Fresh problems for crisis hit Adria

Adria considering Niš flights

Despite the prospect of bankruptcy, cost cutting and state aid, Slovenia’s national carrier, Adria Airways, is considering commencing flights to Niš this winter. The service would be subsidised by the local city authorities. Slovenia’s logistics company, Intereuropa has begun negotiations with the state carrier for the route to take off. Adria has previously announced that it was interested in flying to Niš. A similar service was launched last year, to Banja Luka in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The airline operates the service 4 times per week with an average load factor of 6 passengers per flight. Despite subsidies by local authorities in Banja Luka, Adria has managed to record a loss of 50.000 Euros in the first 5 months since the service was launched.

Meanwhile, Executive Director, Robert Vuga, has announced Adria will revise contracts with all travel agents who sell their tickets after the airline’s losses per destination were leaked on the web. The list was also posted by a visitor to this blog on August 13, 2011 in the news item “Adria considering Copenhagen suspension”. It shows that only flights to Brussels, Munich, Frankfurt and Zurich made a profit for Adria in 2010. On the other hand, the airline’s flights to Istanbul accumulated a loss of over 3 million Euros.

Adria will continue its talks with Slovenian banks on September 21. The airline is hoping for the banks to convert debt owed by Adria into shares. Slovenia’s largest bank has refused to play part in the deal which is why negations will continue next week. Furthermore, other banks have now requested for Adria’s workers to sign a new collective agreement which will see their wages significantly cut. On top of the bad news, the airline saw a passenger decrease in the busy month of August A similar scenario was seen this July as well.