Robert Fico, the Prime Minister of Slovakia, wants to set up a new national carrier which would focus primarily on the domestic market.
The airline could initially have a fleet of just one or two planes and focus on the Bratislava-Poprad/Tatry-Kosice route, linking the capital and the second largest city in Slovakia with the main winter holiday resort.
“We chiefly need to provide regular air transport on Slovak territory,” explained Fico in an interview with the RTVS, a state-owned radio broadcaster.
Fico did not elaborate on the business model of the airline, its tentative launch date or details of its potential fleet. He explained that the company would have to be funded by the regional governments of cities served. It would not be directly state-funded, as it could constitute illegal state-aid and be blocked by the European Commission, Fico added.
The idea for a new national carrier was put forward by the Slovak National Party, Fico's coalition partner in the centre-right government. Arpád Érsek, the Minister of Transport, Construction and Regional Development of Slovakia, has been tasked with evaluating the idea and finding resources.
Slovakia has lacked a flag carrier since Slovak Airlines went out of business in 2007. Since then, a number of other airlines registered in the country have gone bankrupt, including SkyEurope Airlines (Bratislava) in 2009, Air Slovakia in 2010 and DanubeWings in 2013. Currently, the largest Slovak-registered airlines is ACMI and charter specialist, AirExplore. Virtual carrier Blue Slovakia had signaled plans to operate domestic Slovak flights during this year's summer season using Let 410 capacity chartered from VAN AIR Europe. However, to date, none have occurred.
The route proposed by Fico is currently partially served by CSA Czech Airlines, which flies 8x weekly between Bratislava and Kosice. No other domestic passenger service exists in Slovakia. According to the ch-aviation capacity module, the largest airlines in Slovakia by seating capacity are Ryanair and Wizz Air ith a 49.3% and 25.7% market share respectively.
