Adria Airways has been struggling with cancellations and delays for many weeks. Weather, staff shortages and unexpectedly long maintenance periods have led to this, management recently explained. Now the problems have worsened unexpectedly.
As the airline confirmed to the Slovenian news agency STA, the Irish leasing company Trident Aviation Leasing Service cancelled the contracts for two Bombardier CRJ 900s on Thursday. The reason for this is unpaid invoices. As two aircraft are now missing, Adria Airways had to cancel several flights on Friday (20 September) and in the coming days, including the morning flights to Munich, Vienna and Zurich.
Authority ist watching closely
In a press release, the Slovenian national airline speaks of «challenging business conditions». They are now looking for solutions to stabilize operations. Adria Airways is trying to operate all flights. As the Slovenian supervisory authority told STA, the airline's situation is being monitored «by the hour».
Adria Airways has already solved one problem. At the beginning of this week the management reached a definitive agreement with the Slovenian pilots' association on a new tariff agreement. As a result, the announced strikes on four days in September and October will not take place, which would otherwise have worsened the situation even further.
No success in partner search
The German owners of Adria Airways announced in July that they were looking for a strategic partner. So far, however, none has been presented. The government in Ljubljana has been concerned about the airline's situation for some time and is already considering alternatives.
