Slovenian flag-carrier Adria Airways has ‘temporarily’ suspended flight operations, the airline announced on late Monday evening.
Talks regarding an investment to save Adria Airways’ operations had failed. The airline’s request for a rescue loan of reportedly four million Euros from the Slovenian government was denied.
The “decision to temporarily cease flight operations is a consequence of currently unsecured access to fresh cash which the airline needs for further flight operations. The company is at this point intensively searching solutions in cooperation with a potential investor. The goal of everyone involved is to make Adria Airways fly again and that ceasing of operations is indeed temporarily,” the Slovenian flag carrier said in a press release.
Adria Airways has also confirmed to ch-aviation that wet-lease operations for Austrian, Lufthansa, Luxair, and Swiss have also been suspended.
All flights for Tuesday and Wednesday have been cancelled, it is unclear what will happen to Adria Airways’ flights after this two-day suspension period.
The airline says a lack of funds have forced it to take this decision. During the last few days, lessors have repossessed at least three aircraft of the Slovenian carrier. The lack of planes already led to some flight cancellations.
The Slovenian state sold the financially stricken carrier, which operates regional flights between the Western Balkans and other parts of Europe, to German investment fund 4K in 2016 after having put over 50 million euros ($55 million) into it.
But under the new owner the airline continued to lose money, and Slovenian media speculated that a bankrupcy procedure could be imminent after two of its 16 jets had to be grounded last week over unpaid bills to a lender.
In its statement, Adria Airways said flights had been cancelled for Tuesday and Wednesday, apologised to passengers for the problems and advised them to follow the situation on the company’s website.
Ch-Aviation / IFN News
