Croatia Airlines has warned of further pressure on its operations during the final quarter of 2026 as seasonally weaker demand coincides with the ongoing transition to an all-Airbus A220 fleet. In its latest business report, the carrier identified aircraft delivery delays, maintenance constraints and spare parts shortages among its main challenges, alongside volatile fuel prices and limited scope to pass increased costs on to passengers. The warning comes as the airline prepares to take delivery of its final two A220s, while reporting a net loss of 64.7 million euros during the first three quarters of the year.
The Croatian carrier said, “In the final quarter of 2026, characterised by the transition to the winter timetable and seasonally lower demand for air travel, these risks could place additional pressure on the company’s operations”. It added that managing costs, maintaining operational stability and adapting to changing market conditions remain its key priorities.
The airline disclosed that accumulated delays to its Airbus A220 deliveries now amount to 73 months across the programme. The figure represents the combined delays affecting aircraft deliveries, rather than a postponement to any single aircraft. “Deliveries of new Airbus A220 aircraft to Croatia Airlines have already been postponed several times by the manufacturer. At present, cumulative delays for Airbus A220 aircraft amount to 73 months”, the company said. “Such uncertainty significantly complicates operational planning and creates substantial cost exposure”, it added. Croatia Airlines warned that deviations from the delivery timetable can reduce available capacity and result in flight cancellations, with knock-on effects on maintenance planning, resource allocation and network optimisation. It also noted that simultaneously managing three different aircraft types during the transition requires additional coordination and adjustments to operational procedures.
Despite these challenges, the carrier is approaching the completion of its A220 deliveries. Following the arrival of two A220-300s in October, Croatia Airlines had received thirteen aircraft from its fifteen-strong order, comprising two A220-100s and eleven A220-300s. A further A220-300 is expected before the end of the year, with the final aircraft scheduled to arrive during the first quarter of 2027. The new arrivals are being accompanied by the withdrawal of older aircraft. Two Airbus A319s, registered 9A-CTG and 9A-CTH, were returned to their owners last month. It now has two A319s in service, with their final scheduled operation being a return flight between Zagreb and Vienna on November 27. Neither aircraft is currently scheduled to operate any flights thereafter.
What will they do for excuses next year when all the new planes arrive?
ReplyDeleteIf they even exist as an airline then. OU needs to survive the next 6 months of winter
DeleteExactly. What changes after the fifteenth aircraft arrives? I would like management to explain that in concrete terms because right now every delivery seems to bring another announcement about transition costs.
DeleteTo me it looks like the management does not care. Like they didn't care before the fleet transition either. They just make some new excuse next year.
DeleteManagement doesn't care as they expect to be bailed out from the Government as in all cases previously
Delete@9:12
DeleteThe real test will be what happens to costs and aircraft utilisation once the old fleet is withdrawn. Completing deliveries is a milestone but management needs to explain how that translates into a smaller loss and eventually a profit.
Croatia Airlines has the best most renowned management in EU, we love you Bajic CEO 😘😊🛫
DeleteHow dare you limiting Jasmin and other OU management member's competence, capacities, skills and devotion to EU only? They are the best Worldwide!!!! 🤣
DeleteThere needs to be a clear target for when these losses start coming down.
ReplyDeleteI think they said 2028
DeleteYes :D
Deletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2026/06/croatia-airlines-says-2028-will-be-key.html
Which season in the last few years has not been tough for them?
ReplyDeleteCovid when they were mostly grounded was the year with the fewest losses lol
DeleteThey lost €64.7 million before even entering the weakest quarter. What is the full-year figure going to look like?
ReplyDelete100.
Delete💯
DeleteThe summer network has to earn enough to carry the winter. If they are already this deep in the red after September that is the part of the strategy that needs explaining.
ReplyDelete65% LF in summer isn't good enough
Deletethis is just unbelievable... its even not funny any more. What is next? The cold front on Friday too steep and causing loses? Sunset in December too early, again, causing loses? Wet runway...you have already guessed it ... causing loses....
ReplyDelete+100
DeleteCould not agree more. There will always be something happening outside the airline’s control. A credible plan needs room for fuel going up, an aircraft arriving late or demand...
DeleteThey say they cannot pass costs on to passengers yet whenever I look at a trip with them the fare is already enough to make me reconsider.
ReplyDeleteRemember they have an overbloated workforce in Buzin doing nothing that needs paying for
DeleteBoth can be true. A fare can already be unattractive to passengers while still failing to cover the airline’s costs. Raising it further risks losing more customers, which is why the answer cannot simply be higher ticket prices.
DeleteA smaller number of aircraft types should eventually simplify things. But it does not look like those savings will be enough to offset the cost of the new fleet.
ReplyDeleteLet's go one step back: The goal of business is never to simplify things but to deliver value to the stakeholders.
DeleteThe ultimate CEO of this shambles is the PM, damn fine job he's doing keeping his friends happy
DeleteThe ultimate CEO is Ivan Mišetić, the gravedigger of OU, who stopped its growth and surrendered the market to foreigners, for his own benefits. He is the one who gives orders as the PM is lower from him in Organization hierarchy
DeleteOh OK
DeleteFleet commonality should bring savings but the important figure is the overall cost after lease payments are included. Lower fuel and maintenance expenditure only helps if those savings outweigh the additional costs elsewhere.
DeleteThe missing figure here is cash. How much cash are they using each month and how long can that continue?
ReplyDelete1. management change - urgent
ReplyDelete2. restructuration: downsizing, cutting shady ties with LH, new business model - 2027
3. fresh start - 2028
I don't think I have ever seen the government criticize OU. So I doubt they will change the management.
DeleteHasn't Plenkovic just celebrated a decade at the top...
DeleteManagement should publish the original financial forecast for the transition alongside the actual result. Was a loss of this size anticipated, or has the plan gone substantially off course?
ReplyDeleteWe know they will not do this. They won't dig their own grave, although they are actually doing it on other means.
DeleteSeasonal demand is hardly a surprise in Croatia. The whole fleet decision should have been built around that reality from the beginning.
ReplyDeleteFR don't have much of a problem in ZAG
Delete09.22
DeleteAnd the reality is that fleet could be twice bigger, with smaller and bigger aircraft types, with selected long-haul destinations in North America and Asia and much bigger regional network, and with proper hub with proper waves in ZAG. Why it is not like that, please address to Ivan Mišetić
Winter demand should be one of the starting assumptions in the fleet plan. The aircraft still generate fixed costs when they are parked so the business case needs to work across twelve months.
Delete15:10 based on what? You think from 14 millions annual PAX in whole Croatia, OU should has 40 or 50% like in ZAG? You certainly know Croatian aviation market as a whole is extremely seasonal, therefore LCC is so strongly present here. Undoubtedly OU is a huge management problem but consider the size of a market also and the fact OU would in perfect case hardly compete with LCCs, who are responsible for loads of PAX (from England, Scandinavia...). Strategically as a legacy carrier OU should definetely have stronger position in ZAG but question is with what expenses. It seems OU missed the chance to become what is JU in Serbia, but airports management should be different in past. ZAG has great connectivity with exceptional postcovid growth, unluckily Croatia has poor OU, who is feeding other hubs (maybe because this is most profitable?) It is still time to fix problems, but LCC will stay in Croatia for sure.
DeleteJust tried to say problem is bigger than healthier OU management..
They should start leasing their planes to other airlines. This state of the company is horrible.
ReplyDeleteI think it is just a question of when this will happen. There is no other solution.
DeleteThey talk as though finishing the deliveries means finishing the spending. Those aircraft will still have to be paid for many many years to come.
ReplyDeleteI am genuinely wondering what is the annual lease rate they have to pay per plane.
DeleteLosses would be lower if they paid employees salaries like they work full time, but leave them to sit at home and leave planes stored at the airport.
ReplyDeleteWhy is it such a taboo to replace the CEO and top management? Their results have been terrible, not just this year but for many years. I really doubt they are that powerful that the government can't touch them.
ReplyDeletePIR will explain it to you :D
DeleteOh indeed he will! Hold my kava..
Delete09.40
DeleteIf it's so difficult to understand that Croatia is ruined by tied Mafia and high politicians, that BCG single type deal was highly corruptive and that OU has to remain shameful feeder and humiliated midget on the biggest ex-yu aviation market, for few selected individuals to continue profiting from it, than I can just say Bravo, take my hat off and make a deep bow to your IQ
10.00
Hold your coffee hard. It can slip from your fist and than papers on your desk in Buzin are in danger which might result in even bigger losses
If there is some coffee on the papers that would bring the OU numbers in black.....😄
DeleteWould they be profitable if there was no fleet transition?
ReplyDeleteWell look at their results before the fleet transition and the answer will be no.
DeleteThe plan for next year is to seek more state aid.
ReplyDeleteAt the moment it is difficult to see where the turnaround comes from.
DeleteThey will eventually have to undergo some restructuring.
ReplyDeleteThere is something odd about celebrating the arrival of aircraft while warning that you cannot make enough money operating them.
ReplyDeletePostponing the renewal would also have cost money. Older aircraft need maintenance, leases expire and replacement capacity is expensive. There was never going to be a free option.
ReplyDelete^ Nice spin mr. There was the option to enact a workable network before replacing aircraft. Having aircraft and not having places or passengers to actually utilise thing is defiantly not a free option.
DeleteI agree @9.47. Keeping the old fleet indefinitely would also have been expensive. But that still leaves a fair question about whether the chosen fleet size, aircraft mix and delivery pace were appropriate for the network they can realistically sustain.
DeleteRemember Malév, Estonian Air, and Cyprus Airways? The EU didn't hesitate to enforce illegal state aid rules and shut them down completely. Yet Croatia Airlines gets continuous state bailouts, loan forgiveness, and debt conversions year after year, and Brussels turns a blind eye. Single-market competition rules should apply to everyone, not just when it’s convenient.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure there are plenty of international Lawyers looking into the finer details of the money. I'm sure eventually it will found to be illegal and you are right. A Malev future awaits.
DeleteI think Ryanair would be the first to file the complaint if it were that suspicious. Again, state is buying the stake in OU, not granting the loan or state aid...
DeleteThey already filed a complaint once
DeleteYou forgot Air Malta. The EU also blocked further assistance.
DeleteSo, what the Maltese did (and partially the Italians with Alitalia) was to shut down Air Malta and Alitalia respectivelly, leave all liabilities with the taxpayers and the next day just open another carrier with another name and start all over again
The taxpayers do have the responsibility for state owned companies. If you have relevant info on, say, OU's balances and you still vote for that, of course you are responsible. I have understanding for taxpayers only if something was hidden from them.
DeleteEverything is hidden from them. Even "independent investigative journalists" in Croatia speak and write about OU as if it were super successful and worldwide famous. Real Boss of OU is Ivan Mišetić ex chief of (president) Franjo Tuđman Office, and as such he is untouchable and part of Organization which is destroying Croatia (country) and using it (its airline in this particular case) as its own ATM. And general public is not even aware of what's happening. In OU, in agriculture, in dangerous waste disposal all over the country, and many more...
DeleteWill you write a full account for that for an international paper?
DeleteI will write full account for that to European Prosecutor's Office in Zagreb. Once national legislation changes and "naš dečko" doesn't have power anymore to decide is national or European Body authorised to perform investigations
DeleteThey are always complaining about something. But never a word about strategy, future plans etc
ReplyDeleteThat would be refreshing to read but I don't think they have either.
DeleteHow much has this entire transition cost in total?
ReplyDeleteToo much by the looks of it
DeleteAs they say. Winter is coming!
ReplyDeleteYes. And then spring. Well done for remembering the seasons.
DeleteThey really need a winter strategy. Why not lease planed during winter to an airline in the southern hemisphere that might need additional capacity? Could bring extra revenue.
ReplyDeleteI think Kucko had that plan
DeleteI wonder what would have happened if Kucko's plan about opening bases in the region happened.
DeleteIt would never have worked.
DeleteWorth exploring although opposite seasons alone do not guarantee a viable deal. A customer would need to want the A220 for the available period, at a rate that covers the deployment costs and makes a worthwhile contribution. It would be useful to hear whether management has investigated this.
DeleteBravo Hrvatska! These are temporary problems from which OU will get out even stronger!
ReplyDeleteTemporary for the last 15 years?
DeleteLOL!!! I know you are joking 🙂 Otherwise, it would have been no additional explanation. For Bravo Hrvatska says it all!!! 🙂
DeleteA very good overview of the mismanagement and state aid into OU has been published today
ReplyDeletehttps://mrak.org/2026/11/03/croatia-airlines-spasavanje-avio-kompanije-koja-nema-nijedan-avion/
🔹 At the end of October, CA’s general assembly approved another €35 million from the state. It was planned for 2027 but came a year early, after a quarterly loss of about €15 million. It’s the last tranche of a €156 million package the government approved in December 2025, acting “as a private investor”.
Delete🔹 By Rakar’s count, the state has put about €253 million into CA since 2019, and about €450 million including the 2011 and 2013 aid. Capital and reserves today stand at €19.5 million, and the auditor flagged a material uncertainty about going concern in April 2026.
🔹 The fleet: in 2000, CA owned six new Airbuses, and today it owns none. All of CA’s aircraft are on operating leases, after the A220 deal, a sale-and-leaseback of the A319/A320s and engine leasebacks. Lease liabilities were €193.8 million at the end of 2025.
🔹 His core argument is legal. He says the state isn’t behaving like a private investor (long losses, no private co-investors, below-market loans turned into equity), so the money is state aid. He found no sign it was notified to the European Commission, which would make it illegal aid that could have to be paid back. With Ryanair’s track record of challenging such aid, he sees that as a real risk.
🔹 He also gives CA’s side: the new fleet cuts fuel and maintenance costs, 75% of this year’s loss comes from external factors (fuel, the dollar, Airbus delays), and the company expects to be profitable in 2028. His view is that this could make the aid justified, but it doesn’t make it not aid.
I’m surprised they don’t even do charters out of LJU, like Trade Air does. I wonder why not?
ReplyDeleteBecause the Party did not issue order to its aparatchiks to do so, as it was for example the case with single type fleet order which cements the feeder role, disguised with highly corruptive BCG deal. Which order enables top ranked Party members to get percentage from leases while the subject continues its feeder role, promised, determined and executed for about two decades now
DeleteLjubljana charters is a reasonable avenue to explore but it would need a tour operator willing to contract enough capacity at a workable price. Filling gaps with charters could help utilisation, although summer charters would do little to solve the winter problem.
DeleteIs there a limit government may say 'now is too much'? Some red line where they admit injecting money into airline is no longer sensible, a point where they decide it's better to pull the plug?
ReplyDeleteNo
DeleteThen it should be EU telling them when it doesn't make sense, or at least when it's illegal.
DeleteI have some tickets, so Plenki please don't pull the plug just yet, thx.
ReplyDeleteHope you didn't pay too much for 'em.
DeleteDon't worry, he won't. Percentage cashflow on lease contracts must steadily go on filling his Party member's private pockets. Your tickets are safe with him and with croatian "ne bi se štel mešati" mentality. And if you could just please stop babbling and cooing "Plenki" to arrogant, conceited and corrupt traitor
Delete@PIR
Deletedo you know that meme with Seka Aleksić in which she says: ‘izlaz postoji, potraži ga’ ?
you should really, really use it buddy..
19.16
DeleteSorry, I am not your buddy. Also I am not turbofolk fan. And I highly doubt trash turbofolk lyrics could have messages so strong and meaningful to be applicable to such serious cases as is corruption and treason on the highest level within the country
^ Treason is a little strong. I mean we get it you're passionate but calm down a little.
Delete