TRIP REPORT: Remembering Adria Airways
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I was very excited about this trip since it was my first time traveling alone but I knew what to expect because I flew with Adria before. The aircraft for this flight was the A319 registered S5-AAX with CFM engines. If I remember correctly, Adria got it in 2015 to serve flights between Maribor and Southend. Interior was still in Air France colours (blue fabric and red stitching). The seats were the same as on easyJet, which is not that bad for short flights in my opinion despite the fact that they don't recline and have very small tables. The flight was almost full and there were almost no Slovenian passengers. There were drinks and snacks available for purchase with water being free. The flight landed around 12:40 in Manchester which still leaves plenty of the day left. Adria used terminal 3 which is the smallest but, in my opinion, also the nicest at MAN. It was also nice to see that they used a jetbridge, which was very rare for Adria at airports other than Ljubljana.
Manchester airport offers great connections across the north of UK. The city can be reached by Metrolink (light rail service) and trains that continue towards Newcastle, York, Liverpool, Wales and Glasgow. This time I was picked up by car because our final destination on that day was Edenborough, otherwise, train travel from the airport is much more time efficient.
After three days of Scotland and seven days of East Yorkshire it was time to head home. My flight was scheduled at 1 PM, meaning I didn't have to get up early in the morning. When there is no traffic around Leeds it takes less than two hours to reach Manchester from Hull via M62 which is also the highest motorway in England at 372 meters. Despite having negative reviews on Skytrax and Tripadvisor I have always found Manchester airport to be very efficient (judging by numerous flights I have taken after this one). But you should still expect classic UKish airport experience when flying from MAN, by that I mean long Duty free walks and gates being shown 20 minutes before boarding. I still think it’s better than Stansted and Gatwick.
This time my aircraft was S5-AAP, one of the two newer A319s at Adria powered by IAE engines. Adria even had a safety video exclusive to these two planes as they were the only ones with overhead displays. Seats were new but very tight, they were different than those on the CRJs which were very comfortable in my opinion. The flight was very full and again there were mostly British people onboard.
I liked Adria because it was always nice to feel at home before being there. It is always sad to see an airline stop flying. Those weren't my last flights with them, next year I went to Manchester too, but I had to transfer in Munich and Zurich on my way back because nonstop flights were too expensive. I always liked their uniforms and livery. I will miss seeing the AA logo in the future which many people didn't know represented a leaf from Lipa tree (known as Slovenian national tree). As of February 2020, there is still one of their CRJs parked at LJU. Despite new airlines coming to Ljubljana, there are still many routes missing but things are improving very slowly. The current crisis doesn't help either. When all this is over, it would be nice if easyJet was to introduce some flights to Manchester instead of flying to another London airport.
Written by Erik Tomori
Ljubljana to Manchester:
Ljubljana to Manchester:
Date: 17.8.2016
Flight: JP 462
Aircraft: Airbus A319 (S5-AAX)
Manchester to Ljubljana:
Date: 27.8.2016
Flight: JP 463
Aircraft: Airbus A319 (S5-AAP)
I know that this trip report is irrelevant for future travel since Adria doesn't exist anymore, but I decided to share my experience anyway since Adria was my country’s flag carrier and I had some really nice flights with them. These particular flights are very special to me because it was my first time flying on my own.
I flew to Manchester to visit my relatives who live in Hull which is right across the Penines on the other side of the island, about 2-hour train or car ride away. The ticket was 210 euros which is still cheap in my opinion because there were no transferring or departure and arrival times that were very good. This ticket came with checked luggage included as all Adria tickets until June 2016 did. Other option at that time would be easyJet to Stansted but prices were about the same and Stansted is about 4 hours from Hull. Adria flew to Manchester only during summer twice a week on Wednesdays and Saturdays. They were using A319s in 2016 but later switched to CRJs and a one weekly flight in 2017.
I was very excited about this trip since it was my first time traveling alone but I knew what to expect because I flew with Adria before. The aircraft for this flight was the A319 registered S5-AAX with CFM engines. If I remember correctly, Adria got it in 2015 to serve flights between Maribor and Southend. Interior was still in Air France colours (blue fabric and red stitching). The seats were the same as on easyJet, which is not that bad for short flights in my opinion despite the fact that they don't recline and have very small tables. The flight was almost full and there were almost no Slovenian passengers. There were drinks and snacks available for purchase with water being free. The flight landed around 12:40 in Manchester which still leaves plenty of the day left. Adria used terminal 3 which is the smallest but, in my opinion, also the nicest at MAN. It was also nice to see that they used a jetbridge, which was very rare for Adria at airports other than Ljubljana.
Manchester airport offers great connections across the north of UK. The city can be reached by Metrolink (light rail service) and trains that continue towards Newcastle, York, Liverpool, Wales and Glasgow. This time I was picked up by car because our final destination on that day was Edenborough, otherwise, train travel from the airport is much more time efficient.
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| M6 through Cumbria |
After three days of Scotland and seven days of East Yorkshire it was time to head home. My flight was scheduled at 1 PM, meaning I didn't have to get up early in the morning. When there is no traffic around Leeds it takes less than two hours to reach Manchester from Hull via M62 which is also the highest motorway in England at 372 meters. Despite having negative reviews on Skytrax and Tripadvisor I have always found Manchester airport to be very efficient (judging by numerous flights I have taken after this one). But you should still expect classic UKish airport experience when flying from MAN, by that I mean long Duty free walks and gates being shown 20 minutes before boarding. I still think it’s better than Stansted and Gatwick.
This time my aircraft was S5-AAP, one of the two newer A319s at Adria powered by IAE engines. Adria even had a safety video exclusive to these two planes as they were the only ones with overhead displays. Seats were new but very tight, they were different than those on the CRJs which were very comfortable in my opinion. The flight was very full and again there were mostly British people onboard.
I liked Adria because it was always nice to feel at home before being there. It is always sad to see an airline stop flying. Those weren't my last flights with them, next year I went to Manchester too, but I had to transfer in Munich and Zurich on my way back because nonstop flights were too expensive. I always liked their uniforms and livery. I will miss seeing the AA logo in the future which many people didn't know represented a leaf from Lipa tree (known as Slovenian national tree). As of February 2020, there is still one of their CRJs parked at LJU. Despite new airlines coming to Ljubljana, there are still many routes missing but things are improving very slowly. The current crisis doesn't help either. When all this is over, it would be nice if easyJet was to introduce some flights to Manchester instead of flying to another London airport.
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| Adria planes in Ljubljana in November 2019 |
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