Croatia Airways has introduced plans to refresh and simplify its fleet in a reasonably thrilling manner.
Croatia Airways will solely fly A220s
Whereas the precise particulars of the order stay to be seen, Croatia Airways has introduced that by 2026, the Star Alliance airline will solely fly Airbus A220s. Presumably this implies the airline is ordering A220s, although we don’t but know what number of, or whether or not the airline will go for the A220-100 or A220-300 model.
For context, Croatia Airways at present has a fleet of 12 plane with a mean fleet age of 17 years, together with:
- 5 Airbus A319s, that are a mean of ~22 years outdated, and may seat 144 individuals
- One Airbus A320, which is ~21 years outdated, and may seat 174 individuals
- Six De Havilland Sprint 8-Q400s, that are a mean of ~17 years outdated, and may seat 76 individuals
At this level a fleet refresh appears acceptable, each when it comes to the price of sustaining outdated plane, in addition to when it comes to gasoline effectivity.
The A220 is Airbus’ superior jet that’s a bit smaller than the Airbus A320-family of plane. The aircraft is gasoline environment friendly, lengthy vary, and may seat 110-140 individuals, relying on the model and format. From a passenger expertise standpoint, that is most likely probably the most comfy slim physique, given the 2-3 format, the large home windows, and the broad seats.
What a cool and daring fleet renewal!
Personally I like the idea of an airline having a fleet with only one kind of aircraft. It’s nice when it comes to realizing what to anticipate (there gained’t be a final minute plane swap), and it’s nice when it comes to operational reliability (swapping planes is simpler, you will have a much bigger pool of reserve pilots, and many others.). There’s one thing to be mentioned for any such effectivity, and it’s one thing that airBaltic has executed fairly properly with in Europe, as a serious all-A220 operator.
Admittedly this can be a little bit of a chance, although. At present Croatia Airways has planes with capability from 76 to 174 seats, in order that’s fairly a variety. In the meantime sooner or later, all Croatia Airways planes can have a capability someplace in the course of that vary.
For many markets that can most likely work, although there are actually conditions the place the A220 might not supply sufficient capability, whereas there are different conditions the place the A220 might supply an excessive amount of capability. I’d assume the synergies of getting a single plane kind will largely make up for that.
I do surprise if Croatia Airways will likely be pressured to chop any locations due to this variation, because the A220 isn’t essentially capable of function to a number of the smaller airports that the Q400 can function to. Rapidly glancing on the checklist of Croatia Airways locations, I don’t see any apparent airports the place this needs to be a difficulty, nevertheless it’s attainable I’m lacking one thing.
Backside line
Croatia Airways is putting an Airbus A220 order, which by 2026 will likely be used to switch all present A320-family and Sprint 8 Q400 plane. Croatia Airways’ fleet is getting outdated, so it’s good to see that the airline has chosen such a succesful jet for its fleet renewal.
What do you make of Croatia Airways’ Airbus A220 order?
