Croatia Airlines to No Longer Fly into London Heathrow

Daniela Rogulj

London Heathrow is the busiest European and world’s most crowded airport, which serves about 75 million passengers annually. Croatia Airlines has decided to no longer fly into London Heathrow.

Due to the limited capacity of the airport and many airline’s great interest from around the world to fly into it, slots – right landing and takeoff – at Heathrow are the most valuable of all the world’s airports. Air France / KLM have recently sold to Oman Air – with their pair of daily slots selling for as much as $75 million.

 

Vecernji List announced that Croatia Airlines has nine pairs of weekly slots at Heathrow with the intention to sell them soon. The Croatia Airlines administration say they have chosen to do so because the Zagreb – London route has realized losses, even though the average occupancy of the aircraft is around 75%. These losses amount to, say, between one and three million euros a year, and occur because the competition on this line makes it hard to get better prices for tickets.

 

The Croatia Airlines administration explained that the sale of slots is set out in the restructuring program and that they are on the move as they need about $30 million for capital maintenance. The sales of these slots will, they say, cover part of these costs.

 

Which airline will negotiate this and what the amount will be, Croatia Airlines did not want to reveal because negotiations are still ongoing. According to some information, a buyer could be Ireland’s Aer Lingus with an amount around 17 million euros. The value of the slots vary on the time of day, with them usually most expensive in the morning.

 

At present, aside from the Croatia Airlines Zagreb and London Heathrow route, you can connect with British Airways.

 

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