Slovenia holds talks with Lufthansa over new carrier
The Slovenian State Secretary within the Ministry for Economy, Eva Štravs Podlogar, has met with representatives of Germany’s Lufthansa in Frankfurt to “analyse the aviation market in the wake of Adria Airways’ bankruptcy”. Ms Štravs Podlogar was accompanied by both the CEO and the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Slovenia’s Bank Assets Management Company. The ministry said it was examining legal and organisational alternatives that would help fill the void created by Adria's demise, noting that talks with various stakeholders were under way. It added that any potential decision concerning the creation of a new flag carrier would have to take into account Lufthansa’s plans for the Slovenian market.
The Minister for Economic Development and Technology, Zdravko Počivalšek, is believed to have proposed the creation of a new national airline which would launch towards the end of February 2020 with a fleet of ten to twelve aircraft. Mr Počivalšek previously said any new flag carrier should be established only in partnership with Lufthansa. Former Adria Airways employees, who were tasked with looking into rescue initiatives for the airline, have said a foreign carrier has plans to set up a new company at Ljubljana Airport. On the other hand, the Slovenian Prime Minister, Marjan Šarec, has said that establishing a new state-owned airline would be “too risky”, but stopped short of dismissing the idea all together. “Launching such a project without providing incentives to the company for a period of at least three years would be too risky and meaningless”, the Prime Minister said.
Adria Airways' receiver has invited interested parties to bid for assets of the collapsed airline. The formal tender states that the bankruptcy administrator, Janez Pustatičnik, is offering the entirety, or part, of Adria Airways for sale. It says that participants in the process must submit their offers no later than November 10, and bidders will be informed of the outcome within fifteen days of the deadline. Some of Adria’s assets include land property rights and the head office building, aircraft parts and two apartments. The airline had no aircraft in its ownership and leased its entire fleet. “With the invitation for non-binding bids I would like to check the interest of potential buyers", Mr Pustatičnik said.
Meanwhile, Slovenia's parliamentary finance committee has proposed for Adria’s sale to Germany’s 4K Invest in 2016 be formally examined. It issued a decision stating that the country's Court of Audit should investigate the sale and the contract under which the airline was sold. It added that the results of the investigation should be submitted to the National Assembly "as soon as possible". The committee has also sought to spur the Slovenian government into exploring conditions under which it could establish a new state-owned airline, with the support of former Adria employees.
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