Croatia Airlines yesterday put on sale its five new upcoming routes from Zagreb to Milan Malpensa, Prague, Bucharest, Madrid and Hamburg, reported earlier this month, along with the planned increase in frequencies across its network. The carrier confirmed the five new services will be maintained on a seasonal basis through to the end October. Consequently, at the peak of the 2025 summer season, the Croatian flag carrier will offer scheduled flights to thirty international destinations, covering 31 airports, and will operate a total of 55 routes.
During the 2025 summer season, Croatia Airlines will run 18.200 flights, marking a 7% increase on the same period in 2024. This is still slightly below the pre-pandemic 2019 when the carrier operated 19.020 operations. However, the airline will have more capacity than six years ago with 2.260.000 seats on the market in the summer of 2025, up 18% on last year and an increase of 10% on 2019. “During the summer season, the network of international and domestic flights has been tailored to meet market demand. The planned flight schedule may change based on the timing of new Airbus A220 deliveries and their integration into the fleet”, Croatia Airlines said.
This summer, Croatia Airlines will maintain 23 international destinations from Zagreb, 21 from Split and seven from Dubrovnik. In addition, it will continue to operate services from Rijeka and Osijek to Munich. The carrier will also maintain domestic services across eight airports in Croatia. The majority of the domestic flights are planned between Zagreb and Split, followed by services between Zagreb and Dubrovnik. Seasonal flights have also been scheduled from Osijek to Split and Dubrovnik, as well as from Zagreb to Brač.
What are they going to do with all the A220s in winter?
ReplyDeleteThere is more and more romours of them sending two of them to Ljubljana in 2026
Deletenot a bad idea. But then story about Zagreb hub is gone
DeleteHas OU ever had plans of turning ZAG into a hub? Their disjointed waves and not selling connecting flights for many routes shows differently.
DeleteTheir goal is clearly being bought out by Lufthansa, and the A220 order was done for exact that reason.
DeleteMakes sense, especially with ITA going big on A220 too
DeleteWhy would Lufthansa buy them though? They don't even own their A220s, unlike Air Baltic for instance. Easier to just let them go bankrupt and make a deal directly with the lessor.
Delete@9.03 I really hope so. They need to spread their wings a bit. It's crazy that a route to Egypt is considered "risky" and "out of the box" for OU.
DeleteEgypt is risky, but ordering 5A321XLR isn't
DeleteOnly in Croatia
There is absolutely no official talks about OU moving some of its a220 to LJU. Zero. Nothing. But some people are obviously pushing this story
DeleteWho ordered 5 A321XLR?
Deletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2024/08/croatia-airlines-studying-a321xlr-as.html
Delete^ So no orders then for A321XLR.
DeleteArticle says studying. Not that they ordered it.
Delete“In the long-term, aircraft such as A321XLRs may be considered"
^ Obviously. But Anon 09:53 says they have ordered 5 A321xlr.
DeleteMaking ZAG a hub without long haul connections is meaningless. OU has no ambition to expand overseas. Their only ambition is reducing expenses by using new, more cost efficient hardware. OU is a small carrier with small dreams, reflecting Croatia Govt,its owner. A bunch of mediocre people with small dreams.
DeleteAnon 10:43 you should inform Aegean that they do not have a hub in ATH because they do not fly transatlantically!
DeletePegasus as well in SAW.
Taxpayers don't care about avgeeks dreams, they care about efficiency of companies they are paying for. Actually, taxpayers don't even care about having state owned airline and not even to mention paying for it's long haul operations.
DeleteOU has not developed ZAG into a hub because it does not sell connecting flights to half of the destinations it flies to and is unable to reschedule some flights by 5-10 minutes to offer connections. Not because of long haul operations. Unfortunately taxpayers are paying for this because Croatia Airlines continues to post million euro loss after loss (and another one is about be published at the end of this week). Meanwhile, the airline's average cabin load factor is the lowest for any legacy airline in Europe. So taxpayers are paying for inefficiency @anon 11.31 for 23 short haul routes from Zagreb this summer including flights to Rome and Athens which are operating with a stop.
DeleteYou don't understand. People barely care about having their own national airline.
DeleteOk, in Croatia they do have a national airline with multi million euro losses, low load factor and flights to Rome via Split.
DeleteAnd you think people like it?
Delete1118, your comparison is inadequate. Aegean is a private business driven by profit, OU is not. Aegean has Athens, a large city that attracts millions per year, OU does not. Your comment is silly, but you are right in one thing: Aegean should launch long haul.
DeleteAegean is actually launching long haul from next year. They have already announced it. But they will use A321XLR.
DeleteComparison is inadequate since Aegean is successful profitabile airline and Croatia is not. Croatia should be like Aegean.
DeleteAegean does not have a hub in ATH since it does not flying long haul. That's what Anonymous 10:43 is saying.
Delete1646, exactly! It's a base for Aegean, not a real hub!
DeleteI'm not sure you understand the meaning of the word hub.
DeleteHe doesn't! But he is funny.
DeleteInteresting to see how they are still below the pre-pandemic numbers, though the increased seat capacity is a good sign.
ReplyDeleteThere is more and more romours of them sending two of them to Ljubljana in 2026
DeleteAnon 09:03 Great! That means Croatia's influence will be even stronger over Slovenia!
DeleteSource of that rumor: Trust me bro!
DeleteIt's aviation influence is currently not very big.
Delete0903,sending is not the right term, it's more a stationing. Indeed, OU should do it, especially during winter time to carry people to beautiful ski resorts in Slovenia.
DeleteHeard from reliable source, OU will definitely base at least two a220’s at LJU. Slovenians will be more than happy to have two OU aircraft based at LJU. Happy nation 😃
DeleteSo so happy, more than you believe
DeleteSo the new A220s seemingly are getting in Zagreb as planned then?
ReplyDeleteWhen can we expect the next one? And how many will they have when the peak summer season starts?
They have said for several months that the next one comes in March
DeleteYes the March unit is there, but what about the rest?
DeleteNot sure. They never said when each of the remaining ones will arrive other than 6 will come this year.
DeleteI don't think they know themselves because it all depends on Airbus. Guarantees from plane manufacturers mean very little nowadays.
DeleteLet's hope they don't have to get last minute wet leases because of Airbus.
DeleteIf Airbus sets a delivery date, but is later postponed, and thus results in airline having to wet-lease lost capacity...Does Airbus have to compensate the wet lease?
Deleteit would make sense that it is
Delete0905, the rest are coming, just like the first two and the 10 Rafale. Thank you for your concern!
DeleteOther than Mostar, have they added any year round route to their network in years?
ReplyDeleteBravo Hrvatska!
ReplyDeleteSo their answer to the seasonality of the Croatian market is to up capacity and operating costs significantly and then increase the seasonality of their route network. Genius move.
ReplyDeleteAnd they keep saying how they will decrease seasonality which they previously said was their biggest issue lol
Delete+1
DeleteAn A220 has more than 25% less CASK per seat compared with a A319ceo.
Delete@anon 10:15
DeleteAnd how much does a leased A220 cost vs. an owned A319ceo? That's the real question. CASK only becomes a factor once you've learned how to fill your damned planes in the first place.
I would like to find that out too Vlad.
DeleteYou seem to know this info in order to reach the conclusion that old A319ceos are more economical than new A220s.
No one would ever order new gen jets if they are just more expensive without any benefits.
DeleteIt's interesting how even private entities in Nigeria, Tunisia and Tajikistan see benefits of having new gen jets while regional "experts" don't.
1015,7n terms of leasing probably more, while in terms of operative cost definitely less.
DeleteI'm not saying that A319ceos are more economical than A220s. I'm saying that OWNED A319ceos ultimately cost you less than LEASED A220s, especially if you have a low LF to begin with.
DeleteIt was too much to hope from them.
ReplyDeleteIf they prove popular, will there be a chance they'll become permanent fixtures in the schedule?
ReplyDeleteTrue, that's usually how it works with them.
DeleteWould make sense @09.29. They certainly have spare aircraft in summer.
DeleteSo the new routes will operate for a grand total of 4 months. Well done OU.
ReplyDeleteAt least we got something new.
DeleteYeah just four months of service might not seem like a lot but at least they’re trying to spice things up with new destinations. Still, it’d be nice if they kept some routes open longer to give us more options year round
DeleteThe season begins post Easter till end of October. So it's not four months. Also, planes can be leased or stationed elsewhere, such as Ljubljana, Podgprica, Priština or Sarajevo. Don't be negative.
DeleteThe new routes operate from June until October. That's 4 months.
DeleteActually it's less. They start in July.
Delete1447, BS!! Stop talking BS!
DeleteWhat BS? The five new routes from Zagreb start in July. Hamburg and Bucharest on July 1, Prague and Milan on July 2 and Madrid on July 3. All five routes end in the last week of October. So that means the flights run for 3-4 months. What is exactly BS, I would really like to know.
DeleteOU have had 30 odd years to build a robust network, waves of flights from it's main hub and get a management team who understand aviation. Not one single tick.
DeleteThe whole purpose of getting A220s according to OU was to make routes and the airline more efficient. Yet they are employing the same tactics like with the old Airbus fleet, operating routes for a couple of months and keeping winter network to bear minimum.
ReplyDeleteCroatovanje
DeleteYou can get new aircraft but if the management stays the same you won't see any meaningful change.
DeleteAviation is not Airline Tycoon game. Thera not enough passengers to/out Croatia outside 4 summer months.
DeleteThe year is 2025 and they still won't reach 2019 flight levels.
ReplyDeleteIt's capacity that matters.
DeleteNo, it's the number of passengers that matters. Increasing capacity and keeping the same strategy will only generate more losses.
DeleteDid they have more passengers in 2024 than in 2019?
DeleteThey still haven't published 2024 passenger numbers.
DeleteThey should publish in the next few days. We will see.
DeleteI wonder which of the five new routes was decided as a replacement for Lisbon for which they couldn't get slots.
ReplyDeleteI'm guessing Hamburg.
DeleteExpanding into markets like Madrid or Milan might be part of a strategy to cover high demand areas that can also attract travellers who might have chosen Lisbon.
DeleteSo nothing new from the coast this year?
ReplyDeleteThey are increasing frequencies on quite a few routes from the coast
Deletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2025/02/croatia-airlines-to-grow-frequencies.html
DeleteFranjo Tudman airport will for sure have 4.8 million passengers this year!
ReplyDeleteWhen do flights to the 5 destinations commence?
ReplyDeleteIt's in the linked article
Deletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2025/02/croatia-airlines-launching-five-new.html
Congrats
ReplyDeleteWish Croatia Airlines would commit to keeping some of these routes year-round. Summer's great and all, but some of us travel in other seasons too!
ReplyDeleteSo they're buying all these A220s just to scale back in the winter? Sounds like a waste if they're not flying them full-time. Why not plan for year-round service instead of just cramming everything into the summer?
ReplyDeleteThey are not bought they are leased.
DeleteEven "better".🙂
DeleteCapacity could not grow 18% if A319/320 are being retired with each A220 entering the fleet. It can grow if A220s are pushing smaller Q400 out of the fleet; or if A319/320 are staying in the fleet while new A220 arrive. Why would A319/320 stay in the fleet when stated goal was for A220 to provide unified, more efficient fleet?
ReplyDeleteI hope they consider leaving OTP and PRG year round surley there is enough demand to keep them year round instead of seasonal?
ReplyDeleteI hear they are good with maps in Mostar
ReplyDelete