Adria unveils Darwin plans

Adria Airways has revealed some of the future plans for Switzerland’s Darwin Airline after acquiring a 99.1% stake in the company last month. Adria Airways Switzerland, under whose name Darwin is now operating under, says the carrier is “very likely” to feature the Adria livery, new cabin crew uniforms and complement the network of its Slovenian counterpart. The airline’s CEO, Heinrich Ollendiek, who previously served as Adria’s Chief Finance Officer, said the Slovenian carrier will be a much better “fit” with the Swiss regional airline than its previous equity partner, Etihad Airways. The Lugano-based Darwin operated as Etihad Regional for the past three years, after the Arab airline acquired 33.3% of its shareholding.

Speaking to “ATW”, Mr Ollendiek said, “It will certainly be a different relationship than that with Etihad. It will be a much better relationship. Darwin will be integrated into Adria Airways and will, in the future, fly under the title of Adria Airways Switzerland. It will be much better for Darwin in the sense that Etihad was a giant compared to it. Adria is bigger, but it’s not a giant. It’s a similarly sized company, with thirteen jets. That is what makes this a strong team”. Darwin has ten regional turboprops, half of which are on wet-lease with Alitalia. Adria has already utilised some Darwin aircraft for its flights out of Ljubljana over the past few weeks.

Mr Ollendiek said the route networks of Adria Switzerland and Adria Airways were complementary, with the Slovenian airline connecting southeast Europe with the center of the continent, while its Swiss subsidiary weighted toward central-southern Europe. He added that Darwin had relied on Etihad for much of its marketing, “But Etihad was never so focused with selling the Darwin product. That will change with the new Adria connection. Both companies will derive mutual benefit from the deal, more than Etihad could ever have dreamed of, because they’re a similar size”.

Adria Airways’ owner, the private equity firm 4K Invest, will study the cost side of its new acquisition and redundancies have not been ruled out. However, its aim is to expand Darwin. “Experience tells us that if you want to turn around a company you have to look at the cost side, of course, but it’s decided on the top line whether you can lead your business into growth. We focus on improving the top line and developing the business”, Mr Ollendiek said. He concluded, “Adria and 4K Invest will now spend the coming weeks evaluating Darwin’s business and planning the way ahead”.