Croatia's state-owned flag carrier, Croatia Airlines, posted a 173 milion kuna (€23 million) loss in the first six months of 2020, doubling its loss year-on-year from 84.5 million kuna (€11.3 million) in the first half of 2019, the company reported on Friday.

The company said that the increased loss is a direct consequence of the coronavirus pandemic that hit the air transport industry worldwide and caused nearly all air travel to cease for several months earlier this year.

The company, headquartered near Zagreb Airport, said that during the first half of 2020 it conducted 5,661 flights, or 57 percent down from the same period in 2019, while the total number of passengers also dropped, by 66 percent, to around 330,000.

After strict continent-wide lockdowns in place from March to May which pulled all air travel to a halt began to ease, Croatia Airlines started re-opening its regular routes. The company currently has scheduled service connecting the capital Zagreb with 14 European cities, as well as five other domestic airports.

During the lockdown, the company also assisted in the repatriation of some 23,000 Croatians stranded abroad, and had also put their fleet at the government’s disposal for the transport of medical equipment.

(€1 = 7.49 kuna)