Croatia Airlines is expected to begin phasing out its Dash 8 turboprop fleet next year as it prepares to become a single-type operator of the Airbus A220 jet. The carrier will take delivery of two A220 aircraft next year, followed by six in 2025, four in 2026 and the remaining three in 2027. Croatia Airlines’ existing six-member turboprop fleet is under an operational lease. The agreement was concluded in 2007 with GOAL (German Operating Aircraft Leasing), a joint venture between Lufthansa and KGAL, for a period of ten years. GOAL has since sold some of the units utilised by Croatia Airlines to other lessors. The lease for the Dash 8s was later extended for two aircraft until 2024 and for the rest until 2025. Once the leases expire, the airline will return them in order to make way for the new A220s, the first of which is to enter the fleet in June of next year.
The 76-seat Dash fleet has been a workhorse for the airline. This year, the turboprops have been scheduled on a total of 15.783 flights compared to the Airbus jet fleet which was utilised on 11.279 flights. Furthermore, the Dash aircraft spent more time in the air than the Airbuses, with 11.436 hours of flying time during the first three quarters of this year, compared to 8.559 hours of flying by the carrier’s seven-strong Airbus fleet. “Taking delivery of new aircraft and phasing out old ones is a huge job that requires the commitment of everyone in the company, because it is a major project that necessitates all of us to give it our all. At one point we will have three aircraft types in our fleet, which is operationally, financially and in every other sense very demanding”, Croatia Airlines’ CEO, Jasmin Bajić said recently.
The incoming A220-100s and A220-300s will boast 127 and 149 seats per frame respectively. As a result, Croatia Airlines will have significantly more capacity compared to its existing fleet structure. However, the CEO of airBaltic, Martin Gauss, recently said his airline was successful in transitioning from the Dash turboprops to the A220s. “We had a Q400 operation - twelve of them. We decided to no longer use them because, for us, the business case to fly the A220 instead of the turboprop was positive. People ask us, how can you use a 76-seat turboprop and replace it with a 150-seat jet, but we are proof that it can be done. We had a positive business case on all the routes we fly”, Mr Gauss, who has promoted the A220 across the world, including Croatia, said.
Double the capacity...for whom? Like, how will the routes from Mostar, Osijek, Rijeka ever be viable? What are they thinking
ReplyDeleteThey just need to stop prices. Their revenue management is awful. I was on a €250 flight to SJJ which had seven passengers on board. Tickets should have been €75.
Delete*drop prices not stop prices
DeleteAdria was the same. The ticket cost 300 EUR and then you went on the plane and there were 6 people on it! No wonder.
DeleteThe universe is beginning to phase out Croatia Airlines
DeleteBravo Hrvatska!
ReplyDeleteLOL!!!
DeleteBravo OU, Bravo Hrvatska best move in the long time. Croatia is building aviation giant in EU skies !!!
DeleteHahahahahahahaha Hahahahahahahaha, give me some of the stuff you are taking, please... 😅
Delete99% of passengers hate flying with propeller aircraft.
ReplyDeleteI don't. It always feels more like you're actually flying when you're on one.
DeleteWhat a stupid comment! 99% of the people hate flying in propeller planes? What are you, an air travel research institute? I fly regularly to Croatia from Munich, I love the Dashs, easy going and most of the times amazing views. So please don't generalize! Thanks
DeleteFlew Air Serbia's ATR last Wednesday BEG-LJU. Excellent, smooth ride. I quite enjoyed it.
DeleteLow IQ comment. Vast majority of people have no clue or preference on aircraft type, but they definitely have a strong preference on price and flight schedule (frequency)
DeleteI personally prefer flying propeller Aircraft.
DeleteLets be honest. Average person see a propeller as a sign of old, not well developed, dusty. Thats why. Here we all love planes so we are not commonr or general public.
DeleteDefinitely a low IQ comment.
DeleteHe simply dislikes Turboprops and `prefers other aircraft types, nothing wrong with that. Plus, the Dashes indeed had problems in the fast with their landing gears and nearly classified as coffins:
Deletehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Bombardier_Dash_8_landing_gear_incidents
OU is now viewed as a future A220 operator, once it gets them the Dashes will me removed from the OU and maybe given to another country in need of Dashes maybe in Africa.
Interesting, so they may keep A319/320s in the fleet longer than the Dash 8s
ReplyDeleteOperationally it makes sense.
DeleteIt makes sense because Q400 pilots will be absent from flying as they start going for A220 transition training.
Delete“The agreement was concluded in 2007 with GOAL (German Operating Aircraft Leasing), a joint venture between Lufthansa and KGAL”
ReplyDeletewow, what a surprise!
LH really sucks out every penny from its 'partners'.
DeleteNobody forced Croatia Airlines to do this. It enslaved itself
DeleteIt was an under the table deal between Misetic (then CEO of OU which turned out was sitting on the Luftahansa Cityline board AT THE SAME TIME) who decided to replace ATR with these Dash 8s conveniently owned by Lufthansa.
Delete@ 9:05 and 9:07
DeleteExcellent points. Fully agree.
@09:09 He was never on the board of Lufthansa Cityline.
DeleteYes he was.
DeleteThe CEO of Croatia Airlines, Ivan Mišetić, has found himself in big trouble. The “Nacional” portal has reported that Mišetić is one of the members of the Lufthansa CityLine supervisory board.
You are right, I'm sorry! I thought it was Star Alliance. But this is much worse! Absolutely shocking.
DeleteMisetic was the best CEO Croatia Airlines had and was very capable. It was under Kucko everything was sold off and routes cut right down to nothing.
DeleteMisetic was the undertaker of Croatia Airlines. Every single thing that is bad about the company can be traced back to him.
Delete@11.19
DeleteIvane, kako je Tenica? Jel' slusa Jasmin?
Haha the guy defending Misetic (maybe Misetic himself?) is again in the comments,
DeleteSo, since they were talking about rebranding, do you think they will put the new livery on their 220s?
ReplyDeleteYes. But the 'new livery' will be a very minor tweak.
DeleteWhat do you mean by "minor tweak"?
DeleteThey are just going to make minor changes with logo and size. It's not going to be some full rebrand with a completely new livery.
DeleteAh, ok, thanks. I think we can only guess, since there was only one article about the new livery, they will probably rearrange the red and blue! :) Curious about the cabin, though.
DeleteI think they may reduce the number of squares but make them bigger on the tail. Might look good. Maybe "Croatia" will be across the fuselage with larger font. We will see.
DeleteHope this minor tweak doesn't cost the company 1.5 mil eur.
DeleteIt will cost that much by plane as did the last one just 4 years ago
DeleteOh the livery gaslighting guy again... Trying ( successfully) to side line the conversation...
DeleteBut, they are having new planes and new livery. What should I ask, "will they actually start doing something in terms of new frequencies"? I know they won't, and I'm interested in the new livery, so...
DeleteGood luck! Can't wait for the A220s to arrive.
ReplyDeleteWith A220 coming, all the luck of this World will not be enough
DeleteLuck and subsiders
DeleteWill the -100 or -300 be the first to arrive next June?
ReplyDeletePROUD moment OU, love this Dash to AIRBUS 220 transition moment. OU will soon by 2024 have a young fleet.
ReplyDeleteWhat a moment.
DeleteThat will be a game changer (irony alert)
DeleteIt is not going to easy to fill planes on Dash routes which have double the capacity. Wish them good luck in any case.
ReplyDeleteIt would be nice if the CEO of Air Baltic told us how they managed to fill their A220s after moving from the Dashes.
ReplyDeleteBy their hub system that OU does not have.
Delete"Too early".
Good riddence. The Dashes have been problematic from the start
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteI like the Dashes. They were a saviour for them during Covid.
DeletePeople generally don't like flying turboprops.
DeleteWhat are they going to use for destinations such as Mostar or Bol? Can Bol accept larger aircraft than the Dash?
DeleteBrač airport can accept aircraft up to B737/A319
DeleteThey were NOT the saviour - it was the taxpayer and the fact they did not engage into what brings them the most loses; air operations
DeleteIts time for their network planning, commercial and marketing departments to work very very hard on creating a suitable network to be able to fill these planes.
ReplyDeleteThe time for that has long gone considering that in S2024 they will already have the A220 in their fleet.
DeleteA big ask from a team that has done little in the past few years.
DeleteThat time was 20 years ago. Now they will just continue to kiss LH ass
DeleteThey will do nothing. There is nobody left there to do anything.
DeleteGood news they are progressing but the timetable is concerning that it will take 4 years to complete the transition and aquire all those A220.
ReplyDeleteOU competitors can pull further away in that time and make it more difficult for themselves when they are finally ready. But I hope they manage to stay profitable and growing while they go through the transition
That's if they arrive on time. The first one was supposed to come in February and it has been moved until June.
DeleteThat is concernining. and with further delys in the system for parts in aviation it could be even slower. I hope for OU there arent any more delays. next year JU will be adding at least 8 aircraft to its fleet because they chose to lease older aircraft.
Deletewizz air just reported they could have to ground as many as 45 planes next year becuase of all the problems.
And they plan just 6% flight growth next summer on this year and still well down on 2019...
ReplyDeleteWonder when the A3210/A320s will start being retired.
ReplyDelete2025 most likely.
DeleteExciting times for OU
ReplyDeleteYeah, right, more flights to Minken and Vrankvurt on more expensive leases. Not only exciting, impressive as well, unlike for example New York, Chicago and China by Air Serbia
DeleteThis is going to be a make or break scenario for Croatia Airlines. They will either turn things around finally, reduce costs and improve profitability or go bust.
ReplyDeleteAgree
DeleteOr become an ACMI provider with A220? There is enough demand for this type (capacity) on the market! I think they will shrink their own operations and wider their ACMI business.
DeleteTo shrink even more? They fly now only to 13 international destinations from ZAG (OMO included).
DeleteThanks God Croatia is not centralized country so we have 7 airports so those 13 destinations from Zagreb doesn't bother us.
DeleteBreak
DeleteSpeak for yourself @15.08. It doesn't bother you, not us. And you write "us" because your mindset is firmly locked in 1950's
DeleteI'm interested to see how it will work for them doubling capacity on most routes.
ReplyDeleteIf air Baltic made it work maybe OU can too.
DeleteAirBaltic is a proper hub operator. OU is not .. anymore.
DeleteI still think they are mad (incompetent/corrupted) for doing this. I hope they prove me wrong.
ReplyDeleteWhy? What do you think would be a better solution? I think it all comes down to their incompetent management, and I don't think anything will change in the near future, with or without new planes.
Delete@10:10
DeleteI agree that the management is the biggest issue. However, they now have some 3 years to either develop Zagreb as a real hub, so that they can deploy A220 on all short routes they now have problems filling with a much smaller plane, or to give up on those routes (or find a way for Government, airports, local tourist organisations to pay for more than half-empty planes).
It is now too late for what I think would be a better solution - replace the management with competent people, establish Zagreb as a local hub, take less expensive regional jet, keep the Dash (or switch to ATR if it makes more sense) and when things start to move in the right direction, get a widebody.
Single-type fleet means no turboprops, which are very economic, especially in not-so-rich region, and also no widebodies. Croatia has given up on long-haul flights in considerable future?
Just to say more than happy other people here saying what I 've been saying for ages...
DeleteThey will need to reduce prices heavily for some routes in order to fill those planes, especially routes in the region. Otherwise, they might fly them half empty.
ReplyDeleteBravo Croatia Airlines!
DeleteLOL!!!
DeleteHalf empty then is full house at this moment.
DeleteDoubling the number of passengers will be a no brainer for a company with such capable managerial class...
Basing 1 or 2 A220s in Ljubljana could be beneficial for both.
ReplyDeleteJudging by the existing network, I'm not sure that's the case.
DeleteWell, since I'm from Dubrovnik, we do need them...
Deletebut why not keep a few of them at least for strengthening their exyu network (not that it is strong to be fairl)
ReplyDeleteBecause it costs money to keep them in the fleet and that is something they don't have. Especially since they have to pay 500 million for these A220s.
DeleteWhen you say "they"... Whom exactly do mean? You surely don't mean CA. they do not own one printer at this point
DeleteLooks like they have an ambitious plan to transform.
ReplyDeleteWhere is the plan?
Delete@10.24 comment sponsored by BCG Consulting :D
Delete@10.24
DeletePa dje si ti meni Jasmineeeeeee??? Aj' dobro je eto ide vikend...
So major expansion probably won't happen until 2025 when more A220s come.
ReplyDeleteThere won't be a major expansion. They will have the same amount of aircraft as they have now. They are not expanding the fleet, they are just replacing the existing one. I don't know what their existing fleet utilization is. Perhaps that can be improved and then they could add more routes.
DeleteBefore focusing on the fleet, they should have focused on their management and network.
ReplyDeleteI think these planes will be a limitation. Both in summer and winter. In summer they will need more capacity than 145 on many routes while in winter even the Dashes are too big on many routes.
ReplyDeleteIf they play their cards right they can make them work. Get rid of most or all PSO's. Massive network expansion and lowering the prices.
DeleteBut it's OU so I'm not holding high expectations.
In order to introduce any new route most often you need to suffer significant loses for some time ..
DeleteGreat, they are on the right track 👍
DeleteWithout their dashes they can’t be profitable only with the A220’s there are some routes that need smaller aircraft.
ReplyDeleteThose routes are subsidized.
DeleteAll dometic routes in Croatia are subsidized.
DeleteAnd all winter routes not originating from Zagreb.
DeleteMy guess is all of this is being done so they can sell OU more easily in 2025. Just a guess. We will see.
ReplyDeleteWhat a genius plan. Rid the company of its assets and add expensive multi-year contracts to its liabilities. Who wouldn't be interested?
DeleteHahahahahah
DeleteHahahahahahahaha Hahahahahahahaha 😅😅😅
DeleteSomeone asked about Bol ( BWK).. I think A220 and A319 can land there. Embraer jet definitely can
ReplyDelete. I flew there on TUI Belgium Embraer few years ago.
Svaka Cast, Bravo OU!
ReplyDeleteLOL!!!
DeleteThey had money stuck at Airbus for their 3 times revised A320 order. I doubt Airbus would have given them the money back had they not chosen the,.
ReplyDelete"Embraer would compensate for any financial difference that Croatia Airlines might have due to the previous, unfulfilled order from Airbus." Source: https://www.exyuaviation.com/2022/09/embraers-offer-to-croatia-airlines-too.html
ReplyDeleteThe end is near.
ReplyDelete^ wow I didn't know that. Then I'm lost for words really
ReplyDeleteHow serious this company and its "management" is : Few months ago they came out with official statement that first units of new A220 fleet will come as replacement for existing Airbus fleet, and Q400, newer and more cost - effective, was to remain in the fleet during the first phase of replacement. Only few months later, they are announcing something completely opposite. They still have no strategy, no concept, no plan, no nothing and BCG was corruptive deal, which will bring no change and no results. Absolutely nothing else to be added - everything is more than clear. And big regards to all those hailing Bravo Hrvatska and Bravo OU. You are bravoing final nail in the coffin,sooner or later.
ReplyDeleteTitle should read: Croatia Airlines to phase out in 2024…
ReplyDeleteTo start being phased out....
DeleteLets wait and see how it will develop with those PW1500 engines...
ReplyDeleteThey decided
ReplyDeleteN O T H I N G...