On Wednesday, the government again appointed an interim six-month CEO of Croatia Airlines. This is the fifth time in a row that has happened. “The Government proposes the appointment of Jasmin Bajić as a member of the management board – the managing director of Croatia Airlines d.d. – until the procedure for the appointment of the permanent management board is completed, and for a maximum period of six months,” said the government in its decision, reports Jutarnji List on November 5, 2018.

This has been going on for more than two years. The public competition for the position of CEO of Croatia Airlines was first launched in April 2017, while interim CEOs have been appointed since August 2016 when the government, after his full term expired, appointed Krešimir Kučko as the first interim CEO. Since then, the government has been trying to conclude the longest-running competition for the CEO of a state-owned company.

Kučko resigned before the end of his third six-month interim term and later became the CEO of Gulf Air. In November 2017, Jasmin Bajić was appointed to his position, and his term was now extended for the second time. Over the past year, the government has returned the company to the list of strategically-important companies and has launched another, third competition for board chairman and members. The selection procedure has been completed, but no decision has been announced.

The pressure on the government to finally choose the CEO was made over the summer by the trade unions as well, but with no results. Experts say that this approach to running a company is inexcusable because the temporary CEO is in no position to make long-term strategic decisions. The latest competition was published by the Ministry of State Property and the candidates who have sent their applications are Ranko Ilić, Zdravko Delić, Boško Matković and Jasmin Bajić. The selection procedure has been completed and a proposal has been sent to the government, but according to unofficial information, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković has not yet made the decision.

It is not entirely clear why the government is refusing to finally appoint the CEO. Interestingly, the government has agreed to extend the term of Jasmin Bajić, who has also applied for the full term. It obviously considers him to be a good six-month solution, but not a long-term one.

In the meantime, Transportation Minister Oleg Butković has announced that Croatia Airlines cannot survive in the future without a strategic partner and that the company is going to search for a financial advisor which will help it find a strategic partner. According to sources, Deloitte, Ernst & Young and PricewaterhouseCoopers have applied to the international tender.

At the same time, it has never been revealed which strategic partners were found by the World Bank advisers, which were selected by the then government in 2015, which paid two million kuna for their services.

The company's latest financial report reveals that the selection of the strategic partner is still in the distant future. “By the end of 2018, initial activities related to the creation of a recapitalisation model and the identification and verification of potential investors with consultants-financial advisors are foreseen.” In other words, the search for the strategic partner will take at least another year. And it seems that the selection of the CEO will not happen any sooner.

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Losses made by the national flag carrier Croatia Airlines (CA) in the first nine months of the year amounted to 34.4 million kuna which is 3.8 million kuna less than recorded in the same period last year, the airline reported on Wednesday.

The company underscored that it generated a profit of 45.2 million kuna in the third quarter, however, when it is added to profit in the second quarter or 4.9 million kuna, all that has not sufficed to cover losses incurred in the first quarter.

CA notes that the January-September business results were impacted by the increased price of jet fuel as well as the negative impact of two strikes that were announced in the summer season which led to a reduction in the number of passengers expected and a drop in expected financial effects.

Operating revenue in the first nine months of the year was up 5% year-on-year. Passenger income increased by 7% or 75.2 million kuna while operating costs were 5% higher y-on-y. The highest increase was recorded in the cost of flying, 13%, due to the increase in the price of fuel.

"The negative effect of the price of jet fuel is currently the greatest risk to CA's business," the company said in press release and added that the cost of fuel in the period from January-September increased by 58.7 kuna million y-o-y.

At the same time, the cost of aircraft maintenance increased by 13 million kuna. Costs of services for passengers have increased due to disturbances in traffic and services in air traffic also increased due to increased airport costs.

In the period from January to September 2018, 1,705,470 passengers travelled with CA, an increase of 3% compared to the same period last year (domestic passengers increased by 1%, international passengers by 3%). During this year's summer season, Croatia Airlines had direct flights to 39 European destinations in 24 countries. Its fleet consists of 14 airplanes.

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After Split Airport recorded its busiest September ever, handling 455,595 passengers, the airport has now achieved something it has never before.

Of the other airlines flying into Croatia, Ryanair and Norwegian both received a lower than four star rating.

ZAGREB, August 28, 2018 - Croatia Airlines (CA) is preparing a call to select a financial consultant to assist in preparing a model for the injection of fresh capital and finding a strategic partner, the airline told Hina on Tuesday, adding that the tender "should come to life very soon."

ZAGREB, August 27, 2018 - The Supreme Court has upheld a Zagreb County Court ruling of 9 August banning a strike at the country's national flag carrier, Croatia Airlines (CA).

ZAGREB, August 18, 2018 - The attorney of Croatia Airlines' ORCA union Albin Hotić said on Friday the union had appealed at the Zagreb County Court an injunction banning a strike in the airline, and the court is due to forward the appeal to the Supreme Court.

The passengers were not too pleased when the pilot informed them they had been left with just one engine running.

The Union insists that they consider the decision to ban the Croatia Airlines strike unlawful and improper, claiming that they will use all the legal means to see it overturned.

ZAGREB, August 10, 2018 - Sea, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Oleg Butković said on Thursday he was glad there would be no strike in Croatia Airlines as it would have been fatal for the company, reiterating that he had not influenced a court decision banning the strike.