Croatia Airlines has recently decided to sell its slots for landing and take-off at London Heathrow.
The sale of slots, which are rights for landing and take-off, at London Heathrow Airport is part of the restructuring plan of Croatia Airlines and the company is currently assessing the feasibility of switching to another London airport, said on Thursday the CEO of Croatia Airlines Krešimir Kučko, reports tportal.hr on November 3, 2016.
Asked by reporters what will happen after Croatia Airlines sells its slots at Heathrow, Kučko answered that such decision has been foreseen by the restructuring and business plan.
“I do not understand such high level of interest in just one destination. It is one of our 35 destinations, and the abolition of that service has been provided by the restructuring plan and the business plan, both for 2015 and for 2016. In 2015, we made a decision that it was not the right time to do it, which turned out to be a good assessment and decision, and this year we are going to realize it, partly due to accumulated losses that this service has been making for years, and partly in order to solve some obligations from the past which are ahead of us and we need to pay for”, said Kučko. Asked which financial obligations the company will have to cover in the future, he said that Croatia Airlines had to invest in engines and conduct major aircraft inspections.
According to Kučko, the sale of slots will not affect this year’s financial results, which were excellent in the first three quarters. “I am very pleased. We have already taken care of two engines and introduced four new lines and started business expansion that everyone used to say was impossible without a strategic partner, but we have demonstrated that we can do it alone. In addition, we have achieved profits similar to last years’,” said Kučko.
He added that Croatia Airlines’ flights to Heathrow could end in the second half on 2017 and that the company was currently analyzing the feasibility of a potential move to one of nearby airports.
