Croatia Airlines hires post-Covid strategy consultants

Croatia Airlines (OU, Zagreb) has hired Boston Consulting Group to develop and implement a strategy for the post-Covid market environment, the carrier announced in a stock exchange filing on May 10. The US-headquartered consultancy has been “selected as an expert advisor to participate” in the drafting of the strategy, the disclosure said, describing the group as “a leading international strategic consulting firm with proven results of supporting leading European airlines in the process of recovery from the Covid-19 crisis.” Together with the consultancy, Croatia Airlines “will try to redefine new market opportunities for connecting European destinations with the region of Southeast Europe, maximise future revenue potential, increase aircraft productivity, and define the necessary space for further rationalisation and improvement of its business processes.” Boston Consulting Group claims on its website that its “airline consulting teams […] serve seven of the ten largest network carriers and six of the top 20 low-cost carriers” in addition to airports and cargo carriers. On April 30, Croatia Airlines posted a first-quarter net loss of HRK96.9 million kunas (USD15.68 million), a 12% easing of the HRK110.5 million (USD17.88 million) loss it suffered in the same period last year. It followed a HRK358.2 million (USD57.94 million) full-year net loss for 2020. In related news, Ryanair (FR, Dublin Int’l) has lodged a complaint at the European General Court in Luxembourg against a European Commission decision in December to approve EUR11.7 million euros (USD14.2 million) in state aid to Croatia Airlines. The assistance was provided to the state-owned flag carrier to compensate for coronavirus-related travel restrictions that Croatia and other countries introduced between March 19 and June 30 last year. Ryanair announced new bases in Zagreb and Zadar in late March, to open in July and September respectively. However, on May 11, it said it would open the Zagreb base in July as well, two months earlier than initially planned, citing strong demand.