Slovenian government seeks “wide consensus” over carrier
The newly elected Slovenian government has said a wide-ranging consensus is needed on matters of national importance such as the creation of a new flag carrier. The country’s new Economy Minister, Matjaž Han, noted, “We will have to start discussing whether there is a possibility of setting up an airline or whether we should subsidise certain routes. Dialogue with all stakeholders is necessary”. Earlier this month, the newly formed coalition government dashed hopes of establishing a new national airline to replace the defunct Adria Airways despite two of the three parties that are part of the new cabinet in favour of the notion. In the coalition agreement signed between the three sides, it is noted that a new national airline is not envisaged. However, the trio will analyse appropriate means of support to improve the country’s air connectivity to key destinations “under economically justified conditions”.
Adria Airways’ former CEO, Klemen Boštjančič, who led the airline in 2011 and 2012, has been named as Slovenia’s new Finance Minister. Mr Boštjančić implemented wide-scale cost cutting measures at the airline, which stabilised the carrier’s finances. However, it came at a cost, with the company diminishing its route network, resulting in a major plunge in passenger numbers. Furthermore, Rok Marolt, who has been the head of the Slovenia Civil Aviation Agency up until now, and served as Adria’s Chief Operating Officer in 2012, has been named as the Secretary General at the Ministry for Finance. In addition, Slovenia’s new Minister for Infrastructure, Alenka Bratušek, who served in the same post during Adria’s collapse and is a former Prime Minister, said earlier this year her country is in urgent need of a new national airline.
The Mayor of Ljubljana, Zoran Janković, recently said the central government must do more to secure flights from the Slovenian capital to key European markets. “The biggest problem with tourism is our airport. There is an insufficient number of flights”, Mr Janković noted. Based on OAG data, the busiest unserved routes from Ljubljana are those previously operated by Adria. They include Bucharest, Copenhagen, Skopje, Athens, Stockholm, Barcelona and Prague. Ljubljana Airport’s operator, Fraport Slovenija, noted it would support any solution that would be sustainable and improve connectivity. Together with Belarus, Slovenia is Europe’s slowest recovering market from the coronavirus pandemic.
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