Hybrid carrier Flydubai is in the final stages of negotiations with Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport's operator Fraport Slovenia over the introduction of flights following several months of talks. Services between Dubai and Ljubljana are expected to begin later this year or next summer season depending on a final agreement between the two sides. Slovenia and the United Arab Emirates previously signed a bilateral Air Service Agreement, which enables flexibility on routes, capacity, number of frequencies and types of aircraft between the two countries, for both passenger and cargo flights. Ljubljana Airport has been seeking nonstop services to the Middle East for several years.
Flydubai has significantly expanded its network across both Europe and the former Yugoslavia over the past few years. The airline has so far announced plans to introduce flights to Thessaloniki in June and the Finnish capital of Helsinki this October. Apart from Belgrade, Skopje and Sarajevo within the former Yugoslavia, which it has been serving since 2011 onwards, it also introduced seasonal operations to both Tivat and Podgorica last year, as well as a Sarajevo - Podgorica service over the winter. Earlier this summer season, the airline launched flights to Dubrovnik. Emirates codeshares on all of Flydubai's services to the former Yugoslavia.
Despite notable demand for flights between Slovenia and the United Arab Emirates, previous provisional talks with Etihad Airways, Emirates and Air Arabia have not proved successful. Adria Airways' Chief Commercial Officer, Christian Schneider, recently said that while the Slovenian carrier sees Dubai as a destination of interest, "We currently do not have the right aircraft to fly to Dubai unfortunately". The Slovenian Ministry for Infrastructure recently noted, "Passengers travelling from Ljubljana Airport should benefit from better connections to the UAE, which will play a significant role in promoting cooperation, especially in the tourism sector, which is of great importance to Slovenia".
Finally!
ReplyDeleteYou mean in 6-12 months, finally.
DeleteThe way this saga with Ljubljana-Dubai flights has been playing out you would think they were negotiating TATL services.
ReplyDelete+1 true
Deletehaha yes the Ljubljana Gulf saga. Hope we finally get the flights now.
DeleteAdria Airways' Chief Commercial Officer, Christian Schneider, recently said that while the Slovenian carrier sees Dubai as a destination of interest, "We currently do not have the right aircraft to fly to Dubai unfortunately".
ReplyDeleteWTF? I would say the A319 would be perfect for this route no?
By their calculations it would obviously be difficult for them to fill it. The CS100 would come in handy here.
DeleteThe shipped has sailed for Adria on this route. They should have done it years ago.
DeleteAs far as I see it - Flying to Dubai and back takes 2x6h plus cca 2h at the airport = 14 h so for that day you basically cannot do any european rotation, so think it is capacity problem, not aircraft type problem.
DeleteIm pretty sure the A319 would have to be payload restricted on this route, which would make the route not financially feasible.
DeleteEtihad used to operate the A319 into VCE and they always had to stop in ESB for refueling on the way back.
DeleteLJU-DXB might be right there on the limits of the A319. When JU flew to DXB they would have enough fuel for another 15 minutes of circling time which wasn't enough. That's why they always needed to stop in BEY, KWI, LCA ...
Nemjee, what are you talking about? The old JU used to stop for refuelling because they flew with a 737. They never needed any stops when they switched to A319.
DeleteJU referred to Jat
DeleteI thought people on an aviation portal would know that since Air Serbia never flew to Dubai but rather to Abu Dhabi.
The limits of the A319 were referring to LJU which is roughly 45 away from Belgrade.
In any case, we are better off with FZ prices than JP. For the price JP flies to FRA, u can get all the way to DXB with FZ.
DeleteAnd people here were saying how LJU had no chance of getting flights to the Gulf. So much for that.
ReplyDeleteReally? Wow, good for them!
Delete^Get the feeling you were one of them.
DeleteHonestly, couldn't care less, Anon 9:09.
DeleteThen why comment?
DeleteBecause I can!
DeleteI think Qatar might come as well.
ReplyDeleteDoubt it. QR has already announced a list of destinations they plan to launch over next two years and LJU is unfortunately not one of them.
DeleteThat would be great, but I wonder if it's realistic.
DeleteExcellent news for Ljubljana. With Easy Jet also starting flights this summer, the strong passenger growth will continue.
ReplyDeleteThe airport has really woken up lately. A lot of new flights from Adria, new flights from Trasavia, easyJet and hopefully Flydubai soon
DeleteIt would also be nice for Finnair to go year-long :)
Deletethe airport is finally learning how to attract the market around it.
DeleteGood luck Ljubljana. I'm glad they managed to find someone to operate these flights having in mind that there are so many larger nearby markets.
ReplyDeleteFZ has been expanding like crazy in recent days. They are starting Catania soon as well!
ReplyDeleteBut they also have spare capacity as they have cure a lot of routes in Asia recently, presumably because of EK.
DeleteThis was meant to be cut not cure
DeleteAccording to some people comments here, now Emirates will pack and leave from ZAG. The flights were FULL of Slovenes. Lol Just wanted to point out that there is enough room for Emirates in ZAG and Flydubai in LJU.
ReplyDeleteWhat I think will happen is TK reducing LJU to 9 or 10 weekly like they did in ZAG once QR and EK started dominating the market.
DeleteWhat could be interesting is the scenario if EK/FZ decide to put FZ both in LJU and ZAG and keep EK oly during summer peak. Honestly, with QR in the picture, I dont think double daily QR, daily EK and FZ in LJU (plus TK in both cities) will be sustainable during winter period.
DeleteI dont believe TK will reduce ops. The other way around. I Think TK will increase capacity.
DeleteThere are talks about having a 3daily flight
DeleteWhat makes you say so if they didn't do it in Zagreb which is a much larger market with more options and possibilities?
DeleteThird daily in LJU?!?
DeleteMy point was that with FZ LJU launch we could potentially see EK switching to FZ in ZAG during winter. I don't expect TK/QR changes, but more on EK side.
DeleteI work at airport and flights are completly full somedays even overbook
DeleteSo why not 3daily?
So, EK launched ZAG, then FZ will launch LJU, so that EK could switch to FZ in ZAG during winter? Seriously?
DeleteS čim pa letijo?
DeleteAnon 9:48, just an idea, why immediate sarcasm? Since part of EK winter pax is Slovenian (not majority, but probably some 20%) and with EK/FZ now cooperating much more and announcing aligning capacity globally, doesn't seem like something impossible or irational. That is why I indicated winter as possibility, not summer when Zagreb is filled by incoming Asian and Australian demand. They are not coming in remotely similar numbers during winter months.
DeleteEvery bigger city in Balkans has flights to Dubai. Ok, only diference is type of aircraft and capacity but thet's all. ZAG is one of 40 european destinations, but how many airports we have in Europe who don't have Emirates flights, despite that that airports are better than ZAG. First example is OTP. We know that you have Emirates and we are happy about that but one airline doesnt make one airport better than other, more airlines yes but one no.
DeleteFor this year TK will stay 2x daily in LJU..... source TK....
DeleteI didn't say for this year but there are talks for next year summer season for 3daily flight
DeleteYou do know that Emirates already confirmed they will fly this winter 2 more flights on ZAG-DBX route, so 7 pw all year. For sure that is not because they are not satisfied with route.
DeleteTrue, but I am also looking at possible scenario with LJU FZ as a new item. Anyway, be it EK, QR or anybody, I dont really put too much stock into airline PR. If you actually believe their PR and take it at face value, no airline would be unsuccessful and lose money, cut routes etc...
DeleteMark my words, DXB-ZAG will be 10 weekly next summer.
DeleteMarked. lol. Love these spectacular statements. I'm not saying it won't, I have no idea (probably at this point neither EK has finalized plans for that part of the future), but wouldnt it be more interesting to also put some argument and reasoning? I mean, easier and more interesting for discussion purposes.
DeleteFly Dubai, won't have any impact on Emirates in Zagreb, not in summer months, or winter months. Demand for Zagreb is growing and increasing with each passing year.
DeleteI am only surprised so far, Qatar hasn't switched the machine on the route, from A321 to B787 800.
Even Turkish is flying double daily to Zagreb. With arrival of ANA, Korean Air and unnamed Chinese carrier in not to distant future, things will get very interesting.
Croatia is surprisingly attracting large number of South East Asians, Koreans, Chinese and Japanese tourists.
Projected visitor numbers from Asia - 2018.
Japan: 175 000
China: 225 000
S. Korea: 500 000
Taiwan: 150 000
Hong Kong: 50 000
Singapore: 30 000
Thailand: 40 000
India: 90 000
Indonesia: 25 000
Malaysia: 50 000
Arab Countries: 60 000
All other Asian Countries: 130 000
Australia: 250 000
New Zealand: 55000
total: ~1.8 million
And these estimates are based on arrivals in first 4 months of this year. Zagreb normally attracts 30-40% of these visitors.
If Emirates, Turkish,Qatar, ANA, Chinese Carrier, Korean Air, Jin Air, Singapore Airlines... all few daily to Zagreb with A380s they wouldn't meet the demand of 2018, and projected 2020 demand is at least 50% greater than 2018 projected or around 2.8 million from these markets.
We can safely say, Fly Dubai in Ljubljana is more than welcomed and actually needed, as it also helps to bring visitors to Ljubljana and Zagreb as do ANA flights.
Just a small correction. TK is flying 10 times per week in winter and 14 in summer.
DeleteI understand that all those numbers are projections but we also saw all that in the past and last month growth was modest overall.
I think it was Petar (who is generally reliable) who predicted growth between 5% and 10%.
ZAG ne može u kratkom vremenskom roku opslužiti A380, jednostavno nema tolike kapacitete opremljenosti. Pauza između sletanja i poletanja nazad sa A380 bi bila preduga a prevoznik to neb i tolerisao.
DeleteI jedno ne zaboravite, sve ove brojke što objavljujete. To su registrovani turisti u državi. Ne znači da su došli preko Zagreba. Naprotiv, možda jeste polovina
I hope you realize that majority of these pax also visit HR by bus etc. It is not that simple, otherwise we would have many 380 and 77W ages ago. Demand is increasing but, especially during winter, far from enough to warrant easy going of EK, QR and TK regardless of FZ in LJU.it is not that LF are very high here in winter. That is all I am saying. Currently winter sees slight overcapacity in the market.
DeleteDoes Emirates serve any route seasonally?
Delete@AnonymousMay 23, 2018 at 5:28 PM
DeleteI am not saying all these visitors are coming by air, in fact only tiny potion of these visitors come to Zagreb by air, simply there isn't the capacity to handle such volumes currently offered by Qatar, Turkish, Emirates and Korean Air seasonal soon to be scheduled flights.
What I am pointing out at, is the market is massive, demand is there, and will be there if at present rate of growth, of around 500k per year continues.
Sure, many of these visitors start off in Frankfurt, Munich, Vienna, Rome or even London and end up in Croatia, however imagine if there's direct connection with much of Asia, through Beijing, Tokyo, Seoul, Singapore, Delhi, Dubai and Doha.
I can see numbers going up sharply, even faster than 20-25% yoy growth Croatia is experiencing from these markets if number of Asian carriers start to fly directly to Zagreb.
@AnonymousMay 23, 2018 at 4:44 PM
My projections are based on fact, not what I wish it to be, the data is easily accessible and you can easily find out how fast each of these markets is growing, the general trend from Asia is between 20-25% growth yoy.
https://www.htz.hr/sites/default/files/2018-05/Informacija%20o%20statisti%C4%8Dkim%20pokazateljima%20-%20travanj%202018.pdf
https://www.htz.hr/sites/default/files/2018-05/Turisti%C4%8Dka%20statistika%20-%20travanj%202018.pdf
I agree that growth is there and demand will grow, however it will take time, so I still see certain potential challenges for EK during winter in ZAG if FZ LJU eats part of its ZAG business. Key word is winter. So either they could think to put daily FZ in ZAG during that period or revisit the idea of 5 weekly again (last year winter loads were not exactly high apart from New Year period).
DeleteAs I said they will fly this winter 7 pw! Sapienti sat!
Delete@AnonymousMay 23, 2018 at 8:52 PM
DeleteActually loads were quite good for winter, 65%, Emirates did quite well in Zagreb in 2017, and Emirates already announced they plan to maintain 7 weekly flights to Zagreb during winter as they had rather good result in 2017.
Fly Dubai, or you suggestion for emirates to cease winter schedule and let Fly Dubai fly instead is silly and based on some sort of resentment.
FlyDubai impact on Zagreb will be minimal, after all, Emirates would consider FlyDubai's possible Ljubljana schedule and react accordingly if they felt there might be a risk to their yield on routes to Vienna, Zagreb and Venice.
So any theory that goes against your views and beliefs is based on resentment?
DeleteEmirates has to launch LJU through FZ otherwise Qatar will beat them to the punch. It's better to have Slovenia covered from all sides than to let your nemesis get there first.
Maybe your attitude towards Slovenia has to do with resentment?
Finally 🙏🏽
ReplyDeleteGood airline. Flown with it several times. Puts the ex-Yu "hybrid" carriers to shame.
ReplyDelete+100
DeleteEspecially their business class product.
DeleteExcellent news. I wonder if it will be nonstop or linked with some other destination?
ReplyDeleteI think it will be nonstop. There is enough demand.
DeleteIt could happen that they decide to operate Dubrovnik year round and they operate DXB-DBV-LJU-DXB.
DeleteSomehow I don't see Dubrovnik as being a year long route for them.
DeleteWill this have an effect on EK Flight from VCE and VIE? Heard a lot of Slovenes fill the EK Planes from those destinations.
ReplyDeleteYes, they will cancel them within 2 weeks after FZ starts LJU.
DeleteHahahhhq
DeleteNO of course not. Only ZAG will be affected :D
DeleteAnd because of 3 pw Boeing 737, Emirates will stop routes where they fly with A380 and 777 like Venice, Vienna and Zagreb. Ljubljana will destroy them all! Hahahaha
DeleteLast anon, can't you recognize sarcasm?
DeleteZagreb will certainly be affected.
DeleteAn. 2:32 just supported you sarcasm by mine.
DeleteZAG will probably not be affected as market keeps growing and tourism is booming in Croatia.
DeleteNothing can ever affect ZAG, we know.
DeleteI regularlly connect via IST and i can say that it doesnt matter if its a morning flight or the evening one, most of the flights have a 90%+ LF! A lot of koreans, turkish and sloveanians on board.
ReplyDeleteGo TK! I would rather see a bigger bird than a 3rd rotation :)))
Can the gates at LJU accommodate a widebody aircraft?!
DeleteWhat i read here, they can, but it takes 2 gates to acc one big bird
DeleteMy guess is they will start at 3 weekly.
ReplyDeleteFlights to the Middle East are way overdue. They have been holding talks for years.
ReplyDeleteWhy is Dubai so popular for people from Slovenia (and the rest of Eastern Europe?
ReplyDeleteWhat's so interesting there?
I can see it as a transit point to other countries. But flights out Dubai (unless you are using low cost airlines with limited destinations) are not cheap.
It's relatively close and you can go swimming there during the winter.
DeleteJesi ikad plivao u zaljevu?
DeleteOcito nisi
Yes I have. Warm water, nice beaches. You obviously haven't.
Deleteflydubai is making a killing in BEG with p2p passengers. Dubai in itself is a popular tourist destination. Who do you think Wizz Air carries to Dubai from eastern Europe? Surely not transfers from Australia and China.
DeleteA dobro.
DeleteLjepo meni nije nuzno i ljepo tebi.
I obrnuto
AnonymousMay 23, 2018 at 11:11 AM
DeletePostoji jos drzva koji imaju more i obale. Najgore je ako ne izadjes iz svoje drzave a tvrdis da je tu najlepse. Izvini licno meni, Jadran je hladan. Egejsko i Crveno more su mi mnogo bolji
Crveno more dusu dalo za ronioce.
DeleteCrveno more, Sharm el Sheik, Aqaba
DeleteZnaci Jadransko ti je hladno, a Egejsko ne? lol
DeleteEgejsko mu je bratsko ��
Deletejust some food for thought, Eastern Europeans love bling-bling
DeleteEastern Europeans? Italians love bling bling just as much.
DeleteItalians like bling bling with legacy and not some barock from yesterday...
DeleteAn. 12:22
DeletePeople of ex-Yugoslavia have absolutely nothing in common with "Eastern Europeans". We never had russian soldiers on our soil(s), we had open borders and travelled all over the World, we had living standards higher than many of the "Western Europeans", we drove german and french cars, flew US made planes, listened to american and british music, and as a result of all of these, our habbits and behaviours cannot be compared to eastern european once. Cheers!
+1
DeleteAnonymousMay 23, 2018 at 11:56 AM
DeleteTamo gde sam bio, bilo je hladno i ništa specijalno. Zar vi stvarno mislite da imate najbolju obalu? Kakav je to trip? Ne kažem da je loša, samo da nije najbolja.
Pa ko je rekao da je najbolja? Lijepa je, to je cinjenica, to najbolje znaju Slovenci koji svakog ljeta pohrle na Hrvasko morje. Smjesno mi je samo to da si napisao da ti je Jadran hladan a Egejsko more ne. A onda mozes ic gdje hoces, lijepo je putovati.
DeleteWe East European from ex-YU used to have flights to Dubai some 35 years ago :)
DeleteThere are many serbians working in dubai,and gulf area in general and friends and family visit them aswell.
DeleteHave there ever been flights from Ljubljana to the GCC? During Yugoslav times maybe?
ReplyDeleteI don't think so. Only charters. I think Adria had some charters to Kuwait a couple of years ago.
DeleteDuring yugo times no.
DeleteThis is good mainly because it will become a good alternative to TK.
ReplyDeleteAgree!
DeleteCompetition is always good, so, welcome Flydubai, however, I will definitely stick with TK, especially after new Istanbul airport being opened at the end of the year. In economy I also prefer TK over EK.
DeleteIt will certainly change the game rules in the LJU catchment area.
ReplyDeleteInshallah 🙏🏽
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
Delete?????
DeleteExpected. FZ has been expanding a lot in the region. It was just a matter of time.
ReplyDeleteFlydubai are the best fit for Ljubljana for Middle East flights for the time being.
DeleteI think these flights will be a major success.
ReplyDeleteThats what i think and hope as well :)
DeleteJust like Aegean.
DeleteI think FZ is not good value for money paid. I still prefer to use EK from ZAG or VCE and pay few EUR more for ticket and transfer.
DeleteThis has been a really good year for LJU. I think we might see 20% passenger growth at the end of the year.
ReplyDeleteDon't think so. Just one new route which is not Adria. And Adria expansion is not very intelligent concerning the fact it was based on Saab 200 they still don't have.
DeleteWell Transavia increased flights and there is easyJet plus larger aircraft by AF.
DeleteComparing to 7 new routes in ZAG + 10 companies with more frequencies than last year, or BEG 6 new routes and also 10 companies with more frequencies, and comparing to 17 new routes in Pula, 17 new routes in Dubrovnik, 14 new routes in Split, 11 new routes in Podgorica, 11 new routes in Split... that is really nothing! Without Adria, Ljubljana has most modest expansion in all exYU.
DeleteBut shouldn't we applaud them for at least trying to capture a share of the market?
DeleteAdria had an enthusiastic growth plan, but the timing was so badly planned. It shouldn't happen while oil prices surge, or you should have hedged oil costs. In addition, new flights are operated with CRJ fleet and wet leases instead of SAABs, adding more and more on the cost side. Ryanair CEO was completely right, some airlines won't be able to make this winter and Adria seems to be the no.1 candidate.
DeleteThey will... they make a lot of money operating charter flights
DeleteOU is way more problematic
Adria will cease to exist in a year or two max. Once 4k tealisrs they can't fix anything they'll pull the plug and shut everything down. Looking forward to that happening actually. After that Ljubljana can finally get new legacy and new lcc airlines.
DeleteHere we go again ....I would gladly pull the plug after your factless writing ...
DeleteAnon@6:35 🙄🤮
DeleteSOF will go daily from next winter using 738 MAX comepting with W6 A321 service to DWC.
ReplyDeleteWill BEG flights be increased too to 10 or 11 weekly?
Otherwise, I safely see LJU getting 3 weekly service.
How many flights does W6 operate?
Delete2
DeleteInteresting. I expected there to be more demand from Sofia to the Persian Gulf. I guess TK is too strong there.
DeleteYes, IST-SOF with TK 3 daily
DeleteDoes FB fly to Istanbul? I think I saw somewhere neither Pegasus nor Atlasjet fly there as well.
DeleteThere used to be flights, but where halted after TK started increased them. FB has been crushed by all big airlines. Also, many people use ground transport to Istanbul, following the highway construction.
Delete