Croatia Airlines is set to wet-lease regional aircraft to service shorter, less busy routes as it phases out its Dash 8 turboprops and transitions to a single-type fleet of Airbus A220 aircraft. According to EX-YU Aviation News, the airline plans to use these leases to manage overcapacity on routes where the A220’s size would be excessive, eyeing turboprop aircraft as the preferred solution.
By 2027, Croatia Airlines will have twelve A220-300s, each seating 149 passengers, and three A220-100s with a 127-seat capacity. The airline is set to receive its first A220-300 next month, with a second arriving in November.
The current fleet of six Dash 8 turboprops, leased through an agreement with GOAL (a joint venture between Lufthansa and KGAL) since 2007, has been extended: two aircraft until late 2024 and the remaining four until 2025. These 76-seat Dash 8s have been heavily utilized, with 5,903 flights in the last five months, outpacing the 3,809 flights operated by the Airbus jets.
Croatia Airlines is currently grappling with a fleet shortage due to maintenance and supply chain challenges, compounded by an A319’s technical issue that forced a return to Zagreb en route to Copenhagen. To address these issues, the airline has wet-leased a Danish Air Transport A320, along with a Trade Air A320, a Fly41 Airways A319, and an Albastar Boeing 737-800. Additionally, ad-hoc capacity has been leased short-term over the past two months, leading to reduced frequencies on select routes until the end of June.
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