<center>Adria flies into profit despite fuel prices</center>

GLOBAL AVIATION NEWS

Swiss cuts staff, fleet

Swiss International Air Lines (Swiss) is cutting hundreds of jobs and downsizing its fleets as the company struggles to weather the disruption of Covid-19. Up to 780 employees, including pilots, cabin crew, ground crew, and technicians, could be affected by the layoffs, Swiss announced. The company’s fleet of short and medium haul planes will be reduced by ten to 59, and long haul aircraft by five to 26 - a total reduction of 15% of fleet size compared to 2019. As a result, short and medium haul flights are “likely to be reduced from their 2019 levels, while services may not yet be restored at all on a few direct intercontinental routes”, the airline wrote in a statement. Swiss had already reported plummeting finances and had hinted at reducing up to 1.000 staff, but without layoffs. The Covid-19 pandemic, which brought international travel to a halt in 2020, has been a disaster for the airline. Now, however, the company cites “structural” changes in the airline market which it reckons will result in a decline of 20% in overall demand in the medium-term future. “It has grown increasingly clear that our market is undergoing structural change, and that despite the actions which we were swift to take in response [to the pandemic], a restructuring of our company now sadly seems unavoidable” Swiss CEO, Dieter Vranckx, said in a statement. Vranckx, who replaced former CEO Thomas Kluhr at the end of last year, said the new measures aim to make savings of some $550 million, which would allow the company to “repay our bank loans as promptly as possible and to sustainably retain our competitive credentials and regain our ability to invest”. Swiss said none of the measures would have an impact on its obligations under the terms of a government-backed financial aid package made just over a year ago, when the country’s airline sector was supported with almost 2 billion Swiss francs in liquidity.
Source: Swissinfo

Adria flies into profit despite fuel prices

Despite gloomy predictions earlier in the year with announcements that Slovenia’s national carrier, Adria Airways was in a financial crisis, the airline managed, in the first 8 months to improve its profit by 20% compared to last year. This was achieved by cutting costs in other sectors in order to allocate expenditure for rising fuel prices which has destabilised the aviation industry. This way Adria managed to bring its operating profit to just over 1 million Euros. In total, without including any expenditure the airline would have achieved a profit of 21 million Euros. Adria’s management was less optimistic a few months ago when it predicted it would finish the year with a loss. Now the management believes the airline will just manage to make a profit by the end of December 2008.

The positive financial result comes as the airline transported 907.761 passengers in the first 8 months of the year. Adria is hoping for good financial results as next year expenditure will rise with the airline forced to redirect some of its flights from Ljubljana to Maribor due to an airport construction project which means Adria will have to provide free transportation between the two cities.

Comments