Croatia Airlines has taken delivery of two Airbus A220-300 aircraft in quick succession, bringing its A220 fleet to thirteen jets as the carrier moves closer to completing the largest fleet renewal programme in its history. The first of the two aircraft, registered 9A-CAW and named Karlovac, arrived in Zagreb in the early hours of Friday following its delivery flight from Airbus’ Mirabel facility near Montreal via Copenhagen. It was followed yesterday by 9A-CAX, named Sisak, which reached the Croatian capital via the same routing.
The two 149-seat jets are Croatia Airlines’ tenth and eleventh A220-300s respectively. They complement two smaller 127-seat A220-100s, bringing the airline’s overall A220 fleet to thirteen aircraft. Croatia Airlines is expected to take delivery of another A220-300 by the end of this year, increasing the fleet to fourteen, while the fifteenth and final aircraft from the current renewal programme is due in 2027. Upon completion, the airline’s A220 fleet will comprise thirteen A220-300s and two A220-100s. The two remaining aircraft are expected to carry the names Varaždin and Vinkovci.
The latest deliveries come as Croatia Airlines prepares to retire its remaining Airbus A319 aircraft. As previously reported by EX-YU Aviation News, the carrier tentatively scheduled the type’s final commercial operations in October. While it will operate most of its final flights on October 11, the carrier has now scheduled one more rotation with the type for October 23, operating Zagreb - Split - Rome - Split - Zagreb. Croatia Airlines currently has four A319s in its fleet, registered 9A-CTG, 9A-CTH, 9A-CTL and 9A-CTN. The aircraft have been part of the airline’s fleet since 1998.
The A319 withdrawal follows the retirement of Croatia Airlines’ final A320 earlier this year. The last aircraft of the type, 9A-CTO, operated its final commercial service between Zagreb and Amsterdam on January 26, ending almost three decades of A320 operations at the carrier. Croatia Airlines’ remaining Dash 8 Q400 turboprops are expected to remain in service throughout the 2026/27 winter season before being withdrawn at the end of March 2027. At that point, the airline will operate an all-A220 in-house fleet, supplemented by wet-leased ATR72 turboprops.
This carrier has such Airbaltic vibes. At some point, in not that distant future, not even the Croatian Government will be able or willing to bail them out.
ReplyDeleteNo. AirBaltic had periods of real sucess mate.
DeleteCongrats OU.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile Animawings announced it is getting rid of all A220s due to frequent technical issues
ReplyDeleteTo be fair Animawings announced they'll get rid of an airline
Delete* Of themseleves as an airline
DeleteTo which situation development Bright and Shiny definitely contributed significantly
DeleteIt’s not only Animawnigs, but Swiss, EgyptAir, Senegal and many more. That plane is flying trouble
DeleteBut it still gets orders. Its a fine beast in the right places.
DeleteAt some point they'll operate exactly as many routes as they'll have aircraft available
ReplyDeleteAt least they'll pick up a subsidy operating ZAD-MUC this winter. Moving money from one government company to another
ReplyDeleteThey operated it last winter too. It's not new. But they are not resuming winter Rijeka-Munich.
DeleteThey didnt operate it all winter last year
Deleteand when will they actually expand their network?
ReplyDeleteThey promised so many things when they started getting the A220 but very little has materialized.
DeleteWhen Mafia get their hands out of them, which is unlikely to happen soon
ReplyDeleteit is a bit unusual that not a single plane is named after one of the islands, such as Brac or Hvar,
ReplyDeletebut that only proves how much the whole h
Croatia takes care of the islands,
from which in the end he collects a huge income... with the night that tourists leave on the islands, they pay for the losses and they didn't call any of them on the island?
really the least of their problems tbh.
DeleteDefinitely a pity. Brač, Hvar or Korčula are almost brands.
DeleteSilba for the win!
DeleteProfitability booster!!!
ReplyDeleteBravo Hrvatska!
ReplyDeleteNice fleet, just a pity the airline and its management is not using its potential. So it's only a matter of time before the final nail is hammered in.
ReplyDelete