Adria’s privatisation hopes fade
Six months after Adria Airways put a majority of its shares on sale, Slovenian media report there has been no interest in purchasing the carrier. It comes only days after the Slovenian government shortlisted Adria as one of five public companies whose shares should be sold within the next three months. In August 2012, the Slovenian government offered 74.8% of the airline’s shares and interested parties had until September to submit non binding bids. The invitation for bids was published in the Financial Times, Wall Street Journal and the Flight Global magazine. The Assets Management Agency (AUKN) confirmed that ten parties submitted non binding offers but declined to give out their names. Since then, there has been no information on the progress of the privatisation process. It is believed financial investment firms made up the majority of those seeking shares in Adria, which is not what the national carrier was hoping for.
However, circumstances have changed at Adria since last September. The European Commission has launched an investigation into the carrier’s finances and state aid arrangements, the result of which should be known later this year. Furthermore, the airline’s CEO has been replaced and Adria faces increased competition from Wizz Air, which has hinted at the possibility of launching additional destinations from Ljubljana Airport this year.
Adria’s privatisation process has never officially been declared a failure. The Slovenian carrier is currently undergoing a restructuring program. Its financial results for the previous year are yet to be released although it is believed the airline ended 2012 with a loss of between seven and ten million euros, a major improvement on the year before. However, cost cutting has hit passenger numbers with the airline handling some 987.000 passengers, a 15% decrease compared to the year before.
Looks like the blog may soon be renamed to jat airways and exyu airports news
ReplyDeleteSure, Jat is in best position of all of tham... Where do you live? In Mars?
DeleteThis blog merely publishes on markets that produce the most news. Since Serbia is the biggest country it is logical for it to be the most featured on this blog.
DeleteSerbia is biggest country but as aviation area is smaller than Croatia, which is handling about 60% of all ExYu aviation industry
DeleteThis is a blog created by Serbs for Serbs as anything stamped YU. Hence why everything is negative for other airlines except for JAT magically. Even though JAT is a small player in the region a little bit above BIH airlines. Far away from Adria and Croatia airlines.
DeleteThis is your assumption. There are no favourites and no one gets special treatment. I don’t see where you find negative articles about other airlines and positives about others. The situation in all the EX-YU carriers is dire and I can’t make up cheery news about them just so some would feel better when they read about it. If you believe the reporting is bias or unprofessional you can always give the blog a miss.
DeleteI live in Skopje and I've flown with all 3 carriers and I can't say I prefer one over the other - as an "outsider" to the Serb-Croat-Slovenian airline rivalry I can't say I've noticed any bias towards Serbs on this blog-I've been reading it for approx.6 months now.
DeleteNothing unbiased about the blog if anything i think the admin adds more "Politically corupted" remarks about JAT especially when talking about V Ogjenovic constantly reminding he was merely a luggage handler a few years ago.... Dunno where your going about all other get negative??? Because he posted about a historical figure for BEG AIrport??? It deserves a hype up it beat a famous mile stone finialy after all the bullshit the country went through with sanctions, bopmbings etc it has surpassed a figure that back then was aided by 6 countries not the one lonesome what it is....WELL DONE ADMIN I ADMIRE YOUR WORK AND CHECK DAILY
DeleteI agree, I'm half croat and I think that the admin of this blog does a great work and is not in any way biased. Plain facts presented in a plain and informative way. I've been following this blog for years EVERY day! Good work admin, keep it up!!
DeleteClose the airline this will be the chepeaste way....
ReplyDeleteAdria Airways is a good airline, like most airiness in Europe is was hit hard by economic crisis as well as 9/11.
DeleteAdria Airways can recover and can again be very profitable and successful airline once it was.
so its like JAT..
ReplyDeleteI think adria and jat should unite and start business policy together. first, there should be 2,3 flights per day between LJU and BEG, second, to lease aircrafts together, including 2 a330, and start intercontinental flights from both LJU and BEG. from belgrade they can fly to Bangkok, Sydney, Beijing, New Delhi, and from ljubljana to New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Toronto.. why not? i think two governments can help with 250 mil euros and companies could start good intercontinental business. jat can sell all those old boeings and buy 1 new and lease few for european network. they can fly from LJU and BEG to the cities which are popular, but if someone wants to fly from ljub to gothenburg, they can do it over belgrade... or if someone needs flight to manchester from beg, can do that via lju.. etc, etc.. i mean, y is that so difficult? hello, in former yu, we had around 10 daily flights from beg to dbv. we can do it and make new standards in the region, and we can have many people from neighbour countries on our flights to us, can, aus and far east.
ReplyDeleteActually that is not stupid idea!
DeleteAdria has 3 A319 for which they don't have idea what to do with. Connection via BEG to Russia, Greece and Middle East and via Ljubljana to Western Europe should be wining scenario.
Unfortunately there are some problems:
1. Lufthansa will never allow that
2. Two bases was suicide for Iberia (Madrid and Barcelona), Olympic (Athens and Thessalonica) and Alitalia (Roma and Milan). And SAS with 4 bases?
3. Legislative in EU is big problem especially that Serbia is not in EU and Slovenia is, so ownership, possible state investments and some rights is almost mission impossible
4. Fleet would have to many models:
737-300
A320
A319
CRJ 900
CRJ 200
ATR 72-200
5. Long-haul routes with wide-body planes does not work in much bigger nations (BUD, OTP, just seasonal to ATH, PRG...) with much bigger standards and for sure will not work in market of some 9 million inhabitants, of which 7 million standard is in bottom of Europe.
And most of fleet would be very old and non economical aircrafts like 733, CRJ 200 and ATR 72-200 which need to be sold (for very little money if any) and instead they have to spend a lot of money for new planes which they don't have.
DeleteAnonymous 2:06pm. So after reading your comments I have absolutely no idea how you can think it would be a good idea! lol
DeleteThis is bad because Adria have the best option of all ex yu carriers, Newest fleet brand modern maketing concept, And i belive that if Adria cant be sold nobody of the ex yu carriers have a chance to be privatized
ReplyDeleteI think that conditions in JP isn't so bad. I think they start 2014 with 0,00€ loss and to the end of 2014 with minimal profit. from FEB/2013 they sell another CRJ200 and return the CDG into timetable. Also the LGW is back only once per week like charter flight every saturday. it's much betterfly on charter with profit like regular with loss, this is my oponion. I think they go in right direction with reconstruction plan. the only problem for JP is now EU regulations for airlines...
DeleteI also think that the chances of these carriers to be sold are not the greatest- and it's almost naive to hope that Lufthansa or other major intl. players would even bother to buy some airline with 10 propeller planes
Deletewell lufthansa is waiting that all this small properties pass away and then they will do the most of the business in ex yu! just turkish might be a problem for them as they are doing really good, specially in LJU
ReplyDeleteya the TK doing really good in LJU, from summer 2013 they expend flight from 5 weekly to daily, which is very nice :)
DeleteToo bad for Adria Airways and for entire EXYU aviation. Adria should exit from Star Alliance because I think that now it is just bringing passengers to Lufthansa and Co. hubs (Frankfurt, München, Zurich, Wien, Koebenhavn) from EXYU region. Adria should try to establish its own network and via its hub in Ljubljana serving destinations throughout Europe. Spain, Portugal, Baltic, Italy, UK, France, Eastern Europe - these are regions where they don't have any good connections.
ReplyDeleteAt least I would do like this if I would have the chance.
They try this, even much before entering Star Alliance. Unsuccessful experiment
DeleteTimes are not like they were that time.
DeleteYes now it is much worst!
DeleteYou have Wizzair and Ryanair opening bases in exYU, lot of direct flights: OU from SPU, DBV, ZAD and PUY, YM from TIV and TGD, JA from SJJ and that was JP market than + lot of companies that have flight to this area that was not like that before like Austrian, Lufthansa, Turkish, easyJet, Ryanair, flybe, Air France, Alitalia, British, flyDubai, Qatar, Aeroflot, S7, Transaero, SAS, Norwegian, Swiss, Iberia, Vueling, Air Berlin, Germanwings...), huge competition of legacy carriers in this area with connection especially Austrian, Lufthansa, Turkish, Croatia Airlines and Jat (in 1990's, so before Star Alliance, there were less flights to all exYU area from those companies than now just to one of destination like SJJ, SKP, SPU, DBV...).
I think that soon it will be realistic to expect Etihad in Belgrade.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.politika.rs/rubrike/Ekonomija/Vucic-i-seik-Abdulah-potpisali-vise-sporazuma.sr.html
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteI think that the biggest problem for adria airways and ljubljana airport are vienna, trieste and mostly. venice airport. Vienna is only 5hours away by car from ljubljana, as far Venice is less than 3 hours and they have cheaper carriers and also long-haul flights. From Venice you have direct flights to USA, Canada and also to the Middle East ... So why would people fly from lju with adria and conecting with lufthansa or some other european airlines, when they can have much cheaper flights with emirates and qatar airways from vce? .... but still something has to be ok if they startrd to biuld new airport terminal in ljubljana that will be 3 times bigger?? Do we need that??
ReplyDeleteVienna is 3 hours by car from Ljubljana, not 5. Venice is less than 2 hours from LJU. Do not forget Bratislava (4 hours from LJU), Budapest (3,5 hours from LJU), Treviso (2 hours from LJU) and Trieste (1 hour from LJU) and those are big LCC airports. Zagreb is in just 1,5 hour...
DeleteI live in Vienna I drive to LJU at least once a month. Theres no way you can manage this distance in 3 hours. I always need at least 4,5 hours. From Graz to some 50 km from Vienna the highway is so curvy that even if you drive over the speed limit (which because the road is curvy is 100kmh and not 130kmh) you cant make it in 3 hours. so, dream on!
DeleteAs the meter of fact I also drive this route at least once per month. We are talking about airport and you know that you turn to right (Budapest-Bratislava-airport) just before traffic jam. From Wienner Neustadt you drive 100 km/h, and sure never slower than 80 km/h.
DeleteDistance is 360 km, and I always drive 140 km/h like all others (instead of those few little parts like 10 km around Graz where I drive 110 km). Usually I spent around 3 hours for that trip.
Admin I think you do a great job and given that we are all back here every day proves it!
ReplyDeleteIts sad to see the legacy airlines suffering and would be great to see expanding networks and intercontinental line but it's this megalomaniac approach that is adding to the bankruptcy.
In all honesty if Exyu was still together with the one national airline JAT would still be in dire straits as the world has changed. At best these small national airlines should focus on having frequent flights to a handful of large european hubs and some direct charters for convenient holiday destinations for the masses in the Mediterranean. National pride should be contained to interconental code shares!