting flights out of Munich, Vienna, Frankfurt, Paris, London and Amsterdam. After all there’ll be 15 aircraft to play this time. OU ought to purchase at least 2-3 A321 NEO XLR for transatlantic fights to Chicago, Toronto and NYC year round and seasonal to Pittsburgh and Boston. This would give OU ability to offer direct link to these destinations and considering nearly million Americans visit Croatia each year and at expected to see 250000 Canadians this year, would be smart to offer that possibility. Perhaps do a deal with Airbus in 2027/8 for deliveries in 2030?
Delete^ you don't seem to be aware that not a single one is purchased. All are on lease.
Delete6 leased from Griffin Global Asset Management
Delete6 leased from Air Lease Corporation
3 leased from Azzor
None are purchased by OU.
@Anonymous18:37
DeleteI stand corrected then, thought 6 were purchased, as reported in the local newspapers... Then purchase of 3 A321 NEO XLR is a must!
A321XLR would be good
DeleteAir Canada is ordering 30 A321 XLRs for deliveries to 2027. Suffice to say, Air Canada will restart Zagreb around that time and perhaps add Dubrovnik in 2028. Air Transat has delivery of 19 A321 LR, theoretically they can fly out of Montreal year round to Zagreb. Montreal is their base. And they've ordered 4 A321 XLR, with these they can service Zagreb out of Toronto year round.
DeleteThey should look at what they pass off as business class catering if serious about improving.
ReplyDeleteWas about to write the same. Their catering has deteriorated significantly since 2020, with former economy meals now being served in business.
DeleteThey just copied what Lufthansa does on its intra European flights..
Delete^ No they didn't. Despite service levels deteriorating on Lufthansa, they don't serve business class passengers with a box in which there are pre packaged cookies.
Deletein-flight connectivity brings much more value to me than catering.
Delete^ Does it? Catering will be utilised by everyone on board. Wifi won't.
DeleteInternet connectivity is a very welcome addition and kudos for that, but most OU flights are under 90 minutes of flight time, so it's not like it's a massive improvement that will completely transform the passenger experience.
DeleteNeither will catering. I literally never bother with the food service on European flights. I value a comfortable seat the most (padding and headrest), and having WiFi is a really addition.
DeleteWow very good news
ReplyDeleteNice one
ReplyDeleteIs wifi really necessary when most flights are an hour and a half long?
ReplyDeleteIn 2024 it is.
DeleteFor me hell no, for most of the today's idiotic social media addicted population unfortunately yes.
DeleteSays a lot about you when you think that people only use internet for social media.
DeleteHe just discredited himself in one second
DeleteFor me, inflight entertainment is looking out the window.
Delete@14:58
Delete+1
@10:25 +1000
Delete@10:25, +10000
DeleteGood job OU!
ReplyDeleteNice to finally see some innovation from this airline.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteWhat will be the prices for the wifi?
ReplyDeleteThey haven't said yet
DeleteThey probably don't know themselves yet, how much they'll charge
DeleteHow much did JU charge a few years ago?
DeleteIt was 4.90 euros for thirty-minute access (download limit 20 MB), 8.90 euros for sixty minute access (download limit 50 MB) and 13.90 euros for access throughout the duration of the flight (download limit 90 MB).
DeleteThanks
DeletePricing is usually set by the wifi provider.
Delete@09:48 can you share the wifi on a plane as you would normally (via hot spot) or do they have some restrictions/blockers?
DeleteYou can't share it
DeleteThe Wi-fi should be complimentary. It probably will be very slow even with the latest technology!
DeleteI hope they will expand once they get more A220s. With this number of routes i dont think that the wifi or the new jet itself will atract new customers.
ReplyDeleteIt will take a few years before they will be able to expand. As one A220 arrives, another aircraft will leave the fleet. I believe it will not be until 2026 that they will have more aircraft in the fleet than they have now. Eventually in 2027 they will have 15 planes which is more than the current 12-13.
DeleteI'm sure the cabin crew that is threatening with a strike during current negotiations with management are over the moon with this new innovation which must have cost millions.
ReplyDeleteSeriously?
DeleteWe'll see how the lessor and the banks react when there will be no collective labor agreement and thus no social peace...
DeleteThe thing with OU is that they think the arrival of a220 will save them, when in fact I don't see how.
ReplyDeleteYes your planes are newer, but at the same time overpriced tickets mean that your LF is still gonna be low, not to mention that they will be paying twice as much to operate every flight with the leasing costs of the new birds.
E295/0 would be a much better choice - cheaper, bit smaller, and they could get them much faster. 4-5 year transfer period is way too long for 15 planes.
E295 is too small for Croatian market. A220-300 is the minimum.
DeleteApparently not too small for OU, given their 60% load factor.
DeleteNot save, just buy them more time. That's all they seem to really care about.
DeleteGood to see that A220s are breathing in some new life into the airline. Let's hope it also results in network expansion, frequency growth and better scheduling for transfer passengers.
ReplyDeleteLet's hope.
DeleteUnexpected from OU.
DeleteExpensive on board WiFi is exactly what the popular request was. Well done. OU can only hope majority of their pax will be internet junkies, who will bitch about 4 € sandwitch, but will gladly pay 9,99 € for an hour of browsing. On top of that, that bulge of antenna makes airplane look particullary disguisting.
ReplyDelete+100
DeleteCope harder.
DeleteCope harder with what?
Delete@10:13 simp harder.
DeleteHuh?
Deleteusb ports are a really handy feature. Pity more airlines don't install them in seats. It's not so difficult.
ReplyDeleteWould be nice if they installed power socket too.
DeleteIt is extremely difficult to retrofit the fleet. Extremely difficult.
DeleteCan't wait to see the new logo
ReplyDeleteI doubt they will make some big change. Just a variation of the existing one.
DeleteWe will find out soon.
DeleteThey should really announce the arrival date of the first one. Also it would be nice if they said what will be its first revenue flight. Maybe people would want to book it to fly with the new plane. I mean it's supposed to arrive in just two months.
ReplyDeleteOther airlines also introduce new units to their fleet and no body gives a ***, it's a non event
DeleteAny idea who is the wifi provider for Lufthansa and Austrian? Is it also Panasonic?
ReplyDeleteViasat for LH, OS and EW
DeleteI'm shocked Croatia Airlines didn't choose the same provider :D
DeleteDon't want to be negative and it is nice that OU is looking to improve service but how much will this cost?
ReplyDeleteDon’t worry, the Croatian Government will end up paying for it all
DeleteCongratulations! It's nice to see the company going forward.
ReplyDeletePlease improve catering too!
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteAny idea what the seats will be like? Leather?
ReplyDeleteOh and will they have recline?
DeleteWith all due respect, I don't see how this will be profitable for OU. Offering wifi makes sense if you have a big destination network with a lot of longer routes and also if you have a lot of passengers so you will eventually get a return on investment. But with OU's passenger numbers and flights which on average don't last longer than a bit over an hour, I doubt many passengers will be buying wifi. We will see.
ReplyDeleteI wonder that too, Maybe was more worth investing that money for Panasonic into something else
DeleteYou have wifi on busses so I really do think they should be available on planes too.
ReplyDeleteOnly small difference is planes are at 35,000 feet..
DeleteShame JU no longer offers this service, especially on the A330, which I think is a mistake. They should have left it on the wide body at least.
Delete^ Agree
DeleteAs a passenger the A220 offers by far the best experience in the sky today.
ReplyDeleteWay better and more comfortable cabin than A320s and 737s. Good choice OU.
Couldn't agree more. It is state of the art airplane and it will elevate OU service a lot. Congratulations!
DeleteI flew on NEO, MAX, A220 and E2. Economy class experience depends more on airline config than aircraft manufacturer. E2 has sweet 2-2 config without middle seat.
DeleteExciting times ahead
ReplyDeleteHas crew training for the type already begun?
ReplyDeleteFor pilots yes
DeleteAt least there is finally some development at OU.
ReplyDeleteI think it's good that they do not try to compete with Ryanair and instead they want to distinguish themselves with some better quality. Not sure if this will work, but good for them that they try.
ReplyDeleteAgree
DeleteWill the first one for OU be A220-100 or A220-300? What will be the seat pitch in Economy class?
ReplyDeleteNo one seems to know
DeleteKad ce OU letovi za New york, Sydney, Joburg, Rio, Shanghai ??????????? ............ nedaju svabi ?? ..... bummer ....
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cs5-j0p0kME
Delete😂
Delete
ReplyDeleteFirst, they should get their act together. There's typically a lot of criticism of JU operations, but based on the number of operations, OU is actually in a bigger mess. Just look at their cancellations in the past few days, such as ZAG-SJJ. Today, the OMO flight was cancelled because - and this is an official statement - there was no crew available to fly. And they only figured it out 5 hours before departure.
Not the only one cancelled today. And MUC tomorrow morning.
DeleteSeems like the "silent" strike by crew has begun. Next up, full blown strike.
DeleteCould be
Delete