Adria Airways, the national airline of Slovenia, has overcome the trauma of Yugoslavia’s dissolution and has adapted to the new shape of the market. The company effected radical changes to its fleet, most notably with the addition of four 50-seat Canadair Regional Jets, and appears likely to board 900,000 passengers this year in primarily regional markets. Along with its neighbor, Croatia Airlines, it stands as one of the most dynamic airlines in the Balkans. Even better, it is making a profit.
With a surface of 7,821 sq mi, just over half that of the U.S. state of Connecticut, Slovenia is one of Europe’s smallest nations. Its area and barely two million population make its domestic sphere of operations limited. But with Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Croatia to the south and east and Hungary to the northeast, Adria Airways sees itself as a Euro-Mediterranean operator and has tailored its operations to western and southeastern Europe.
Founded in 1961, Adria Airways’ operations for its first 30 years centered mainly on charter flights to other parts of the federation of Yugoslavia and especially to Adriatic coast destinations. The situation changed just 10 years ago, when on June 25, 1991, Slovenia became the first independent Yugoslav country. The conflicts in the war-torn country made Adriatic charter destinations inaccessible because they now belonged to the separate nations of Croatia and Montenegro, forcing Adria Airways to operate exclusively in its own restricted national market.
