Adria's chief operating officer Tadej Notersberg told the press that the Danish company, seated in Copenhagen, had a wealth of experience and had been selected in a call for applications that had attracted a lot of interest. His colleague Sven Kukemelk explained five bids had been submitted.

According to Northern Aerotech's website, the company is active on 24 locations, mostly in Europe but also in Africa and Asia.

CEO Morten Schalls Jorgensen expressed his satisfaction over the new cooperation with Adria, which he described as an important airline in the region with high security standards.

Northern Aerotech, whose partners include Easyjet, Ryanair, SAS, Wizzair and Iceland Air, will provide line maintenance for Adria at the Ljubljana airport and in Luganu, Switzerland.

Adria, which the Slovenian government sold to German fund K4 in 2016 and which has been facing mounting criticism over flight delays and financial affairs, announced it would no longer work with Adria Tehnika at a press conference last week.

While both companies are in foreign ownership now, Adria Airways used to own Adria Tehnika. Media reported that relations have not been rosy for some time, the unofficial reason being the carrier's wish to lower the prices of Adria Tehnika's services.

Adria Tehnika deputy CEO Barbara Perko Brvar told POP TV a few days ago that the company had participated in Adria Airway's call too.

"We submitted a bid that was in line with the commercial conditions we also apply for all our other clients. We do business with clients in the west and have certain standards," she said. "The client told us that these prices are not compliant with its expectations," she added.