Croatia Airlines celebrated its 30th anniversary
Zagreb, 17 September 2019
Croatia Airlines, the Croatian flag carrier and member of Star Alliance, tonight celebrated its 30th anniversary in Zagreb. The celebration, which took place at the technical headquarters of the company at the Zagreb Airport, welcomed Prime Minister Andrej Plenković; representative of the President of the Republic of Croatia and minister of maritime affairs, transport and infrastructure, Oleg Butković; high representatives of the Croatian political scene; CEO of Star Alliance, Jeffrey Goh; representatives of international airline associations; numerous business partners from Croatia and abroad, as well as employees of Croatia Airlines and CEO Jasmin Bajić.
In his speech, the CEO of Croatia Airlines reminded the guests that the history of the Croatian airline company began on 7 August 1989, when air transport company Zagreb Airlines d.d. (Zagal) was registered at the Commercial Court in Zagreb. Zagal commenced operation in December 1989 as an airmail service provider, having changed its name to Croatia Airlines d.d. on 23 July 1990, becoming the national airline company for the transport of passengers, goods, and post.
Passenger transport began on 5 May 1991, when a rented MD-82 conducted the first flight in domestic transport from Zagreb to Split. A year later, on 5 April 1992, the company marked its first international flight (Zagreb – Frankfurt), connecting Croatia with Europe and the world.
- Thanks to the expertise and care of our employees, in the last 30 years we have achieved numerous operative successes and continuously expanded our global market presence – said Jasmin Bajić, CEO of Croatia Airlines, adding: - It makes us proud that passengers recognize us for safety, professional staff, and quality of service, and that we have been creating memories for three decades.
In its 30 years, Croatia Airlines has grown into a mid-sized airline in European terms and gained membership in the most prominent airline associations, such as the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and Star Alliance, the world’s largest airline alliance.
As the Croatian flag carrier, Croatia Airlines significantly contributes to the development of Croatian tourism since it enables year-round connections among Croatian destinations as well as connections between Croatia and the world. Almost a third of all airline tourists annually arrive to Croatia on Croatia Airlines flights, and the company ranks fifth among the largest exporters in Croatia.
Jeffrey Goh, Star Alliance CEO, said:
-I would like to take this opportunity not only to congratulate Croatia Airlines in reaching this 30-year milestone, but also to extend our heartfelt thanks for their 15 years of sustained commitment to Star Alliance. Croatia Airlines has provided an important presence for Star Alliance in the South-East European region, and made significant contributions in bringing to life our joint initiatives for a better customer experience, and we look forward to many more years of excellent cooperation.
With the support of Croatia Airlines, the leading Croatian fashion and textile company, Varteks d.d., created a special birthday gift – a design of uniforms of the future for pilots and cabin crew, which were presented at the celebration. Varteks’ vision of the uniforms of the national flag carrier were presented by company employees, who assumed the roles of models and walked the runway on this occasion.
From its first commercial flight until today, Croatia Airlines aircraft have conducted over 600,000 flights and transported almost 40,000,000 passengers.
This season, the national airline aircraft fly directly to 38 destinations – 30 international and 8 domestic – connecting Croatia to 24 European countries.