(Photo Airbus Canada Limited Partnership)
JUST DAYS ahead of its 35th anniversary, Croatia Airlines took delivery of its maiden Airbus A220300, 9A-CAE (c/n 55290), marking a major milestone in its fleet transformation programme, which it has described as the “biggest project in the history of the company”.
The first of the Canadian-built types touched down in Zagreb on July 29, after an 11-hour, 4,660mile ferry flight from Montreal/Mirabel, via a refuelling stop in Copenhagen. The aircraft entered service on August 6, rotating from Zagreb to Split as OU652 – the same route the airline operated for its inaugural flight on May 5, 1991. The firm’s initial international flight in 1992, was also replicated by 9A-CAE, on the carrier’s August 7 birthday, operating as OU416 on a 75-minute flight to Frankfurt.