At the very start when the company was established in 1989 under the name Zagal (Zagreb Airlines), it was engaged in the transport of postal parcels. In 1990 after the first democratic election, the company was renamed as Croatia Airlines.
In 1991 it performed the first flight service with a rented plane from Zagreb to Split.
In 1992, the first international flight was from Zagreb to Frankfurt after it bought three Boeing 737 aircraft from Lufthansa. That year it became a member of the International Air Transport Association,
This year, the company redesigned the palnes in its fleet, and joined Star Alliance, the airline network for Earth.
At the moment, the company's fleet consists of 11 planes, including five A319 Airbus, three A320 and three ATR 42 planes.