November 29, 2022 - Croatia Airlines and Airbus have signed a contract for the purchase of the most modern Airbus A220 aircrafts, a step towards Croatia Airlines replacement of all their aircraft with a new unified fleet by 2026 and a complete switch to jet propulsion.

The Croatian national airline announced the signing of the contract today, reminding the public that the replacement of the fleet represents a long-term process of transition, and that there will be a period of adaptation of all business processes to the new aircraft. This, they say, will further optimize the operations of the national airline, ensure better occupancy of the passenger cabin, and better utilization of the crew, while Croatia Airlines will become an even more environmentally friendly airline and will significantly reduce fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.

In addition, significantly higher quality and more pleasant flights will be provided to passengers, but also far more economical and sustainable business, according to the press release, which does not include financial details of the contract. The President of the Management Board of Croatia Airlines, Jasmin Bajić, stated that considering the demands of passengers, trends in the highly competitive Croatian and global aviation market, fuel prices and CO2 emissions, as well as the goals of the EU's green policies and the no less important fact of the ageing of the existing fleet, the decision on fleet replacement of Croatia Airlines is imperative and fully compliant with the adopted post-covid strategy. "I am happy that we are entering a new business development cycle with a partner we know well and who, based on long-term cooperation, really offered us conditions that we are currently able to accept," Bajić said.

Chief Commercial Officer and Head of International Business of Airbus Christian Scherer stated that he is glad that Croatia Airlines is the new customer of the A220 aircraft. "The A220 is ideal for Croatian aviation needs due to its operational flexibility and efficiency, which will help the company achieve its ambitions of regional and international connectivity and the provision of superior services in any aspect, whether it is passenger comfort or travel economy and flight occupancy," he said.

More than excellent news for the Croatian job market and the domestic economy as a whole as as many as 600 jobs are set to be opened in Zagreb County thanks to a huge investment.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 29th of May, 2019, parts for the aviation giants Boeing and Airbus will be produced in the Republic of Croatia. The parts will be incorporated into the world's most famous aircraft and their engines, including names like Airbus, Boeing, Bombardier, and Rolls-Royce. The news was announced on Wednesday by Večernji list, citing that the Austrian aeronautical company FACC is beginning to construct a production plant for the interior parts of planes in the business zone of Jakovlje in Zagreb County, close to the Croatian capital of Zagreb.

The investment is worth a massive 33 million euros and will open up 600 jobs. The land has already been purchased, the necessary permissions and the permit have been granted and the construction has begun. The plant should be completed by the end of 2020 and production at the plant will commence in 2021.

This great news has also been confirmed by the head of the aforementioned Austrian company Robert Machtlinger, who stated that FACC wants to grow and be quicker than the market and intends to work on strengthening the expertise of its employees. "Zagreb is offering us this because it has a highly qualified workforce," he added.

The company chose between different locations in Central and Eastern Europe and ultimately decided on Zagreb. The sale contract has already been signed, and the Austrian company has become the owner of the land in the Jakovlje business area, totalling 130 thousand square metres.

Vecernji list also revealed that a meeting will take place on Wednesday in Banski Dvori where the President of FACC AGI's management board and the president of AVIC Cabin Systems Co. Limited from China, a company which owns 55.5 percent of the Austrian company, will talk to Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, Economy Minister Darko Horvat and State Secretary Zdenk Lucić about the project implementation and everything that goes into the planning and licensing phase.

The plan is that construction work on the plant will be completed by December 2020, and production will begin no later than April 2021, according to Dnevnik.

As a daughter company of the Chinese state-owned company Aviation Industry Corporation of China, one of the ten largest Chinese companies, FACC, based in Austria, is part of the global market and cooperates with world leaders in the aviation industry such as Airbus, Boeing, Bombardier, Rolls-Royce. FACC is otherwise a company with more than 3,400 employees from 38 countries which work in thirteen locations worldwide, Vecernji list writes.

They added that un the financial year 2018/2019, they earned 781.6 million euros in revenue, an increase of 4.5 percent compared to the previous financial year, and also the best result in the company's thirty-year history.

Make sure to follow our dedicated business page for much more.