The make-up of the new Slovenian government has been unveiled with two of the three governing parties strongly supporting the set-up of a new flag carrier while the designated Minister for Infrastructure, the former Prime Minister Alenka Bratušek, was the most outspoken advocate for a new national airline during the election campaign. The governing coalition will be made up of three parties- The Freedom Movement, the Left and Social Democrats - as well as several individuals from parties which did not reach the necessary threshold to enter parliament, such as Ms Bratušek. Out of the three parties which have agreed to form a cabinet, only the Freedom Movement has said it is “least in favour” of setting up a new state-owned airline but reiterated, “It is essential to re-ensure Slovenia's international connectivity with Europe and capitals in third countries, which are crucial for economic development, international trade and tourism”.
The Left has said a new national airline is in the country’s strategic interest. It has suggested for a new state-owned airline to be established in the short-term. Similarly, the Social Democrats have said they support the establishment of a national airline, pointing out that connectivity is essential for an open and small economy. Ms Bratušek, who was also the Minister for Infrastructure at the time when flag carrier Adria Airways declared bankruptcy in September 2019, has said she would establish a new national airline - Air Slovenia - if her party were to be part of the next government. Ms Bratušek previously said she repeatedly warned against the sale of Adria Airways to the German capital fund 4K Invest, noting that the then government of Slovenia should have found a strategic partner within the aviation industry that would have ensured the long-term existence and development of the carrier. Key people at 4K Invest are under investigation over their role in Adria’s collapse and are accused of fraud and theft.
Slovenia is still the slowest recovering European aviation market, excluding Ukraine which is currently in a state of war. Commenting on the potential establishment of a new national airline, the General Manager of operator Fraport Slovenija, Babett Stapel, said last month, “I cannot decide whether Slovenia or the state should establish a national carrier. However, I can say that if it is established, it will be more than welcome on our part. We support any development that is sustainable and increases connectivity”. She added, “The first and most important thing is recovery and to get passengers back. The future challenge will be to deal with rising inflation, prices and costs. I don't even count the crises anymore: the collapse of Adria Airways, the Covid-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, the fall in economic growth ... But we are moving forward”.
Fingers crossed
ReplyDeleteSo the same minister that was in power when Adria went bankrupt is now promising to create a new Adria...
ReplyDeleteAnd who is this exactly?
DeleteBratusek (or as know in the aviation circles: the black mamba)
DeleteUnfortunately, not just in aviation circles :(.
DeleteI still don't think it will happen in the end but for Slovenia's sake I hope it does.
ReplyDeletePlease don't. At least not with this government "full of experts". I am all for a new carrier, but with these people in charge, this would only be a very expensive comedy show...
ReplyDeleteAha and with the previous ones wouldnt it be
DeleteYep, literally in the Balkans it’s the same old regardless of who is in power
DeleteWell they said they will put bunch of experts in new gouverment and guess what they did.
DeleteThey put Bratušek for infraszructure and sarec for defence ministrer.
While there were 2 more options competing with them and those were the real experts, but they still decided to put someone who is known for a lot of stealing loads and loads of money so.
This will be very sad to see how they kill slovenia.
Who would staff the new airline? I've heard most of the Adria pilots have moved on.
ReplyDeleteThere would be enough willing to come back to start off the new airline.
DeleteMost Slovenians would come back in a split second. We are very connected to out mother's skirts, that's why the emigration ratio to comparable countries is quite low.
DeleteGood to hear
Delete@9:24
DeleteWith the majority of ex-Adria staff based in ZAG or working on a pattern 17/13 (with the possibility of part time and home standby), I'm not so sure.
If they do it, they better do it quickly. There is a lot of potential in the market. No its not gonna be profitable from get-go but I'm sure that if made it right we could see it working fairly well.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteWith the right sized fleet, a new Adria could be successful. Focus on charters and several popular routes.
ReplyDeleteLol, charters, that will improve Slovenian connectivity...First they need to focus on scheduled routes and if there are any free slot charter could be arranged. And not the other way around as it was practice at JP
DeleteCharters are a disaster for profitability, that's why most charter companies don't make it more than couple of years on average. With focus on charters, there is extreme seasonality, which isn't good for revenue/profit.
DeleteRealistically, how much would it cost to set up a small airline?
ReplyDeleteSet up? Not a lot. Cover the lossess for the next decades? Different story.
DeleteThe CEO of Solinair said
Delete“We conducted a study on how much it would cost to set up an airline and we estimate it would be close to five million euros”
If Montenegro can do it, then Slovenia sure can too.
ReplyDeleteOf all things I do hope that they dont take an example of Montenegros new airline
DeleteWhy? They're doing great!
DeleteI'm really hoping we see some improvement in Slovenia's aviation sector with this new government.
ReplyDeleteI don't think these people can deliver it but let's see. Hope dies last.
DeleteYou are already buring money from bad connectivity. Bravo!
ReplyDeleteI support the idea but airline shouldn't adopt old AA model. They should forget about connecting passengers in LJU. That story is long gone. They should focus solely on Slovenian market.
ReplyDeleteAgree completely. I think it is no longer possible to primarily be a connecting airline for passengers from Albania and Kosovo. The number of passengers at TIA and PRN prove that there are now more than enough nonstop options. But I think the new airline could offer connections to key routes in Germany, Belgium, France and UK to begin with. These are also the most profitable routes.
DeleteSo if I understand you would only fly to EU and not on Balkan destinations? To have on new JP only p2p traffic? Please let me know about one single airline who does not have connection passengers on their flight and it's not LCC. New JP should do exactly what JP did before 4k took them over. Focus on scheduled flights, keeping excellent connectivity at LJU and that's what we expect from national carrier.
DeleteSo what would be different from the old JP then? Name?
DeleteSlovenia needs good connectivity to the hubs, and that's about it.
and why we need anything different from what we had? we need something different from what we have now, and that's connectivity.
Deletewould be ok if Balkan destinations werent key for JP's network strategy.
DeleteBut they were, together with LH's hubs. Adria had an excellent brand down here in south-east yugo
well many people from balkans live in slovenia as well so it could work haveing connections to the balkans...
Delete"Key people at 4K invest are under investigation over their role in Adria's collapse and are accused of fraud and theft". One day, if that day ever comes, for Croatia to become country in which the rule of law is enforced, the same should happen to all those ruining and destroying for decades Croatia Airlines, which btw is slowly but surely going Adria's way
ReplyDeletePOZDRAV : wisdom of all the wisdoms....... yea..... right!
DeleteJust out of curiosity for an outsider, is there any particular reason they took in the likes of Bratusek whose party didn't even make it into parliament?
ReplyDeleteWell, it's become sort of a tradition in Slovenia for the former communist party members to set up a new political party two weeks before the parliamentary elections under the pretense of improving the general state of affairs in Slovenia by exorcising the evil spirit that is Janez Jansa, while in reality they are just looking after the financial exploitation mechanism.
DeleteAnd people fall for it every single time. Just goes to show what the average IQ in Slovenia must be.
^ angry person because Jansa lost elections...and all other are just dancing and dancing :)
DeleteNope, not really. Would be happy with any center-right party winning the elections. But not the dancing troll and his cronies. Carry on dancing, I sure won't be.
DeleteCenter right meaning Pocivalsek? The one and only thing I liked at him was that he supported idea of new carrier, but in general he was an ordinary thief.
DeleteRather have Pocivalsek stealing my money then Golob, Jankovic, Kos, ...
DeleteTo anon 9:35
DeleteIt shows how high IQ of slovenians is. On the other hand, I hope we do get new airline, but try not to involve Bratusek, because new airline with her fingers would be desaster. A new airline shuld consist three airliner, capacity cca 60 seats, early morning departure to Frankfurt, Munich and Brussels. I was flying on Lufthansa fligh to Frankfurt few times and on Munich rute twice and all the flights was at least 80% full. I know that most of pessengers use connections but still. Could work.
@11:24:
DeleteYour post (spell check anyone?) just proved my point. It's high if you consider Triglav to be a massive mountain. :) Keep on dancing.
Let's hope Bratusek does a better job. When she was Prime Minister Adria was sold and when she was Minister of infrastrucure last time Adria went bankrupt.
ReplyDeleteI believe Adria was sold in 2016, not 2012.
DeleteWell, we can all hope that cure will be found for every possible disease in the next four years, but I wouldn't bet any money on it.
DeleteI wish Slovenia all the success in creating new airline. They deserve it.
ReplyDeleteThey don't need to create a new airline from scratch but they could visit the proposal made by Solinair for them to start passenger flights and offer them some financial support for it.
ReplyDeleteIt would be the quickest and most risk free solution. They already have an AOC and pilots and they have a strategy for the new airline as well.
DeleteDoes anyone know what was their proposal?
DeleteSolinair has no idea experience in passenger flights or dealing with customers directly. They have an AOC, but that's pretty much it.
DeleteBut the airline has been running for years. With some external support it would be easier for them to start passenger flights than doing everything from scratch.
DeleteYou can get an AOC up and running in 6 months, it's not rocket science. Don't forget Solinair is essentially a Turkish company, with much larger focus on maintenance than flying.
DeleteNot sure how using it as a national carrier would work really.
Unfortunately I think the train has passed on this one. A new airline was viable to be created in the first 3-4 months of Adria's bankruptcy. Now it is much more difficult for a range of reasons.
ReplyDeleteIt's good that they didn't since 6 months after Adria declared bankruptcy Covid started.
DeleteThe perfect time to launch a new airline would have been last year. Operational costs were down and it was easy to lease planes.
DeleteWait until you see how much jet fuel prices are at the moment, particularly for small airlines which can't afford to hedge fuel.
DeleteI know, that's why I'm saying the perfect time has passed. Although predictions are fuel prices will stabilize at the end of the year.
DeleteThis would really be a dream come true. I'm glad that most parties in the new government support this idea.
ReplyDeleteExcept for the largest and most important one :/
DeleteI'm glad it is back on the agenda and being discussed at least.
DeleteHope they set up the new company on some healthy foundations and I wish it much luck in the future.
ReplyDeleteA lot of people here think healthy foundations is just doing the same thing Adria did... Same employees, same aircraft, same routes, but magically expecting different results.
DeleteAnd with result you mean what? Those 5 mio loss per year? I think that's quite good compared to other state owned airlines. But of course without politically appointed managers it could be even better
DeleteTrla baba lan da joj prođe dan :)
ReplyDeleteI think nothing will come out of this again. Hope I'm wrong.
ReplyDeleteWell I certainly hope the current status quo won't prevail since we are seeing the slowest recovery in Europe.
DeleteReally hope that people in charge of transport in the government will be replaced. They have no clue.
ReplyDeleteAnd the previous ones had such a clue. Check LJU pax numbers. Hvala
DeleteIs there an option to somehow entice Amelia to open a base in their home country?
ReplyDeleteDoesn't Amelia just use a Slovenian AOC? Other than that do they have anu connection to Slovenia?
DeleteYes, it is esentially a French company - Regourd Aviation. In 2012 they bought Aero4M, which was a Slovenian company specialized in in-base and on-line maintenance for helicopters.
DeleteThanks
DeleteThey should just spend the money to subsidize any missing routes.
ReplyDeleteCurrently they are subsidizing airline to keep existing routes operational.
DeleteLol, they throw 5 mio out for nothing. So no thanks...
DeleteIn most countries in the world money is given for the launch of new routes.
DeleteI miss seeing Adria planes at the airport :(
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteWhatever they do it will be loss making, at least for the first couple of years.
ReplyDeleteLike every new start up. Logical.
DeleteThat's expected but having good connectivity is not making money with airlines but to get all other benefits out of that. I am against establishing new airline if foreign carrier would provide decent connectivity but that was not the case in last 3 years so we have to invest something into it.
DeleteYou know by you're in the Balkans when you have incompetent politicians speak about airlines and get involved or become speaksmen...
ReplyDeleteNot gonna happend. Money will go for other stupid things eventhought promised.
ReplyDeleteTrue unfortunately
Deletewith one of the key players in Adria's demise, namely Mr. Boštjančič, as candidate for Minister of Finance, I have my doubts....
DeleteA national airline is the only way we could se a more meaningful traffic rebound
ReplyDeleteActually, it might work with the communists taking over again. They need a financial source where missing a couple of million euros doesn't make a difference. Historically, politically (left-wing) appointed management was always in charge of Adria. A new carier would fit right into their agenda. Not that I mind, since they'll be stealing my money anyway.
ReplyDelete^another angry Slovenian because of shame result of right wing on elections. And we are still dancing :)
DeleteDr. Golob, welcome to Ex-yu. Keep on dancing, you'll soon be going down the same path as Mr. Serpentinsek did. Oh, and Cerar before him. Oh, and Black Mamba before him. Does Jankovic count?
DeleteThe most important thing is that you're dancing. It doesn't matter if it's ballet hip hop or step dance, just make sure you're dancing every day.
oh, common mr. Jansa.... :) this is aviation blog
DeleteDisclaimer: Currently nominated Minister for Finance (Bostjancic) is a former Adria CEO, and currently nominated Minister for Infrastructure (Bratusek), a PM in 2016 when a Minister for Economy (Cufar), from her Party, listed to the Parlament (approved) a bucket of Slovenian companies to be sold (Including Adria and Aerodrom). Adria' was decades in nepotism before 4K kicked the last nail into the coffin. Now entering recession, a Gov wants to start up an airline. I hope the business plan is not coming from the same peeps who were messing around JP in the past.
DeleteWhoever is around just to bring connectivity back to LJU, and finally some increased pax number...Looking airport as it is now it's really shame and disaster for Slovenia.
DeleteStep 1: Get competent people in (almost impossible)
ReplyDeleteStep 2: Buy/lease A220-100 or maybe even E175-E2 (very difficult)
Step 3: Profit (reality in the aero world - don't make a huge loss, but a moderate one so you can get away with subsidies)
Without sarcasm, if they do it well, it really could work (airBaltic-ish). But the likelihood of that happening (them doing it well) is like winning the lottery.
Reality:
Delete1. Hire ex-Adria staff. Use personal connections and family reliations as a key factor.
2. Lease old CRJ900s for the most money you can get away with, so management and middlemen can fill their pockets.
3. Wonder why you are still losing money and be angry at the previous government destroying the airline.
1. No, just pick anyone from the street. I'm sure they'll know how to fly a plane and have all the necessary licenses.
DeleteWill the new airline consider long-haul flights?
ReplyDeleteYes of course, daily to NYC, 5 weekly YYZ and a few weekly flights to DEL and BKK.
Delete