A subsidiary of the Slovenian airline is already assigning Kosovar cabin staff to its flights, a press release from an association representing Adria cabin staff says, adding that the staff members from Kosovo do not speak Slovenian, although they work on the planes and flights of the national flag carrier.

What is more, provisions of the collective bargaining agreement do not apply to them, nor do the provisions of the labour relations act, the press release claims. This means that they do not take obligatory breaks or work within legal work hour limitations.

"It is estimated that 22% of Adria Airways employees will be left jobless, but the Slovenian airline will spend a part of the funds intended for restructuring to create new jobs for foreign citizens."

The association said that it had requested a meeting with Transport Minister Patrick Vlacic back in June to discuss the issue, but have not yet received a response from the ministry.

The ministry meanwhile responded to the call today by saying that Vlacic would receive the representatives of the association. It pointed out, however, that the ministry had no powers in addressing the issue and that the ministry was not the representative of Adria's owner.

Adria Airways management board called for 21 September a shareholders' meeting that will discuss the planned capital injection envisaging a conversion of EUR 38.4m of creditor banks' claims into ownership stakes and a EUR 50m state bailout.

To convert the loans, the banks however demand that the company renegotiate the collective bargaining agreement. The airline said today that negotiations with the in-house trade unions were ongoing. It would however not comment on today's press release from the cabin staff.

Adria Airways, which employed 452 people in December 2010 and has a fleet of 14 planes, has been trying to climb out of the red since 2008. The company, which is marking its 50th anniversary this year, now owes almost EUR 80m to banks and around EUR 20m to suppliers.