Balkans.com
EX-YU aviation news
Adria Airways has secured a deal with British car maker Land Rover worth five million euros. The Sierra5.net portal reports that the Slovenian national carrier will operate ad hoc charter flights for Land Rover from October through to December with one of its Airbus A319s. The airline is expected to clock up to 1.000 hours worth of flying time. Adria will operate the charters mostly from major European cities to Marrakech and Essaouira in Morocco. An Adria Airbus A319 (registration S5-AAP) is sporting the Land Rover logo and advertising its new Range Rover SUV.
In 2010, ad hoc charters accounted for 8% of all of Adria’s traffic. By 2011 that number increased to 10%. This summer, 12% of all flights were lucrative ad hoc charters. The airline says it was selected for the job due to its extensive experience in this sector. It notes that it is uncommon for scheduled national airlines to be chosen for ad hoc charters. Furthermore, Adria will make good use of its A319 which would alternatively be sitting in Ljubljana during the quiet winter months.
In the first six months of 2012, Adria welcomed 453.117 passengers onboard its aircraft and recorded an average cabin load factor of 63.2%. Thanks to measures the airline has undertaken, its net income loss for 2012 is the lowest since 2008. The deal with Land Rover is set to generate much needed cash. Meanwhile, Maribor Airport has been put up for sale. Non binding offers for Edvard Rusjan Airport can now be sent in. The news comes after the previous attempt to sell the airport failed. Currently, no airlines serve Maribor, located in Slovenia’s North East. Ryanair ran services from London to Maribor for ten months in 2007.
