Croatia Airlines’ first Airbus A220-300 aircraft, leased from the Air Lease Corporation and named Zagreb, performed a test flight at Montreal’s Mirabel Airport yesterday evening local time. The jet, currently bearing the temporary Airbus test registration C-FPBE, before being re-registered as 9A-CAE, performed an engine run and taxi check, a rejected take-off, and was airborne for three and a half hours. Croatia Airlines previously noted it anticipates for the aircraft to be delivered by the end of July. Airbus typically conducts one to several test flights, depending on performance, prior to delivery to the customer. The Croatian carrier has said it plans to deploy its first A220 on flights between Zagreb and Frankfurt, as well as Split and Frankfurt, before progressively scheduling the jet on other routes.
Stevan Udvar-Hazy, Executive Chairman of the Air Lease Corporation, from which the Croatian carrier is financially leasing six A220s, including the first one, said, “We want to acknowledge the hard work, long hours, critical strategic analysis and decision-making that commenced more than four years ago in close collaboration between Air Lease Corporation, Airbus, Pratt & Whitney and the entire team at Croatia Airlines, which ultimately resulted in the selection of the Airbus A220 model by the airline. As the most modern, technologically advanced, and only clean sheet designed single-aisle aircraft in production, the first A220 delivery is a wonderful achievement that commences the fleet transformation project at Croatia Airlines”. He added, “Air Lease Corporation is honoured to have been selected by Croatia Airlines to lead the project as the first lessor to introduce the A220 to the airline and support Croatia’s major fleet modernisation program”.
Croatia Airlines will take delivery of a total of fifteen A220s up until 2027 and has slightly tweaked its order. It now plans to take two instead of three A220-100s. as well as thirteen instead of twelve A220-300s. A second jet, named Split, is expected to be delivered by the end of the year, followed by six in 2025, four in 2026 and two in 2027. The airline recently inked an agreement with TP Aerospace for MRO services specifically tailored to the A220’s wheel maintenance needs, as well as a comprehensive component support agreement with Air France Industries KLM Engineering & Maintenance.
Exciting times. Congrats Croatia Airlines
ReplyDeleteNot too long to go now before it arrives in ZAG :)
DeleteI hope it won't have engine troubles like many other aircraft do. OU must avoid this at all cost in order to remain competitive on their market.
ReplyDeleteA new era in regional aviation will officially begin with the A220.
Hopefully the issue with the GTF engines has been solved by Pratt on newly delivered frames.
DeleteDurability problems are still a major issue. They have to go into maintenance much earlier.
Delete“ The Croatian carrier has said it plans to deploy its first A220 on flights between Zagreb and Frankfurt,…”
ReplyDeletePoor München.
I'm sure Munich will be number 2 destination.
DeleteWell third after SPU and FRA. Hopefully A220 becomes a regular in Tirana.
DeleteTirana odmah nakon pokretanja linije obustavljena na 2 nedelje, dakle ni Q400 ne mogu da napune pa ce A220.
DeleteIstina.
DeleteWould it not make more sense to use it first to Dubrovnik or Split from Zagreb?
DeleteCroatia Airlines and making sense don't go together.
Delete1021, clearly they do. New fleet proves it.
Delete^ Yep. They got an aircraft which they first say they are buying, then it turns out they are leasing, then they say it is going to be single-type fleet but then it turns out they will be wet leasing turboprops aircraft for all of eternity and all the while enjoying a high annual load factor of 65%. Makes a lot of sense.
Delete1217, OU is here to stay, cope with that!
DeleteI didn't say it won't stay. The government will certainly continue to throw money at it. That does not mean that they are doing a good job as a company and unlike you I certainly won't applaud bad management and poor decisions because that is not my definition of patriotism. Quite the opposite. But I have no problem with your support for Dr. Jasmin Bajic, graduate of the esteemed Apeiron University from Banja Luka.
DeleteTirana has been halted for those couple of weeks because of the constant equipment failures and ancient planes being out of commission nonstop.
DeleteNobody's saying OU is even close to being the airline it could've been, but replacing the fleet with brand new aircraft os likely the best decision they've made in decades.
Apeiron is a good and recognised private university. They don't sell diplomas as far as I know.
DeleteYes, it is world renowned lol
DeleteMeanwhile Cyprus Airways has cancelled plans to acquire 6 A220s because of performance issues...
ReplyDeletehttps://aviationweek.com/special-topics/small-narrowbody-jets/cyprus-airways-plans-re-jig-fleet-expansion-route
Yes but CY is not a serious player and they are a tiny airline.
DeleteAnd OU is ultra mega giga big. 😂
Delete6 additional ones, so they'll still get 6 of them in total. 2 of them coming this year
DeleteSo it is still possible plane will arrive in July if they just do a few test flights?
ReplyDeleteYes but it probably won't be in service until mid August.
DeleteIf there are no issues during test flights.
DeleteFirst one seems to have gone without a hitch.
DeleteGood luck. These planes are needed as soon as possible. Their network collapses every other day because of fleet shortage.
ReplyDeleteAny pic of the plane in OU colors airborne?
ReplyDeleteNot yet
DeleteLooking forward to the first pics
DeleteGreat news that it's finally coming and going to enter service soon
ReplyDeleteHope there are no more delays
ReplyDeleteThe wait is almost over
DeleteBravo Hrvatska!
ReplyDeleteFantastic news
ReplyDeleteWith what we are seeing with Bulgaria and Cyprus Airways, even once they get them they won't be operational for long
ReplyDeleteIt looks like you are right.
DeleteWhen do they plan to load the A220 into their schedule, so we know exactly on what routes it will be used?
ReplyDeleteNot until the plane lands in ZAG.
DeleteI hope they name all the A220s after cities in Croatia.
ReplyDeleteThey obviously will...
DeleteThe third one will probably be Dubrovnik.
DeleteAll will be named after Croatian cities.
DeleteNow it is obvious that it won't be in service until August.
ReplyDeleteBetter late than never.
DeleteNice, the A220s are beautiful jets
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteSo if they get it end of this month, when can it realistically enter into service?
ReplyDeleteMid August best case scenario.
DeleteBy the time it is in service high season will be over.
DeleteIf it enters in mid August, season will not be over
DeleteThe first one was supposed to be here for the entire summer season.
DeleteIt was actually supposed to arrive in February.
DeleteCan't wait
ReplyDeleteWhen will the next test flight be?
ReplyDeleteSometimes they only do one. But if there is another it is usually within two days.
DeleteGreat thank you
DeleteToday probably.
DeleteWhile I'm happy they are getting new planes this aircraft has engine issues. I foresee many wet leases in the near future.
ReplyDeleteI really hope Croatia makes it work with these new planes.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteThe A220's size and economics make it ideal for airlines in our region. Not too big and with enough range to cover all potential destinations.
DeleteWhy are they getting the -100 version at all?
ReplyDeleteThe A220-300 can't land in Brac.
DeleteThey could use the A220-100 to fly to London City. Many European A220 operators for the smaller type just so they could fly to LCY.
DeleteThat would be a good option. Especially since they sold most of their Heathrow slots.
Delete@10.39 Didn't know that. Thanks
DeleteIsn't it really expensive for airlines to fly into LCY?
DeleteNo. City is actually cheaper than Heathrow.
DeleteWhy do so few airlines fly there?
DeleteBecause of short runway.
DeleteMakes sense, thanks
DeleteNever, ever in the history of introducing of a new plane to the fleet went without problems. Its just in the nature of the endevour. But OU decided to do this in the peak of the season, where ad hoc lease costs soar to the sky. Ibet they willend this year deep in red
ReplyDeleteNo, this wasn't a decision made by OU, they don't decide on production issues and product availability.
DeleteBut the CS300 was introduced in 2016 so it should not take 8 years for the problems to be resolved. PW has a lot to answer for both with the neo and the A220.
DeleteWhen you think about it PW has unleashed so many issues for the aviation industry in the past few years and continue to do it. Considering how many issues they have created it is amazing that the they have not been held to account for their shortcomings at all.
DeleteTrue, the company doesn't get nearly as much criticism as it truly should.
DeleteThey are paying big financial penalties to airlines.
DeleteI’m talking about introduction of new type in the airline, not new type in general
DeleteAre test flights operated by OU pilots or by Airbus pilots?
ReplyDeleteOU pilots would do a handover flight with Airbus pilots watching in order to test the aircraft
DeleteThank you
DeleteIt is probably taken into account in the financial pricing somehow as Airbus does not like to handover cash back to customers. For example, JU paid USD$20 million in 1998 for the six brand new A319s it ordered. It was then applied against the 10 A320neo order which EY made in 2015. When that was cancelled it was apparently refunded but I am not sure whether to EY and then back to JU or JU direct.
DeleteSorry meant to say 8 A319s which JU ordered in 1998.
DeleteJU confirmed it was repaid directly to them.
DeleteHope the next test flight will be earlier in the day do we can get some photos.
ReplyDeletewhat happened with the money that Croatia paid to Airbus as a down payment for the A320neo?
ReplyDeleteIt was transferred to these A220s
DeleteSo they gave it to the lessor
DeleteExciting news for Croatia Airlines! Looking forward to seeing the A220 in action
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the A220s but I really hope they try to explore some new regions with them.
DeleteApparently they will
DeleteOn the delivery flight from Montreal, will the A220 will be able to make it nonstop to Zagreb or will they have to land somewhere?
ReplyDeletePossibly, it would depend on how heavy a load it is carrying. The first plane of a new type usually carries a lot of manufacturer instructions, equipment, spare parts etc for subsequent planes. However, it theoretically could. However, they may also need to land in KEF as the aircraft and airline is probably not ETOPs certified.
DeleteWeren't people claiming how they would never take delivery of the A220s? So much for that.
ReplyDeletepeople are generally extremely negative in this part of the world. No matter the country or topic.
DeleteIt's finally happening!
ReplyDeleteHow long does each lease for the A220 last? 10 years?
ReplyDeleteIt was reported here that the lease will be 12 years.
Deletehttps://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/c-fpbe#360d23e7
ReplyDelete