“Adria and Croatia should unite”

Could Adria and Croatia Airlines become one?

Eelier this month, Tomaž Lovše, the president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Slovenia, suggested that neither Slovenia nor Croatia need national flag carriers such as Adria and Croatia Airlines. He believes that both are a waste of tax payer’s money. Instead, Lovše suggests that the two airlines should unite. “The two airlines should unite due to the economic benefits they would experience from such a move. As a united airline, shares could be sold both on the Ljubljana and Zagreb stock exchange and long haul flights to New York could commence”, Lovše told the “Finance” magazine.

Both Adria Airways and Croatia Airlines are part of Lufthansa’s Star Alliance network. In 2009, Croatia Airlines carried the most passengers out of all the former Yugoslav carriers while Adria Airways came in third after Jat. Both Croatia Airlines and Adria are posting dire financial results this year but both have committed to a fleet renewal program. In recent times, Adria has focused more on its regional network while Croatia Airlines has been rationalising its summer charter flights from the country’s coast.

Earlier this year, Ivan Mišetić, the CEO of Croatia Airlines, noted that the Croatian national carrier must be privatised in order to avoid bankruptcy. However, the airline’s management now plans to bring the airline into positive financial territory by 2013 and only then should the Government decide whether the airline should be privatised.

Do you think the unification of Croatia Airlines and Adria Airways would be a rational move? Do you think it would work? Leave a comment with your thoughts.