Slovenia to seek strategic partner for new national carrier
The Slovenian government is considering setting up a new flag carrier with the assistance from another airline, which would act as strategic partner, to speed up the process of establishing the company. The country’s Prime Minister, Robert Golob, said in case the government decides to create a new airline, it “would not happen any time soon” but added the state would seek “a strategic partnership with one of the existing carriers”. An expert taskforce set up to evaluate the effects of Adria Airways’ bankruptcy in 2019 on the economy, as well as the funds required for a new airline, has completed its work, with its findings communicated to several ministries. The report will be presented to Mr Golob in the coming weeks.
According to unofficial information, the report states the Slovenian economy has lost 250 million euros as a result of Adria’s collapse while the tourism sector itself has been hit with 150 million euros in losses. The report estimates the establishment of a new carrier with all its associated costs would set the state back 100 million euros. The Slovenian Minister for Economic Development and Technology, Matjaž Han, recently said the state would co-finance the new national carrier for a period of seven years. He added the project would need to be granted approval by the European Commission and that the entire process could take up to a year.
In 2020, cargo operator Solinair outlined its proposal to create a new national carrier in Slovenia with financial assistance from the state under the name Air Slovenia. At the time, Solinair said it would seek an agreement with the Lufthansa Group for the new airline to take over their routes to Ljubljana, including Lufthansa’s flights from Frankfurt and Munich, Swiss’ from Zurich and Brussels Airlines’ service from the Belgian capital. In addition, it was proposed for the new carrier to link Ljubljana with Amsterdam, Skopje, Tirana and Pristina. The cargo operator said the Mitsubishi CRJ900, Dash 8 Q400 and the ATR72 turboprop would be ideal for the Slovenian market, with a proposed four-to-five-member fleet for Air Slovenia. However, ultimately, the Slovenian government was unable to secure funds to co-finance a new airline at the time and the plans never materialised.
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