Adria set for "substantial growth"


Adria Airways' CEO, Arno Schuster, has said the Slovenian carrier will grow significantly over the coming period as it continues to improve its connectivity and expand its network. Speaking to the "CEO Magazine", Mr Schuster said, "The initial phase of Adria was the stabilisation of our business, giving a clear vision with tangible goals to each employee. Now we’re looking to substantially grow the business - a huge opportunity for us. We’ve started adjusting our schedules to offer better transfers and increased frequencies”. The Slovenian airline is expected to boost its winter operations considerably when compared to last year, with over thirty additional weekly flights planned at this point from November onwards.

Adria is also looking at enchaining the overall flying experience. "Our vision for Adria is to offer our passengers the most convenient travel experience. In this region, although there are other possibilities for travel, Adria is the most convenient way. This starts with us offering passengers inspiring articles about new destinations, then helping them through the booking process, and finally ensuring the flight itself tops off the overall experience. Travelling has become an important part of our life, and therefore it needs to be convenient rather than stressful", Mr Schuster noted. In a bid to attract more passengers and generate incremental revenue, Adria recently partnered with Optiontown, a third-party service, offering its economy class passengers a paid upgrade option or the opportunity to acquire an empty seat next to them.

Adria's CEO said that being a member of Star Alliance continues to play an important role for the airline. "With our connections, you can basically travel anywhere in Europe within one hour. For an airline, this is the perfect strategic location", Mr Schuster said. Earlier he noted, "Adria is currently going through a very exciting chapter in its history. We will continue to improve customer experience with the aim of gaining and retaining customer loyalty. This does not only include shorter connection times and a great network overall, but our efforts will be aimed at fulfilling the high expectations of each of our customers. We recognise that a journey does not start at the airport, but rather when a person starts planning their trip. Furthermore, it does not end after landing but long after the desired destination has been reached".

The equity investment firm 4K Invest took over Adria Airways a year and a half ago. The change in ownership saw the carrier adopt a new business strategy. It initially discontinued unprofitable routes and cut down on its operations before resuming expansion this year. “It all starts with the employees who’ve stayed throughout the years. They’ve been flexible and adapted quickly to new market opportunities and challenges. In this industry, where circumstances change constantly, that’s the mindset you have to have. We have the right people to meet these challenges”, Mr Schuster said.

Adria Airways Switzerland logo

The Slovenian carrier handled 672.905 passengers during the first seven months of the year, representing an increase of 11%. It is currently exploring mutual synergies and efficiencies with Darwin Airline, which it purchased in July through its Swiss subsidiary. The carrier is expected to post its 2016 financial report next month, which should show a reduction in losses to that of 2015, which amounted to 9.6 million euros.

Comments

  1. Anonymous09:02

    Bravo Slovenia!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous09:03

    I'm liking more and more some of the new things the owners are doing. Good luck.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous09:05

    JP's expansion in LJU is rather bad news for ZAG. LJU has much lower fares and JP is more competitive than OU. In other words LJU is striking back and will most likely reduce the flow of Slovenian passengers towards Zagreb. The same way, LJU will become more attractive for passengers from Croatia, Austria...

    Compar the fares between LON and ZAG and LJU. Everything will be obvious.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:09

      While LJU has been shrinking in the past drastically, they are just starting to recover to reach levels from 10 years ago. It has nothing to do with ZAG and wont impact in the least.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:19

      Right, nothing can ever impact Zagreb numbers. Such condescending attitude towards the Slovenes which have made up a considerable chunk of your passengers.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:40

      JP model focusing on being the fastest connector of exYu countries with the rest of Europe is more of a threat to JU than OU.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:41

      Hardly as they don't fly to Beirut, Tel Aviv, Athens, Thessaloniki, Larnaca where the majority of the connector traffic is.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:52

      has JU's LF to TLV improved?

      I can imagine JP flying to TLV again though

      Delete
    6. Anonymous09:55

      @ Plane mad. BEY is certainly a massive market. Provides 100 transfer pax for Air Serbia each day. And even in ex-yu JU flies to much more destinations - Zagreb, Pula, Dubrovnik, Split, Banja Luka, Tivat. All of these are not served by JP. The only route served by JP and not JU is Pristina.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous10:06

      You have information on what their main feeder to Europe is? Also how is JP offering better connecting times or competitive fares?

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    8. Anonymous10:14

      Don't all forget that Slovenia is much more developed compared to Croatia. Fraport finally woke up and 4K is by far with good plans.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous11:29

      Since I'm frequently flying to CDG and CPH with JU, I can tell you that vast majority of connecting pax are from BEY and TLV, even ATH. I don't have the official data, but this is my conclusion from all the flights I took. I don't know where are the pax from region connecting to on JU flights mostly but honestly I haven't noticed them on CDG/CPH flights.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous16:08

      @anon 10:14, may you enlighten me in what way Slovenia is more developed than Croatia?

      Delete
    11. Anonymous16:12

      Pretty much every way.

      Delete
    12. Anonymous20:13

      Lol - in a few maybe, but in many ways not!
      See: building motorways - for ex. on a very long distance between Ptuj and Croatia - not built after 20 yaers of talking, no actions!

      Delete
    13. Anonymous14:26

      To Anon at 4:08 PM - Here's something for your enlightement:
      http://www.nationmaster.com/country-info/compare/Croatia/Slovenia/Economy

      Delete
  4. Anonymous09:05

    Is it just me or are they trying to do what Air Serbia attempted to do.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:06

      Yes just that I have more faith in Germans than Arabs.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:15

      It is inevitable. Airlines have to choose a business model and follow it strictly. Either you go for charter business, or follow hub&spoke model, or go for O&D pax and establish a low cost model. But one thing you shouldn't do is trying to mix these business models. Air Serbia is still alive (despite it's enormous costs and highly involved politics) just because they follow hub&spoke models' requirements strictly. Adria hasn't bankrupted yet because their operational costs went down -unintentionally- when their operations come to an end in different bases.

      I hope OU gets its lesson here and consolidates all its flights in ZAG, before its too late.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:46

      Air Serbia repeated (or had to do so) Air Berlins mistakes by mixing everything in their business model. Well they are stil here not because it follows hub&spoke more strictly but because it receives 40mio cash from the state a year more strictly

      Delete
    4. Anonymous14:36

      And because they have an infinitely lower cost base than Air Berlin.

      Delete
  5. Anonymous09:07

    Interesting that the pilot strike didn't affect their passenger numbers too much.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:11

      There were only a few cancelled flights. They wetleased planes to get people to their destination.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:19

      It didn't affect their passenger numbers but it probably affected their finances.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:34

      Have they said how much money they lost that week?

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    4. Anonymous09:42

      Nope

      Delete
  6. Anonymous09:08

    Very 'creative' with the JP Switzerland logo :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. i was just about to praise strong MS Paint skills on the graphic designer

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    2. Anonymous09:30

      hahaha true

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    3. Anonymous09:47

      i dont know what should be wrong with the logo ?!? What did you expect? its cool

      Delete
    4. to me it is not cool, no effort at all was put into it, it sum of different things, it is confusing, nothing uniqe about it

      this was the recipe, i guess:
      1 adria's logo
      2. next to it swiss flag
      3. and then just to confuse everyone somebodywrote: operated by darwin airlines"

      Delete
    5. Anonymous11:25

      Agree with Petar here but we still have to wait to see what they will paint on the tail.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous12:08

      Good thing that Etihad logo combination was much better, right guys?

      Delete
  7. Anonymous09:08

    wow 30+ flights in winter

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:10

      Not a suprise really. They will have a lot of spare capacity available during the winter. Remember no more plane based in Lodz plus they got a plane extra unless they lease it out.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:38

      And we will see if they take some planes from Darwin.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:48

      I am glad they are done with Poland. It never made much sense. It would be better if they focused on developing Pritisna as a secondary hub before it gets too much competition and Wizz eventually opens a base.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:49

      where do you see the +30 flights?

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:52

      It says in the article. Read it

      Delete
    6. Anonymous10:03

      @ 9.38 I doubt they will be taking Darwin planes. There is no need. They have enough of their own. Plus they said they will probably offer wetleases of Darwin planes (I can bet to Swiss since all of this is a Lufthansa ploy anyway).

      Delete
    7. Anonymous16:11

      Hardly believe Swiss will lease more planes from JP. It was a mistake to Swiss product.

      Delete
  8. JU520 BEGLAX09:09

    What is he trying to say? CEOs and their rhetoric skills... say a lot but still nothing. Except from the 30 flts more in WITT, we know nothing new

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:26

      Agreee, all the CEOs in ex-Yu seem to repeat the same things and never want to give too much away.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous16:14

      Has good manners+too young+unexperienced+poor PR+he said nothing=has no clue what he is talking about.

      Delete
  9. Anonymous09:13

    Great news Adria! Congratulations.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous09:16

    I would really like to see their 2016 financial report. I wonder will they go for creative accounting or have they actually managed to make savings.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous09:20

    I'm glad they are getting their act together. I think competition at LJU will become bigger and bigger now. The management there is trying to attract new airlines so Adria will have to deal with this too. So making themselves more competitive and offering new services is a positive development.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:36

      JP responded well to Transavia when it launched Amsterdam this year. Fares went down a bit and they introduced more frequencies on the route.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:04

      We can talk about real competition if and when Ryanair comes.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:13

      JP has had a long time to adapt and work out a strategy for when LCCs come along to Ljubljana.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous11:14

      They have managed ok against bigger competitors. Swiss was one of them on Zurich line.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous11:25

      Not true really

      They gave up on London against easyjet/Wizz Air,Istanbul route against Turkish and Belgrade route against Air Serbia.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous15:16

      Fraport is increasing FRA capacity will lowcost terminals. Similar to happen soon in LJU with the new terminal.

      Let's see how JP can compete against LCCs.

      Delete
  12. Anonymous09:22

    Super glad for JP. I think there is a brighter future ahead for them.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous09:25

    Does anyone know their average load factor?

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous09:30

    Good work for Adria. Happy to see them expand again after so many years of cost cutting.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:43

      There had to be some light at the end of the tunnel. Now its a matter to see how this new strategy will effect their finances.

      Delete
  15. Anonymous09:30

    Are there any new routes planned for the winter?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:35

      Kiev
      http://www.exyuaviation.com/2017/08/adria-considering-kiev-flights.html

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:03

      Anything else?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:14

      That's it. There was talk of Tehran but it won't start this winter.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous13:23

      Yes, Geneva will be the new destination this winter.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous22:34

      Where did you see geneva starting this winter? Its not talked about at the airport.

      Delete
  16. Anonymous09:35

    I wonder if they will consider some smaller cities in ex-yu like Banja Luka, Nis or Ohrid.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:38

      Haven't they flown to all those cities and failed?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:43

      They have never flown to INI. I actually think it would be a smart destination with their CRJ700. Could get a lot of transfers, especially if they work closely with Darwin in Switzerland.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:53

      BNX performed horribly. There were something like 10 passengers per flight. The only reason they operated is because they got subsidies. And Banja Luka Airport's management only goal is to have no passengers at all.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:10

      I think Ohrid was only seasonal.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous11:17

      They had terrible fares out of BNC so it's no surprise they failed on that route.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous11:19

      I meant BNX not BNC.

      Delete
  17. Anonymous10:03

    4K seems to be doing a good job with Adria.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:09

      Looks good on the surface for now. Should reserve judgment until the financial results are out.

      Delete
    2. It would be interesting to hear from someone who is currently employed by JP what's the sentiment inside.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous22:36

      from the inside, big things will happen the next two seasons, just as the Ceo said.

      Delete
  18. Anonymous10:07

    They are going back to the strategy that worked for them during the 1990s and early 2000s.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:17

      But can it work now?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:28

      Why not?

      Delete
    3. Petar10:28

      With competent management it looks like its working.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:52

      @ Anonymous 10:28
      Its model was based on there being poor connectivity in the Balkans with few airlines flying to the region in the 90s and them offering connections via Ljubljana. With so many airlines now and a lot of low cost competition, I'm not sure it can work.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous11:09

      Yep. Most cities now have direct flights to the West, good LCC presence and people no longer need visas.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous11:20

      That ship has sailed long ago. This part of Europe is getting very well connected every single year and people will no longer need to make transfers.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous11:26

      Turkish Airlines begs to differ.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous11:29

      Anon 11.26


      Add Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, Swiss and Lot to that list.

      Delete
  19. Anonymous10:12

    Good news. Also related to the EU growth in general. JP must seriously consider OTP, SOF, LIS and BCN/MAD.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:31

      What about Greece? I'm surprised Adria does not fly to Athens anymore.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:36

      Athens was one of the first cut during cost cutting a few years ago. Aegean tried seasonal flights last year but they didn't resume them this summer. Probably not a big enough market.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:46

      Shame but thanks for the info.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:50

      What did JP used to fly to Athens with Airbuses or CRJ?

      Delete
    5. Anonymous11:11

      They used to fly CRJ900 3x per week.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous12:14

      Majority fly charters in the summer to Greece. And there are alot of them.

      Delete
  20. Anonymous10:22

    they have a surplus of aircraft now. They have to put it somewhere.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Anonymous10:28

    The paid upgrade option is interesting.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:31

      Many airlines offer that.

      Delete
  22. Anonymous10:29

    And what about the Sukhois?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:54

      Please don't ask about them. Let's hope that never becomes reality.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:57

      lol

      Delete
  23. Anonymous11:03

    Adria expanding, Croatia Airlines expanding. Only airline currently not expanding is Air Serbia.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:10

      Maybe because JU expanded between 2013-2016 during which Adria and Croatia Airlines were reducing their operations.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous14:30

      Even without expanding, it is still the biggest ex-YU regional legacy airline, with most passengers and destinations. So no need to worry about JU. ;)

      Delete
    3. Anonymous16:25

      Thats because AS has already expanded

      Delete
  24. Anonymous11:04

    I know winter schedule hasn't been even announced yet, but does anyone know when they will announce the summer 2018 schedule? Like, just about when that would be aproximately?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:10

      Usually early spring.

      Delete
  25. Anonymous11:11

    Cutting transfer time in Ljubljana was a smart move in my opinion.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:21

      Yes. LJU Airport said that their transfer numbers have gone up recently which is good news.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:48

      Agree. Their short transit strategy is paying off

      Delete
  26. Anonymous11:32

    Nothing more than advertising by the CEO to attract a new owner. Nothing has changed dramatically. The biggest breakthrough was the shortening of connecting times in LJU. Oh, and the introduction of free cup of water. Darwin was free (I assume).

    4K is in it for the profit, not a long term commitment.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Anonymous11:47

    Meanwhile Tarom's its net loss widened to 104 million lei ($27 million/23 million euro) in the first half of 2017 from 28.6 million lei in the like period of last year. CEO resigns.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What about their plans with 3 WB machines?

      Delete
    2. well, this escalated quickly. the guy was in job for only 5 months, he was third in 2 years.

      Delete
  28. Anonymous12:15

    Is Adria the Ex-Yu airline with the highest increase in passengers this year?
    11% seems excellent.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:28

      Yes, largest growth rate so far this year.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:57

      Well, it does look impresive if you don't take into account last year's reductions. Kudos to 4K, reduce the size of business the first year in order to bring it back to the same level the following year.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous14:59

      Sigh, ok, compare the numbers to 2015 then.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous16:38

      Sigh, ok, so you're saying they have increased compared to 2015?

      Delete
  29. Anonymous12:35

    Are they going to codeshare with Ronanair on flights to Budapest?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:51

      Interesting. One of main Ronanair's destinations will be Lugano. Sounds familiar.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous13:51

      I can't believe people are taking Ronan Air seriously.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous14:27

      Sounds familiar like money washing.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous21:21

      What is Ronanair?

      Delete
    5. Anonymous21:25

      A non existant Hungarian airline which has been announcing that it will launch flights for years.

      Delete
  30. OT: So far Split airport +24% more traffic in Aug 2017 than Aug 2016.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Anonymous13:57

    You can see that JP is back to building a base in LJU and these are some great news. Seems like they were a bit lost and confused over the last several years.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous15:19

      I guess Ryanair, Wizz Air and Easyjet are also confused, since they have bases outside of DUB, BUD and LTN, respectively.

      Delete
  32. Anonymous16:33

    PAX carried by Adria Airways in June dropped 23% year-on-year to 109,609, the national statistical agency announced.The planes of Slovenia's flag carrier travelled 107 million passenger-kilometres in June, down 28% year-on-year, the agency said in a monthly transport sector report.A spokesperson for Adria said last month that the number of passengers carried by the company on charter and regular flights actually rose to 541,092 in the first half of 2017, from 492,081 in the corresponding period last year, with the 2016 figure excluding passengers whom Adria Airways aircraft carried on flights the airline operated on behalf of Estonia's Nordica last year.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous16:36

      That's because the statistical office includes Nordica numbers for some stupid reason. Passenger numbers on Adria operated flights grew 11% from Jan to Jul like it says in the article.

      Delete
  33. Anonymous17:17

    I sure hope they announce Stockholm service next year again.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Anonymous18:12

    I've done a quick comparison between 16/17W (still published on JP site) vs 17/18W timetable (used amadeus)
    Last year JP had all together 170 weekly flights ( LJU 133, PRN 11, TIA 6, Poland 20).
    As of November 17 there are already 175 bookale flights (LJU 158, PRN 11, TIA 6, Poland 0).
    So at the moment only 5 more. Arno mentioned that there will be more than 30 weekly flight this winter.
    My question? Does he talk about LJU only? If so, JP had already increased frequency for 25 flights from LJU to existing destination (non from PRN and TIA). In this case I assume that one new line will be lounched (KBP maybe 3xW).
    But if he has in mind JP as whole there are more than 25 flights still missing. It is possible to add apx 4 new daly flights (4x7) without new lines or/and even more higher frequency of the existing ones?

    ReplyDelete

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