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| Founded | 7 August 1989; 36 years ago (1989-08-07) (as Zagal - Zagreb Airlines) | ||||||
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| Hubs | Zagreb | ||||||
| Focus cities | |||||||
| Frequent-flyer program | Miles & More | ||||||
| Alliance | Star Alliance | ||||||
| Subsidiaries |
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| Fleet size | 15 | ||||||
| Destinations | 31[1] | ||||||
| Headquarters | Zagreb,Croatia | ||||||
| Key people | Jasmin Bajić (President andCEO)[2] | ||||||
| Employees | 911 (2023) | ||||||
| Website | www | ||||||
Croatia Airlines Ltd. is theflag carrier ofCroatia. Itsheadquarters are in theZagreb neighborhood ofBuzin and operates domestic and international services mainly to European destinations. Its main hub isZagreb International Airport with focus cities beingDubrovnik,Split, andZadar.[3] Since November 2004, the airline has been a member ofStar Alliance.
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The airline was established in June 1991 with no planes and already with poor economic prospects. Later in 1991, Croatia Airlines signed an agreement withAdria Airways which allowed it to lease aMcDonnell Douglas MD-82 to commence domestic jet services between Zagreb andSplit. Croatia Airlines acquired threeBoeing 737s fromLufthansa and became a member of theInternational Air Transport Association (IATA). As theflag carrier of newly independent Croatia, the airline launched its first international service on 5 April 1992, from Zagreb to Frankfurt.[4]
In 1993, two newATR 42s 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 flew the airline on a trip to Croatia.[5]
In 1995, another ATR 42 was welcomed, as was the two millionth passenger. In 1996, Croatia Airlines became the first airline to fly toSarajevo after the Bosnian War. In 1997, the airline's firstAirbus A320 arrived and was namedRijeka. In 1998, another first plane of a new type arrived when the airline's firstAirbus A319 joined the fleet. This airplane was namedZadar. 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 theBoeing part of their fleet. The airline flew its five millionth passenger.[citation needed]
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 theGerman aviation authorityLuftfahrt-Bundesamt. On 18 November 2004, Croatia Airlines joinedStar Alliance.[citation needed]
Airbus and Croatia Airlines announced on 22 October 2008 the order of four additional 132-seat A319 aircraft, to be delivered from 2013.[6] By March 2009, the airline also retired its fleet of threeATR 42 short-haul aircraft, after operating the type since 1993, and replaced it with a fleet of sixBombardier Dash 8 Q400s, the first of which was delivered in May 2008.[citation needed]
The airline carried its 20,000,000th passenger in July 2009,[7] and has carried well over 1 million passengers annually from 2000.[8]
Croatia Airlines and maintenance partnerLufthansa announced on 23 May 2011 the introduction of new slim-lineRecaro economy seats to be retrofitted into certainA320 Family aircraft from summer 2012, increasing seating capacity by two rows.[9][10]
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.[11]
In February 2020, Croatia Airlines announced two new seasonal flights toPodgorica andSofia operated byBombardier Dash 8 Q400.[12]
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 toSundAir.[13]
In October 2022, Croatia Airlines announced plans to reduce their fleet and replace all current aircraft with six newAirbus A220-300 by 2026. The airline decided against the competingEmbraer E2 as it was able to use downpayments for a former and since cancelled orders for Airbus A319s nearly 15 years ago.[14] In November 2022, it has been stated that the airline will operate up to 15 A220 aircraft with 9 additional aircraft to be leased.[15] 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.[16]
In September 2023, Croatia Airlines sold and leased back its entireAirbus fleet from lessor World Star Aviation. FourAirbus A319 and oneAirbus A320 were sold prior to theAirbus A220 delivery.[17] In November 2023, Croatia Airlines has started retiring aircraft prior to its firstAirbus A220 deliveries with the first aircraft to leave the fleet being anAirbus A319-100.[18] 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.[19] On 30 July 2024, first airplane named Zagreb, landed onZagreb Airport.[20] Second airplane arrived on 20 December 2024 and it was named Split.[21] Third airplane arrived on 14 May 2025 and it was named Vukovar.[22] Sixth airplane arrived on 30 August 2025, named Zadar.[23]
Croatia Airlines is a joint-stock company. Its share capital is divided into 92.388 million ordinary shares (as of 2023[update]):[24]
| Share owner | Number of shares | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Republic of Croatia | 91,610,821 | 99.16% |
| Zagreb Airport Ltd. | 477,121 | 0.52% |
| Hrvatska poštanska banka for the Republic of Croatia | 173,768 | 0.19% |
| JANAF | 22,000 | 0.02% |
| Others | 104,243 | 0.11% |
The key trends for the Croatia Airlines Group over recent years are shown below (as at year ending 31 December):[25]
| Year | Turnover (€ m) | Net profit (€ m) | Number of employees[a] | Number of passengers (m) | Passenger load factor (%) | Number of aircraft[a] | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 204 | 0.13 | 1,052 | 1.7 | 64.9 | 10 | [26] |
| 2008 | 229 | −11.9 | 1,113 | 1.8 | 65.2 | 10 | [26] |
| 2009 | 192 | −26.3 | 1,131 | 1.7 | 61.4 | 12 | [27] |
| 2010 | 196 | −20.7 | 1,117 | 1.6 | 62.0 | 13 | [28] |
| 2011 | 234 | −15.0 | 1,101 | 1.8 | 67.0 | 13 | [29] |
| 2012 | 237 | −64.7 | 1,086 | 1.9 | 69.1 | 13 | [30] |
| 2013 | 219 | 0.19 | 1,041 | 1.7 | 68.8 | 12 | [31] |
| 2014 | 218 | 1.1 | 908 | 1.8 | 69.2 | 12 | [32] |
| 2015 | 214 | 1.9 | 898 | 1.8 | 69.7 | 12 | [33] |
| 2016 | 215 | 1.0 | 967 | 1.9 | 70.7 | 12 | [34] |
| 2017 | 233 | 3.5 | 924 | 2.1 | 75.2 | 12 | [35] |
| 2018 | 236 | −10.9 | 959 | 2.1 | 73.5 | 12 | [36][37] |
| 2019 | 236 | −10.6 | 999 | 2.1 | 73.6 | 12 | [38] |
| 2020 | 100 | −47.5 | 980 | 0.61 | 49.6 | 12 | [39] |
| 2021 | 112 | −38.3 | 920 | 0.78 | 49.9 | 13 | [40] |
| 2022 | 210 | −18.2 | 909 | 1.4 | 62.0 | 12 | [41] |
| 2023 | 252 | 2.0 | 911 | 1.7 | 65.3 | 12 | [42] |
| 2024 | 267 | −19.6 | 943 | 1.8 | 65.1 | 14 | [43] |
As of August 2024[update], Croatia Airlines flies to the following destinations:[44]
Croatia Airlines hascodeshare agreements with the following airlines:[51]
As of September 2025[update], the Croatia Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft:[52][53]
| Aircraft | In service | Orders | Passengers[52] | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airbus A220-100 | 1 | 1 | 127[16] | Deliveries since July 2024.[15][19][20][54][55] |
| Airbus A220-300 | 6[23] | 7 | 149[19] | |
| Airbus A319-100 | 4 | — | 144 | To be retired and replaced byAirbus A220 by 2027.[54][56] |
| Airbus A320-200 | 2 | — | 174 | |
| De Havilland Canada Dash 8-Q400 | 4[57] | — | 76 | |
| Total | 17 | 8 | ||
Croatia Airlines formerly operated the following aircraft types:
| Aircraft | Total | Introduced | Retired | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ATR 42-300QC | 3 | 1993 | 2009 | [citation needed] |
| BAe 146-200 | 2 | 2000 | 2002 | [citation needed] |
| Boeing 737-200 | 5 | 1992 | 1999 | [citation needed] |
| Fokker 100 | 1 | 2001 | 2005 | [citation needed] |
| McDonnell Douglas MD-82 | 2 | 1990 | 1991 | [citation needed] |
Media related toCroatia Airlines at Wikimedia Commons
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