Croatia Airlines will take delivery of its sixth Airbus A220-300 aircraft this afternoon. The 149-seat jet, registered 9A-CAP, departed from Mirabel in Canada earlier today and is scheduled to arrive in Copenhagen during the morning before continuing on to Zagreb. This marks the airline’s fourth A220 delivery in 2025. Another jet is slated to join the fleet by the end of October, the first of two smaller -100 series aircraft. Croatia Airlines plans to complete its transition to an all-A220 fleet of fifteen aircraft by 2027, subject to any delays. All fifteen units are on a financial lease.
Croatia Airlines has tentatively scheduled the end of operations with its A320 fleet. The carrier has confirmed that one of the two A320s will be retired this year. Based on the airline’s filed schedule, the second A320 is now set to retire on the evening of February 8, 2026. The last service with the aircraft type is between Frankfurt and Zagreb. However, this is subject to change over the coming months. “The transition period for the aircraft fleet replacement is very challenging. Our fleet replacement plan includes the flexibility to retire existing aircraft in multiple scenarios. The same approach applies to pilot training planning as well”, the carrier said in a statement.
Croatia Airlines is confident a single-type fleet of new A220s will make it more profitable and competitive in the long-term. However, the initial transitional period is expected to generate greater losses. “By the end of 2025, Croatia Airlines plans to operate seven brand-new Airbus A220 aircraft. This initiative, the largest in the airline’s history, marks a turning point and lays the foundation for the company’s long-term sustainable growth. The modern fleet will bring a range of benefits: streamlining daily operations, improving financial efficiency and strengthening environmental responsibility. By renewing its fleet, Croatia Airlines will significantly cut fuel consumption and reduce CO2 emissions, an especially important step in line with global aviation’s ongoing drive toward decarbonisation”, the airline said.