Croatia Airlines plans to commence Airbus A220 flights from early August after taking the first of 15 aircraft scheduled for delivery.
The inaugural A220-300 service will connect Zagreb and Split on Aug. 6, according to OAG Schedules Analyser data, before the aircraft is integrated into the airline’s wider network.
By the week commencing Aug. 12, the airline intends to deploy A220s on five international routes from Zagreb’s Franjo Tuđman International Airport (ZAG) to Berlin, Frankfurt, London Heathrow, Paris Charles de Gaulle and Skopje. Additionally, the aircraft will be used from Split Airport to Frankfurt and Paris, and from Dubrovnik Airport to Paris.
There will also be A220 flights between ZAG and Dubrovnik, while the aircraft will be used on flights connecting ZAG and Amsterdam from Aug. 24.
“This day will go down in history as the start of a new era in the history of Croatia Airlines, in the history of Croatian aviation and the Croatian state, and all our employees and passengers,” Croatia Airlines President and CEO Jasmin Bajić said following the first delivery on July 29.
Croatia Airlines has 13 A220-300s and two A220-100s on order. Delivery of the second aircraft is expected by the end of 2024, with six scheduled for delivery in 2025, four in 2026 and three aircraft in 2027.
The first A220-300 to join the Star Alliance member’s fleet has been leased from Air Lease Corporation (ALC), and the carrier has a further three A220-300s and two A220-100s coming from ALC’s orderbook with Airbus.
The A220s will replace Croatia Airlines’ existing fleet, which comprises four A319s, three A320s and six De Havilland Canada Dash-8s.