It hasn't been a great week for Alliances in terms of membership. A week ago we reported that LATAM would be departing the oneworld alliance. Now, the Star Alliance has announced its second airline departure in the space of two months. Adria Airways will be leaving the alliance having filed for bankruptcy earlier this week.

Earlier this week, the Slovenian flag carrier Adria Airways filed for bankruptcy. On the 24th of August, we reported that Adria Airways had temporarily suspended flight operations. Then, on Monday, the airline filed for bankruptcy, permanently suspending flight operations. It becomes the second airline to leave the alliance due to financial circumstances in the past two months. The other airline to leave was Avianca Brasil.

Why has Adria left?

As previously mentioned, Adria Airways has left the Star Alliance due to its current financial circumstances. The Slovenian flag carrier filed for bankruptcy at the Kranj District Court in Slovenia on Monday (30th of September 2019).

The bankruptcy filing followed the airline temporarily suspending operations a week earlier for a couple of days. This was due to "an acute shortage of operating funds". However, it seems that the airline was not able to secure the funds needed given its bankruptcy filing.

Adria Airways, Star Alliance, Departure
The Star Alliance has lost two-member airlines in the past 2 months. Photo: Lufthansa

Other alliance departures

Last week LATAM announced its impending departure from the oneworld alliance. Delta Air Lines announced a significant investment in the South American oneworld airline. Delta Air Lines is a member of the Skyteam alliance.

Back in August we also reported that Avianca Brasil would be departing the Star Alliance. The airline had been without an Air Operator's Certificate since the end of May. The airline had been in bankruptcy protection for a number of months and had some of its slots redistributed among other airlines.

It's not all doom and gloom

While it may seem bad, it's not all doom and gloom for the Star Alliance. In fact, one of the alliance's founding members, Lufthansa, has stepped in to fill some of the gap left by Adria's collapse. The move came as Slovenia's Ljubljana Airport saw its traffic drop by around half.

Adria Airways, Star Alliance, Departure
The Lufthansa Group is stepping in to replace some of the routes lost by Adria's collapse. Photo: Lufthansa

Lufthansa, Swiss, and Brussels Airlines are all launching flights to fill the gap left by Adria. While Lufthansa and Swiss will launch services before the end of October, Brussels Airlines will wait until November. Lufthansa will fly to Ljubljana from Frankfurt and Munich, while Swiss will fly from Zurich. Brussels Airlines will launch its services, unsurprisingly, from Brussels.

What do you think of Adria's departure from the Star Alliance? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.