Croatia Airlines Celebrates 30th Birthday in Zagreb

September 18, 2019 – Croatia Airlines, Croatia’s national air carrier, and a Star Alliance member, celebrated its 30th anniversary in Zagreb

T.portal reports that at the commemorative ceremony, held at the company’s technical center at Zagreb Airport, was attended by Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, envoy of the President of the Republic of Croatia and Minister of Maritime Affairs, Transport and Infrastructure Oleg Butkovic, senior political representatives, Star Alliance Executive Director Jeffrey Goh, international representatives of airlines and organizations, many business partners of the company from Croatia and abroad, and employees of the company headed by CEO Jasmin Bajic.

Prime Minister Plenkovic addressed the many guests, announcing a financial injection for the national air carrier. “On Thursday, the Government will decide to recapitalize Croatia Airlines,” Plenkovic said, but did not specify the details. 

In his address to the attendees, the head of Croatia Airlines recalled that the history of the Croatia Airlines began on August 7, 1989, as Zagreb Airlines d.d. (Zagal), an air transport company. Zagal started operations in December of the same year providing postal services, and on July 23, 1990, changed its name to Croatia Airlines d.d., becoming the national airline for the transportation of passengers, goods, and mail.

Passenger transport began on May 5, 1991, when the first domestic flight on the Zagreb – Split route was made using the rented MD-82 aircraft. A year later, on April 5, 1992, the company also made its first international flight (Zagreb – Frankfurt), which began connecting Croatia with Europe and the world.

“Thanks to the expertise and diligence of our employees, we have achieved many business successes over the past thirty years, while continuously expanding our worldwide market presence,” said Jasmin Bajic, CEO of Croatia Airlines, adding: “We are proud that travelers recognize us for their flight safety, professional staff and quality of service, and that we have been creating memories for three decades now.”

In the 30 years, Croatia Airlines has grown into a mid-sized airline in Europe, during which time it became a member of major aviation associations such as the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and Star Alliance, the world’s largest global airline alliance.

As a national air carrier, the company makes an essential contribution to the development of Croatian tourism as it enables the year-round connectivity of Croatian destinations and Croatia with the world. Almost one-third of all tourists come to Croatia using Croatia Airlines aircraft annually, and the company is the fifth largest exporter in the Republic of Croatia.

“I take this opportunity to congratulate Croatia Airlines on its 30th anniversary, but also, from the bottom of my heart, thank them for 15 years of loyalty to the Star Alliance. Croatia Airlines has made Star Alliance an important presence in Southeastern Europe and has made a significant contribution to the implementation of joint initiatives to improve the customer experience, and we look forward to an even longer collaboration in the future,” said Jeffrey Goh of Star Alliance.

Leading Croatian fashion and textile company Varteks, with the support of Croatia Airlines, designed a special gift for the birthday celebration. Thus, the Croatian fashion giant created a proposal for the future uniforms of the pilots and cabin crew, which were presented at the birthday celebration. Vartek’s vision of the national airline’s uniforms was worn by company staff, who, for this occasion, jumped into the role of models and walked the catwalk.

Since its first commercial flight to date, Croatia Airlines has achieved more than 600,000 flights and carried nearly 40,000,000 passengers.

This season, Croatia Airlines planes will fly directly to 38 destinations, 30 of which are international and eight domestic, connecting Croatia with 24 European countries.

The Croatia Airlines fleet consists of twelve aircraft: four A319 Airbuses, two Airbus 320s, and six Dash 8-Q400 turboprops.

To read more about travel in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

 

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