Croatia Airlines reported a net loss of eighteen million euros in the first half of 2025, nearly doubling its 9.5-million-euro deficit from the same period last year. The carrier’s operating loss reached 21.2 million euros, compared to 9.5 million euros in H1 2024, as the flag carrier navigates the costly transitional phase of modernising its fleet. While total revenues rose by 8% to 132.3 million euros, driven by strong advance bookings and expanded summer operations, operating expenses increased by 14%, climbing to 150.3 million euros. The rise was mainly attributed to amortisation linked to the five new Airbus A220 aircraft in its fleet, higher maintenance reserves and increased personnel costs following a new five-year collective agreement with staff signed in mid-2024.
At the end of June, Croatia Airlines’ cash reserves fell to 29.6 million euros, down from 44.8 million euros at the start of the year. The company’s equity turned negative, standing at minus 15.9 million euros, driven by accumulated losses and increased liabilities related to lease obligations. Overall, the airline’s first quarter loss amounted to 15.9 million euros, up from the 9.9-million-euro loss in Q1 2024. Its second quarter loss amounted to 2.1 million euros, compared to its 420.000 euros profit over Q1 of last year.
Operationally, Croatia Airlines saw its figures improve. It handled 851.983 passengers, representing an increase of 4.6%, or an additional 37.430 travellers. However, the figure is still down 11.3% on the pre-pandemic 2019, corresponding to 108.637 fewer passengers. During H1 2025, the airline carried 624.099 travellers on international flights, up 4.5% on 2024, a total of 214.546 travellers on domestic services, representing an improvement of 6.4%, while the remaining 13.338 passengers were handled on charter flights, down 14.5%. Croatia Airlines operated the same number of flights as last year at 12.326 operations. The average cabin load factor across its network stood at 63.5%, up 1.2 points on the same period in 2024. Loads on international flights amounted to 63%, up 0.9 points on the back of a 4% increase in capacity, while on domestic services it stood at 64.5%, up 3.1 points.
It's just a disaster of an airline.
ReplyDelete€1,500 lost per flight on average. Numbers like that should prompt resignations.
DeleteThis is why I dont like National carriers at "any price", because you'd need to subsidize them eternally. On the other hand they're used to employ family and friends, political associates, give tender to these as well. We (in balkans) in general, have already enough public companies that we heavily subsidize.
DeleteNormally the BS set includes the term 'increased oil prices' and 'unfavourable USD\€ rates'...
DeleteI don't think they could use unfavourable exchange rates because they were actually favourable this year :D
DeleteLate deliveries of aircraft can make huge impact on profitability. Nearly every aircraft delivery was late, anyway OU will be profitable by the end of Q3!
DeleteYou really think they will make 20 million euro profit or more in Q3? Sure.
DeleteAdd paid by Središnjica, as usual
DeleteBad but I expected worse with the introduction of the new aircraft. Hopefully when the fleet is renewd financial performance will improve.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteTo be honest, I don't think that the fleet is the reason they have been generating losses all these years.
DeleteRevenue is up, passenger numbers are up, load factor is up. And yet the losses are worse than ever. Clearly, the problem isn’t demand. It’s poor cost control and inefficient planning.
Delete@9.03
DeleteOther airlines modernise fleets too. Without doubling their losses.
Negative equity and falling cash reserves are serious structural problems. Modern aircraft won’t help if your business model is fundamentally broken.
DeleteQ1 seems problematic. So why not cut frequencies where they operate several daily mostprobably lossmaking feeder flights to the LH group hubs and instead lease out their aircrafts/crews to places, where there is demand?
DeleteHow much was the raise the airline's personnel received from the new agreement?
ReplyDeleteAnybody has an idea?
I'd like to know too. It must be substantial if it put a strain on the airline's finances.
DeleteEvery year they find something trivial because they can't blame mismanagement. Usually it is engine work that they blame it on. Now they are blaming it on the collective agreement that they signed.
DeleteHow much of a rise did the OU staff got form the collective agreement?
Delete"The details of the five-year deal have not been disclosed."
Deletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2024/07/croatia-airlines-concludes-new.html
Are their crews and ground personnel generally happy with it?
DeleteNo. They claim they have been cheated by the management.
DeleteShouldn't have signed the deal if they're unhappy.
DeleteBig loss but forward bookings look good. I thought tourism in Europe was having a stagnant at best year after the big growth it recorded since the end of Covid restrictions.
ReplyDeleteIf you think 60% LF is good.... are you Jasmin by any chance?
DeleteIf you manage to lose money in Q2 then it means there is something really, really wrong with you.
ReplyDeleteWith such results, OU's days will be numbered.
Unless they radically change something, their cash reserves might almost disappear by the end of the year.
The way things are going, Q3 will also be negative.
DeleteNo, Q3 will definitely be positive. I rarely defend them but I was positively surprised to see the afternoon Skopje and Tirana flights have 2 seats left, also the afternoon and morning wave flights are fairly full
Delete^ the load factor is 60% across the board....
DeleteThey are in all quarters except q2 , and now we were talking about q3
DeleteThere is something very wrong with their Q3 operations. Out of the 5 new routes they launched, 3 have already been reduced (on some weeks they have no flights at all). They are also running their second promo fare sale for tickets for the busiest part of the season, which is not normal. They now have an "outlet" sale.
DeleteBut besides Hamburg and Milan none of the routes make sense
DeleteThere is always the government behind who will cover these losses.
DeleteOh, and I thought we are not in communism any more. Btw gvt will not cover losses, they will distribute tax money collected from stoka sitnog zuba to aparatchiks and Party mates
DeleteSeasonality needs to be addressed somehow. Lets hope they extend more routes ito the winter season.
ReplyDeleteWhat heavy seasonal airlines do is use cheap aircrafts which they can afford to use for 1-2 rotations per day in low season and 3-4 rotations in high season. They do not buy brand new aircraft with high lease rates.
DeleteActually almost all airlines nowadays do get new fuel efficient aircraft. And not just in southern Europe but all over the world. With probably the exception of sub Saharan Africa.
DeleteCroatia Airlines did not buy the aircraft. They are leased at a huge price with all costs associated with getting a new aircraft but at the end of the day, they won't own them.
DeleteMost lease their aircraft now. Even big legacy airlines like AA, UA< DL, AC, LHG, BA have huge leased fleets of aircraft.
DeleteThey are all in the business to make money though...
Delete@anon0938 yeah but those other airlines do not have such high seasonality as Croatia. OU pays lease per month per aircraft the same in Feb as in Aug.
DeleteBravo OU!
ReplyDeleteHahahahahahahaha, the best post today!!! Insanity at its peak! But Bravo Hrvatska still missing! That would be winning combination 😂😂😂
DeleteHow long are they allowed to get aid from the state? EU has some rules about this, thats why they didnt allow money losing carriers in cyprus, malta and hungary to be around forever
ReplyDeleteOfficially they are not getting aid from them, just PSO. But they still haven't repaid the Covid aid they got. The government keeps delaying repayment every year.
DeleteA220 magic
ReplyDeleteBright and shiny. Intergalactic Spaceship 😂😂😂
DeleteTo be honest A220 is a very good and efficient plane. "It's the pilot, not the plane". Pilot = OU.
DeleteA220 is a spaceship in comparison to crap like E175
DeleteHas Croatia Airlines ever operated the E175?
Delete@12.08 you are blaming pilots for OU's terrible finances?
DeleteThe losses are staggering, especially considering the fleet renewal was supposed to bring long-term savings. It's time for the government to seriously question how long this model can be sustained.
ReplyDeletePassenger numbers are finally growing, but they’re still nowhere near pre-Covid levels. Without a stronger hub strategy or competitive routes, recovery will remain sluggish.
ReplyDeletePassenger growth of 4.6% is decent, but in this market, it’s not enough. OU is growing slower than the region and slower than the global average. They’re falling behind, not catching up.
DeleteSo much money spent and yet load factors are still barely above 60%. This shows how disconnected Croatia Airlines is from the market realities.
ReplyDeletecash reserves are bleeding
ReplyDelete63% LF is NOT good
ReplyDeleteIt’s hard to believe this is the national airline of a major tourist destination. With 63% loads in the middle of summer, something clearly isn’t working.
DeleteIts a major tourist destination to which a VAST number of well run, well known and competitively priced airlines fly to. Croatia Airlines is, lets face it, almost useless save the internal flight requirements. But as a means of connecting the country to the world its really a footnote - in summer at least.
DeleteStable and solid path to Adria Airways destiny. Slovenians thought that, they are able to have profitable airline, as such small country, forgetting that Belgrade made them exists (interexport inex). Tourists in Croatia comes mostly by land. So Hungary who have stronger tourism, lost national state airline. They need to be realistic. Wont last forever.
ReplyDeleteAround 25% of Croatian tourists fly, as the tourism seasons extends more and more people will fly and I know many in the diaspora that now fly instead of drive. Croatia airlines needs to make Zagreb a stronger hub capitalise on this trend. They are going in the right direction by extending routes into winter and if they launch flights to Kosovo and Podgorica next summer they might still have a chance
DeleteMost of the 25% that fly fly with Ryanair. Croatia airlines can’t compete and there is no need for government to keep it on life support. Tourists will keep coming with or without Croatia airlines
DeleteTwo millions of visitors from other continents don't fly with Ryanair. The solution of OU problem is stop being LHG feeder, katastrofa od create its own decent network and start flying long-haul. After competent management is hired following international tender and politics get out of the company and stop placing incompetent aparatchiks to deliberately keep OU small and loss making which is part of the deal Ivan Mišetić ex chief of late Franjo Tuđman office and then OU CEO, made with LHG surrendering them entire croatian market in exchange for his personal benefits. Choosing A220 as a single type fleet cement position of OU as LHG feeder and is result of highly corruptive deal, and continuation of status quo in OU, which Ivan Mišetić still control. And everyone in the state of Croatia is silent, including "free press" because anything related to Franjo Tuđman, "the father of the nation" is dogma, is not questionable, and of course, positive.
DeleteConspiracy theories.
DeleteTwo greetings: one for the 3rd floor in Buzin, the other one for Središnjica. And if you repeat lie about conspiracy 100 times, it will still not become truth. Sorry
DeleteSerious question, but is there anyone in Croatia qualified enough to run a national airline?
ReplyDeleteIsn’t it clear that there isn’t?
DeleteDisaster. Thre is no other way to spin this.
ReplyDeleteNegative equity is a red flag. If this were a private company, it would’ve folded already. The state will have to either privatise or re-capitalise again.
ReplyDeleteIt's not just about A220 it is also about the impact of Ryanair
ReplyDeleteVery true
DeleteIt is not just A220, I agree, there is little impact of Ryanair, I agree, but those are not main reasons why OU is tragedy. I wrote reasons at 11.24
DeleteSo if a crisis hits the industry, they will be loosing 80 mil a year!!!
ReplyDeleteIronically their losses reduced during Covid becuase they were not flying lol. Which says everything about them.
DeleteWhat is the point of this airline? Let it go bust. Tourists will keep coming with LCCs anyway, and Lufthansa group can run their own feeder flights
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteBut many tourists come with full service carriers and Croatia is attracting more premium tourists so why wouldn't they fly with Croatia airlines. I know Americans, Saudis and emiraties that have all just discovered the country
Deletethere are other legacy carriers flying to Croatia, so Americans Saudis and "premium tourists" would be just fine even if they didn't have to fly with Croatia Airlines
Delete@12:05
DeleteIf there really are that many “premium” tourists one of the many full service airlines will fill the void. I would assume most of those tourists are arriving on connecting flights so LH group, TK, IAG, KLM and others will pick them up.
When you completely miss what is the root cause of your problems then this is the outcome.
ReplyDeleteBravo 10.37. You said everything. Except they don't miss the root cause of the problem. They know it and they keep it like that deliberately.
DeleteNever ending cycle of losses
ReplyDeleteCan OU be saved? Through privatization? Professional management? What do you guys think
ReplyDeleteWhy would buy a basketcase of an airline? Professional management could help though.
DeleteWhat exactly would you sell/buy ?
DeleteA market? You already have access to it anyway through open sky
Airplanes? There are plenty of better airplanes to lease
Personnel? Maybe some pilots and mechanics...
The rest... Only a burden
What exactly would you sell/buy ?
DeleteA market? You already have access to it anyway through open sky
Airplanes? There are plenty of better airplanes to lease
Personnel? Maybe some pilots and mechanics...
The rest... Only a burden
Ex Adria personel + current Croatia personel that actually care and are enthusiasts at their work ( hopefully there are at least 1/3 in both pools from pilots, fa's, planning, handling, etc should get togeather, present a project that would make sense and very slow but stable growth and then just go for public buy out and starting a new business model - once the airline losses its certificates, slots, employees, etc its much harder to start from scratch...Pozz from LJU 🙂
DeleteBravo Hrvatska!
ReplyDeleteLOL. Insanity at its finest
DeleteStill the same number of flights, still weak loads and yet higher costs. It’s like they’ve mastered the art of standing still while losing more money.
ReplyDeleteOni ne stoje u mestu. Oni idu u rikverc na nizbrdici, a ni ručna, a ni nožna kočnica ne radi. Put u ponor je neizbežan.
DeleteWelcome to the A220... This aircraft is expensive to maintain and to operate... Swiss is planing to retire the A220-100 due to operational difficulties and to high maintenance cost... LOT is buying 84 of those defect planes, and we all know it was a political decision. Tusk always wanted to sell LOT. The A220 is a catastrophic choice...
ReplyDeleteClassic anti-A220 propaganda!
DeleteYou don't need anti propaganda when you have Croatia Airlines.
DeletePropaganda, conspiracy, internal and foreign enemy.... Clearly show state of mind of those with task and Party duty of advocating crime, corruption, incompetence and one of the last traces of communism still existing in Europe
DeleteI have a feeling they'll move away from bases in Croatia only fairly shortly...Similar to what AirBaltic is doing with LPA base
ReplyDeleteIt's too early to be thinking like that
DeleteThere is no workforce flexibility necessary for the establishment of such bases. Not gonna happen.
DeleteExpected
ReplyDeleteI have never seen a CEO with so many terrible results, both financial and operational yet with full support of the government. Crazy. He should have kept selling his books instead of running an airline
ReplyDelete