May the 22nd, 2025 – Croatia Airlines is eyeing closer cooperation with Ljubljana Airport, according to reports circulating in the Slovenian media.
As Sinisa Malus/Poslovni Dnevnik writes, representatives of Croatia Airlines have allegedly spoken with Slovenian stakeholders and regulators in the aviation industry about possible forms of cooperation.
It has now become quite clear that following Adria Airways’ bankruptcy and the decision of the Slovenian Government not to bother forming a new national carrier, a lot of space has suddenly opened up for Croatia Airlines at Ljubljana Airport. The Croatian national carrier could thus connect Ljubljana with various European metropolises, according to unofficial information currently doing the rounds in Slovenia.
The CEO of Croatia Airlines, Jasmin Bajić, has recently met with representatives of the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology, the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Ministry of Finance, as well as with the head of the Slovenian air navigation service provider Sloveniacontrol.
“The representatives of the carrier presented how the company’s business development has been to date, as well as the possibilities for expanding their network. They were interested in the state’s previous measures to increase connectivity levels and possible forms of cooperation with the state to achieve this goal,” the Ministry of Infrastructure announced.
They noted that no particularly specific or detailed proposals on other possible forms of cooperation were presented at that meeting. Croatia Airlines last spoke directly with the Slovenian Government back in 2020 and then again more recently in 2023. It is said that back then, Croatia Airlines was potentially interested in establishing flights from Ljubljana Airport. That would provide the Slovenian capital with multiple connections to European destinations, saving them the job of first travelling to Zagreb, as is commonplace.
The airline’s Chief Commercial Officer, Slaven Žabo, revealed at the time: “We’ve made some gains on the Slovenian market since Adria Airways went bankrupt. It was then that we offered certain solutions to meet the demand that existed. That being said, we didn’t bother to add any flights to Slovenia because our hubs are located nearby, and at that time, we were more focused on our sales and marketing activities in Ljubljana, which helped us significantly increase our market share in Slovenia.”
It’s now become well known that the continually enfeebled Croatia Airlines recorded a staggering operating loss of 15.4 million euros in the first quarter of 2025. This, with the net financing result, resulted in net losses of 15.9 million euros. Concerning indeed for any company sharing a hub with the wildly popular Ryanair. Operating expenses in the first quarter of 2025 were also 7 percent higher than in the same period last year. The largest increase in expenses was recorded in the depreciation category, primarily due to the inclusion of depreciation costs for leased assets related to the first two Airbus A220 aircraft.
Croatia Airlines is otherwise currently in the process of switching to a fleet consisting entirely of Airbus A220s. The fleet modernisation process is expected to be completed by 2027.
The passenger share of the Croatian market last year stood at 14.1%, and Ryanair was by far the busiest carrier in the country. In terms of capacity share, Croatia Airlines held 18.3% of the market, compared to Ryanair’s far higher 27.6%. On the other hand, Lufthansa was the busiest carrier in neighbouring Slovenia in 2024, with a passenger share of 14.9%. In terms of capacity, it was also the largest, with a share of 16.5%.
