Croatia Airlines moots intercontinental ops using A220s
The CEO of Croatia Airlines (OU, Zagreb Franjo Tuđman) says he is open to starting intercontinental flights using its incoming fleet of A220 aircraft but has ruled out long-haul flying.
“Our team is constantly scanning for new routes, and our desire is to launch nonstop intercontinental flights in the future,” Jasmin Bajić said during a press conference, as quoted by EX-YU Aviation News. “Upon the delivery of all fifteen A220 aircraft, which we expect by the end of 2027, we will have the ability to achieve the full potential for network growth."
Croatia Airlines expects its first A220-300, 9A-CAE (msn 55290), this month. When in service, it will fly a Zagreb-Frankfurt International-Split-Frankfurt-Zagreb rotation. In June, Bajić told ch-aviation that the second A220 will arrive in November and four more in 2025, and the type will progressively starting flying to more European cities from Zagreb.
Croatia Airlines' existing fleet includes five A319-100s, three A320-200s, and six DHC-8-Q400s. Presently, the carrier's network stretches to Istanbul Airport in the east, Athens in the south, Dublin International in the west, and Oslo Gardermoen in the north. However, the A220's range puts North Africa within reach. Bajić has raised the chance of A321-200NY(XLR)s in the future, which would be capable of long-haul flights, but he says any order "is a possibility in the distant future." He told ch-aviation that the current business model revolves around it ferrying passengers to and from Star Alliance hubs like Frankfurt, and for the foreseeable future, Croatia Airlines would leave the long haul flying to its bigger partner airlines.
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