Croatia Airlines halves Skopje operations and cuts capacity by 43%

Croatia Airlines will significantly reduce frequencies on its Zagreb - Skopje service from January until the end of the 2025/26 winter season in late March. Following a schedule revision last week, the carrier now plans to maintain five weekly rotations between the two capitals, down from the originally scheduled eleven, for most of the first quarter of the year. The reduction also represents a year-on-year decline, with between two and six fewer weekly flights compared to the same period last winter, depending on the month. The airline will also scale back operations on the route this December, although to a lesser extent, with an average of nine weekly flights planned instead of eleven, though frequencies vary by week.

All services will continue to be operated with a mix of Airbus A220-100 and A220-300 aircraft, as initially planned. During the first quarter, the airline will primarily operate flights to the Macedonian capital on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Sundays. It had initially planned to run double daily services on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays. In total, Croatia Airlines will offer 21.246 seats on the route during the first quarter, down from the originally scheduled 37.851, marking a 43.9% reduction. Capacity will also be 11.3% lower compared to the same period in 2025.

During the first half of the year, Croatia Airlines handled 27.443 passengers on its Skopje service, representing a 3.9% increase. The airline also boosted capacity on the route by deploying its new A220-300 aircraft on select flights in place of the Dash 8 Q400 turboprops, adding a total of 3.719 seats between the two capitals. However, the cabin load factor declined, with average occupancy falling to 49.6%. Despite increasing capacity by 9.6% compared to the same period in 2019, passenger numbers remain 10% below pre-pandemic levels.