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| Ljubljana Airport looks to develop as passenger numbers rise |
Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport has recorded strong double digit passenger growth in June and handled over 600.000 travellers during the first half of the year. Ljubljana Airport, which is owned by Germany’s Fraport, welcomed 149.541 passengers last month, up a notable 17% compared to June 2014. Growth was driven by a considerable increase in the number of operated flights. Slovenia’s busiest airport registered 3.331 aircraft movements, an improvement of 10.8%. This summer, Ljubljana Airport offers 160 scheduled flights per week to 27 destinations operated by nine carriers. Contributing to the passenger growth this summer season is Swiss International Air Lines, which inaugurated services to the Slovenian capital in late March, as well as Adria which launched new flights to Berlin and Stockholm. Furthermore, Turkish Airlines boosted its operations with an additional three weekly flights for a total of ten services, while Finnair resumed its seasonal route from Helsinki with four weekly rotations.
During the first half of the year, Jože Pučnik Airport welcomed 626.525 passengers through its doors, an increase of 9.7% compared to the same period in 2014. During the six-month period, the number of flight operations totalled 15.511, up 0.4%. “We expect the growth in traffic to continue over the summer”, the airport said in a statement. A total of ten airlines will operate charter flights from Ljubljana this summer to 24 holiday destinations. Flights to the Greek islands are still among the most popular routes, with Adria holding the largest share of charter operations. Late last month, LOT Polish Airlines announced it would launch six weekly services from Warsaw to Ljubljana in March next year, becoming the second carrier to serve the route in addition to Adria.
| Month | PAX | Change (%) |
|---|---|---|
| JAN | 73.096 | ▼ 2.9 |
| FEB | 72.265 | ▼ 3.8 |
| MAR | 90.902 | ▲ 5.3 |
| APR | 112.310 | ▲ 13.3 |
| MAY | 128.411 | ▲ 19.6 |
| JUN | 149.541 | ▲ 17.0 |
Meanwhile, Ljubljana Airport’s management has called on the Slovenian government to update its spatial plan for the airport as soon as possible, warning that its development is no longer possible and is being hampered by state regulations. The biggest obstacle for the development of the airport is the regional road between Kranj and Mengeš, which should be relocated. The airport’s management believes it will take several years before the spatial plan is revised. Fraport has previously said it intends on developing both passenger and cargo traffic at the airport and will act as a long-term investor who is not looking for short term benefits. Fraport is currently drafting a medium-term strategy to improve traffic flow at Ljubljana Airport.
I wonder what the communist party (Zdruzena levica) has to say now.
ReplyDeleteLook the Moon (Luka Mesec, communist party president) is being quiet as a stone.
Delete"Oh no, if we privatize a state owned company, it's gonna go to hell immediately" - Luka Mesec, 2014
DeleteI know these good results are not result of the new owner (but better economic state), but still the company is getting better and better as we speak. Wadup, Luka the Moon? Gonna say something now?
Hehe, great stuff, LJU! Happy with the results, lets hope for some new destinations soon!
@both Annonymous: hehe, nice :D!
DeleteWell done LJU. Great results.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone know what are the results for Finnair flights to Ljubljana? I always found this route interesting. Who flies between Helsinki and Ljubljablja?
ReplyDeleteIt's mostly tourists from Asia as far as I am aware and a beat of O&D traffic.
DeleteBusiness prices (in summer) to the Far East are very competitive.
DeleteMajority on board are Asians, Finns going on vacation, some Italians and others, few if any Slovenians.
There are croatians as well. I know few guys from Rijeka who travelled on business from Ljubljana to Japan, few tourists too. Not much, but existing
DeleteCan someone confirm is Air Serbia decreasing flights to Ljubljana to 12 per week from W15/16?
ReplyDeleteIf they will be flying 12 p/w that's still up from last winter. You can't compare summer schedule to winter schedule.
DeleteLJU was increased to 14 weekly in December 2014 so it will be a decrease.
Delete"The airport’s management believes it will take several years before the spatial plan is revised."
ReplyDeleteI think they want to tell us that there won't be any development for a few years and they are using this as an excuse.
Ljubljana really needs to ease its dependence on Adria. The airline has a passenger share of something like 75% at the airport which is crazy. I'm glad Swiss and LOT have come. Next I hope we see Brussels Airlines.
ReplyDeleteThat can obly be bad for AA therefore they are taking development at MBX as an alternative for ruling the slovenian market.
DeleteAny numbers for Skp and Prn after the first 6 months of this year?
ReplyDeleteread post from yesterday
DeleteSincer Turkish Airlines boosts their presence to 10x flights to LJU, number of pax on AA night flights started rapidly to drop. Also, new Swiss line which offered lowest return ticket flights than AA, accumulated also pax droppage on ZRH AA flights . Generally AA with every new carrier presence in LJU is loosing more and more pax. I don't want to imagine what could happened if LH starts MUC,FRA flights, and maybe Germanwings TXL, HAM... I think AA can focus then only on charter flights and Sqiptaria markets....
ReplyDeleteNot sure if LX is a real threat to JP. Not a very friendly schedules plus this Jumbolino trash operating, makes me not change fm JP to LX. JP CR9 has a pleasant seat pitch at their emergency seats plus a usable schedule
DeleteFor sure TK is more of a threat to them
LX schedule is very "user friendly" (guess they've optimized it with connecting flights in mind). However, 146 is an outdated machine.
DeleteI'd rather fly with the jumbolino, then pay for water @JP
Deleteand what a snobish comment "CR9 has a pleasant seat pitch at their emergency seats" as if everyone is seating on emergency seats
How is not a LX a threat to JP on Zurich line? Before only JP was flying from LJU to ZRH, now both of them are flying, and LX have a better timetable for a later connecting flight and you get a meal included in your ticket.
DeleteCR9 for me is nothing special.
I don't care for this patriotic views, that I am going to spent high amount of money to fly with national carrier where unfriendly stewardess will sell me a bottle of water and small sandwich (which have a bad taste) for 7 eur. :)
And LOT will be also next year a threat to JP on Wawsava flights. Competition is welcome, this is the only way that prices can go down.
DeleteLJU was till december all this years a state owned company and everything was focused on Adria Airways, and to get rid of others competitive carriers, so others airlines were charged with higher costs of all airport fees & co, and thats why LJU was not interested to them. Now when FRAport owns LJU, they are going to expand lines for passenger and cargo, and this is a bad for Adria, because with every new line they are starting to loose load factor on this line.
-MM
JP flts hve LX code share, so you can combine them and benefit fm 4 daily flts. Not sure if it was smart to add a 4th daily flight. Their coop worked well for years. Will see how sustainable that schedule is
DeleteJP fares are expensive compared to what they offer onboard. 150€ was for LJU-VIE, which was less than 50% load on a CR9. Everything is buy on board, 1 crew was super nice and friendly while the other had the 'emo' look, seemed totally disinterested in everything and anything, walked around like a gestapo to ensure the cabin was secure for take off, didnt seem to be able to speak and just sat in the last rows reading his newspaper during the flight. LJU definately needs more airlines to replace JP monopoly!
DeleteTherefore MBX is a great alternative as a low cost base.
DeleteOT
ReplyDeleteBEG-AUH with EY 100% loadfactor
Not surprising, the JU flight is the problem.
DeleteAre there less connections on the JU flight or what is the issue?
DeleteAnother thing that comes to mind is that people tend to avoid JU because the experience is rather poor on such a 'long' flight.
have a look to the timetable departing anywhere the croatian coast to AUH..?!
DeleteSo you have to drive to Montenegro or ZAG.
When you need to go to ZAG, you fly with QTR.
It seems that some schedule manager @ BEG like Qatar Airways?
Man, i didn't get anything of your message :/
DeleteEtihad has more codeshares as well, it was discussed the other day.
DeleteAnonymous @July 11, 2015 at 4:28 PM, would you care to elaborate your message?
DeleteEY does well in Y cabin, not always the best in J. Again it goes to show that BEG is still a low yielding market, and I dont see that changing soon.
DeleteLets not forget that EY has a much smaller cabin compared to JU even if is the same a/c (16J/90Y vs 8J/120Y). Difference is also with the lack of IFE in JU, which EY has, also EY offeres 2 sevices on the flight where as JU 1. EY also accepts 30kg of luggage for AUH where JU only 23kg until recently. The EY bus to Etihad Travel Mall in Dubai is not free for people holding a JU ticket, with a cost of AED 80,- o/w. Finally, EY has some form of brand recignition, JU doesnt. The changes are not always having possitive effects and customer service is something they seem to still struggle to grasp (ie: responding to customer feedback). JU doesnt have the proper feed for the flights and is not making a flight successful which was doing well for EY.
I agree JATBEGMEL , but then again why would EY want to leave BEG (still a rumor)? During winter there is obviously no need for two daily flights by JU and EY, but if one had to leave it would def be better option to be JU. To be honest I am a bit surprised that during July EY is sending A319 instead of A320 or even A321. This might be a bit of dreaming, but would it not be best for EY to send A330 daily and therefore possibly out compete the competition once QR starts direct and JU to simply cut the route permanently.
Deletehave a look at the flight time via BEG
DeletePUY-AUH (-whatever)
SPU-AUH
DBV-AUH
and now ZAG-AUH or
TIV-AUH, TGD-AUH.
there is a HUGE difference.
So it's better to book QTR ZAG-DOH-(...) than travelling "one day" longer via BEG and AUH.
(or ZAG-DXB-..)
Is it understandable now?
@ YYZ
DeleteA319's are supposed to be leaving the fleet and there could be an ac shortage in EY. The A320 and A321 are just increase in capacity for Y class which would be better, however an A330 might be too big for regular service for BEG. It was rumoured for the A330 to be used occasionally to BEG, my guess the A332 as their A333 has an F class which is definately not needed. As of now, there doesnt seem to be any changes to the schedule for AUH other than the standard time changes from the end of daylight savings.
My interest is in how cargo does on these flights, as Serbian products have been available in small numbers in the UAE, however more in recent years. It is easy in the UAE to find plazma, munchmallows, honey hearts, and even Prolom water I have seen in the supermarkets. Its disappointing that Serbia doesnt export much to the UAE, where it can offer cheaper products especially fresh produce which can be expensive (ie cherries are 25€ per kg).
@ anonymous
Deletethat was the point I brang out. The Balkan region where JU should be the strongest is not that well served. Yes there is more destinations and frequencies, but the flights dont match well say for a return flight. As an example, lets bring AUH-SJJ
JU800 AUH BEG 0835 1215
transit = 1h 35 min
JU112 BEG SJJ 1350 1445
JU113 SJJ BEG 1520 1610
transit = 7h 40min
JU800 BEG AUH 2350 0655(+1)
Instead of connecting via BEG, TK has the advantage, as well as FZ if the dates are suitable.
ZAG is better connected to the EY flight rather than the JU flights. However DBV, SPU, PUY is good only in 1 direction, just as SJJ.
JATBEGMEL,
DeleteIn regards to the cargo topic you mentioned, it is true that there are more Serbian packed food products in UAE but I would assume they are transported by sea. As you mentioned the one thing Serbia and the region are really missing is exports of fruits and vegetables. I lived in the Gulf region myself, and I know the market is huge, but I never found a single fruit or vegetable product from this region.
Snobizam u Srba..
Deleteto add, pharmaceutical and fresh fruits and vegetables are one of the major freight which goes by plane, so that is why I was expending and going way off topic. I remember once while travelling from Frankfurt to Dubai I saw this huge shipment of tomatoes being loaded onto the plane. On other occasions I also saw some products like this being loaded, although at a much smaller scale.
DeleteYou both forget one important fact and problem, which is that serbs STILL need a Visa to enter the UAE.
Delete@Aerologic
DeleteUAE visas are not difficult to get. It can be as quick as 2-3 days, so not really a problem. There is ~10.000 Serbs with residency in the UAE. Relatives do visit, and Dubai is not uncommon to be offered in tourist agencies in Belgrade. Emiratis also do not require visas for Serbia, and they do travel to Serbia. Serbia will also remove visas for a couple more GCC nationals in an effort to boost tourism and trade. There was also talk of the UAE removing visas for Serbian passport holders. Talk was of trade and not tourism.
@ YYZ
Produce that used to be imported from Syria is now being done from other countries, and is more expensive (ie tomatoes from Syria were ~4 dhs where as now from the Netherlands are ~25 dhs). Such a wasted opportunity. There is alot of room for more growth for Serbian exports to boost cargo for the flights, not just on ammunition we tend to see alot of.
Speaking of which, any idea on what brang EY A330F to BEG?
No, idea, there were two of such flights recently.
Delete@JATBEGMEL
DeleteIf paying а 100 bucks (from Serbian perspective) is 'easy' for you, then be my guest.
Those are the '100 bucks' that can completely change your option of travel, so you end up spending 500-1000 somewhere else.
DeleteThere is no word about it being easy or not, i just fail to see how is it gonna boost the air travel between the two countries, namely Air Serbia's flights.
DeleteOn another hand i completely agree with YYZ and think that launching a daily A330 from Abu Dhabi could be the right thing to do (while suspending the JU flight). I was at the airport few days ago and JU800 had only 40 pax. That is abysmal for the middle of the summer season, i dare not to imagine the winter loads. I see the A330 being the right thing to do due to:
- Economies of volume, possibility to enforce a much more aggressive price-dumping without loosing too much money
- Unparalleled passenger comfort on the flights to Asia, where only QR could compete in terms of quality but then again, a wide-body is a wide-body
- Much stronger business class appeal vs. the competition (lie-flat seats)
- Much bigger cargo capacity which is essential in boosting the route's economics
- Very good marketing and PR move where the simple fact of flying a wide-body half the way to your destination, may shift the 'default' option in the minds of passengers from TK to EY
Obviously, for it to be successful, JU's regional flights must be rescheduled and things such as the SJJ example simply not allowed. The whole network must be optimized to cater for that flight.
PS: Optimally, it could be Air Serbia's A330 operating on behalf of Etihad Airways, but that depends on other developments.
OT: Can exit row seats be reserved for adult passenger travelling with a child (6 years old) on Air Serbia jets? If not, does Air Serbia offer economy class seats with additional legroom on Airbus and is it more expensive to book? Thank you!
ReplyDeleteJU seat pitch is the same in all Y class seats, except the emergency rows have a little extra, which is not charged. Seats can be reserved upon booking, however is not guaranteed, just as in all major airlines. Online check in, unfortunately is not available just as yet to reserve a seat earlier than check in. Safe travels! :)
DeleteActually, one thing that surprised me with JU is that they are pretty good at keeping your reserved seat. I think one of the worst airlines when it comes to that is Austrian Airlines, many times my reserved seat was already assigned to someone else by the time I checked-in online or at the airport.
DeleteOT: HiFly 330-200 CS-TQP leti danas za BIE NTE-DBV, dolazak oko 5 sati
ReplyDeleteMa kakav 330 za DBV, ili redovni Dreamliner, sta pricas ti bez veze kad ti je fino rekao INN-NS onomad da samo BEG ima sirokotrupce. uvek i najvise. Jel'jasno?
Delete@11:18 i posle vam klinac kriv?! Zašo troluješ?
DeleteBtw today was an article in the NZZ (newspaper fm ZRH). Apparantly 2300 seats are sold each day on GCC carriers fm/to CH but authorities say that only 700 passengers in average travel on these routes. So interesting to see how weak load factors on these Carriers are, still each season they hve been adding capacity.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how Swiss does on their Dubai flight given the competition, not only from Emirates, but from other airlines such as Turkish Airlines.
DeleteIf u re intersted I could check. LX is operating daily ZRH-DXB-MCT, but i know that WY has larger share on ZRH-MCT despite operating 4-5 flights weekly only.
DeleteWould be cool to know, thanks. It could be that people tend to avoid flying with Swiss to MCT due to the stop in Dubai. I heard that Oman Air is actually quite good and that they are not all about bling bling like their two neighbours to the north.
Delete