Adria announces route cuts

Adria farewells Banja Luka, London, Paris, Toulon and Warsaw

After months of speculation, Slovenia’s Adria Airways has finally announced its list of suspended destinations for the upcoming 2011/12 winter season. The airline will bid farewell to Banja Luka, London Gatwick, Toulon, Warsaw and Paris and will suspend its Vienna - Frankfurt route along with flights to Dusseldorf originating from Priština. Despite heavy losses on the route, Adria will maintain flights to Istanbul. Over the past few months, Slovenian media have suggested that the airline would suspend flights to Turkey’s largest city as well as Copenhagen. Some routes will see a reduction in frequencies. According to a press release from the carrier, during the winter season (which begins October 30), Adria will operate a total of 163 scheduled flights per week to fifteen destinations.

Adria Airways will operate up to four daily flights from Ljubljana to Frankfurt and three flights per day to Vienna, Munich and Zurich. It will connect Ljubljana with the Macedonian capital eleven times per week while services to Belgrade will be increased from six to eight per week. The airline will maintain flights from Priština to Frankfurt and Munich but will suspend flights to Dusseldorf.

Meanwhile, the airline has also begun shedding its fleet. An Airbus A320 (registered S5-AAT) has left the Adria flock. In its final months for the airline, the aircraft wore the Adria Aviopromet retro livery to celebrate its 50th anniversary. The destination and fleet cuts were brought on by a difficult financial situation which brought the airline to the brink of bankruptcy before being saved by the Slovenian government. The difficult part is yet to come as the airline will be forced to significantly reduce its workforce.