Adria Airways has said its flight operations will return to normal from July as its passengers continue to experience numerous delays, cancellations and the merging of flights. The Slovenian carrier noted that the ongoing wide-spread disruptions to its network come as a result of technical and operational reasons. “We apologise to all passengers for the inconvenience caused and we assure them that we are doing everything in order to find the most optimal solutions for their journeys”, the carrier said in a statement. The airline’s evening flights are most affected, particularly those to Skopje and Pristina. Over the past few days the carrier has also merged some of its services to Podgorica and Sarajevo, Munich and Zurich, as well as Skopje and Tirana.
Currently, some of Adria’s aircraft are out of service. These include two Bombardier CRJ900 jets, registered S5-AFA and S5-AAL, which are grounded in Ljubljana and missing their engines, while an Airbus A319, registered S5-AAX, returned to service yesterday after more than a month. Adria is also currently wet-leasing several aircraft, including a Nordica ATR72 turboprop, as well as a Trade Air Fokker 100 which is being used on its operations out of Pristina. These short-term wet-leases, which previously also involved a Carpatair F100 jet, were scheduled to run until the end of May, however, their usage has since been extended.
The ongoing issues taking place at Adria are in sharp contrast to the management’s promise it would stabilise the company’s operations for the 2019 summer season in order to avoid a repeat of last year, which resulted in the cancellation of some 100 flights. “Our priority is to stabilise our operations and restore the trust of our passengers”, the airline’s CEO, Holger Kowarsch, said late last year. The European Commissioner for Transport, Violeta Bulc, who is Slovenian herself, said on Friday, “Thanks to the EU, passengers whose flights have been cancelled have numerous rights: a refund, rerouting, and in certain cases compensation. We expect for Adria Airways to fully respect these rights”. However, many passengers have complained they still haven't been compensated by the airline for delays and cancellations experienced last summer season.
What a mess
ReplyDeleteThe auditor that certified their financial state is now being investigated.
DeleteApparently Adria's fate will be known in around 2 weeks. High chance that government will temporarily take over.
ReplyDeleteGetting rid of 4K would be the best solution. And ban them from ever buying any airline.
DeleteNot buying it. Who's your source? There's no way they can go around the EU regulation on state aid.
DeleteThere were rumors more than 10 yrs ago about liquidation of Adria and establishing Air Slovenia. Maybe Estonian-like scenario with Nordica?
DeleteAir Slovenia was Maks Tajnikar's idea.
DeleteAnd who exactly would be crazy enough to go for such a crazy idea? Slovenian market is just too small to sustain their own airlines. That is why JP tried to expand in new markets. Even Germans whom Slovenes love so much decided to kick them out of PRN and to have EW fly out of there.
DeleteAgain, this not Yugoslavia anymore. There is no way in hell the government can help JP financially. And yes, now that the end is near there are going to be all sorts of high flying ideas on what will be built on the ashes of Adria. Nothing. Zero. Zilch. Eurowings will take over some of the routes, some other LOCOs will step in and that's it.
DeleteUnless they plan on copying the Italians. lol
DeleteDon't forget the amount of debt Adria has. If the rumours are correct, it would take at
Deleteleast another 2011-size money injection to keep things afloat.
EU would never allow that.
Another issue with state aid is that they would have to drastically reduce the fleet. If they could somehow justify state aid for flights to/from LJU, they definitely couldn't for all the leased aircraft as well as for PRN base.
DeleteThere's less than half of the fleet operating in LJU. So redundancies would not be excluded.
Not that state aid will go through anyway...
Maybe that would be a good way to get rid of the SAABs.
DeleteGreat work by German owners. I'm waiting for them to blame the media as the reason passengers are deserting them. That's their explanation for everything.
ReplyDeleteBut seeing all this storm of media articles as if there is no other news in entire slovenia I expect something is cooking against Adria. Otherwise some articles I see on them are pure joke. One can write such topics on an airline only if they never ever flied out of Slovenia.
DeleteYet they find time to care about Air Serbia.
ReplyDeleteHaha what a great explanation. So passengers flying with Adria in June will have a fun time.
ReplyDeleteTheir flight to Hurgada was delayed by six hours yesterday! In stead of six, it left LJU at around midnight. What a mess.,
DeleteHow could it get this bad?
ReplyDeleteSimple. People who have no aviation knowledge are running the airline. This is the end result.
DeleteBla bla bla always the same nice sentences by politicians. 10 tickets are still open fm last years travel. The reason for all the technicals are house made. Instead of immediately fixing technical issues, management orders to delay technical fixings until to a point where the ac is no more allowed to fly and thats why face all these cancellations. Thats how they safe on safety. The airline should be excluded fm Star Alliance, they are definitely no more matching safety standards
ReplyDeleteCrazy and worrying at the same time.
DeleteThey would have their AOC withdrawn, already if it wasn't issued in Slovenia.
DeleteLook at demise of Air Berlin, Monarch, etc. Did the CAAs let them operate in such chaos and not pay claims and other things? No.
I'm surprised that they are saying that they don't have enough jets. I mean look at their inventory, it's reasonably rich with 3 airbus 319, 2 CRJ700, 9 CRJ900 and 6 SAABs 2000. Although, they have 20 planes and maybe 3 or 4 are out of actions, they still have to cancel flights and wet-lease more aircrafts. This company is total catastrophy!
ReplyDeleteYou are forgetting that they wet lease many planes to other airlines: Austrian, Swiss, Lufthansa, Luxair.
DeleteBut what's the point of leasing your own aircrafts when you can't fulfil your company needs for aircrafts and in return you have to cancel your own flights. It's like i loan you my car and i now i have no car so need to get a taxi to get to destination or even worse, cancel travel. It's a total catastrophe!
DeleteAnd on top of that, they prioritise charters as well. Look how many charters they fly today, when they have cancelled scheduled flights.
DeleteI was about to ask that. I don't remember Adria operating so many charters these past few years as they are this summer. Or was it always the case?
DeleteWhich respected airline would operate charters (JKH, PVQ and EFL from TRS today) and cancel scheduled flights to major hubs (BRU, ZRH)?
DeleteJP really has no clue how airline business works despite decades of experience.
unless they are earning more per seat from the charters.
DeleteEven if they do, that's not how you operate connecting flights. You don't see LH (or any respectable airline indeed) cancelling loads of flights to operate wet leases and run charters.
DeleteYeah but then again do you see any other airline out there doing what JP is doing. :D
DeleteThat clearly shows everything. It is not profitable for them to run scheduled flights from a limited and price driven market like LJU. So they try to prioritize their capacity where there is more revenue.
DeleteMissing their engines?! Somebody holding them as security until a few bills have been paid?
ReplyDeleteOr no money to service them or rent temporary replacements.
DeleteWhat about the mess today? Morning Frankfurt is cancelled, afternoon Skopje is cancelled, Valencia charter moved from 22.00 today to 10.00 tomorrow... moving a charter is the worse, people just lost a day of their holidays! Monsters!
ReplyDeleteUff I feel sorry for the Valencia bound pax. Not the best way to start your holiday.
DeleteThis is an utter mess.
ReplyDeleteToday for instance, JP102 enroute from LJU to ZRH vie MUC.
Yesterday, JP364LJUZRHMUC - delayed almost two hours at MUC due to pax miscalculations (incoming L/S from ZRH was indicating 48 o/b, while they were 64 o/b when landed in MUC - great success and huge safety issue to miss 16 pax for documents just like that). I would definitely think three times if I am to step in their a/c next time.
Maybe it has to do with competent people leaving the company? These are quite amateurish mistakes they shouldn't be making? I am surprised Germans or Swiss have not sanctioned them or reported them.
DeleteAdria's reputation has really gone down the drain thanks to 4K. Really unfortunate.
ReplyDeleteHeadlines on some foreign sites today
ReplyDelete"Adria Airways in peril"
"Adria Airways collapse looking more likely by the day"
Can you provide links for these?
DeleteActually S5-AAX returned to service yesterday on LJU-TGD flight, but had to turn back due technical problem.
ReplyDeleteAnd to add to the irony, they had a month to fix it.
DeleteS5-AAX is grounded also today, it was planned fro morning LJU-FRA that was cancelled.
DeleteBase maintance in the summer seasion could be only for two reasions. Or you have liquidity problems or you have no clue what you're doing.
ReplyDeleteOr both, which is most likely.
DeleteDeath is also a stable state :(
ReplyDeleteThe most stable and permanent.
DeleteIts a rebirth !
DeleteJP will be fine. The airline industry is currently passing through a tough time. Trade war, Max 8 problems, bankrupt airlines, high oil prices and way much demand vs supply.
ReplyDeleteYep, the Max 8 problems have really affected them. And being a Chinese airline the higher tariffs on Boeing aircraft will hurt them as well.
DeleteToday's flight to Amsterdam has been delayed 5 and a half hours. Passengers on return flight will land in Ljubljana at 3AM!!!
ReplyDeleteAnd they'll have to pay extra to keep airport open after midnight.
DeleteThe problem is that every aircraft is planned to its maximum. If there werw no technical issues every fligjt would be ok. But they have ZERO back up plan. So if a plane has technical issues it disrupts the plan for that day and the next completely. They have too much flights for the noumber of aircrafts they have and no back up or stand by aircraft. They just can not get out of this mess. When things finally get good another aircraft breaks down...
ReplyDeleteThey have absolute bad luck...it's like they're flying in a technical malfunction circle that never ends...unfortunatrly
ReplyDeleteIt's not bad luck, it's called poor planning.
DeleteEvery airline has couple of % of flexibility in their fleet, even the low cost ones.
Just to add to the above comments ... the biggest bad luck they have is with the people running their airline and with those making the decisions
Deletehttps://siol.net/posel-danes/novice/v-svici-preiskujejo-nekdanjega-sefa-financ-adrie-airways-499960
ReplyDeleteApparently, Adria's 8 million euros also gone who knows where. Bravo, 4K, bravo!
DeleteGovernment made at least one huge mistake. They sold Adria to 4K. Why was Introaviation's offer rejected? At least they had aviation experience. And it's not like 4K paid anything. Alenka Bratusek doesn't have a clue and she didn't have it back then.
ReplyDeleteI would be scared to buy a ticket om Adria.
ReplyDeleteThe delays are massive today.
ReplyDeleteNot as massive as delays in paying compensation to passengers.
DeleteZAG as well, massive delays in the afternoon. It can't be the storm as some like LO, QR, OU to MXP... departed on time.
DeleteIt was the storm but some planes were refuelled before the cataclysmic storm.
DeleteThis is how it ends with not having dozen of SSJs ....
ReplyDeleteRumours are circling that employees only got 50% of the salaries this month.
ReplyDeleteThe end is near.
Question to aviation insiders (not couch airline managers). How long would it take for other airlines to pick up interesting flights like BRU, FRA, MUC, ZH...? After JP gets grounded? For business travelers this is quite essential...a longer period without proper flight frequency would be a disaster.
ReplyDeleteDisaster for whom exactly? Maybe the passengers but not the airlines if there is no money to be made for them. FRA, MUC, ZRH and VIE would be instantly replaced but destinations such as CPH or BRU would most likely be cut especially BRU since there is W6 to CRL.
DeleteDisaster for the passengers of course. The real question jow long is "instantly replaced" in practice. Btw, CRL is not an option for trying to get something done efficiently in Brussels. Tourists ok, business no go.
DeleteI think if JP goes bust tomorrow, we would see some flights with the winter season already and full restoration (not necessarily with the same frequencies) to hubs by next summer schedule.
DeleteIt's over for JP:
ReplyDeletehttps://siol.net/posel-danes/novice/preverjajo-ali-nemci-prirejajo-bilance-adrie-airways-500352
Heads up for those interested, Air Serbia is selling LJU-LCA-LJU in September for 95 euros.
ReplyDelete