Big passenger slump

That empty feeling ... Croatia Airlines

Croatia Airline started the year off with a big slump in passenger numbers. It took the Association of European Airlines (AEA) to reveal Croatia Airlines’ figures. In the first month of the year, January, Croatia Airlines reported a 10.9% passenger decrease. This is a big slump for the leading carrier in the EX-YU region and the airline which seemed to sale through the global financial crisis mostly unharmed in comparison to other European airlines. In January, Croatia Airlines had 91.100 passengers and its load factor stood at 51.5%.

Meanwhile, Adria Airways was breakeven in January, neither recording an increase or decrease. Its cabin occupancy index stands at 57.7% and is the highest out of the 3 leading EX-YU airlines.

In sudden reversal of events, Jat Airways, which has for month’s been reporting a big passenger decline, has managed to become the only major EX-YU carrier to report growth in January. The growth has continued throughout February and results for March are expected to be announced in 2 weeks. Jat carried some 4.000 passengers more than Adria in January but still trails Croatia Airlines by a hefty 23.000 passengers.