Croatia Airlines

Croatia Airlines is not an airline you see every day at one-minute intervals – and that is exactly what makes it appealing for spotters. The Croatian national airline is in the middle of a complete fleet change: a colorful mix of Airbus A319s, A320s and propeller aircraft is turning into a fleet of Airbus A220s. If you look closely now, you can still catch the last examples of the old generation next to the brand-new A220s. This page shows you how to recognize Croatia Airlines reliably and where to see it best.

Croatia Airlines at a glance

Croatia Airlines is Croatia’s national airline, based in Zagreb. Its history begins in 1989 under the name Zagal – Zagreb Airlines, back then with a single twin-engine Cessna 402 flying cargo. In 1990, the company got its current name. The first scheduled flight followed in 1991 between Zagreb and Split, with a leased McDonnell Douglas MD-82. Because of the war in Croatia, operations had to be suspended for a time; the airline then built up its scheduled service with three Boeing 737s it had taken over from Lufthansa. In the late 1990s, the first Airbus A320s and A319s arrived – laying the foundation for the Airbus fleet that still defines it today.

The Republic of Croatia owns almost all of the airline. The business model is that of a classic network airline: feeder flights to Europe’s big hubs, domestic connections between Zagreb and the coast, and in summer plenty of additional traffic to the Adriatic. In 2025, according to published business figures, Croatia Airlines carried a good two million passengers.

Since November 18, 2004, the airline has been a member of Star Alliance. That puts it alongside Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines and Swiss – with which it is also linked through codeshares and the Miles & More frequent flyer program. How the three big alliances work is explained in the overview of Star Alliance, oneworld and SkyTeam.

Codes and callsigns

• IATA code OU: appears in the flight number, meaning on your ticket, boarding pass and departure board.
• ICAO code CTN: appears in the air traffic control flight plan and on most flight trackers.
• Callsign CROATIA: how the crew identifies itself on the radio, followed by the flight number.

As with many airlines, the IATA code doesn’t match the name – OU has nothing to do with “Croatia.” The ICAO code CTN is more intuitive. Why there are two code systems at all is explained in the article IATA and ICAO codes explained.

One detail matters for attribution: Croatia Airlines sells flights that partners operate, and partners sell flights operated by Croatia Airlines. On the departure board in Frankfurt, a flight to Zagreb may therefore show an LH number while actually being a Croatia A220. The tracker with the ICAO code CTN shows you who is really flying.

The fleet: farewell to the A319 and Dash 8

Until 2024, Croatia Airlines’ fleet was small and mixed: a few Airbus A319s, one Airbus A320 and several De Havilland Canada Dash 8-400 turboprops. The Dash 8s flew a large share of all flights, especially on short routes within Croatia and to neighboring countries.

In fall 2022, the airline announced it would replace its entire fleet with the Airbus A220. It thereby decided against the Embraer E2 family. Part of the aircraft comes from a direct order from Airbus, and part is leased. At the end of July 2024, Croatia Airlines took delivery of its first A220. It first flew domestically, and its first international scheduled flight went to Frankfurt on August 7, 2024 – on the same route on which the airline had flown its first international flight in 1992.

Type	Seats	Status in fall 2026	Spotter tip
Airbus A220-300	around 150	Backbone of the fleet, further deliveries open	The most common Croatia sighting, registration 9A-CA…
Airbus A220-100	127	a few examples	Shorter version, much rarer
Airbus A319	144	only a few still in service	Replaced by A220s by 2027, according to the airline
De Havilland Canada Dash 8-400	76	Remaining stock, retirement under way	Turboprops have been leaving gradually since 2025
Airbus A320	174	retired	No longer in the fleet

The exact numbers change with every delivery and every retirement, so we deliberately give no fixed numbers here. The direction is clear: the A220 is taking over almost everything. For short connections where the Dash 8s used to fly, Croatia Airlines additionally brings turboprops with crew from a partner into the network. What is behind this model is covered in the article Wet leasing explained.

The A220 also brought changes in the cabin: it is the airline’s first to offer Wi-Fi on board, plus USB ports at the seats. According to Croatia Airlines, the A220 burns about a quarter less fuel than its predecessors.

A220 or A319? How to tell the types apart

If you spot Croatia Airlines, you face a typical question: is that still an A319 or already an A220? Both are twinjet narrowbodies of similar size and wear the same livery. The differences are still easy to see once you know what to look for.

It gets harder between the two A220 versions. The A220-100 is just under four meters shorter than the A220-300 and therefore looks stubbier. In a photo, you see this best in the distance between the wing and the front door. If in doubt, the type code in the tracker or the registration, which you later compare against a fleet list, helps. The turboprop variant is easy: the Dash 8-400 is a high-wing aircraft with two propellers and a tall T-tail – you can’t confuse it with a jet. You’ll find more basics on identifying types in the article Identifying aircraft types for beginners.

How to recognize Croatia Airlines

The livery is simple yet unmistakable: white fuselage, dark blue “Croatia Airlines” titles and a tail with squares in red and blue. The pattern alludes to the Šahovnica, the red-and-white checkerboard in Croatia’s coat of arms. With the A220, the airline has carefully revised its brand look: the squares from the tail now also appear next to the titles and on the wingtips. The change is more fine-tuning than a fresh start – at first glance, old and new aircraft look very similar.

The registration starts with 9A-, the prefix for aircraft registered in Croatia. The A220s mostly follow the 9A-CA… series, while the former Dash 8 fleet carried registrations with 9A-CQ…. Many aircraft also have names of Croatian cities and regions, such as “Zagreb,” “Split,” “Vukovar” or “Zadar.” Where country codes come from is explained in the article Country codes on aircraft.

The special liveries are sought after. In recent years, Croatia Airlines repeatedly had an aircraft in Star Alliance livery in service – with a big alliance logo instead of the usual squares. If you’re looking for such an aircraft, the guide on Finding special liveries helps.

Spotting Croatia Airlines in Germany and next door

In Germany, you see Croatia Airlines most reliably at the two Lufthansa hubs. At Frankfurt Airport and Munich Airport, flights from Zagreb land regularly, in summer often supplemented by connections from the coast. In Frankfurt, the Zeppelinheim viewing platform is a good choice, in Munich the visitors’ hill. Depending on the season, the airline also serves further German destinations, such as Berlin, Düsseldorf or Hamburg.

Outside Germany, Vienna and Zurich are obvious destinations: at the spotters’ hill in Vienna or on Observation Terrace B in Zurich, you often catch Croatia Airlines between Austrian and Swiss aircraft. In Zurich, you can compare the Croatia A220 directly with Swiss’s A220s.

If you want to see the full Croatia operation, go to Croatia: Zagreb is the hub, and in summer many additional flights come to Split, Dubrovnik and Zadar. There, Croatia Airlines shares the sky with numerous leisure and low-cost airlines from all over Europe.

Before you set off, take a look at the runway direction in use – otherwise you’ll be standing with your telephoto lens on the wrong side. How to judge that is shown in the guide on the runway direction in use at an airport. If you’re just starting out, Plane spotting for beginners helps you get going.

Common mix-ups

• Thinking OU is a country code – OU is purely an airline identifier and belongs to Croatia Airlines.
• Thinking every A220 with a Croatia tail is an A220-300 – there is also the shorter A220-100, much rarer.
• Confusing the A220 and A319 – pay attention to engine size, landing gear height and nose.
• Equating an LH flight number with the operating airline – on codeshare flights to Zagreb, Croatia Airlines itself often flies.
• Logging the wet-lease turboprop as a Croatia aircraft – leased aircraft carry the partner’s registration and often its colors.
• Thinking Croatia Airlines is a Lufthansa subsidiary – it is a Star Alliance partner and state-owned, but doesn’t belong to the Lufthansa Group.

Conclusion

Croatia Airlines is a small but exciting Star Alliance airline – and especially interesting right now. The switch to the Airbus A220 makes the fleet more modern and uniform, and the last A319s and Dash 8-400s are becoming real collector’s items. If you note the registration and type cleanly, you document a piece of this transition with every sighting.