According to information available from the reservation system and information obtained by AvioRadar, Croatia Airlines has finalised the deployment schedule for the ATR 72-600 turboprop aircraft operating during the summer season under a wet lease arrangement from ETF Airways, and the first days of operations already clearly show which routes are being used most intensively to test this model in practice.
The first ETF Airways ATR 72-600 flight for Croatia Airlines visible in operations was carried out on 13 April on the Zagreb–Sarajevo route. During the first ten days of operations, the aircraft then flew on routes between Zagreb and Munich, Prague, Pula, Split, Dubrovnik, Zadar and Sarajevo, as well as between Pula and Zadar, Split and Osijek, Osijek and Munich, Munich and Rijeka, Osijek and Dubrovnik, and between Dubrovnik and Rome. From the very first days, it is already evident that the ATR has been used most intensively on the Zagreb–Munich route, but also on a range of domestic services.
Such an operational development is in line with the previously announced plan under which Croatia Airlines assigned the ATR 72-600 to its domestic network, but also to flights from Zagreb to Sarajevo and Munich, from Osijek and Rijeka to Munich, and between Dubrovnik and Rome. The most intensive use is expected precisely on the Zagreb–Munich route, followed by Zagreb–Pula and Zadar, Osijek–Munich, Rijeka–Munich and Zagreb–Sarajevo. In total, by the end of the summer schedule on 24 October 2026, 1,396 flights with a total of 97,720 seats have been planned for this aircraft.
At the same time, Croatia Airlines has discontinued a total of six routes for the 2026 summer season. Withdrawn from sale were Zagreb–Tirana, Zagreb–Milan and Zagreb–Bucharest, as well as Split–Amsterdam, Split–Skopje and Split–Bucharest. The route between Zagreb and Tirana had been due to resume on 24 May with three weekly flights, but has in the meantime been removed from the reservation system. The route was introduced in 2024, and this summer it had been scheduled to be operated by the Airbus A319 and the Airbus A220-100 and A220-300.
It seems highly likely that this is not merely a short-term operational solution, but also a kind of pilot project in which Croatia Airlines is testing the wet lease model with turboprop aircraft at a time when it is transitioning over the course of roughly a year to a single-type Airbus A220 fleet. Even when presenting its renewed visual identity, as well as upon the arrival of the first Airbus A220 in Zagreb in 2024, the carrier announced that in future it was counting on leasing turboprop aircraft under the wet lease model, meaning aircraft provided together with maintenance and crew, for shorter regional routes and services with lower passenger demand. At the time, Austrian Airlines’ cooperation with partner BRA, which also operated ATR 72-600 aircraft under a wet lease arrangement, was cited as an example of such a model.
This logic also has a very concrete economic background. In leasing contracts for jet aircraft, including the Airbus A220, an important role is played by so-called aircraft cycles and the minimum contractually agreed duration of those cycles. In practice, a cycle means one take-off and one landing, or one complete flight segment that places stress on the aircraft structure, landing gear, engines and cabin pressurisation system. The shorter the flight, the more cycles are consumed relative to the time spent in the air. This is precisely why jet aircraft on very short sectors are often not the optimal solution, because a large number of short flights rapidly “uses up” the contracted cycle resource and can increase operating costs. On such routes, a turboprop is a more natural tool, as it is better suited to shorter sectors, lower fuel burn and smaller markets.
From the first days of operations, it also appears that Croatia Airlines did not initially fully align the flight times in the published timetable with the actual performance of the ATR 72-600. Although it is a very modern and efficient turboprop aircraft, it is still slower than the Airbus A320 and A220, but also than the Dash 8 Q400 previously used by Croatia Airlines. The Q400 cruises at approximately 360 knots, or around 667 kilometres per hour, while the ATR 72-600 typically flies at around 276 to 280 knots, or approximately 510 kilometres per hour. For that reason, somewhat longer block times and certain initial schedule adjustments were to be expected on part of the network.
It is also important to highlight one difference compared with some earlier wet lease arrangements for Croatia Airlines. While in certain previous models one cabin crew member came from the national carrier, in the case of ETF Airways there is no such mixed model. According to information obtained by AvioRadar, the entire crew consists of ETF Airways employees, namely a two-member flight crew and a two-member cabin crew. This means that the operational product has been fully outsourced to the partner, further confirming that this arrangement is being viewed as a test of a future cooperation model.
It is also commendable that a private Croatian company is providing aircraft leasing services to the national carrier. In the domestic aviation context, such cooperation carries additional symbolism, as it shows that the Croatian market has an operator capable of taking on demanding ACMI and wet lease tasks for scheduled traffic. For passengers, this also means a tangible product change. Compared with older Dash turboprops, the ATR 72-600 offers a more modern cabin and, as a rule, a more pleasant passenger experience, while aviation enthusiasts will certainly welcome the return of the classic turboprop experience, which still holds a special status among avgeeks.
By the time this article was closed, Croatia Airlines had not responded to AvioRadar’s repeated inquiries regarding service standardisation on board, the adjustment of schedules and timetables, or other operational details related to this lease arrangement.
