Adria orders two CRJ900 jets

Adria Airways yesterday signed a firm purchase agreement for two Bombardier CRJ900 NextGen aircraft. Based on the list price, the order is valued at approximately $92 million dollars. “Our Bombardier CRJ900 regional jets have proven to be most efficient and economical assets to increase capacity and replace larger aircraft where passenger loads are insufficient”, Adria’s CEO, Mark Anžur, said. “With its demonstrated reliability and low fuel consumption, the CRJ900 NextGen regional jet offers an unmatched mix of cost efficiency, network flexibility and passenger appeal”, he added. In addition to the two orders made yesterday, Adria will also lease two aircraft of the same type, with the first of the two expected to arrive in Ljubljana in a week’s time.

Adria currently operates four CRJ900s with a further four coming into the fleet. As a result, the airline will begin retiring its four smaller CRJ200 aircraft which have proven unprofitable. The Slovenian carrier continues to operate two Airbus A319s and one A320, with the latter used almost exclusively for charter flights. Adria has been a long time Bombardier customer, ordering its first aircraft from the Canadian plane manufacturer back in 1997. Adria Tehnika, which was once a subsidiary of the Slovenian carrier but is now an independent company, serves as the regional Bombardier maintenance centre.

Commenting on Adria’s order, the Bombardier Senior Vice President for Sales, Marketing and Asset Management, Ray Jones, said, “Adria Airways is among the growing list of operators who are benefitting from the proven performance of the CRJ900 NextGen regional jet. This is a testimony to our ongoing commitment to the technological updates of our product offerings to ensure their competitiveness”. He added, “Adria Airways has been a long time Bombardier commercial aircraft customer and also maintained more than 700 CRJ aircraft as our first recognised service facility in Europe. We're thrilled that the airline is once again looking to us for its fleet solution”. The delivery date of the two jets is yet to be announced.