Croatia Airlines to order 4 Airbus A319s

The leading airline in the EX-YU region, Croatia Airlines, has signed a firm contract with Airbus for the purchase of 4 Airbus A319 aircraft. The aircraft will join the fleet in 2012 and 2013 while the cost of the deal is currently unknown. The aircraft will have a two class layout with a capacity of 132 seats and will be deployed both on domestic and international services. The new order brings to a total of 12 Airbus aircraft in the fleet. The Croatia Airlines fleet currently consists of 4 Airbus A319s and 4 A320s as well as 2 new Bombardiers Dash 8-400s (with another 2 two join the fleet next year, replacing the two current ATR42s one of which is leaving the fleet on the 25th of October this year with its last flight from Zagreb to Podgorica). The airline can activate another 4 options for the Bombardier aircraft. By next year the fleet size should consist of a total of 12 aircraft. The average age of the Croatia Airlines fleet stands at 9.3 years. Croatia Airlines has the youngest fleet out of all the national carriers from the EX-YU republics.

"This strategic decision will allow us to meet the future demand of our customers with the most modern, fuel efficient and environmentally friendly aircraft," said Ivan Mišetić, Croatia Airlines President and CEO. "We are very pleased that Croatia Airlines, one of the largest and most successful airlines in the region, has further confirmed its confidence in the A320 Family by expanding its order backlog with Airbus," said Airbus Chief Operating Officer Customers, John Leahy. "This shows the airline’s satisfaction and clearly demonstrates the high demand for the A320's advanced technology and efficiency in the years to come." Read more

New technology onboard Croatia Airlines

Croatia Airlines is introducing a new technology system which will help reduce the workload for the cockpit crew and improve passenger safety. The Lido eFlightBag is an IT solution designed to allow an almost paperless cockpit by replacing manuals with electronic versions. Lufthansa Systems, which created the system, currently provides IT solutions for the airline for planning and management. Captain Milenko Radić, senior vice president of flight operations at Croatia Airlines, said the new technology can keep pace with the company's dynamic growth. "We can now increase the efficiency, not just in areas like fuel consumption and corporate administration, but in our cockpit processes as well," he said. According to Lufthansa Systems, the Lido eFlightBag helps lower costs because the efficiency of fuel consumption and administration can be increased. Read more

Another mechanical problem on Croatia Airlines flight

Due to technical problems another emergency has occurred on a Croatia Airlines flight, this time to Munich from Zagreb’s Pleso Airport. The morning flight, which departed at 6.30AM, was force to return to the Croatian capital 30 minutes after takeoff. The aircraft in question is the regional ATR42 which will soon be fazed out of the fleet. At first, the passengers noticed water leaking from the overhead baggage compartments after which reading lights turned off. The pilot informed the passengers that the defrosting valve was not working properly and the aircraft landed safely in Zagreb.

Although not a major incident, it is the third of its kind within the last month. First there was an emergency on a charter flight from Barcelona followed by an emergency on the brand new Dash 400 after flames were seen coming from the engine. On top of this bad publicity Croatia Airlines recently received a category 2 rating from the FAA banning it from flying to the United States more importantly effecting its code share agreement with United Airlines. The Croatia Airlines ATR42’s are 15.6 years old. Read more

Croatia Airlines winter 2008/09 Mass reduction of service from Split

On October 25, 2008 Croatia Airlines, the national airline of Croatia will begin with its winter schedule. As usual for this time of the year Croatia Airlines will be decreasing its regular frequencies however there are a few surprises.

Regionally Croatia Airlines is increasing its 3 weekly flights to Priština to 4 times a week. Flights OU310 will be operated 3 times a week by an Airbus A319 and once by an Airbus A320. Flights from Zagreb to Sarajevo will decrease from 18 weekly flights to 14 with the ATR42 completely removed from the line. Flights to Skopje will decrease only by one to daily flights using the Airbus A319. Other regional destinations will remain with the same number of flights although the ATR42 will be removed from the Podgorica line and replaced with the Dash 400.

Croatia Airlines is cancelling its services from Zagreb to Tel Aviv while it will also see large reductions of services from Split, Pula and Dubrovnik. From Dubrovnik, Croatia Airlines is ending flights to Amsterdam, Dusseldorf (only a seasonal destination), London-Gatwick, Paris, Tel Aviv and Zurich while it will keep flights Dubrovnik-Rome and Dubrovnik-Frankfurt. Similarly, Split will see a major reduction of destinations with flights to Amsterdam, Brussels, Dusseldorf, London-Gatwick, London-Heathrow, Lyon, Munich, Paris, Vienna and Zurich all edning while flights to Frankfurt will be operated on a daily basis and Rome will be operated 5 times per week. The big withdrawal of services from Croatian airports (outside of Zagreb) continue with flight to Amsterdam and London-Gatwick also cut from the schedule from Pula leaving the city only with flights to Zagreb, Zadar and Zurich operated by Croatian Airlines.

Any related updates will be posted. Any question our readers might have regarding the new schedule can be posted by using the “comments” option or contacting us using our e-mail address. Soon B&H Airlines’ 2008/09 winter schedule will be published on the blog.

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New Croatia Airlines hangerat Zagreb Airport

Croatia Airlines continues to maintain its position as the leading airline out of all in the EX-YU republics. Not only has it seen an increase in passengers, destination serviced and fleet, its management also yesterday opened the airline’s very own hanger at Zagreb Airport (pictured above) which will give both the airline and the airport bigger opportunity to maintain aircraft. The hanger will be operated by Croatia Airlines and its partner Lufthansa (Lufthansa Technik). It has been agreed that Lufthansa will also service some of its Airbus A319 and A320 fleet at Zagreb’s Pleso. The close cooperation between Croatia Airlines and Lufthansa Technik started as early as 1992. Today Lufthansa Technik provides the airline with Total Engine Support TES and Total Component Support TCS, as well as services covering Airframe Related Components (ARC) and landing gears. Lufthansa Technik had taken over the component support for the Bombardier Q400 fleet of the Croatian airline only recently. Croatia Airlines on the other hand has already performed C-checks for Lufthansa Technik for a while. During a C-check the entire aircraft is subjected to comprehensive checks, among them very detailed functional and structural tests. Airbus A320 family aircraft are due for C-checks after about 18 months. Each aircraft requires somewhere between 1,500 and 2,800 man hours. In Europe Lufthansa Technik has currently performed C-checks mainly at its German locations as well as at Lufthansa Technik Malta. The new cooperation with Croatia Airlines is another step to expand the global maintenance network of the company.

However the new hanger has strong competition from its neighbours – from Jat Tehnika in Belgrade servicing around 10 airlines and Adria’s CRJ hangers in Ljubljana which service CRJ aircraft for many airlines from the EU.

NOTE: Tomorrow we will publish the winter 2008/09 Croatia Airlines timetable and all the changes taking place.

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Red light for Croatia Airlines from FAA

The American federal aviation administration, the FAA, yesterday, on their Internet webpage published that Croatia does not meet the standards of the international civil aviation organisation, ICAO. The checks were carried out in January 2008 after Croatia Airlines signed an agreement with United Airlines. The deal allowed for passengers to fly with Croatia Airlines to a European destination and then continue their journey to America using United. Croatia has therefore been rated in the “category 2” class. This means that Croatia either does not have the needed laws and regulations for trans-Atlantic flights or employees in the country’s aviation industry are not trained in the areas of technical knowledge, aircraft inspection and so on.

Category 2 means that airlines from Croatia cannot fly towards the Unites States. In 2006 Serbia was placed on category 2 after having a category 1 status for years although many believed there were political reasons behind the decision due to the fact that the FAA gave the country’s national airline a mark of 98 out of a 100 which is more than enough for category 1 raising questions if Croatia deserved the category 2 status and joins nations such as Nauru, the Philippines, Swaziland and Zimbabwe. Both Bulgaria and Romania were part of category 2 until January 1, 2007 when the 2 countries entered FAA CAT1 upon their entry into the European Union.

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Croatia Airlines orders new aircraft

Bombardier Aerospace announced today that Croatia Airlines has signed a contract to acquire two Q400 NextGen turboprop airliners. The airline has also taken options for an additional four aircraft. The transaction represents the conversion of two options taken for Q400 aircraft which was announced on June 4, 2007 when Croatia Airlines also placed a firm order for four Q400 aircraft. Two of those aircraft have already been delivered.

Based on the list price for the Q400 NextGen aircraft, the value of the order announced today is approximately $57 million US. The value could increase to $180 million US if all four options are exercised. "The Q400 aircraft is at the very top of the global airline industry in terms of flight specifications, technological achievements and cost-effectiveness, said Ivan Misetic, President and Chief Executive Officer, Croatia Airlines. "We are convinced that by acquiring these aircraft, Croatia Airlines will reaffirm its position as a regional leader in Southeast Europe, besides contributing to connecting Croatia with the world and expanding the Croatian economy". "We are delighted that Croatia Airlines has placed an order for Q400 NextGen airliners so soon after the delivery of its first two Q400 aircraft earlier this year," said Gary R. Scott, president of Bombardier Commercial Aircraft. "It's a solid vote of confidence in these aircraft and we look forward to helping Croatia Airlines build a stronger presence in Europe". Read more

Another emergency on Croatia Airlines

A week after its emergency in Barcelona, a Croatia Airlines aircraft has had another serious emergency. Yesterday the new Dash 8 Q400 was forced to return to Zagreb’s Pleso Airport a few minutes following its departure after flames were seen from the aircrafts engine however the management of Croatia Airlines is denying the allegations from Croatian media. The incident sparks a major debate within Croatia concerning the purchase of the Dash 8’s and their reliability since the aircraft type has been plagued by incidents and mechanical failures across Europe for years.

In Croatia Airlines, the management states that there was no fire and that there was no emergency landing. The management claims that the pilot noticed on his instruments that the temperature of the fuel was higher than normal and decided to return the aircraft back to Zagreb a few minutes after departure. The aircraft which was transporting passengers from Zagreb to Zadar had 33 passengers onboard and the management is persistent in highlighting that none of the passengers were in danger. Croatia Airlines currently has 2 Dash Bombardiers which arrived this year and a further 2 will arrive next year in order to replace the aging ATR42’s. One of Croatia’s Dash 8’s has already experienced mechanical problems this year. Croatian media have criticised the national carrier for purchasing the “unreliable” aircraft referencing the fact that Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) withdrew the aircraft model from its fleet after the much publicised incident in Copenhagen in 2007.

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Emergency on flight OU8221

In the week which will be remembered by countless emergencies in commercial aviation, Croatia Airlines has joined the long list to experience an incident. High scholl graduates who were expected to return home to Zagreb from Barcelona, half an hour after midnight on Thursday their flight OU8221 experienced wheel corrosion after a bird flew into the engine as the aircraft was about to depart. A few birds flew into the engine and the aircraft was forced to come to a halt at full speed. Upon checks the engine was given the green light however one of the wheels was damaged due to the sudden termination of departure.

As the checks on the Airbus A319 took place until 6.30AM the pilots’ and cabin crews working hours ran out. In accordance to Croatian law, which regulates air traffic, the cabin crew, together with the students waited until midnight until they could depart. All of the 106 students spent the extra night in the hotel.

This week there were many incidents which involved Air France (overshot runway), RyanAir (loss of cabin air pressure), Sudan Airways (hijacking) and Itek Air (crash).

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Jat Airways: We will improve 3 star ranking

Serbian media have responded to the website airlinequality.com which ranks airlines from 1 to 5 stars depending on levels of service and other factors influencing the airlines operations. Although the rankings have been available for more than 4 years, as a Serbian tabloid discovered the website, which is well known amongst aviation fans (website), other more distinguished newspapers picked up the story.

Jat commented on the rankings saying it has motivated them to improve services. The Serbian national airline joins airlines such as SAS, Canadian Airlines, and Iberia and also EX-YU airlines Croatia Airlines and Adria Airways in the 3 star ranking. Jat Airways released a statement saying that “the airline feels proud of its ranking having in mind the extreme difficulties it had faced in the past 17 years. Because of the rankings we will particularly focus on improving customer service”. Jat’s rankings in detail can be seen here.

MAT Macedonian Airlines has received a 2 star rankings while B&H Airlines and Montenegro Airlines have not received rankings as yet. According to the website rankings are reviewed annually. For a full rankings review click here.

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Croatian aviation booms

In the first half of the year Croatian airliners have transported over 1 million passenger while both international and domestic airlines have transported over 2 million passengers in Croatia, a record for the country as the tourism industry continues to grow and the standard of living continues to increase. According to data from the Croatian agency of statistics, local Croatian airliners have transported nearly 1.03 million passengers (both domestic and international traffic included), which is a 7.1% increase compared to last year’s result. When including both local and international airlines the number of transported passengers rises to 2.08 million, a 9% increase compared to the same time last year. This only includes passengers that have either boarded or disembarked from scheduled international and domestic destinations by all airlines from or to Croatia.

In the Croatian domestic air market 456.000 passengers were transported, a large increase of 18.8% compared to last year. In the first half of the year 32.000 arrivals and departures were operated by foreign airlines, a 3.6% increase. The number of transported cargo has also significantly increased – by 10%. The large increase in passenger numbers can be largely thanked to the national airline which has introduced new lines, particularly in the region as well as the fact that more people are travelling due to an increase in living standards.

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Croatia Airline reports major loss in profit

The Croatia Airlines Group has, in the first quarter of this year, reported a profit of 823 thousand Kuna (just over 114 thousand Euros) while in the same period last year it had a profit of 30.2 million Kuna (4.1 million Euros). The 97% decrease in profit has, according to Croatia Airlines management, been caused by an increase in costs due to increased capacity. The management says that one must remember the purchase of new Bombardier aircraft and the increase in the price of fuel. The fuel increase has cost the airline 59.3 million Kuna. Croatia Airlines has increased the number of sold tickets within the country by 27% (at 259.03 million Kuna) while international sales have fallen by 1.3% to 479.9 million. The total expenditures of the Croatia Airlines Group this year stands at 850.25 million Kuna which is an increase of 19.3% compared to last year. Furthermore operational costs have increased by 20.67%. The most significant expenditure, as expected, is fuel which increased by 57%.

The results are nothing better for Slovenia’s national airline which will experience a financially difficult year again despite a strong start to the year and an increase in the number of passengers. You will be able to read about this in more detail tomorrow.
On Saturday there will also be news posted regarding the Jat Airways privatisation with two new surprising potential bidders. Stay tuned!

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Croatia Airlines reaches million and outdoes the rest

The national Croatian airline on the 25th of July, 2008 transported its one millionth passenger in the year, the fastest this number has ever been reached by the airline, a total 17 days earlier compared to last year. Furthermore Croatian is the first EX-YU airline to reach the one million passenger mark this year. Following it, Serbia’s Jat Airways which has just surpassed Slovenia’s Adria Airways while Montenegro Airlines becomes the strongest amongst the smaller carriers (MAT Macedonian Airlines and B&H Airlines). Passenger wise it is expected Croatia Airlines will once again win the year and will retain its title of largest EX-YU carrier in passenger terms although in fleet terms it is currently being beaten by Jat, only just. However no matter who has the most passengers or the bigest fleet the airline with the largest profit will be celebrating the most once the year ends.

This year’s one millionth passenger for Croatia Airline was flying between Zagreb and Rome via Split. She received two return tickets to a destination of her choice.

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New Dash 8 for Croatia Airlines arrives this evening

The second brand new Dash 8 Q400 is on its way to the Croatian capital Zagreb as it makes its delivery flight for Croatia Airlines. The expected arrival time in Zagreb is at 17.42. The flight DHC1 arrives from Toronto via Goose Bay, Reykjavik and New Castle. The new plane will be named Lika which is a mountainous region in central Croatia. The first Croatia Airlines Dash 8 Q400 was delivered a few months ago to the airline. Croatia Airlines has ordered a total of 4 Q400’s with the expected delivery of the other two aircraft in 2009. They have also signed an option for two more aircraft. The airline currently has 11 aircraft with the new Bombardier making it the 12th fleet member. Not included in the number is the Fokker 100 which Croatian Airlines wet leased from Trade Air for the 2008 summer season. The aircraft will replace the ageing ATR42. Read more

Croatia Airlines to increase ticket prices

The management at Croatian Airlines have announced in Zagreb that the airline’s ticket prices will increase if the current situation with fuel prices continues. Recently Adria Airways increased its ticket prices by 12 Euros as well as Croatia’s star alliance partners Lufthansa and Austrian. Furthermore Jat Airways increased ticket prices on selected lines between 1 and 7 Euros earlier this month. Fuel prices are affecting the aviation industry globally. Croatia Airlines has promised it will keep current prices as long as it can however any future rise in fuel prices will immediately increase fares. Croatia Airlines CEO Ivan Mišetić announced a rise in ticket prices as early as last month stating that expenditure of fuel prices rose from 12% last year to 35% this year.

Croatia Airlines management also states it has not increased its fares since 2002. Croatia Airlines is now spending 21 million Euros for fuel. In the first six month this year fuel expenditure has increased by 8 million Euros compared to the total 12 month expenditure in 2006.

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Second Bombardier for Croatian arriving soon

The second new Bombardier Q400 will be delivered to Croatian Airlines by the end of the month. The airline received the first Bombardier in late May while the second was expected in June. However there has been a significant delay in the delivery. Croatian media report that the new plane will be named Lika (a mountainous region in central Croatia) while the first Bombardier was named Slavonija. Croatian Airlines has ordered a total of 4 Q400’s with the expected delivery of the other two aircraft in 2009. They have also signed an option for two more aircraft.

The airline currently has 11 aircraft with the new Bombardier making it the 12th fleet member. Not included in the number is the Fokker 100 which Croatian Airlines wet leased from Trade Air for the 2008 summer season.

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Zagreb’s Pleso passes one million passenger mark

Zagreb’s Pleso International Airport on Tuesday saw its millionth passenger for 2008, an improvement compared to last year. The millionth passenger at Zagreb last year passed through its door on the 11th of July, in 2006 on the 7th of August and in 2005 on the 24th of August. The airport expects to welcome its 2 millionth passenger at the end of this year. Zagreb’s airport has seen an improvement in passenger numbers of 12% compared to last year in the period from January to July.

The lucky one millionth passenger (as seen above) received a 500 Euro voucher to spend at Pleso’s duty free and two return tickets from Croatia Airlines on any European destination. Read more

SAS Scandinavian Airlines expanding network throughout Croatia

On Monday the 31st of March in 2008, SAS introduced flights between Stockholm-Arlanda Airport and Zagreb, Croatia. The line between Stockholm and Zagreb is currently operated with departures on Monday and Friday afternoon. From the 30th of April frequencies were increased to three times a week with the new departures on Wednesday. The results from the flights are very good and have caused SAS to keep expanding their Croatia network. SAS Sverige started flights between Gothenburg and Split on June 7th and has continued to operate its Stockholm-Split service on Tuesday and Saturday. With all these direct lines between Sweden and Croatia SAS Sverige is now the largest operator of direct flights from Sweden to Croatia.

“With the new lines we continue our important expansion in Europe. The destinations in Croatia are a result from an increased interest in our flights from Sweden to Croatia, as a destination for holiday but also as a destination for business trips”, says Susanne Dahlberg, head of Commercial at SAS Sverige. Croatia’s national airline, Croatian Airlines, has no direct flights to any Swedish city.

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Croatia Airlines lands in Podgorica

Croatia Airlines believes it may soon become a regional leader in South Eastern Europe. This is what the CEO of the airline Ivan Mišetić said after the start of regular services to Podogrica yesterday and Priština 2 days ago. The first flight to Podogorica yesterday had 37 passengers on board. Officials from both countries waved goodbye to the aircraft at Zagreb’s airport. The flights are operated 3 times a week using a combination between the regional ATR42 aircraft and the A320. A return ticket from Zagreb’s Pleso Airport to Podogrica will cost you 140 Euros.

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Croatia Airlines CEO becomes AEA chairman

At the annual meeting of the Association of European Airlines (AEA) in Brussels, which within it contains the most important airlines in Europe, have selected Ivan Mišetić, CEO of Croatian Airlines, as the chairman of the organisation starting in January 2009 and ending at the beginning of 2010. It was also confirmed that Mišetić will become the advisor of the AEA president Peter Hertman from KLM effective immediately. The organisation contains 33 airlines. From the ex-Yugoslav region these include Adria Airways, Jat Airways and Croatia Airlines which entered in 1998. The appointment of Mišetić could greatly improve Croatia Air’s standing within the world of European airlines. Read more