STA, 16 December 2019 - The founding of a new airline in full or partial state ownership after flag carrier Adria Airways went into receivership is not very likely, because this would entail big risks, Prime Minister Marjan Šarec told reporters on Monday.

This was considered one of the ways to keep Ljubljana connected to the world after Adria went into receivership at the end of September.

"There are no major changes, because risks are very high. I think it's not very likely that we get our airline at this point," Šarec told reporters on the sidelines of a parliamentary session.

The prime minister had warned of potential risks such a project would entail on several occasions in the past. At the end of November, he said that a newly founded airline would be destined to operate at a loss.

"All national carriers operate at a loss. When the final figures are released, we'll have to see whether we're ready to go there or not," he said at the time, adding that aviation was quite a risky business.

After Adria entered receivership, the government tasked the bad bank to analyse the possibility of founding a new national carrier.

The bad bank told the STA last week that it had analysed different scenarios, including the setting up of a new carrier. "There are also other possible solutions that would be appropriate for Slovenia," the Bank Assets Management Company (BAMC) said.

BAMC also noted it was regularly reporting on its findings to the relevant ministry.

But both the infrastructure and finance ministries denied for the STA their involvement in any activities related to a potential new airline.

According to unofficial information, Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek seems to be more or less the only one supporting the idea.

Some aviation experts say a national carrier would have a hard time competing with strong established airlines flying to Brnik. Adria's flights have been replaced quite well, they say.

Others believe the government should establish a new airline, with a Croatian civil aviation analyst saying this would be in Slovenia's strategic interest.

Ex-Yu Aviation reports that Iberia, Spain’s national carrier, is to launch flights connecting Madrid and Ljubljana on 28 July, 2020. Four flights a week are planned for the height of the summer, a period of just five weeks, on a route that was previously served by the recently collapsed Adria Airways.

The news comes just a few days after BA, Lufthansa, Air France, Aeroflot, Finnair and Montenegro Airlines all announced increased schedules serving the Slovene capital for next summer.

No decision has yet been made on whether and how to launch a new national carrier for Slovenia, while investigations into Adria’s collapse are being hampered by its owner, the German 4K Invest group, closing down the subsidiaries which had managed – or allegedly mismanaged – the airline’s assets.

In the wake of the collapse of Adria Airways, which cut 60% of Slovenian’s international seat capacity, four airlines have announced plans to boost their services to Ljubljana Airport next year, as reported on Ex-Yu Aviation.

British Airways will increase the number of flights between the Ljubljana and London from two to four per week, and will also start the season two months earlier than in 2019, with the connections running from May 22 until September 26. Aeroflot will launch a second daily flight from Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport, starting March 29, while Air France will also offer to flights a day, up from seven a week this year. Finally, Montenegro Airlines is offering six flights a week to and from Podgorica, up from the three seen for most of this summer.

Other airlines, while not doubling their services, have also announced more frequent and convenient connections. For example Finnair will raise the number of flights from five a week to one a day at the height of the summer season. Travellers can also celebrate the fact that Lufthansa’s evening service from Frankfurt will from 29 March spend the night in Ljubljana, offering the chance to fly to Germany at a more civilised hour the next morning.

STA, 27 November 2019 - While the government has not decided yet whether to establish an airline in full or partial state ownership two months into the receivership of the former flag carrier Adria Airways, civil aviation analyst Alen Šćuric has assessed that it would be a strategic move by the state and that the time is running out.

While many in Slovenia are opposed to the idea, the Croatian analyst told the STA on Wednesday it was in strategic interest of the state.

It was the government who mentioned the possibility to establish a new airline, either in full state ownership or in cooperation with a strategic partner, as a way to secure connectivity between Slovenia and the rest of the world.

After the German-owned Adria Airways went bust in early October, the finance and economy ministries are still waiting for the Bank Assets Management Company (BAMC) to present calculations on the feasibility of establishing such a company.

According to unofficial information, Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek is practically the only one to promote the idea to establish such an airline, as the aviation circles have expressed doubt about the possibility to implement such a plan.

Asked to comment on what is going on with the plans, Prime Minister Marjan Šarec said that a decision was yet to be made, as experts were still "examining the matters". "If a company is to established in any form, it would not be possible without an external partner," he added.

Šarec also noted that the potential new airline would initially operate with a loss by default. "When final numbers are known, we will have to take a look and see whether we are prepared for going into it or not," he said, adding that airline business was very risky.

What is being questioned by experts is the ability of a Slovenian air carrier to compete with the established airlines which fly to Ljubljana's airport, with Adria's flights and connections being already almost fully replaced.

As the number is expected only to increase with the summer schedule, Šćuric is inclined to the idea to establish a national carrier, noting this is in Slovenia's strategic interest.

The needed financial investment is huge, but he believes that the matter should not be looked at from a short-term perspective, as airline transport services all the other sectors of the economy and brings benefits not only to tourism and the hospitality sector.

As an example, Šćuric pointed to business guests who could be distracted from coming to Slovenia by the expected longer times of travel and higher costs related to the use of other airports.

He is surprised that the Slovenian government had "no action plan", although it had been clear that Adria would end up in receivership, and he believes that the government should have established a "new company the day after the receivership".

All our stories on Adria are here

Ex-Yu Aviation reports that Joc Pečečnik – the founder of Interblock Gaming, which manufactures products for lottery games – has plans to establish a new airline based in Ljubljana. The businessman has made a bid for what remains of Adria Airways, along with an unnamed foreign partner with experience in aviation.

Mr Pečečnik is quoted as saying: “We decided to do this because we would like to establish a successful business and because we would like to be able to fly to European cities again from Ljubljana, and not go to neighbouring airports three or four hours before our flights, which are typically [just] an hour long.”.

The report goes on to say that the new airline would draw on the expertise of Adria’s former CEO Mark Anžur, who ran the company from late 2012 until its privatisation in March 2016, going on to work as the CEO of the Irish regional carrier Stobart Air for eight months.

Moreover, the Slovenian banana and real estate tycoon Izet Rastoder has reportedly founded a new carrier called Air Adriatic and is currently looking to acquire two private jets. On the state side of things, the government is said to still be considering setting up a new national carrier with a foreign partner, although a decision on this is not expected until the end of the month.

All our stories on Adria can be found here

The budget carrier Ryanair has announced a recruitment day in Ljubljana on November 14 (2019), the first time it has sought to hire Slovenian cabin crew members. As noted on Ex-Yu Aviation, successful candidates will take part in a six-week training course covering everything from passenger safety to customer service. In a touch that will be familiar to Ryanair customers, candidates will need to pay a fee for the training, although the company – Europe's biggest airline – will give people the option of having this deducted from their salaries after they start getting paid.

Candidates for cabin crew should have good knowledge of English, both written and spoken, an EU passport and good computer skills, and those who are successful will receive a two-year contract, staff travel rates, a potential productivity bonus of €1,800 per year and a competitive basic salary plus variable flight pay. Registration for recruitment in Ljubljana closes November 12, while the assessment date will be November 14, with more details here.

Although Ryanair briefly operated a service between London Stanstead and Maribor in 2007 and 2008, Slovenia is currently the only EU nation in which the carrier has no services.

STA, 8 November - The state-owned bad bank has rejected reports that it had presented to former Adria Airways pilots a plan for a potential new flag carrier, while confirming for the STA that it would present to the finance and economy ministries next week calculations on the feasibility of establishment of such a company.

Responding on Friday to yesterday's unofficial report by Radio Slovenija, Bank Assets Management Company (BAMC) chief executive director Matej Pirc rejected it, while saying he had indeed met with a representative of former Adria pilots.

Pirc said that he had recently met with pilot Primož Jovanović, who has been calling for a state intervention, but added that the meetings had been requested by the latter as he wanted to present his calculations related to feasibility of the idea to establish a new flag carrier.

He said that, given that the bad bank was preparing calculations of its own, which included several scenarios with different assumptions, he was interested in what pilots had to say.

Radio Slovenija said that the new carrier would have five Canadair aircraft and 200 employees, and that a EUR 20 million loss was expected in the first year after incorporation, which Pirc labelled as excessive numbers.

He said that BAMC was advocating a "slimmer organisation", and not a company with 200 employees, but admitted that it would be hard for the company to function without making a loss.

The national radio also said yesterday that the government was expected to decide by the end of the month whether it will establish a new flag carrier, which, according to some accounts, would be called Air Slovenia.

Radio Slovenija added it would be easiest to establish the new company by purchasing Adria Airways, which went into receivership in early October, as a whole. A call for bids issued by Adria receiver will close on 11 November.

Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek told the weekly Mladina last week that a regional air carrier could become a partner of the company, while refusing to reveal any details.

Ex-Yu Aviation reports that Lufthansa is not interested in working with the Slovenian government to develop a new national carrier. It’s understood that the German firm expressed its lack of interest several weeks ago, leading to a visit to Frankfurt last week by the Slovenian Minister for Economic Development and Technology, Zdravko Počivalšek. While the minister obviously failed to make a case for Lufthansa setting up a new carrier – which, under the Slovenian plans would have launched in early 2020 – Lufthansa is among several airlines now adding new services to Ljubljana is the wake of Adria Airway’s collapse.

Related: Adria Collapse Cut 60% of Slovenia's International Seat Capacity

Adria’s bankruptcy came after having been bought by 4K Invest, a Munich-based, Luxembourg-registered investment fund. 4k Invest’s only previous experience in owning an airline was gained with Switzerland’s Darwin Airline, which the fund rebranded as Adria Airways Switzerland before the carrier entered bankruptcy proceedings. The Swiss authorities are currently investigating 4K Invest’s role in the collapse, with accusations bankruptcy fraud and mismanagement.

All our stories on Adria Airways are here

STA, 15 October 2019 - Economy Ministry State Secretary Eva Štravs Podlogar, accompanied by the top executives of Slovenia's bad bank, met with representatives of Lufthansa in Frankfurt to analyse the aviation market in the wake of the receivership of the German-owned Slovenian flag carrier Adria Airways, the Economy Ministry said on Tuesday.

The ministry said the visit by Štravs Podlogar and by Bank Assets Management Company (BAMC) CEO Matej Pirc and the chairman of BAMC's board of directors Tomaž Besek was part of the market analysis.

It added that any potential decisions on the part of the government would also need to consider the plans of Lufthansa, which has already established a few new links with the Ljubljana airport through its subsidiaries.

No detailed information about the outcome of today's meeting with the representatives of the Germany airline that was Adria's key partner is expected before Thursday.

Štravs Podlogar, who is in Frankfurt as part of the Frankfurt Book Fair, said in parliament last Friday that the ministry was examining legal and organisational alternatives that would help fill the void created by Adria's bankruptcy. She said talks with different stakeholders were under way.

The efforts also include BAMC representatives, who have already provided explanations regarding the implications of a potential decision to set up a state airline company.

Another alternative, a bill that would allow the government to subsidise air links vital to Slovenia, was defeated by the parliamentary Infrastructure Committee last Thursday.

All our stories on Adria are here

If you’re not a frequent flier maybe the Adria Airways collapse feels rather abstract, but a study by ForwardKeys, a travel analytics firm, claims that it cut 59.7% of international seat capacity to and from Slovenia, and the loss of direct flight connections with 24 countries, figures that make the disruption easy to imagine.

The study noted the loss of regular flights from Slovenia to Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Macedonia, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland. Season flights to and from Estonia, Georgia and Greece are also unavailable, while Adria’s collapse cut the irregular services to and from Cyprus, Hungary, Italy, Jordan, Latvia, Romania and Ukraine.

The report, which can be found here, also states that key source markets like Austria, Germany and France has also been affected, as Adria Airways accounted for 99.6%, 87.3% and 50.8% of seat capacity on flights for these countries.