Two years on since Adria Airways collapse
NEWS FLASH
Today marks two years since Slovenia’s former flag carrier Adria Airways filed for bankruptcy. Two years on, the global aviation landscape has completely changed due to the devastating impact the coronavirus pandemic has had on the industry, serving a double blow to the Slovenian market, which has been hit by both Adria’s collapse and the health emergency. Following Adria’s bankruptcy, Ljubljana Airport lost considerable connectivity, routes and a steady stream of transfer passengers. Today, Ljubljana is handling just 17% of its 2019 traffic levels. Adria’s bankruptcy procedure, which aims to raise funds in order to cover over 87 million euros in claims being sought from the failed airline, is expected to run until 2024. The Slovenian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Economic Development and Technology, Zdravko Počivalšek, said last month the government was looking at ways to replace former national carrier. “If we want to have better air connectivity in Slovenia, we will have to do something in this sector and find a way forward to enable progress, in cooperation with a private stakeholder. Currently, we do not have a national carrier, and air traffic is severely affected by the pandemic”, Mr Počivalšek said. The Deputy Prime Minister noted it was impossible to rescue Adria Airways in 2019. “Adria was sold by someone: the responsible person or government, some say the Minister for Economy, who, however, had nothing to do with it. It was sold to a company that provided just 20.000 euros in initial capital. We need to check how and why this was done. However, the fact of the matter is that when we got involved in rescuing Adria, we found the financial situation was so dire, we failed in our attempts to save it. It had enormous debt of over 100 million euros”, Mr Počivalšek noted.
An investigation against the former German owners and management of Adria Airways is ongoing. They are suspected of financial misdeeds that allegedly led to the Slovenian flag carrier’s collapse. Those named as suspects are former Adria Airways CEO Arno Schuster, who managed the airline between 2016 and 2018, Adria Airways' last CEO Holger Kowarsch , the company’s Financial Advisor between March 2016 and December 2017, Klaus Platzer, as well as Eggo Laukamp, who was the airline’s Procurement Manager between 2014 and 2018. The prosecution has found evidence that the four of them illegally obtained funds by financially depleting Adria.
0 Response to "Two years on since Adria Airways collapse"
Post a Comment