Croatia Airlines Ltd. is the flag carrier of

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

. Its

headquarters Headquarters (often referred to as HQ) notes the location where most or all of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. The term is used in a wide variety of situations, including private sector corporations, non-profits, mil ...

are in the

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

neighborhood of Buzin and operates domestic and international services mainly to European destinations. Its main hub is Zagreb International Airport with focus cities being

Dubrovnik Dubrovnik, historically known as Ragusa, is a city in southern Dalmatia, Croatia, by the Adriatic Sea. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean, a Port, seaport and the centre of the Dubrovni ...

, Split, and Zadar.

Flight International ''Flight International'', formerly ''Flight'', is a monthly magazine focused on aerospace. Published in the United Kingdom and founded in 1909 as "A Journal devoted to the Interests, Practice, and Progress of Aerial Locomotion and Transport", i ...

3 April 2007 Since November 2004, the airline has been a member of

Star Alliance Star Alliance is an airline alliance headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany. Founded on 14 May 1997, it was the world's first global airline alliance. Star Alliance has 25 member airlines that operate a combined fleet of over 5,000 aircraft, servi ...

History

Early years

The airline was established in June 1991 with no planes and already with poor economic prospects. Later in 1991, Croatia Airlines signed an agreement with Adria Airways which allowed it to lease a McDonnell Douglas MD-82 to commence domestic jet services between Zagreb and Split. Croatia Airlines acquired three

Boeing 737 The Boeing 737 is an American narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Boeing Renton Factory, Renton factory in Washington (state), Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the t ...

s from

Lufthansa Deutsche Lufthansa AG (), trading as the Lufthansa Group, is a German aviation group. Its major and founding subsidiary airline Lufthansa German Airlines, branded as Lufthansa, is the flag carrier of Germany. It ranks List of largest airlin ...

and became a member of the International Air Transport Association (IATA). As the flag carrier of newly independent Croatia, the airline launched its first international service on 5 April 1992, from Zagreb to Frankfurt. In 1993, two new

ATR 42 The ATR 42 is a regional airliner produced by Franco-Italian manufacturer ATR (aircraft manufacturer), ATR, with final assembly in Toulouse, France. On 4 November 1981, the aircraft was launched with ATR, as a joint venture between French Aér ...

s and two more 737s joined the fleet and representative offices were opened in several European cities and the company bought the travel agency Obzor to organize travel packages for groups and individuals. By 1994, Croatia Airlines had welcomed its millionth passenger. Later that year,

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

flew the airline on a trip to Croatia. In 1995, another ATR 42 was welcomed, as was the two millionth passenger. In 1996, Croatia Airlines became the first airline to fly to

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...

after the Bosnian War. In 1997, the airline's first Airbus A320 arrived and was named ''Rijeka''. In 1998, another first plane of a new type arrived when the airline's first Airbus A319 joined the fleet. This airplane was named ''Zadar''. In the same year, Croatia Airlines became a member of the Association of European Airlines (AEA). By 1999, two more Airbus jets had arrived and Croatia Airlines started selling the

Boeing The Boeing Company, or simply Boeing (), is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product support s ...

part of their fleet. The airline flew its five millionth passenger.

Development since 2000

In 2000, two more Airbus planes arrived and an automated ticketing system was inaugurated. In 2001, the airline received maintenance and technical performing certificates from the German aviation authority Luftfahrt-Bundesamt. On 18 November 2004, Croatia Airlines joined

Airbus Airbus SE ( ; ; ; ) is a Pan-European aerospace corporation. The company's primary business is the design and manufacturing of commercial aircraft but it also has separate Airbus Defence and Space, defence and space and Airbus Helicopters, he ...

and Croatia Airlines announced on 22 October 2008 the order of four additional 132-seat A319 aircraft, to be delivered from 2013. By March 2009, the airline also retired its fleet of three

short-haul aircraft, after operating the type since 1993, and replaced it with a fleet of six Bombardier Dash 8 Q400s, the first of which was delivered in May 2008. The airline carried its 20,000,000th passenger in July 2009, and has carried well over 1 million passengers annually from 2000. Croatia Airlines and maintenance partner

announced on 23 May 2011 the introduction of new slim-line Recaro economy seats to be retrofitted into certain A320 Family aircraft from summer 2012, increasing seating capacity by two rows. Losses have been made for several years; in November 2012, the government announced that it would provide HRK 800m ($ 136m) for Croatia Airlines to become cost-effective from 2013 on. The government is seeking to restructure the airline, which includes plans to cut its workforce by ten percent within two years and it is also looking for a strategic investor. In February 2020, Croatia Airlines announced two new seasonal flights to

Podgorica Podgorica ( cnr-Cyrl, Подгорица; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Montenegro, largest city of Montenegro. The city is just north of Lake Skadar and close to coastal destinations on the Adriatic Sea. Histor ...

and

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

operated by Bombardier Dash 8 Q400. In April 2024, Croatia Airlines concluded an agreement on the lease of an Airbus A319 aircraft with the Croatian airline Fly Air41, which is otherwise a sister company to SundAir.

Fleet renewal

In October 2022, Croatia Airlines announced plans to reduce their fleet and replace all current aircraft with six new Airbus A220-300 by 2026. The airline decided against the competing Embraer E2 as it was able to use downpayments for a former and since cancelled orders for Airbus A319s nearly 15 years ago.aerotelegraph.com
(German) 5 October 2022 In November 2022, it has been stated that the airline will operate up to 15 A220 aircraft with 9 additional aircraft to be leased.flightglobal.com - Croatia Airlines to operate up to 15 A220s as it places firm order
29 November 2022 In January 2023, a lease was agreed for the first six aircraft of four A220-300 aircraft and two A220-100 aircraft. The lease was concluded with Air Lease Corporation Clover based in the Republic of Ireland as the lessor. In September 2023, Croatia Airlines sold and leased back its entire

fleet from lessor World Star Aviation. Four Airbus A319 and one Airbus A320 were sold prior to the Airbus A220 delivery. In November 2023, Croatia Airlines has started retiring aircraft prior to its first Airbus A220 deliveries with the first aircraft to leave the fleet being an Airbus A319-100. The arrival of the first aircraft was confirmed for July 2024, while the second new A220 was expected at the end of the same year. The following six aircraft would be delivered in 2025, then four in 2026, and the last three in 2027. On 30 July 2024, first airplane named Zagreb, landed on Zagreb Airport. Second airplane arrived on 20 December 2024 and it was named Split. Third airplane arrived on 14 May 2025 and it was named Vukovar.

Corporate affairs

Ownership

Croatia Airlines is a joint-stock company. Its share capital is divided into 92.388 million ordinary shares ():

Business trends

The key trends for the Croatia Airlines Group over recent years are shown below (as at year ending 31 December):

Destinations

, Croatia Airlines flies to the following destinations:

Codeshare agreements

Croatia Airlines has codeshare agreements with the following airlines: *

Air Canada Air Canada is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Canada, by size and passengers carried. Air Canada is headquartered in the borough of Saint-Laurent in the city of Montreal. The airline, founded in 1937, provides scheduled and cha ...

* Air France * Air India * Asiana Airlines * Austrian Airlines * Brussels Airlines * ITA Airways * KLM Royal Dutch Airlines * LOT Polish Airlines *

Singapore Airlines Singapore Airlines (abbreviation: SIA or SQ) is the flag carrier of Singapore with its Airline hub, hub located at Changi Airport. Considered to be one of the world's best carriers, the airline is ranked as a 5-star airline as well as ranked ...

* Swiss International Air Lines * TAP Air Portugal * Turkish Airlines *

United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois that operates an extensive domestic and international route network across the United States and six ...

Fleet

Current fleet

, Croatia Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft:

Former fleet

Croatia Airlines formerly operated the following aircraft types:

Notes

References

External links

* {{authority control Airlines of Croatia Airlines established in 1989 Government-owned airlines Star Alliance Croatian brands Companies based in Zagreb Government-owned companies of Croatia Croatian companies established in 1989