Airplane (Pixabay)
The Slovenian government is again reviewing introducing a new national airline with private partners, and has temporarily allocated EUR70m to the project.
The plan is part of measures being taken to curb the adverse effects of the Covid-19 epidemic, B92 has reported.
“This plan enables subsidies and repayable funds, meaning that the state can participate in founding a national air carrier in different ways, such as loans and capital,” the Slovenian Ministry of the Economy has said.
According to the Delo newspaper, a debate on the ownership structure of the potential carrier is still ongoing.
The Ministry stressed that the plan for a new airline would not affect an initiative to secure EUR6m in subsidies for flights to Ljubljana, the Exyuaviation website has reported.
The Ministry of the Economy has said that different private businesses are interested in cooperating with the state on this, including several companies such as Croatia Airlines.
The new airline, which would be called Air Slovenia, would connect Ljubljana with Amsterdam, Skopje, Tirana and Pristina.
At the end of last year, when Adria Airways went bankrupt, the Slovenian state Bank Assets Management Company (BAMC) produced a draft business plan for potentially founding a new national airline.
According to the proposal, the airline would have a fleet of five planes and would provide around 200 jobs. According to BAMC, the company would lose EUR20m in its first year.
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