Croatia Airlines is set to retire one of its oldest Airbus jets, the A320 registered 9A-CTJ, after almost 23 years of service, with the aircraft operating its last revenue flight for the carrier just over a week ago. As a result, Croatia Airlines will now have twelve aircraft in its fleet. The carrier is tying its fleet renewal to the European Green Deal policy. “Taking into account trends on Croatia’s highly competitive aviation market, fuel prices and CO2 emissions, as well as the goals of the European Green Deal, the initiatives defined in the post-Covid strategy have no alternative and its implementation takes advantage of the opportunities that will be on offer as a result of air traffic recovery over the next two years”, the company said.
The carrier has dubbed its upcoming transformation as a “strategy for success”. It noted, “The post-Covid strategy confirms that Croatia Airlines is to increase the efficiency of its business operations and competitiveness, and that, in the coming period, the company is to manage key operational and structural challenges that include fleet renewal, and flight network optimisation throughout the year”. It added, “With a view of achieving the goals defined by the post-Covid strategy, Croatia Airlines will further digitalise its business operations by transitioning to a new SAP [Systems Applications and Products] in order to use data more effectively. It will also look to hone management skills at all levels, insist on a balanced focus on quality, entrepreneurship, cost awareness and innovation, and appreciate and value cooperation and initiatives put forward by employees and social partners, whose constructive involvement will unquestionably contribute to achieving the goals of the strategy and increasing productivity”.
It all sounds nice on paper but I’m interested to see how exactly they plan to implement all of this if they have been unable to implement it over the past ten years.
ReplyDeleteSomehow to me it seems more and more likely government will find EU funds for OU’s fleet renewal under the Green Deal policy. And because of that they will choose European Airbus over Brazilian Embraer.
ReplyDeleteRyanair would crucify them if they attempted such a thing.
DeleteActually the A220 is Canadian if we have to be precise.
DeleteYes, but we all know it now as a220, I don't know many people still calling it BCS100 or 300.
DeleteRegardless what name Airbus put on it, the Government of Quebec still holds 25% shares on the A220. It's also manufactured in Canada and US. Calling it European only because of a name is naivety at best.
DeleteIt's a matter of time before they open A220 assembly in EU as its popularity grows
DeleteDoes anyone know when the government plans to approve this post-Covid strategy?
ReplyDeleteWhat's the rush ? They have already been sitting on it for a few months ... good things take time !
DeleteThis process is moving so slowly. If the government now has to adopt this plan, it probably means that its implementation won't start until summer 2022. By that time, Ryanair will probably announce another 10 routes from Zagreb.
DeleteSo basically nothing will change until next summer at least. That's a year too late.
DeleteUnofficially it has been approved, however the new type is still being assessed. Officially, it will be made public in the next few months.
Delete^ Good. Looking forward to finally getting clarity on when we can expect new jets.
DeleteReally hoping things will change for the better.
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to read Pozdrav iz Rijeke's comments on this topic as the day progresses ... will be fun to watch !
ReplyDeleteIt won't be fun to watch. Before posting, I read all comments. Eighty percent of them saying what I am saying - nothing will change, they will continue to feed LH and lose money, they will remain small insignificant corruptive company, they have tree times more administrative employees than needed, and they are company with biggest potential in ex-yu, and wider, which haven't taken any single opportunity to take advantage of that potential, and it will highly likely remain so in the future. If that is funny for you, very well, for me, and majority of people here, and not only here, is not funny at all, but you are very welcome to laugh as much as you like, God bless you
DeleteJust empty promises. I doubt there will be any sustainable changes both in management or operations.
ReplyDeleteDid they own the A320 that is retiring or was it leased?
ReplyDeleteIt was on lease since it was acquired. They will return it to the owner. The other A320 is owned by OU.
DeleteI'm surprised that they return such an old aircraft to the lessor. I assume it is going to be scrapped and in that case, I thought it would be cheaper to buy it from the lessor and sell it on directly to the recycling company than having to unnecessarily modify the aircraft to the condition required by the lessor first.
DeleteBefore making a post-covid strategy they first need to survive covid.
ReplyDeleteWell we are two years in and they are still alive, so I think they will make it.
DeleteWould be nice but I think it's far fetched, especially getting 15 planes.
ReplyDeleteWith Q400s that would be over 20 aircraft in their fleet.
DeleteBravo Hrvatska!
ReplyDeleteI would rather see them first focus on new markets and deal with Ryanair, which is what they should have been doing 6 months ago.
ReplyDeleteLike I said below, competing with FR in middle of pandemic won't be easy. But I feel like they haven't even tried.
DeleteTheir clock is ticking
DeleteA220 will be ideal for OU.
ReplyDeleteIt is also very expensive.
DeleteSo the entire existing Airbus fleet will be retired within 5 years?
ReplyDeleteThat's the plan.
DeleteHope it happens
ReplyDeleteI've lost all hope for OU.
DeleteThis will end up like their plans to get 100 seater plane or open bases in ex-Yu cities.
ReplyDeleteThey are finally waking up!
ReplyDeleteNo matter how it ends, at least something is finally happening at OU.
DeleteIn the end, nothing will change.
DeleteThis is like waking up, only to realise that you've woken up inside a coffin that has already been buried.
DeleteThat has been OU's problem for many years. Little innovation, just going through the motions.
DeleteNow is the best time for all our region's airlines to get much newer fleets for a price they would not have dreamt off 2 years ago.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteNo chance
ReplyDeleteHow much will this cost?
ReplyDeleteHundreds of millions will be needed for replacement aircraft, consulting, IT migrations, management training etc
DeleteIf two months of flights between Osijek and Munich is part of their new strategy then I don't hold high hopes.
ReplyDeleteThis is the second wave of expansion, you forget the first wave during summer (seasonal 1 pw SPU-PRG).
DeleteHaha true
Delete"and appreciate and value cooperation and initiatives put forward by employees and social partners, whose constructive involvement will unquestionably contribute to achieving the goals of the strategy and increasing productivity”.
ReplyDeleteFor this to happen, management has to be replaced.
They should go and headhunt the 2 foreigners running JU
DeleteConsidering JU has been competing with Wizz Air for years and is still around and expanding, maybe they should. It took JU a day to react to Wizz Air's latest expansion. Six months after Ryanair started flying to ZAG, I'm still waiting to see any reaction from OU.
DeleteI'm trying to think all the routes that could be added with so many aircraft.
ReplyDeleteTake your pick. There are so many. But window for them opening new routes is becoming smaller with Ryan launching so many.
DeleteI don't think there are many. Key markets are being taken up by Ryanair and I'm sure there will announce more new routes for next summer.
DeleteTime to revisit plans to open a base in LJU.
ReplyDeleteThere is still an opportunity there.
DeleteI think it is too expensive to do something like that with limited chances for success.
DeleteThey can do W pattern flights like what they are doing with Osijek at the moment. That way you don't have the added cost of basing a plane in LJU.
DeleteIn summer season that would mean they would operate with one plane less and in summer they need all the aircraft they have.
DeleteWill they make the post Covid document public?
ReplyDeleteI doubt an airline will willingly publish its future strategy for competitors to see.
DeleteWell at least it seems BCG didn't conclude that feeding LH hubs is the best way forward and the only way to make money, which is good.
ReplyDeleteI think this is a positive step. Let's hope for a good outcome.
ReplyDeleteWhat can Croatia Airlines realistically do to turn things around?
ReplyDeleteThey could wake up, launch new routes, develop their product...
DeleteUnfortunately, in the middle of the pandemic, I'm not sure OU has the strength to compete against Ryanair in any way. Some very challenging times coming.
DeleteUnfortunately I don't see a way out of this for OU.
DeleteGood I support this initiative.
ReplyDeleteOf course BCG suggested technology innovation since the company sells a suite of products for planning and control for airline operations. So even more money for BCG.
ReplyDeleteInteresting
DeleteIn my opinion they should get another 4 Q400s and limit Airbus fleet to 4 planes max.
ReplyDeleteThey have a lot of work ahead of them
ReplyDeleteAlmost all EU countries have healthy competition and their flag carriers have adapted to LCC. Time to restructure and move on with reality.
ReplyDeleteThey had many years to prepare for serious competition and it was bound to happen at some point. They must have been aware of that.
Delete^ True but it could have not come at a worse time, during the pandemic.
DeleteI wouldn't write off OU that quickly.
DeleteSo more state money on the horizon for OU?
ReplyDeleteWithout a doubt
DeleteThis airline actually has a lot of potential. When you put it down on paper, there are so many opportunities but things have to change from the ground up in the company in order to achieve any of them.
ReplyDeleteThe airline with the most wasted potential in the whole exYU
DeleteZagreb is a small to midium sized city of maybe 1m in the great area. That is not that many potential pax. even if you expand the coverage area you get no more than 2-2.5m potential pax. That is a rather small market place.
DeleteThey should focus on having a good network rather than spending millions on new fleet .
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry, but I beg to differ. The absolute first priority and focus is to get the best team in place. With the right team in place, then you can go and do all of the other needed things
DeleteBut what can Croatia Airlines really do to stay competitive against Ryanair? I just don't see a solution.
ReplyDeleteCroatia Airlines still has the advantage over Ryanair by flying to main European airports. Also they carry a lot of connecting traffic through European airports.
DeleteMore routes to Balkans, good prices, new fleet as mentioned in the article . A good example for your question is Athens with Aegean Airlines which has successfully managed to 'destroy' Ryanair.
DeleteAnon@10.28 - yes, Aegean managed to negate the growth of Ryanair for the simple fact that they had (and still have) an excellent CEO and mgt team to steer the ship. Wish we could say that about OU
DeleteChoosing ERJ-195, maybe. Lower noise, no middle seats... Porter did that.
DeleteThey should explore new routes.
ReplyDeleteI wonder at what cost
ReplyDeleteWith Ryanair having expanded as much as it did, that ship has sailed.
DeleteSorry the above comment was meant for anonymous @11.13.
DeleteCroatia Airlines will continue to do what it has been doing for the past 20 years and the govt will continue to provide them with funds from time to time to cover their losses. Nothing will change like nothing ever changes with them. They will simply move along as they have done so far.
ReplyDeletetrue dat.
DeleteOU with 12 planes has 1050 employees.
ReplyDeleteBaltic with 32 planes has 1200 employees.
I am sorry but I don't see OU existing without government subsidises - ever.
This tax payer funded government vanity project will never be a serious player until it gets rid of half its over bloated workforce and is run by a team of professionals, not friends of friends of the government.
DeleteAgree. Only you forgot daughters, sons, cousins, godfathers, nephews, spouses, mistresses.... It's much much more than just friends and friends of the friends within the Party
DeleteThat does sound like a lot of OU employees...
DeleteBut are the two airlines' workforces fully comparable? I know they both have in-house maintenance, but what about ground handling? That's often a large number of people that are either employed directly by the airline or outsourced.
The E2 looks nice in Croatia Airlines' livery.
ReplyDeleteI hope things improve
ReplyDeleteLet's hope we see the first changes with the 2022 summer season.
ReplyDeleteI like both the E2 and A220. Binter, a Spanish regional airline based in the Canary Islands seemed to have had a very good experience with the E2.
ReplyDeleteAs for the A220, well, it needs no intro. If Air Baltik deploys them from Riga to the Middle East then boy oh boy, that's a game changer aircraft!
How will OU compete against RyanAir, Wizz, EasyJet and all the others who have announced routes when they will have a smaller airplane and higher costs due to the structure?
ReplyDeleteSeem likes with RyanAir and Wizz taking a lot of planes this year and next they can easily put a lot in Croatia run bottom fares and wait for OU to run out of money.
One thing really amazes me here. SLO/CRO left YU to be done with old-communist/socialist ways, eastern mentality, byzantine thinking. They made a real effort to project 'we are not balkans' moto, to show their western capacity and cultural orientation, superiority vs. former 'eastern leaning' ex Yu states. If we examine this from the airline perspective (others clearly show some truth, no doubt), SLO lost its airline, it was promising at best, nothing special. CRO was full of we will not be like that forsaken JAT, where Belgrade employed all the families of its communist cronies for years. It turns out OU outdid JAT 10x more, they just did it with 'cosmetically superior' exterior, but in the essence they could teach a lesson to old JAT directors of how to be passive, semi-corrupt, inefficient, how to employ cousins, uncles, etc and have a bloated back office staff which drains the life out of the 'front end work horse'. And while I am not signing total praise to AS but clearly AS is way more nimble, way more proactive, way more efficient and with some desire to make profit and fight for the marketplace............funny how in reality roles and results are actually switched.
ReplyDelete@SF
DeleteYou just explained basic reason why I am so disappointed about OU and why Party aparatchiks praising it here on daily basis are attacking me for that criticism.
Btw I don't understand, how did Croatia manage to make their transfers, let's say Skopje to Western Europe- Brussels, Amsterdam, almost impossible? Either too expensive compared to Austrian or timings are very bad. Did someone mess their timetable or this would be the consequence of reduced flights so they cannot compete with Air Serbia and Austrian?
ReplyDeleteFor instance: BRU- SKP- BRU (via Vienna) = cca 180 EUR RT (Austrian); Croatia (around 350 EUR). Twice the price, and only if you fly Monday you'd make the connection. It seems to me they've lost a lot of transfer passengers to OS and JU.