Review: Croatia Airlines Business Class Paris to Zagreb

February 19, 2025February 19, 2025 Koen 0 Comments

This review covers my Croatia Airlines business class flight on an Airbus A319 from Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG) to Zagreb (ZAG).

Croatia Airlines business class

Last year, I had to travel to Zagreb, which provided the perfect opportunity to fly again with Croatia Airlines.

Although I had flown twice before in economy class on Croatia Airlines (from Zurich to Zagreb and Zagreb to Frankfurt), this trip was a great excuse to finally try their business class cabin.

The ticket I booked was relatively complicated, as it was part of an open-jaw itinerary I booked with Air France (Tirana–Paris–Bucharest, Bucharest–Paris–Zagreb), with the Paris–Zagreb leg being a codeshare operated by Croatia Airlines.

It’s always interesting to see airlines across different alliances (Air France is in SkyTeam, while Croatia Airlines is part of Star Alliance) cooperating, as it’s rather unusual.

zagreb croatia — *The Croatian capital of Zagreb. ©Paliparan*

Paris Charles de Gaulle Terminal 2D

Croatia Airlines flies out of Terminal 2D at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport.

It had been a few years since I was last in this terminal, which has since been fully renovated and certainly looked much better, with more shops and food outlets than I remembered.

Terminal 2D also has a new business lounge – the Extime Lounge – which I will review in a separate post soon.

If you fly Croatia Airlines in business class or hold Star Alliance Gold status, you will receive complimentary access to the Extime Lounge at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport.

Note that the Extime Lounge has a strict policy of allowing access only 3 hours before your flight.

extime business lounge terminal 2d paris charles de gaulle airport — *Extime Business Lounge in Terminal 2D of Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport. ©Paliparan*

Boarding

Somehow, I lost track of time in the lounge, and when I suddenly saw on the departures screen that boarding had already begun, I rushed to the gate.

It turned out that my afternoon Croatia Airlines flight to Zagreb was departing from a bus gate.

On one hand, it’s always annoying to be crammed like sardines in a bus, but on the other hand, boarding by steps at a remote stand always provides a great opportunity to photograph the plane.

Fortunately, we didn’t have to drive far to reach the plane, and after passing a few easyJet aircraft parked at proper jet bridges, we pulled up in front of the Croatia Airlines Airbus A319 that would fly us from Paris to Zagreb.

paris cdg terminal 2d — *Walking to my departure gate at Terminal 2D of Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport. ©Paliparan*

*A dreaded bus gate for my afternoon flight to Zagreb. ©Paliparan*

easyjet paris — *Driving by an easyJet plane at Terminal 2D. ©Paliparan*

croatia airlines airbus a319 business class review — *Eventually, the bus arrived at the remote stand where the Croatia Airlines Airbus A319 was parked. ©Paliparan*

croatia airlines airbus a319 business class paris zagreb review — *Boarding the Croatia Airlines Airbus A319 that would fly us from Paris to Zagreb. ©Paliparan*

croatia airlines airbus a319 — *Croatia Airlines Airbus A319. ©Paliparan*

Croatia Airlines business class cabin and seats

Croatia Airlines operates an all-narrow-body fleet, with the Airbus A220 as its newest aircraft and the Airbus A319 I was flying today being one of the oldest.

Just like most other European airlines, Croatia Airlines offers the typical European-style business class on its narrow-body planes, where the seats are the same as in economy, but the one next to you is guaranteed to remain empty.

The cabin divider and curtains can be moved back and forth throughout the cabin depending on the demand for business class, and on my flight, the business class cabin was just three rows deep.

Thanks to the blocked middle seat, you do of course get more shoulder space and personal privacy in business class, and since the average Croatia Airlines flight is under two hours, it is sufficient for the duration, even if not exactly luxurious.

That said, I found the slimline seats a bit hard and uncomfortable, and the lack of any power socket or USB charging ports on the Croatia Airlines Airbus A319 a significant downside.

For what it’s worth, the only aircraft in the Croatia Airlines fleet with at-seat power outlets is the Airbus A220, which has both USB-A and USB-C charging ports, and is also the only type of plane equipped with Wi-Fi internet.

croatia airlines airbus a319 business class — *Boarding the Croatia Airlines Airbus A319. ©Paliparan*

Pre-departure service

The business class cabin was about half-full on this afternoon flight from Paris to Zagreb.

I was seated in 1A, and fortunately, seat 1C across from me remained empty.

The flight attendant serving us in business class today came by with pre-departure beverages during boarding, offering a choice between water and orange juice.

orange juice pdb croatia airlines business class — *Orange juice as PDB on my Croatia Airlines flight. ©Paliparan*

Paris (CDG) to Zagreb (ZAG)
Croatia Airlines – Flight OU471 – Airbus A319
Plane registration number: 9A-CTG
Business class – Seat 1A
Departure: 6.30pm – Arrival: 8.20pm
Flight time: 1h50m – Distance: 671 miles

paris to zagreb flight — *It takes just under 2 hours to fly between Paris and Zagreb. ©Great Circle Mapper*

Departure from Paris Charles de Gaulle

It’s always a pleasure taxiing to the runway at a large airport like Paris Charles de Gaulle, as it offers great opportunities for planespotting.

Among others, we passed by an Air Austral Boeing 777 and Boeing 787, as well as an Air China Boeing 777 at the brutalist structure that is Paris CDG Terminal 1.

Air Austral, the flag carrier of the French overseas department of Réunion, has always intrigued me as an airline, partly because Réunion, an Indian Ocean island, is such a stunning place that I would love to visit one day.

We took off on time from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, and shortly after departure, enjoyed lovely views over Le Bourget Airport, the city centre, and the suburbs of Paris, including Saint-Denis with its Stade de France, the national stadium of France.

air austral paris cdg — *Taxiing by an Air Austral Boeing 777-300. ©Paliparan*

cdg access road — *Across the airport access road. ©Paliparan*

air austral boeing 787 — *Passing by yet another Air Austral plane on the apron of Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, this time a Boeing 787 Dreamliner. ©Paliparan*

air china paris — *Taxiing by Terminal 1 of Paris Charles de Gaulle and a Boeing 777 of Air China. ©Paliparan*

air france landing paris cdg — *Getting ready for take-off while an Air France plane lands on a parallel runway. ©Paliparan*

take-off view — *View during take-off. ©Paliparan*

le bourget — *Flying over Paris Le Bourget Airport after our departure from Charles de Gaulle. ©Paliparan*

croatia airlines airbus a319 paris zagreb business class review — *View back over the engine and wing of our Croatia Airlines Airbus A319. ©Paliparan*

paris le bourget airport — *Paris Le Bourget Airport as seen from a plane window. ©Paliparan*

paris river seine window view croatia airlines business class review — *View over Paris and the River Seine. ©Paliparan*

paris view plane — *The departure views over Paris were superb. ©Paliparan*

croatia airlines airbus a319 wing engine turn — *Making a turn over Paris. ©Paliparan*

window view plane — *Window view. ©Paliparan*

paris suburbs stade de france — *View over the Paris suburbs, with the Stade de France in Saint-Denis visible below. ©Paliparan*

climbing plane — *Climbing higher out of Paris. ©Paliparan*

paris departure view — *Paris departure view. ©Paliparan*

Croatia Airlines meal service

Once we reached cruising altitude, the in-flight service began.

In business class on Croatia Airlines, passengers are served a snack box containing a variety of Croatian delicacies.

From what I’ve gathered from other recent Croatia Airlines flight reports and reviews, this is the standard business class offering, regardless of flight length or departure time, so don’t expect a multi-course hot meal and make sure to set your expectations accordingly.

Although the business class food offering on Croatia Airlines is by no means among the best in Europe, I found the actual quality of the products to be very good, and certainly better than other airlines that distribute such business class meal boxes, like KLM does on its intra-European flights.

My snack box contained crackers with tomato salsa, arancini (dried and sugar-coated orange peal), as well as some pršut (Croatian dry-cured prosciutto), which all tasted good.

To drink, I requested some red wine, which was professionally poured at my seat.

Although the Croatian Merlot was certainly enjoyable, it wasn’t exactly top-shelf, as you can buy the bottle for a fiver in local supermarkets.

Overall, the business class meal service left me with mixed impressions as it wasn’t exactly bad, but nothing great either.

With a bit of effort, Croatia Airlines could easily serve something more premium, which would certainly elevate its business class product.

croatia airlines business class snack box — *Croatia Airlines business class snack box. ©Paliparan*

croatia airlines business class food snack box airbus a319 — *The contents of my Dalmatian snack box served in Croatia Airlines business class. ©Paliparan*

red wine croatia airlines business class review — *To drink, I enjoyed some red wine. ©Paliparan*

In-flight entertainment

There were no personal entertainment screens or overhead monitors on the Croatia Airlines Airbus A319, so the only form of entertainment was reading the in-flight magazine or looking out of the window.

The inflight magazine was actually quite interesting, and I was pleased to see an article about the city of Osijek, which I would be visiting on this Croatian trip.

At one point, our Airbus A319 was also “racing” a SunExpress plane somewhere over Central Europe, which was heading on a similar south-eastern course and flew parallel to us for quite some time, something that was fun to watch through the window.

croatia airlines in-flight magazine — *Reading an article about Osijek in the Croatia Airlines inflight magazine. ©Paliparan*

window view plane sunexpress — *It was fun to spot a SunExpress plane flying on a similar south-eastern course from my window. ©Paliparan*

Business class service

When it came to the actual business class service from the female flight attendant, I had mixed feelings as well.

On one hand, she was certainly friendly and delivered service with a smile, but on the other hand, she disappeared into the galley right after distributing the snack boxes and handing out a round of drinks.

Instead of checking on passengers in the cabin, she appeared more occupied with the passenger seated in 1F, whom she seemed to know.

After the meal service, the woman in 1F disappeared into the galley, taking her glass of wine with her, where she continued her conversation with the flight attendant at a loud volume.

Rather bizarrely, during a moment of turbulence when the fasten seatbelt signs were on, the flight attendant reappeared in the cabin to take away empty glasses, as well as the handbag of the woman in 1F, only to return to the galley and continue their chat.

You would have expected her to actually ask the passenger to return to her seat during turbulence, not to pick up her handbag and bring that to the galley to continue their conversation there!

When I rang the call button later in the flight to ask for a refill, I must say the flight attendant swiftly responded and was eager to fulfil my request, although ultimately this shouldn’t have been necessary if she had been more a bit more professional and focused on all the business class passengers rather than her friend in 1F.

Landing at Zagreb Airport

Just as I finished my second glass of wine on board, the fasten seatbelt signs came on again as we began our descent towards Zagreb.

We flew directly over Zagreb Airport, where its contours were clearly visible through the cloud cover, before making a big U-turn to approach the runway.

Due to the dark twilight colours of the evening and some turbulence, it was a bit difficult to capture in pictures, but we eventually landed safely and right on time on the single runway of Zagreb’s Franjo Tuđman International Airport.

zagreb airport plane view — *Flying over Zagreb Airport, its contours just visible through the cloud cover. ©Paliparan*

croatian countryside — *View over the Croatian countryside. ©Paliparan*

croatia twilight — *Twilight colours in the skies over Croatia. ©Paliparan*

zagreb airport descent — *On final descent towards Zagreb Airport. ©Paliparan*

zagreb airport landing view — *View shortly before landing. ©Paliparan*

zagreb airport landing — *Landing at Zagreb Airport. ©Paliparan*

runway approach — *Approaching the runway. ©Paliparan*

Zagreb Airport

Just like in Paris, we once again had a remote parking spot on the apron, this time in front of the old terminal building of Zagreb Airport.

From here, we were bused to the brand-new terminal of Zagreb Airport, and as I had no checked baggage to claim, I could walk straight into the arrivals hall.

It felt good to arrive again in Zagreb, as I’ve visited the city multiple times before and always had some fun adventures here.

The last time I was at Zagreb Airport, I boarded a small Let L-410 Turbolet to fly some extremely cool PSO routes across the country, which was an enormously fun experience, especially as I was the only passenger on the plane on the leg out of Zagreb.

lot polish airlines embraer retro livery zagreb old airport terminal — *Taxiing by the old terminal of Zagreb Airport, with a LOT Polish Airlines Embraer in retro livery parked on the apron. ©Paliparan*

croatia airlines airbus a319 business class zagreb airport — *Disembarking the Croatia Airlines Airbus A319 at a remote parking spot on the apron in front of the old terminal building. ©Paliparan*

Bus and tram into the city

From Zagreb Airport, you can take a taxi, ride-share like Uber, shuttle bus, or the ZET public bus to get you into the city.

The cheapest option is to take public bus line 290, although if you want to reach the city centre or the main bus or railway station, you’ll need to connect to a tram at one of the intermediate stops, as the 290 bus doesn’t go near them.

You can buy public transport tickets from the TISAK kiosk in the arrivals hall of Zagreb Airport, which are valid for 30, 60, or 90 minutes.

Alternatively, you can buy a ticket from the driver, though it will be slightly more expensive.

I took the bus, followed by a tram, to reach the railway station, where I was staying in a nondescript budget hotel, sadly not at the 5-star Esplanade Hotel with its gorgeous Art Deco design, where I stayed last time and which is my favourite in the city.

zagreb airport terminal — *The modern terminal of Zagreb Airport. ©Paliparan*

zagreb airport bus stop — *Waiting for the bus from the airport to the city. ©Paliparan*

zagreb airport bus — *Inside the bus. ©Paliparan*

zagreb tram — *Connecting from the bus to a tram. ©Paliparan*

Conclusion

My Croatia Airlines business class flight left me with mixed impressions about the quality of service and the onboard product.

The Airbus A319 is one of the oldest planes in the Croatia Airlines fleet, and given that you won’t find any power sockets, USB charging ports, and Wi-Fi internet, it lacks a lot of amenities business class travellers are expecting.

In defence of Croatia Airlines, USB charging ports and Wi-Fi internet are available on their Airbus A220, which should replace all older aircraft once the fleet renewal project is fully completed.

Croatia Airlines serves a snack box to its business class passengers, and although its contents are high quality and I do like the locally sourced Croatian food items, it certainly isn’t the most premium or the most filling meal, and it is decidedly average at best when compared to what direct competitors serve.

The wines served on board are highly drinkable but certainly not premium, as the red wine I was served retailed for a fiver in local shops.

Given the many premium, high-quality wines available in Croatia, this is another missed opportunity, as the airline could easily establish partnerships with wineries that would benefit both.

Last but not least, the service in business class left me with mixed feelings, as the flight attendant was friendly and welcoming, but it was highly unprofessional for her to disappear into the galley with a befriended passenger for the remainder of the flight, even during turbulence when she should have sent her back to her seat.

Overall, Croatia Airlines has a fairly standard European business class product, which some might find worth the premium over economy class, although for an equal number of people, it certainly won’t be worth the money.

Especially if you already have lounge access through your Star Alliance Gold status or a lounge membership programme and don’t need the extra perks like increased luggage allowance that come with a business class ticket, there isn’t much of value that differentiates Croatia Airlines business class from economy class.

Koen

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