STA, 22 January 2019 - The Civil Aviation Agency has found that the Slovenian carrier Adria Airways is able to secure long-term solvency, which means that it will keep its operating licence.
The agency has found that the planned and implemented measures presented by Adria show that the carrier is able to settle all of its liabilities in the long term and meet all the legal requirement, demands and criteria for keeping the operative licence, according to a press release from Adria.
The agency reportedly also confirmed in several different procedures that Adria met the required technical demands for ensuring adequate air safety.
Adria CEO Holger Kowarsch said he had expected no other decision given that Adria had been meeting all the demands for the operating licence all along.
"I regret that so many false and misleading reports were published about the state and operations of our company in recent months, and at the same time I look forward to being able to continue to implement our strategic plan undisturbed ..." he said.
Adria plans to additionally optimise its network of flights and add new flights while preserving all of its key connections to the main European hubs, Kowarsch announced.
After a thorough inspection last summer, the Civil Aviation Agency established that Adria Airways was no longer capable of settling its liabilities, so it ordered the German turnaround fund 4K Invest, which acquired the former flag carrier three years ago, to recapitalise the company in order to secure long-term financial sustainability.
The German fund injected EUR 4m in Adria Airways at the end of 2018, while announcing that an additional EUR 10m capital hike was in the pipeline for the first quarter of 2019.
Adria had until the end of last year to submit documentation assuring that it can secure long-term solvency.
The carrier posted a net loss of EUR 5.4m in 2017 after finishing in the black the year before due to the sale of its brand. The negative result was attributed to rising fuel prices as well as to the termination of cooperation with two European carriers.
The company announced in October it would not manage to get out of the red in 2018 either, mostly due to high fuel prices.
