Air Adriatic acquires Adria Airways


Slovenian company Air Adriatic, owned by businessman Izet Rastoder, has acquired Adria Airways for 45.000 euros. The banana importer and seller, as well as real estate developer, set up Air Adriatic just days following Adria’s collapse in late September of last year. Mr Rastoder previously said he plans to use Adria’s Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC) to develop an airline in the private aviation sector and is in the process of acquiring two private jets. However, the Montenegrin-born businessman, who moved to Ljubljana in 1986, has also considered establishing a low cost carrier based in the Slovenian capital.

Three companies participated at the auction. In addition to Air Adriatic, they included Komforia, a Croatian business which is also registered in Slovenia, as well as Deal.Aero, a newly established company owned by former Adria Airways pilot Dejan Slodej. All parties involved paid a 4.500 euro deposit to take part in the auction. Despite a highly publicised plan drafted by Russian investors to relaunch Adria with an all-Sukhoi Superjet 100 fleet, they did not participate in the sales process.

Adria’s assets were sold off today as a whole and they include the AOC, as well as various manuals, including those for operations, training, maintenance, security, weather, passenger handling and cargo handling. The carrier’s AOC has been suspended until September 30, 2020, however, it will be reinstated once Air Adriatic fulfils certain obligations set out by the Slovenian Civil Aviation Agency, among which is the possession of operational aircraft. Mr Rastoder’s company will also have to take on a number of obligations. Among them is the amendment of any discrepancies that arose following the revocation of the airline’s AOC and the launch of bankruptcy procedures. A Slovenian AOC gives its holder rights to maintain commercial services from Slovenia and other European Union-member states.




Comments

  1. Anonymous09:02

    I'm still hoping for some serious bidder to show up.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:25

      There is no business case for anyone serious to be interested in.
      Maybe some other money launderers like the Germans or the Russians trying to get some of their parked SSjs flying again.

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:02

    Good luck

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous09:03

    I wonder if the Russian investors managed to find an EU partner they were looking for.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:04

      I doubt the even paid the participation fee.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:10

      Considering the Oleg guy is no longer writing about it on his Linkedin page I think it's safe to say they won't be participating at the auction.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:26

      Anon at 09:10
      +1
      That was a clown's profile, not a professional's of any kind. What a joke!

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:27

      Well he did appear on TV is Slovenia.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:59

      ^^^
      And that says a lot about the quality of our TV stations...

      Delete
    6. Anonymous10:04

      Well it was the public broadcaster...

      Delete
    7. Anonymous11:29

      Anybody can appear on TV Slovenia.. remember 4K models Kowarsch and Arno.. those suits come and go, but they leave financial wasteland and broken lives behind. That Oleg is just another figure that "wannabee" aviation something.. In Slovenia and Croatia there are many figures from Russia and Ukrain wanting to go into "aviation" business but they have absolutely no clue and no money..

      Delete
  4. Anonymous09:04

    Adria + SSJ100 = Fenix :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous09:05

    I hope they sell it for big money

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:13

      At most they will get around 350,000 for the AOC. Everything else is pretty much worthless.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:37

      The AOC is the most valuable thing left from Adria.

      Delete
  6. Anonymous09:10

    Is there anywhere we can watch?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:44

      Yes it would be interesting to watch. Will they show it anywhere?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:15

      No, it is closed to the public.

      Delete
  7. Anonymous09:11

    Well I do commend the fact that they are doing it via an auction. The most transparent way.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous09:13

    I think Slovenia is the only country in the world where you can buy an AOC. Crazy.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:00

      You think wrong. It's a perfectly normal thing.

      Delete
  9. Anonymous09:15

    The best thing would be for Pečečnik to buy Adria. At least he would keep it operating in Slovenia and not just use the AOC to fly from somewhere else in Europe.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:17

      It says he has a foreign partner. So who knows if they would use it to set up an airline in Slovenia.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:22

      I wonder if he would keep the name.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:39

      He just announced now he is no longer interested in Adria.

      Delete
  10. Anonymous09:17

    \waiting for 4K Invest to show up.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:54

      Yes as Lufthansa's Trojan horse...

      Delete
  11. Anonymous09:17

    Russian participation will be inevitable following Sukhoi's involvment last year.
    Lets not forget what happened a couple of days ago:

    Российские инвесторы, связанные с производителем самолетов Sukhoi SuperJet 100 (SSJ100) — компанией «Гражданские самолеты Сухого» (ГСС) — нацелились на европейскую авиакомпанию. Они рассматривают возможность покупки словенской Adria Airways, сообщает государственная телерадиовещательная корпорация Словении RTV.

    This will be a golden opportunity for Sukhoi to retry its attempt on EU soil. Surely, CityJet Ireland might reconsider introducing the jet. Lets wait until 11:00h CET....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:22

      You think CityJet will consider using Sukhois if somehow miraculously Adria is relaunched with Sukhois. Right.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:00

      Came down Oleg.
      Sukhoi will now have to pay western airlines to operate its aircraft.
      Its reputation is that bad now...

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:13

      There is no proof of such information. Sukhoi used to have a not so good reputation around the crash but with the SU 100 jet order, shares went up and the company is in great shape unlike some Western competitors...

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:25

      ^^^
      LOL, here is out favorite Russian troll!
      Hard at work for mother Russia!

      Delete
  12. Anonymous09:17

    Adria keeps winning!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:19

      Yep it sure does. Winning from the grave.

      Delete
  13. Anonymous09:24

    It would be great news for Ljubljana Airport if someone buys the AOC and launches flights.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous09:30

    I actually see the appeal of Adria to Sukhoi. They can buy at a cheap price and launch it with Sukhoi planes with the main aim being to promote Sukhoi in Europe. They could also then say they have an EU carrier operating an all-Sukhoi fleet.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:30

      Desperate times call for desperate measures.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous14:41

      +1 last anon. It would only show true desperation.

      Delete
  15. Anonymous09:36

    This process of post-death Adria has been really dragging on.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Anonymous09:41

    Hope it works out whoever buys it.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Anonymous09:41

    It's so sad it has come to this :(

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:51

      I don't think it's all that bad. Adria mighth get a second chance at life. Better than nothing.

      Delete
  18. Anonymous09:46

    As long as it becomes a private entity with absolutely no government support, this could be interesting. Let them fly the parked sukhois, heck, let them fly Antonov 2s! If nothing else, it'll make for interesting stories

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:50

      Haha true

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:05

      But it never works like that though, does it.
      That mythical carrier ends up taking people's money from future bookings, amasses large debts on ATC charges, airport charges and parking fees, fuel suppliers, national insurance contributions, staff salaries and a myriad other suppliers.
      And one day they suddenly stop flying, the management has left the country and we are left with their debts.
      Fly Bosnia is heading that way...

      Delete
    3. it doesn't matter10:10

      this is interesting - instead of hoping for best outcome for any aviation related business in ex yugoslavia, there are people who are exuisite sadists in a sense, that they tend to crush any, even so slight possibility anybody succeeding, let alone thrive. Not talking about fantasy stories about some russian quasi investor with relevance on par with "chinese investors in Maribor". I'm talking about seriousness, sane approach, analysis. Some of us have taken part in that, not in this blog, but where it really matters. So if you are here to feast on bad news, then you should make some introspective and find out what is causing your anger and rage. Was there sane business model for Adria? It was presented to decision makers, but as this plan was requiring stakeholders (employees, state and STO among others) to stay away from direct interference, and to obey the steering comitee (which was to be healthy mix of business and political influence - but political not in a sense of ideological/daily politics s....t, but rather of "how to operate for common good" and still have healthy business). One of the prerequisits was also a public, international tender for the management. But yeah, some people here belive that your little "knowledge" is everything that matters and so be it....

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:13

      +100 @it doesn't matte

      Delete
    5. Anonymous13:29

      ah yes, the propeller dance with someone else's junk in the nettle. classic "sane" approach as you call it.

      Delete
  19. Anonymous09:58

    I think this would be a great opportunity for Air Serbia. They could buy Adria's AOC and get access to inter eu market. while at the same time feed their flights to some onward destinations.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous14:42

      51% Serbian and 49% UAE ownership doesn't work well with EU rules on airline ownership, if you want to fly in the EU.

      Delete
  20. Anonymous10:00

    Bring back Bostjancic and Adria will conquer the skies :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:05

      Why? When did he manage Adria? (I'm an outsider so only been following developments in the last few years) :)

      Delete
  21. Anonymous10:06

    Even if someone sets up a new company I don't think it will have a long lifespan. We will see.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Anonymous10:06

    Not long left now

    ReplyDelete
  23. Anonymous10:40

    How much is the participation fee?

    ReplyDelete
  24. Anonymous10:46

    Apparently a total of three bidders will be at the auction.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Anonymous11:05

    Interestingly slots owned by Adria at three European airports are still calid.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:31

      *valid

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:32

      At FRA, MUC and AMS.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous13:21

      they cannot sell the ones for MUC (and FRA probably too) if you are hinting at that

      Delete
  26. Anonymous11:07

    Auction has begun but the auctioneer has not said who are the three bidders.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:11

      They are:

      Air Adriatic doo ( Izet Rastoder ),
      Komforia doo
      Deal.Aero

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:13

      Is this deal.aero the Russian company?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous11:17

      I don't know but it is registered in Slovenia.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous11:19

      Wtf? Komforia as in the furniture maker???

      Delete
  27. Anonymous11:25

    No Russians at the auction of course. It was all a hoax.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:17

      I heard that Russians will partner with the winners as they do not have
      European investors needed

      Delete
  28. Anonymous11:41

    Banana air wins

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:54

      Which has no intention to established a scheduled carrier.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:56

      He did say at one point he is interested in establishing an LCC but I doubt that will materialize.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous12:05

      Hoping bananas and no hidden cocaine flying with this new old airline.

      Delete
  29. Anonymous12:05

    Out of the three the former pilot probably would have been the best option.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Anonymous12:06

    Don't you people think it's kind of weird that he registered this company just a few days after Adria went bankrupt?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous14:45

      Why would it be wierd? Company registration means nothing, anybody with spare 7500 EUR can do it.

      Delete
    2. 7500 to register a company??

      In Australia I'ts only a few hundred bucks!

      Delete
    3. In 2018 he was #40 on the list of richest Slovenes, with 36.2 million EUR

      Delete
  31. i want this job description on my linkedin

    "banana importer and seller, as well as a real estate developer"

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:13

      His biography is interesting :D

      https://investitor.me/2018/08/03/evropski-kralj-banana-iz-berana-kako-je-rastoder-pokorio-evropu/

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:22

      he doesn't speak English but some Spanish and Russian yes.

      Delete
  32. Anonymous12:09

    So sad. 58 years of history and operations sold for 45,000 EUR.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:14

      It's the result of 58 years of mismanagement.

      Delete
    2. If you were older than 25, if you had at least little bit of civil aviation knowledge and general education, and not blinded by propaganda presenting bad things as good, you would sing the other tune. Because : yes, Adria was mismanaged, but for last few years only, maybe even a decade, but the most of its time, about 50 years, it had been serious, successful, innovative, well - managed, top-quality airline, you like it or not.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous12:51

      If I recall correctly, Adria was on the brink of bankruptcy many times prior to the 90s.

      Delete
    4. On the brink of bankruptcy and bankrupt is not the same. If you are on the brink of bankruptcy, due to high fuel costs, tough competitors, changes on the market, unions, and much other factors, and you manage to avoid bankruptcy, to continue doing business, aquire new planes, open new services, employ people, pay taxes and make at least some profit, makes you well-managed, not mismanaged. And also the reason for "final" bankruptcy of Adria had nothing to do with the management but with pure crime in "privatisation", where market model economy is used to fill the pockets of the selected, included in the process, with the blessing of politics. And that's precisely what happened here and has nothing to do with mismanagement, especially not in entire period of 58 years, on the contrary

      Delete
    5. Anonymous13:37

      Adria declared bankruptcy 1967 and Inex Interexport purchased Adria in 1968 in order to save it

      Delete
    6. Anonymous13:39

      pozdrav iz rijeke is full of cra*p. as an older guy he should know that almost up until the end of Yugoslavia the was no bankruptcy code. A "company" would formally go bankrupt, even though it was certanly bankrupt. JP was bankrupted already in 1968 and incorporated into another firm, because this was the way of handling bankruptcies back then. It was that or classic liquidation but then the SR SLovenia as the "owner" would have to before-hand pay all liabilities, because like said there was no possibility of what we now call compulsory settlement or bankruptcy.

      And there were quite some other cases when in a free market the company would go into receivership. But the state or some state companies donated some cash. The company was maybe operationally profitable for aggregate of 10 years max out of those 58. Remember seeing that around 2008 there were still some unpaid parts of the A320 acquisition in the ballance sheets. and that was purchased in 1989. SO yes. very profitable company. ALphabet and Facebook are nothing compared to JP. or OU or Montenegro for that matter :D

      All just political project from the day they were conceived.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous13:40

      correction in the first paragraph above: couldn't go bankrupt in ex-yu times

      Delete
    8. @An 13.39
      First to thank you for your compliments of being full of cra*p. Coming from the guy who explained us all, I really appreciate it. But if it all had been as you claim and it was not possible for Adria to went bust during Yugoslavia, could you please explain us how the same was possible with both Pan Adria and Transadria. Thanks in advance for the explanation and looking forward for some more compliments :) :) :)

      Delete
    9. Anonymous14:47

      "If you are on the brink of bankruptcy, due to high fuel costs, tough competitors, changes on the market, unions, and much other factors, and you manage to avoid bankruptcy, to continue doing business, aquire new planes, open new services, employ people, pay taxes and make at least some profit, makes you well-managed, not mismanaged."

      It's always somebody else's fault, isn't it? And Adria made how much profit in the last 10 years after accounting for all the loss?

      "but the most of its time, about 50 years, it had been serious, successful, innovative, well - managed, top-quality airline,"

      Haha, nice joke.

      Delete
    10. Send my hellos to Rotschilds, that's the only I will say after you did not answer my question about Pan Adria and Transadria, which were mismanaged and bankrupted. That was not the case in Adria, company which was the first in ex-yu to fly long-haul, first to offer charter flights, first to organize "worker's flights", first to compete on domestic services, first to introduce turboprops in response to market demand, first to anticipate cooperation in European Airbus project, first and only to offer hub model and take advantage of transfer traffic after the breakup and adjust to new market conditions and so on and so on. So, plenty of facts from me to show it was not "haha nice joke" . Which facts did you give to back up your "haha nice joke"?

      Delete
    11. Anonymous17:07

      There are airlines in Europe with much shorter history than Adria, and have hundreds of aircraft - and they make profit each year.

      Sure, Adria was successful, compared to all the airlines in Slovenia. As soon as you look across the border, well, not so much.

      Delete
    12. And excuse me, when did I say that Adria was the most successful and most profitable of all airlines, or all European airlines, or all ex-yu airlines? I never did. But people here saying Adria went bust because of 58 years of mismanagement, and that is simply not true. And I will say it again. And it has nothing to do with the fact that there are younger, bigger and more profitable airlines than Adria was. Or the fact that reason for Adria's demise were criminal activities in its privatisation. Nothing more to add.

      Delete
  33. Anonymous12:09

    I wonder what the other 2 were doing at the auction if they didn't even want to bid higher than 45,000 which was the starting price!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:13

      lol true

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:28

      :D maybe they can tax write off the participating fee as "investment"

      Delete
    3. Anonymous12:57

      The participation fee will be reimbursed.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous13:42

      Maybe to consider the auction valid you must have more than one bidder.

      Delete
  34. Anonymous12:17

    " Despite a highly publicised plan drafted by Russian investors to relaunch Adria with an all-Sukhoi Superjet 10, they did not participate in the sales process."

    Oh surprise surprise

    ReplyDelete
  35. Anonymous12:18

    For a second I thought it was the bankrupt Croatian airline Air Adriatic that bought bankrupt Slovenian airline Adria Airways.

    ReplyDelete
  36. Anonymous12:19

    What if the Russians are behind this guy?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:27

      This is business- all is possible.
      The russian guy predicted high price- he was wrong)

      Delete
  37. Anonymous12:28

    so what are their plans fo JP now?

    ReplyDelete
  38. Anonymous12:31

    Maybe he now buys Montenegro Airlines too :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous17:53

      Damir & Izet(montenegrian roots,both) from "Lud,zbunjen,normalan"...would be (quite of a lot) "ludi,potpuno zbunjeni i totalno nenormalni" to do that:-)

      Delete
  39. Anonymous12:37

    3 bidders who paid 4500 EUR participation fee. Starting price 45 000 EUR, final price 45 000 EUR? This means 2 bidders did not even place a bid? Jesus ...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:50

      This is how balkans work :p, pretty sure Banana air has paid the 2 bidders 4500 each to just participate, to make it all seem legit.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:52

      Or the two got "an offer they couldn't refuse"

      Delete
    3. Anonymous12:59

      Why would they? They were hoping no one else will show up and they would buy the license for 45k. Once Izet showed up, they saw they did not stand a chance as he would out-bid them, so why bother putting up a show?

      Delete
    4. Anonymous12:59

      The loser's will get money back.
      Russians were the only serious about restart of regular airline.
      I like their plan- it looks really professional.
      Nobody from Slovenia join them- what a shame..

      Delete
    5. @ Anonymous 12:52..... yes, life time supply of bananas

      Delete
  40. Anonymous14:02

    JP might be turned into a charter/leisure airline soon

    ReplyDelete
  41. Full reverse15:09

    Great, they already have some MD82 :) :
    https://hr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Adriatic#/media/Datoteka:0725_9ACBG1_WAW.jpg

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous15:12

      That's not them. That's the Croatian Air Adriatic which went bankrupt. This is a different company.

      From the text:

      "The banana importer and seller, as well as real estate developer, set up Air Adriatic just days following Adria’s collapse in late September of last year."

      Delete
    2. Full reverse15:17

      I know lol.

      Delete
  42. Dejan15:55

    So if the airline actually starts flights again (I give it less than 1% chance) will they be offering pax a banana as a snack instead of peanuts?
    I like!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hahaha, you made my day :) :) :)

      Delete
    2. Anonymous17:50

      Izet from "Lud,zbunjen,normalan" would be smarter

      Delete
    3. Anonymous18:02

      Tito's photos would be smarter decision:-)

      Delete
    4. Anonymous18:20

      that would be more then Adria did :)

      Delete
  43. Anonymous18:41

    I just have very skinny general knowledge and my only qualification concerning aviation business is Senator Status within Miles and More, so…. Many things I do not know, far for being expert. Therefore apologies for my question.

    I understand that buying AOC is a good short cut instead of creating a new airline and then go through procedures to obtain AOC. But what this really means: Do you have to use the same type of airplanes as previous holder of AOC for example?

    In this case of sold AOC, what could be issues, discrepancies that arose following the revocation of the airline’s AOC and the launch of bankruptcy procedures and are now needed to be addressed. Anyone knows?

    And just a suggestion to owner of this fantastic portal: I am aware that it is intended more for experts, but sometimes short answers to questions like mine might be very educational for broader public and with this more interest for wider public.

    Janez

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous20:31

      Janez: i'll try to be short and somewhat (over)sipmlistic for the sake of clarity, but the jist of it is that an AOC + OL (operational license) is just a bunch of papers with procedures, menuals, licenses and designated persons.

      Type of airplane can be changed in the OL and all manuals and procedures that are affected changed, the designated persons have to be licensed for this type. Of course you need to provide properly licensed crews. So it can be done quite easily.

      Discrepancies are that the buyer has to provide operating capital, accountable managers for required fields/sectors with proper licenses, licenced flight crew, dispatch, etc. etc., provide aircraft and allign the AOC and OL to the new circumstances.

      And then you also have to have things sorted out with the airports, Eurocontrol, slots etc ... that means proper concluded contracts and so on.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous21:04

      Thank you, very much. Of course I would have much more questions, one of them is related to the ownership of air transport company in Europe. I am aware that more than half of the company must be owned by EU entity (legal or natural persons), but what about indirect ownership, so a non EU legal person establishing a legal person (company) in EU. How this is treated. (Asking because of rumors of those "Russians"). Any reading to suggest where things are relatively clearly (and shortly) explained?

      Delete
    3. The AOC would also indicate how you intend to run the particular aviation business to ensure if follows regulator guidelines including training and operations of aircraft so it would be aircraft specific and would need to be modified to cover different aircraft types if needed.

      Delete
    4. I would guess any nationality in the world could probably be able to buy the AOC but I think you are asking an EU regulatory question which might not be required to be covered by an AOC unless in Slovenia, the two government departments in question are linked?

      Delete
    5. Full reverse08:27

      I dont understand this concept of buying AOC. AOC looks to me more like something that has to be obtained from some authority/regulatory body than something that can be bought from someone. I mean, you cant't buy a driving license from someone, can you?

      Delete
  44. Glad the Russians didn't waste their money on this crap. Good for them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous00:08

      didn't waste their time too

      Delete
    2. Anonymous05:11

      Actually the AOC for 45k is dirt cheap. And this "crap" allows you to set up virtually any kind of commercial aircraft operation within the EU, from bizjets, charters to scheduled passenger/cargo flights.

      Delete
  45. Anonymous04:54

    What will happen to the current IATA JP code? Was it sold? What are the current available JUgoslavija IATA codes left?
    New airline can use JS code from Jugoslovenija.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:44

      JJ from Aviogenex should be available.

      Delete
  46. Being from Sandjak, maybe he establishes flights to that fantom 3rd airport in Montenegro, Niksic

    ReplyDelete

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