In the first half of 2020, Croatia Airlines, the Croatian national carrier, shared the fate of the aviation industry, which faced the deepest crisis in its history due to the coronavirus pandemic. The epidemiological crisis drastically reduced the demand for air transport services in this period, which consequently had an extremely negative impact on the company’s financial operations, and in such market circumstances an operating loss of HRK 155.4 million was recorded, with a net loss of HRK 173.2 million. For comparison, last year in the same period a result was almost twice as good, ie a loss of HRK 89.43 million.
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In the first half of this year, Croatia Airlines aircraft flew 7,567 block hours, which is 59 percent less than in the same period last year. 5661 flights were performed, ie 7536 fewer flights, which is a decrease of 57 percent compared to the same period in 2019. The flight structure was adjusted to the needs of the market, and given the circumstances, greater emphasis was placed on the use of the Q400 fleet, whose capacity is smaller compared to the Airbus fleet.
The number of passengers in domestic scheduled operations (83,618 passengers) decreased by 63 percent, in international scheduled operations (244,382 passengers) this decrease was 66 percent, and in charter operations (2935 passengers) a decrease of 84 percent was recorded. A total of 330,935 passengers were transported in the first half of the year, or almost 630,000 less than in the same period last year, which is down 66 percent.
As a direct consequence of fewer flight operations and a smaller number of transported passengers, operating revenues decreased by 55 percent (HRK -411.7 million), within which the most significant decrease was in passenger revenues in the amount of HRK 399.1 million. Despite this, operating costs were reduced by 41 percent as a result of the reduction in traffic, but also the operational and other cost reduction measures taken at all levels of the company. Among the operational measures are the cancellation of the short-term seasonal lease of the CRJ1000 aircraft, the cancellation of the long-term dry lease of the Q400 aircraft and the postponement of the start of the calculation of the long-term lease (dry lease) of the A319 aircraft until the beginning of the 2021 summer season.
The devastating effect of the coronavirus crisis was particularly evident in the second quarter (April – June) in which the company, under normal circumstances, begins to make a profit to cover winter losses. Specifically, in the second quarter of this year, a loss of HRK 62.7 million was recorded, while in the same period last year, an operating profit of HRK 10.5 million and a net profit of HRK 9.1 million were recorded.
It should be noted that Croatia Airlines did not stop operating in extraordinary circumstances, unlike other airlines that suspended all flights to Croatia in the first half of March. Thus, the national carrier has confirmed itself as a strategic part of the Croatian transport infrastructure and contributed to the maintenance of traffic connections for Croatian economy and citizens. Since the beginning of the crisis, the company has returned about 23,000 Croatian citizens back home to Croatia, and at the same time was available to the Government of the Republic of Croatia, which organized the transport of humanitarian aid, return of Croatian soldiers from Afghanistan and several repatriation flights from different parts of Europe. The repatriation flight to China was the longest flight in the company’s history.
Croatia Airlines planes currently fly from Zagreb to 14 European destinations and 5 Croatian airports. The additional importance and contribution to tourism in the conditions of the crisis, which has great consequences for the tourist season, is also visible in the connection of coastal airports with European destinations. Thus, the company’s aircraft directly connect Split Airport with 11 European destinations, Dubrovnik Airport with 7 European cities and Rijeka Airport with Munich.
