New Croatian carrier plans to focus on coast
Croatian start-up ETF Airways plans to commence operations this year by maintaining charter flights from the Adriatic coast to European destinations. The airline was registered in November of last year and plans to utilise a Boeing 737-800 aircraft. The company is currently in the process of hiring cabin crew which will be based both at home and abroad. “ETF Airways is a new Croatian charter carrier that wants to improve the connectivity of Adriatic coastal cities with European and other destinations. At this point, we are looking for new members of our flying family”, the company said. The Croatian coast is one of the most competitive markets in the region during the summer months, with numerous airlines maintaining seasonal and charter flights from Europe and the Middle East.
ETF Airways also plans to offer wet-leasing services. The only successful Croatian airline operating under a similar model is Trade Air, which runs charter flights across the world, as well as domestic Public Service Obligation (PSO) services. The government is expected to commence tender procedures this year to award new four-year PSO contracts, which are currently held by Croatia Airlines and Trade Air. The existing PSO contracts expired on March 28, 2020, however, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Croatian government did not start tender procedures to award new ones and has simply extended the existing deal currently in place.
Croatia has had a number of charter and scheduled airlines in the past, each with varying degrees of success. Among them are Dubrovnik Airline, Anic Airways, Air Adriatic, Air Croatia, Sea Air, Limitless Airways, AWEX Croatia, Libertas Air and European Coastal Airlines, while others such as Dalmatian and Smile Air never took off. Based on current data, Croatia Airlines will have the largest share of available seat capacity to and from the country this year, standing at 30.2% with some 1.495.300 seats on offer. It is followed by easyJet, Lufthansa, Eurowings, Ryanair and British Airways.
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