Loss of Croatia Airlines in the first half of the year amounts to 173.2 million kuna

The loss Croatia Airlines (CA) in the first half of the year amounted to 173.2 million kuna, which is significantly higher compared to the same period last year when it was 89.4 million kuna, the company announced on Friday.

The company, as they state, shared the fate of the airline industry in the first half of the year, which faced the deepest crisis in its history due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The epidemic crisis drastically reduced demand for air transport services, which negatively affected the company’s financial performance, CA emphasizes, noting that in such market conditions, an operational loss of 155.4 million kuna was recorded, which, combined with the net financing result, gives a net loss of 173.2 million kuna.

In comparison, last year in the same period, a nearly twice better result was achieved, namely a loss of 89.43 million kuna, CA states.

In the first half of the year, Croatia Airlines’ aircraft performed 5,661 flights, a decrease of 57 percent compared to the same period last year. The flight structure was adjusted to traffic needs, and given the market circumstances, greater emphasis was placed on the use of the Q400 fleet, which has a smaller capacity compared to the Airbuses.

In the first half of the year, 66 percent fewer passengers were transported

The company states in a press release that in the first half of the year, 330,935 passengers were transported, which is nearly 630,000 or 66 percent less than in the same period last year.

The number of passengers in domestic regular traffic decreased by 63 percent, to 83,618, in international regular traffic the decrease is 66 percent, to 244,382 passengers, and in extraordinary traffic 84 percent, to 2,935 passengers.

As a direct consequence of the reduced flight volume and fewer transported passengers, operating revenues decreased by 55 percent, with the most significant reduction in passenger revenues amounting to 399.1 million kuna.

Despite this, operating costs were reduced by 41 percent as a result of the reduced level of traffic, but also due to operational and other cost-cutting measures taken at all levels of the company.

The devastating impact of the coronavirus-induced crisis was particularly pronounced in the second quarter, in which the company usually begins to generate profits that cover the losses of the winter period.

Thus, the loss in the second quarter of this year amounted to 62.7 million kuna, while in the same period last year, an operating profit of 10.5 million kuna and a net profit of 9.1 million kuna were achieved.

Croatia Airlines emphasizes that they did not suspend operations in extraordinary circumstances, unlike other airlines that suspended all flights to Croatia in the first half of March.

Since the beginning of the crisis, the company has enabled the return to Croatia for about 23,000 Croatian citizens, and at the same time, it has been available to the Government with which humanitarian aid transport was organized, the return of Croatian soldiers from Afghanistan, as well as several repatriation flights from various parts of Europe, including a repatriation flight to China, which was the longest flight in the company’s history.

Croatia Airlines’ aircraft currently fly from Zagreb to 14 European destinations and five Croatian airports.

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