Croatia Airlines d.d. is the state-owned flag carrier of Croatia. It is headquartered in Buzin near Zagreb and operates domestic and international services mainly to European destinations. Its main hub is Zagreb Airport with focus cities being Dubrovnik, Split, and Zadar. Since November 2004, the airline has been a member of Star Alliance. The airline was established on 20 July 1989, trading with the name Zagal (formally, Zagreb Airlines), and started operations using a single Cessna 402 aircraft on cargo services for UPS. After the first democratic elections held in Croatia, Zagal changed its name to Croatia Airlines on 23 July 1990. In 1991 Croatia Airlines signed an agreement with Adria Airways which allowed it to lease a McDonnell Douglas MD-82 to commence domestic jet services between Zagreb and Split. Due to the Croatian War of Independence and the closure of the airspace over Croatia, the airline was soon forced to suspend operations. As soon as flights restarted, Croatia Airlines acquired three Boeing 737s from Lufthansa and became a member of the International Air Transport Association (IATA). That year also saw the airline open its first international route to Frankfurt. In 1993, two new ATR 42s and two more 737s joined the fleet and representative offices were opened in several European cities and the company bought the travel agency Obzor to organize travel packages for groups and individuals. By 1994, Croatia Airlines had welcomed its one millionth passenger. Later that year, Pope John Paul II flew the airline on a trip to Croatia. In 1995, another ATR 42 was welcomed, as was the two millionth passenger. In 1996, Croatia Airlines became the first airline to fly to Sarajevo after the Bosnian War. In 1997 the airline's first Airbus A320 arrived and was named Rijeka. In 1998, another first plane of a new type arrived when the airline's first Airbus A319 joined the fleet. This airplane was named Zadar. In the same year, Croatia Airlines became a member of the Association of European Airlines (AEA). By 1999, two more Airbus jets had arrived and Croatia Airlines started selling the Boeing part of their fleet. The airline flew its five millionth passenger. In 2000 two more Airbus planes arrived and an automated ticketing system was inaugurated. In 2001 the airline received maintenance and technical performing certificates from the German aviation authority Luftfahrt-Bundesamt. On 18 November 2004, Croatia Airlines joined Star Alliance. By March 2009, the airline retired its fleet of three ATR 42 short-haul aircraft, after operating the type since 1993, and replaced it with a fleet of six Bombardier Dash 8 Q400s, the first of which was delivered in May 2008. Airbus and Croatia Airlines announced on 22 October 2008 the order of four additional 132-seat A319 aircraft, to be delivered from 2013. The airline carried its 20,000,000th passenger in July 2009, and has carried well over 1 million passengers annually from 2000. Croatia Airlines and maintenance partner Lufthansa announced on 23 May 2011 the introduction of new slim-line Recaro economy seats to be retrofitted into certain A320 Family aircraft from Summer 2012, increasing seating capacity by two rows. Losses have been made for several years; in November 2012 the government announced that it would provide HRK 800m ($ 136m) for Croatia Airline to become cost-effective from 2013 on. The government is seeking to restructure the airline, which includes plans to cut its workforce by ten percent within two years and it is also looking for a strategic investor. The A319 is a shortened, minimum-change version of the A320. Also known as the A320M-7, it is 3.73 metres (12 ft 3 in) shorter than the A320; four frames fore of the wing and three frames aft of the wing were removed. The reduced seating allows the number of emergency exits to be reduced to six. With virtually the same fuel capacity as the A320-200, and fewer passengers, the range with 124 passengers in a two-class configuration extends to 6,650 km (3,590 nmi), or 6,850 km (3,700 nmi) with the "Sharklets". Four propulsion options available on the A319 are the 23,040-pound-force (102.5 kN) V2522-A5 and 24,800-pound-force (110 kN) V2527M-A5 from IAE, or the 22,000-pound-force (98 kN) CFM56-5B/A and 27,000-pound-force (120 kN) CFM56-5B7. Although identical to those of the A320, these engines are derated because of the A319's lower MTOW. The A319 was developed at the request of Steven Udvar-Hazy, the former president and CEO of ILFC according to The New York Times. The A319's launch customer, in fact, was ILFC, which had placed an order for 6 A319s by 1993. Anticipating further orders by Swissair and Alitalia, Airbus decided to launch the programme on 10 June 1993. Final assembly of the first A319 began on 23 March 1995. The direct Boeing competitor is the 737-700.

• published: 20 Mar 2015
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