Adria eyes fleet and network expansion


Adria Airways is looking into further expanding its fleet and destination netowrk as the airline continues to grow its operations out of Ljubljana. Speaking to "Aero Telegraph", Adria's CEO, Arno Schuster, said, "We believe our fleet is now a good size. Our Bombardier CRJ700 and CRJ900 aircraft, as well as the Airbus A319, are ideal for both scheduled and charter flights. We are already discussing expanding the fleet. On the one hand, it is about increasing frequencies and expanding the network. On the other hand, we are seeing strong demand for our wet-lease services. We recently secured an agreement with Austrian Airlines". He added, "Carriers value our flexibility and reliability, and know that we offer a good service to them. We are not just some unknown airline, we are a recognised carrier within Star Alliance. The wet-lease business helps us exploit our fleet better throughout the year. We will certainly grow strongly in the coming months and years".

The Slovenian carrier has extended the leasing terms of its existing fleet. As a result, one of its Airbus A319 jets is now on lease until 2021, while the other two until 2024. Four of its CRJ900s will remain with the airline until at least 2022, while the other two are on lease until 2026 and 2027 respectively. Finally, the lease of three CRJ700s has been extended until December 2019. Previously, Vadislav Masalov, President of the Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Company, said that Adria is negotiating the purchase of twelve Sukhoi Superjet 100 aircraft for delivery from June 2018 onwards. However, the carrier itself has never confirmed the arrangement.

Adria has recently based two turboprops, an ATR72 and a Saab 2000, in Ljubljana from sister company Adria Airways Switzerland (Darwin Airline). It is using the smaller aircraft on a select number of regional routes. "Darwin complements us perfectly. Our fleet now ranges from the 140-seat A319 to the 50-seat Saab 2000. We are thus much more flexible. We now have the right aircraft for every situation. Likewise, we can do better in the wet-lease market because we now have a suitable aircraft for every need", Mr Schuster said. He added that the airline is looking into linking Ljubljana with Adria Switzerland's bases in Lugano and Geneva.

Commenting on the carrier's future plans, Adria's CEO said the company will continue to grow. "In the first year after changing ownership, we reduced costs and increased revenues. As a result, we have increased Adria's stability. We believe that we now have a good and secure base to further improve our results. One possibility for this is expanding the network. We noticed that our customers want a wider choice. For example, we have added Kiev to the timetable. Other new routes will be added next year. We also have a great advantage here. Slovenia is very central in Europe. Our flights all take one and a half hours. That makes transferring through Ljubljana appealing to many customers". Addressing the carrier's relatively low average cabin load factor of 66% in 2016, Mr Schuster noted, "We are seeing an increase in capacity utilization every month. We are therefore very confident. It must be noted that Adria Airways has increased frequencies on many existing routes, such as Amsterdam, Moscow, Vienna and Zurich. This, of course, initially pushes the load factor down. But it makes us more attractive to business customers. When we look at bookings for October, we are very satisfied as the upward trends continue".

Comments

  1. Anonymous09:03

    Great news. I'm really impressed how Adria has been handling itself lately.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:08

      I'm not. They sold their brand name just to show a profit. I wouldn't call that the pinnacle of good business.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:09

      At the end of the day they expanded the fleet, increased frequencies, introduced new routes, purchased Darwin through 4K, decreased losses (even if the brand sale is removed). Not bad for less than 2 years.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:25

      I agree with last anon. Just remember what the news was like coming from Adria in the last 3-4 years. The airline has obviously turned a corner.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous12:03

      New routes, yes. But still no turn to profitability...

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:29

      It may turn a profit or be very close this year EBITDA.

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:03

    Smart idea to use the ATRs and Saabs. Anyone know which routes they are being used on ex Ljubljana?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. WAW, SJJ, PRN, TIA, SKP, MUC, ZRH and VIE.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:23

      Thanks. Are they used regularly or just from time to time?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:25

      I saw the ATR in SJJ on Monday

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:27

      Wouldn't this indicate that their loads are not that great on these routes? I mean Saab has 20 seats less than CRJ700 which is the smallest plane in their fleet.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:27

      If you read the article it says they adjust capacity depending on occupancy. Basically they send the ATR or Saab depending on how the cabin is filled. Very smart in my opinion.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous09:30

      Not sure how much passengers will appreciate seeing a turboprop waiting for them rather than a nice Bombardier.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous09:35

      Etihad did a fantastic job retrofitting those planes. They are more comfortable than Adria's CRJs if you ask me.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous10:01

      Too bad they didn't do such a good job running the airline as they did refurbishing their planes.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous10:29

      Drzati 4 tipa aviona se bas isplati. CEO lupa gluposti kao prevarice nekog.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous10:31

      lol +1 :D @10.01

      Delete
    11. Anonymous10:47

      seriously LJU-SKP on a ATR? oh gosh, forget about transfer pax

      i think they only deploy it on the night flight since they are more weak, but stil i would avoid it

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:04

    I'm still not sure if the Sukhoi thing is genuine.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:06

      I think we might be surprised yet.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:21

      Let's hope that never becomes reality.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous11:02

      That was just Sukhoi dreaming.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous11:39

      Superjet was probably a pitch to renegotiate better prices with current lessors.

      Delete
  4. Anonymous09:04

    That's put the Superjet rumours to bed, thankfully.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:06

      I wouldn't say it's a "rumour". It was announced by the President of the Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Company that they are in talks for 12 SSJ100s.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:06

      Why thankfully? Why are people around here so against the Sukhois? They are perfectly fine aircraft.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:09

      Well because some like BEGLAX believe that the ex-YU region should only deal with things thta are related to the West.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:15

      Nothing against the Sukhoi either, but I think it would have been a mistake - a cheap move blinded by a low purchase price. It would have been a strange fit in Adria and not an investment into the future.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:18

      One could argue the same as far as 4K's investment in Adria goes.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous12:05

      It's such "perfectly fine aircraft", that airlines are lining up to buy them and Sukhoi has problems with producing so many aircraft...

      Delete
  5. Anonymous09:08

    Mogli bi 1-2x nedeljno da probaju sa SAAB 2000 LJU-INI-IST ili samo LJU-INI

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:22

      They could never get fifth freedom INI-IST. The bilateral is restrictive as it is. But I think Adria could potentially open BNX and INI.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:35

      Jao zaboravio sam na taj glupi sporazum, šteta mislim da bi bilo interesa za LJU-INI-IST

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:16

      INI-LAX :)

      Delete
    4. Anonymous12:06

      People would love to fly to IST with a stopover in INI on a turboprop, especially in winter. That useless Turkish A320/A321 double daily direct flight is much less practical.

      Delete
  6. Adria je "ko fol" hybrid low cost, a karma iz Sarajevo za bilo koju njihovu destinaciju je iznas 220€ ???

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:11

      Moze im se kada nema preterane konkurencije.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:15

      Well, it's not like SJJ is cheap. Their costs there are relatively high.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous21:20

      A sta. Ti bi se za 50 evra vozio po svetu. Ma ajde ne budi pametan.

      Delete
  7. Anonymous09:12

    Wonder what new routes we could see from them?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:23

      They wanted to start Tehran this year but then decided against it. Maybe they revisit this plan next year. Also like the CEO says they are considering Lugano and Geneva.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:51

      Geneva would make sense. Lugano no so much.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:10

      They should consider OTP and SOF.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:27

      Stockholm please!!! Crazy that there are no flights between Ljubljana and the capital of Sweden.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:31

      we need new connections in Ljubljana.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous11:55

      Liverpool

      Delete
  8. Anonymous09:13

    I'm just waiting to see what 4Ks end game is here.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:19

      Neither do I. First I thought they were just going to show a quick profit and sell it to someone. Now it seems they are in the game on a longer term.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:21

      With the purchase of Darwin it is becoming clear that 4K is a Lufthansa proxy. A company no one knows anything about, even who their clients are. Mark my words that they will make another investment and that it will be in the ex-Yu.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:34

      @AnonymousOctober 4, 2017 at 9:21 AM:
      That's right. Apparently, they're after Air Serbia next.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:43

      Hah doubt it but I did hear that Montenegro Airlines may be next.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:45

      I agree that Lufthansa is behind all of this.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous10:48

      @AnonymousOctober 4, 2017 at 9:43 AM:
      Well, that's what I heard. Apparently, Etihad is also pulling out of Air Serbia in the very near future.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous10:51

      It can't pull out before 1st January 2019 because that is until when the agreement lasts which bounds both sides. We will see.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous11:26

      1 year and 3 months is considered "near" I think @anon 10:51

      Delete
    9. Anonymous17:57

      Any good argument why would someone would think LH is behind 4K?

      Delete
  9. Anonymous09:14

    Great news. Well done Adria.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous09:15

    Wet leasing seems to have become their most lucrative business.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous09:17

    Adria needs a plane between the Bombardier and Airbus. The Airbus is too large for pretty much anything other than charters.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:26

      Like the Sukhoi Superjet 100 :)

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:39

      CRJ1000 would make much more sense.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:50

      Agree, especially since Adria Tehnika is the regional CRJ maintenance center.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous12:18

      Adria Tehnika plays no role here. The only time they really need them as a regional maintenance center is during C checks, which is every couple of years, and if it means flying aircraft to Germany or somewhere, it makes no difference.

      Delete
    5. It makes a lot of difference buddy who is your maintenance provider. It's not only c-checks, what about daily line maintenance? An aircraft gets signed off (released to service) every day before the crew takes it over. The knowledge of CRJ and A320's is huge in AAT, unlike SSJ100 which nobody knows, no line and base maintenance anywhere close. Doubt they would be willing to pay large amounts of money to the Germans for the maintenance, if they can have AAT servicing it for peanuts.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous21:05

      You don't need "regional maintenance center" for daily checks and regular line maintenance. Couple of A/B1/B2 engineers and couple of unlicenced support workers and that's it.

      How can Air Nostrum operate CRJs in ZAG without "regional maintenance center"?

      Delete
    7. Anonymous21:15

      The regional maintenance centre is not for Adria only, obviously they have other operators there. But it is handy, especially if thats your main base. Its almost mandatory, unless you think everything can be done with a piece of paper and a stamp. Unlike Adria LJU base, Air Nostrum's ZAG base is an outstation and not a main base, now there is a big difference. I am sure your passangers would love to fly with a company with only a handfull of licensed engineers and a couple of grease monkeys....brilliant!

      Delete
    8. Anonymous09:10

      AAT is irrelevant for JP. They will have their own Part 145, thats why they bought Darwin. Consider some Base and Line MX is now done by Solinair who is actually much better MRO than AAT in many ways.

      Delete
  12. Anonymous09:31

    I'm glad they are getting their act together.

    ReplyDelete
  13. i don't get their strategy if they have one?

    "we are in the middle of the europe 1.5hrs away from everything and transfer pax love that"
    well, that's also a problem for you.

    substitutes like train and car pose bigger threat and you are way worse option for someone who can catch a direct flight without stopover in Ljubljana. it's not like this is middle ages and caravan can use you saray for stopover. with planes these are small distances. and if we see that connections between biggest cities in europe are already saturated then for transit passengers you need to hit niche markets and that is so hard to find (one good example that comes to mind is JU's BEY-BEG-CDG).

    so then you are left with domestic demand to fill those seats, which they certainly don't have. slovenia is a small country with, at the moment, big problems in economy.

    and then you have all of these side -jobs to your scheduled operations:
    -brand sell and lease back?
    -provide support in flight planning to other companies
    - a lot of wet leasing
    - selling spare parts & engines


    one of the strangest companies in the skies

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:38

      To me it seems the business is being run from year to year. They look how to scrape through the year without focusing on the long term. That's why they will do anything just to increase revenue a bit. But in the long term this is a very bad strategy.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:41

      Wait, what? Slovenia has "big problems in economy"? Did you see 2016/2017 GDP numbers?

      Delete
    3. getting better, but still below previous levels. 2016 & 2015 are lowest for 10y period.
      they had this massive indebtedness problem and istrabenz fiasco.

      https://tradingeconomics.com/slovenia/gdp

      Delete
    4. @9:38 something like that. i don't know anyone who works for adria, but my guess would be that things are pretty hectic there

      Delete
    5. Anonymous13:25

      Oh, it’s Petar again and his complex with JP and Slovenia.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous13:48

      Petar, Istrabenz fiasco? What on earth are you talking about? The banking system was recapitalized in late 2013 and the Slovenian economy has been in recovery since then, with accelerating growth in 2016 and 2017.

      The link you posted are GDP figures in USD while Slovenia uses the euro. The numbers are deflated in 15-16 because of the weakened euro, not because of any problems with the Slovenian economy. Please refrain from commenting on economic issues if you have no clue about even the basics of macroeconomics.

      Delete
    7. cmon, slovenian companies debts were packaging and being sold like crazy. it was so much work that even the consultants from other ex-yu countries got a good taste of it. that's not healthy economy. investments are on the other hand low because the companies are deleveraging and banks are having trouble giving out new loans because bad performance of the NPL in the past.
      and istrabenz fiasco was when one the key assets in government approach to state owning key companies when belly up and the selloff began.

      anyhow, the point was that there is not enough domestic demand and good knows that you cannot play much with transfer pax from slovenia.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous22:32

      Deleveraging has been successful, NPLs have dropped sharply since 2013 and bank lending is growing. Not that the Slovenian economy doesn't have its issues such as low productivity increases, but saying it's in dire straits is way off - export growth is strong, domestic consumption is picking up, as are investments in fixed assets by the private sector. Economic growth has been among the strongest in the EU in the past few quarters.

      When it comes to the limits of Slovenian domestic demand for air travel, though, I do agree with you. It's also an issue that all countries of the former Yugoslavia face to a varying degree.

      Delete
  14. Anonymous09:46

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

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:49

      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. Anonymous10:01

    I wonder if they will consider some smaller cities in ex-yu like Banja Luka, Nis or Ohrid. They could be good markets to get transfers via Ljubljana.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:09

      Been there, done that.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:16

      Yes but now they have more suitable planes like ATRs and Saabs.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:19

      Not really. They had the CRJ200 back then with the same capacity.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous12:04

      I woulld add OMO and LYKV to the list. With some local gov't incentives, it could work.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous12:19

      They'd need a King Air for BNX, with the numbers they had couple of years ago, not an ATR.

      Delete
  16. Anonymous10:03

    If you look closely, they have renegotiated their leasing contracts and extended them for the next 5 years approximately. If they take on new planes it means they will significantly expand their network since these planes won't be used as replacements.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:07

      Or will primarily be wet leased on to others

      Delete
  17. Anonymous10:13

    I think the whole statement about having a good fleet is a sham. If that were true then they wouldn't feel the need to lease out their aircraft to Swiss, Austrian, Luxair...

    It only goes to show that they have nowhere to deploy them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:21

      +1

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:28

      At the bottom line, it is better to wet lease them, instead of leaving them to rust in the hangar as ASL is doing, while unsuccessfully trying to wet lease them ....

      Delete
  18. Anonymous10:22

    Nothing more than advertising by the CEO.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Anonymous10:25

    Anyone know how many passengers they handled this year? I assume they have seen a big increase in numbers.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:32

      January-July 672.905 +11%

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:35

      Nice thanks!

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:42

      That would mean they have the biggest passenger increase in ex-Yu right?

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:48

      Yes

      Delete
    5. Anonymous11:01

      OU is quite close. They have around 11% too but Adria will keep having big growth in winter while Croatia Airlines not so much. Air Serbia has currently around 1% growth. Montenegro Airlines is down on last year.

      Delete
  20. Anonymous10:42

    They should start Ljubljana - Geneva and offer good transfer possibilities for travellers from Switzerland to the Balkans.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:49

      That would be smart. There are not too many flights to ex-Yu from Geneva but there are big diasporas.

      Delete
  21. Anonymous10:50

    if you know german hier is das ganze interview: http://www.aerotelegraph.com/interview-arno-schuster-adria-airways-fuehren-gespraeche-ueber-erweiterung-der-flotte

    :) not that there is more interesting stuff

    ReplyDelete
  22. Anonymous11:05

    Interesting times ahead.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Anonymous11:08

    Well done JP!

    ReplyDelete
  24. Anonymous11:40

    So officially now Adria has more aircraft then Croatia Airlines!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:50

      With tuboprops included, yes.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous13:07

      Yay!!! :D

      Delete
    3. Now they just need to fill them up.

      Delete
  25. Anonymous11:41

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

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:49

      Yeah right. Look at their 2016 financial report.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:21

      Good job? Wouldn't say so. Not worse than predecessors, yes.

      Delete
  26. Anonymous12:00

    With ATR and Saab, they may target secondary airports in exYu (BNX, OMO, LYKV) with some incentives from local gov't.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Anonymous12:01

    Fleet expansion? Why do they need one? They have the youngest fleet in ex-Yu and they have added CRJ900s and 700s over the past two years. Don't think they need any new aircraft or replacements at the moment.

    ReplyDelete
  28. JU520 BEGLAX12:47

    Plan for SUTT 2018 should be:
    CR9 5 weekly to Split
    CR9 3 weekly to Valencia
    ATR or Saab 2 weekly to Brac

    Plan for 2020

    Add Tivat, Venice, Marseille
    Rest will see

    I doubt Suchois will be part of the fleet, not with new extended ac leases

    Lets hope Adria will soon fly again to the Adria and justify its name

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous15:09

      Why VLC before some other destinations in Spain?

      Also I think a link to Rome is long overdue.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous15:26

      Add Venice?{?

      Also, Barcelona would be a smarter move than Valencia, at least unless Vueling starts the route. Valencia is already served by Ryanair from Trieste.

      I would also add some Scandinavian cities and Teheran.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous17:11

      What about Temišvar, Cairo, Tbilisi, Sankt Petersburg, Ankara?

      Delete
    4. Anonymous21:06

      LOL Venice, what are you people smoking?

      Delete
  29. Anonymous13:13

    For some reason I don't believe him

    ReplyDelete
  30. Anonymous14:07

    I think Adria is on its way to recovery and is looking more and more as serious player in ex-Yu (again). I'm looking forward to seeing which new routes might be added and whether they might even expand outside Europe, which I think would be long overdue.

    Also I'm interested to see what will come of their Pristina and Tirana bases. They don't seem to be doing much with them, keeping the same schedule for the last two years.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Anonymous15:07

    Just today a busines partner came from London and complained about poor links to LJU from the UK. Just as I've said many times.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous15:32

      Poor links? There are 17 scheduled flights/week between London and Ljubljana, more than in any other exyu airport.
      I agree though there should be some flights between LJU and other UK cities, like Manchester, Liverpool,...

      Delete
    2. Anonymous17:05

      Yea yea. Now imagine you're a busines person and you have to fly out of Luton and arrive to LJU at some random hour.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous21:09

      What random hour? It's called airline schedule. If it doesn't suit you, plenty of business jets for rent in South-East UK.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous23:08

      So we come from great connections to renting your own business jet. Great. Do you work for WizzAir? Or Adria? Or Ljubljana airport?

      Delete
  32. Anonymous17:59

    Adria eyes but does not sees! To pay above 450 EUR to fly on the shitty ATR over the Alps, with the pilots who does not know if they will have a job tomorrow, no thank you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous21:32

      Yes yes u are right. Unless u fly with airserbia atr or croatia dash or austrian atr or...then you fly for free in a ferrari

      Delete
  33. Anonymous06:21

    Flying on Q or ATR around Alps is a big difference. I dont want to fly for free, but their prices are rip/off and just shows how screwd they are.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous15:12

      And Ryanair TSF-MLA for 600€ when they are full does not bother you? If they have people paying so much for their flights, why not charge so much then?

      Yeah you don´t want to fly for free but at the same time you are not prepared to pay more than 100€ for the ticket..

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:19

      I don't fly Ryan as I dont support monopolists and think it does damage to the industry.
      I'm willing to pay up to 2.5K for a ticket for appropriate range but never for a ride with ponyexpress in rather known icing condition.
      I hope they are all gone in a while as ripping off passengers on a cash cow routes has only temporary effect.

      Delete

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