Croatia Airlines posts €38 million loss and limited passenger growth

Croatia Airlines saw its losses shorten to 38 million euros in 2021, while carrying 788.000 passengers. The airline’s financial performance represents an improvement on 2020 when it registered a loss of 47 million euros. However, it should be noted that the aviation industry was brought to a standstill two years ago, with its affects continuing to be felt throughout 2021 as well. “Despite some positive improvements during the second half of the year, the company continues to face reduced demand, resulting in low levels of revenue which may raise issues of maintaining liquidity in the coming period, especially given the unpredictability of the Covid-19 crisis”, Croatia Airlines said. It added, “The company is taking all necessary measures to optimise the business and continues to implement rigorous cost cutting measures”.

The national carrier handled 788.000 passengers, up 28% on the year before, but still down 64% on the pre-pandemic 2019. At the same time, the airline operated 16.507 flights, up 26% on 2020. “Only during the third and fourth quarter did we see a notable increase in the number of travellers when compared to 2020, but this is still far from the results recorded during the pre-pandemic 2019”, the company said. Croatia Airlines also registered one of its poorest average annual cabin load factors in decades, standing at just 49.9%, representing an improvement of just 0.3 points on the record low figure seen the year before. In 2019, its average load factor stood at 73.6%.

Croatia Airlines' quarterly passenger performance

During 2021, Croatia Airlines maintained services to eighteen international and seven domestic destinations. During the summer season, it operated flights from Zagreb to fourteen European destinations, from Split to twelve cities internationally and from Dubrovnik to six points outside of the country’s borders. During the year, it introduced new routes from Split to Prague, as well as from Osijek to Munich, both of which have since been discontinued. “The scale of this crisis is reflected both in the significant reduction in demand compared to the pre-pandemic era, as well as the dynamic of income from bookings as passenger behaviour has changed and late bookings are now prevalent”, the carrier concluded.