Croatia Airlines eyes return to profitability following fleet and network adjustments

Croatia Airlines is confident it can return to profitability in 2012 after significantly narrowing its losses this year despite high fuel prices. The Croatian flag carrier is banking that its future fleet plan, which focusses on replacing three A320s with four A319s, will result in further improvements in profitability as it will be able to better match capacity with demand. New routes to the east are also planned - including Moscow, St Petersburg and Sofia - to balance a network that is now primarily focussed on Western Europe.

Croatia Airlines, which launched services in 1991 just as Croatia declared independence from the former Yugoslavia, has incurred losses every year since posting a breakeven result in 2007. Croatia Airlines CEO Srećko Šimunović expects the carrier to end 2011 with a loss of EUR9 million (USD12 million).