Croatia Airlines negotiates with providers as state mulls aid
Croatia Airlines is in talks with a number of its most important providers in order to reduce costs and losses during the coronavirus Covid-19 outbreak. Speaking at the Aviation Arena webinar on the effects of the pandemic on the Croatian aviation industry, the carrier’s Director for Network and Revenue Management, Krešimir Mlinar, said, “We have been in talks with all of our major providers, including aircraft owners. We have managed to negotiate better and more flexible terms and conditions, which will enable us to safeguard our liquidity and secure normal operations - as normal as they can be in these circumstances. As a result, expenditure has been put under control in these segments”.
The Croatian carrier has also been in talks with employees and trade unions in order to navigate the ongoing crisis. “In line with government policy, we have also launched a dialogue with our social partners. We have done a number of activities in order to keep our income within the company, as much as possible. As a result, we have managed to buy some time, until this entire situation passes”, Mr Mlinar noted. The Croatian carrier previously said its bookings declined 95% in April compared to last year, while it was forced to cancel 3.200 flights in March and April. The airline will resume flights from Zagreb to Split and Dubrovnik on May 11, while maintaining its single daily service from the Croatian capital to Frankfurt.
Earlier this week, the Croatian government said it plans to assist its national carrier in overcoming the financial fallout of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Speaking at the webinar, Dinko Staničić, the Director of the Civil Aviation Sector at the Ministry for Sea, Transport and Infrastructure, said, “It [assistance] depends on what we can negotiate with the European Commission and the Ministry for Finance. What we can do at this point is cover the airline’s losses. However, there have to be some limits to this because we do not have boundless means, and neither would that be approved. For now, we are negotiating with the Commission to see how we can help the airline, as well as other subjects in the industry that are privately owned”.
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