It’s a Monday, so you know what that means — another European airline is filing for bankruptcy and ceasing operations (last week it was Thomas Cook). This time it’s Adria Airways, the national airline of Slovenia, and also a Star Alliance member airline.
Adria Airways Files For Bankruptcy
Per a notice on their website, today (September 30, 2019) Adria Airways has filed a motion for bankruptcy proceedings at the Kranj District Court, and has announced that they’re ceasing all operations.
The bankruptcy proceedings have been initiated by the management of the company because of their insolvency and based on the Slovenian Financial Operations, Insolvency Proceedings, and Compulsory Dissolution Act (ZFPPIPP), which obligates the management of a company in the position of Adria Airways to file for bankruptcy proceedings.
The court has a three day period within which it shall decide on the opening of bankruptcy proceedings.
What Happened To Adria Airways?
The above announcement shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who has been following the situation (or reading OMAAT).
Last Tuesday Adria Airways “temporarily” suspended a vast majority of their flights. The airline has been struggling financially for a very long time, though it finally got so bad that their planes started being repossessed and they couldn’t afford to operate anymore.
For most of last week they operated a single daily flight to Frankfurt, given that this is their most important foreign destination due to their partnership with Lufthansa.
The problems continued through the weekend, and most recently Adria Airways announced a majority of operations would be suspended through Monday.
The Slovenian Civil Aviation Authority had given the airline a deadline of Wednesday, October 2, to submit a restructuring plan, or else they will suspend their Air Operators Certificate.
Clearly the airline has realized there’s no chance that they’ll come up with a legitimate restructuring plan. Obviously there was no practical way that was going to happen, so they’ve now filed for bankruptcy.
Bottom Line
Short of a temporary bailout by Lufthansa or the Slovenian government, Adria Airways’ bankruptcy was inevitable.
It will be interesting to see what happens next for Slovenia, as the country is left without a national airline. Will Lufthansa beef up operations in Ljubljana? Will low cost carriers pick up the slack at the airport? I guess we’ll find out soon.
Membership is free and takes no more information than commenting as a guest. Earn status points for good contributions, and see fewer ads as your status grows.