Croatia Airlines posts €13 million loss

Croatia Airlines registered a net loss of 13.1 million euros during the first three quarters of the year, up from a loss of 6.5 million euros during the pre-pandemic 2019. However, its financial performance so far this year has notably improved on the 22.2-million-euro loss it generated in 2021. In the third quarter alone, traditionally its strongest, the airline’s net profit amounted to 8.6 million euros. It marks the carrier’s first profitable quarter since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. Croatia Airlines noted its financial performance was strongly affected by high fuel prices which negatively impacted its balance sheet by 23 million euros.

Operationally, the carrier handled 1.087.997 passengers during the first three quarters, up 95.5% on the same period last year, but down 36.1% on 2019, or 613.574 fewer travellers. The carrier welcomed 263.896 customers on domestic flights and a further 783.635 passengers on international services. A total of 40.446 travellers were handled on charters, which made up 4% of total flight operations so far this year. The average cabin load factor on domestic services amounted to 56.5%, up 11.1 points on last year but down from 69% three years ago. On international flights, the average cabin occupancy stood at 61.7%, up 9.2 points on 2021 but still down 12.3 points on its pre-Covid figures.

Ticket sales during the first three quarters have improved two-fold on the same period last year. Existing booking for the coming six months, from November 2022 through to April 2023, show a significant recovery compared to the same period last year and has increased by 70%, but it is still lower by 30% on the November 2019 to April 2020 timeframe. “The behaviour of those buying and booking tickets has changed significantly compared to the pre-pandemic years. During the crisis, dynamic late bookings have been prevalent, which has continued into 2022”, Croatia Airlines said.