Croatia Airlines has tentatively scheduled the entry into service of its second 149-seat Airbus A220-300 aircraft, named “Split”, for January 3, 2025. Based on its current schedule, the aircraft will enter into revenue service in the morning, with one A220 operating the Dubrovnik – Zagreb route, while the other will be flying between the Croatian capital and Brussels at the same time. On average, the airline has scheduled for each of its two A220s to maintain six operations per day or three return flights throughout January. Adjustments to the date of entry are possible at this early stage. The Croatian carrier has confirmed it will take delivery of the second A220 by the end of this year.
Croatia Airlines’ third A220 jet, which has already received its serial number, is due to arrive in March 2025 and by December of next year a further five aircraft will be delivered. As a result, Croatia Airlines will have a total of eight new aircraft by the end of 2025. Four additional units will be added in 2026 and three more in 2027. All the aircraft are being produced at the A220 Mirabel production facility near Montreal in Canada. Croatia Airlines has secured the jets through a financial lease, with the frames owned by aircraft leasing companies. Two of the fifteen units will be the slightly smaller A220-100 series.
As Croatia Airlines starts to grow its A220 fleet, it plans to introduce new destinations. The carrier’s CEO, Jasmin Bajić, recently said. “We are currently analysing twenty routes, which will be progressively introduced as new aircraft join the fleet. I can’t specifically say which ones due to the competition”. He added, “Foreign leasing companies purchased these aircraft for half a billion dollars and gave them to us to develop a business utilsing them, and that is exactly what we will do”. Croatia Airlines previously said the majority of the new routes it plans to introduce over the next three years will be in Europe and the Mediterranean region. Although the carrier has ruled out long-haul flights, it has said it is also eyeing longer-distance routes between three and six hours.
