Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport has seen its passenger numbers decline over 10% during April, following several months of successive growth. Slovenia's busiest airport welcomed 100.549 travellers through its doors, a decrease of 10.5% compared to the same month last year. The number of operated flights also decreased, totalling 2.601, down 3.4%. The disappointing figures come primarily as a result of Adria Airways' network cuts, with the airline suspending services to Istanbul and Stockholm since the start of the year. On the other hand, Swiss International Air Lines has discontinued its operations from Zurich. These were not offset by the recent launch of LOT Polish Airlines' new route from Warsaw to the Slovenian capital.
Ljubljana Airport's General Manager, Zmago Skobir, recently said, "We expect a slower growth rate to that of last year and we would like to close at 1.5 million passengers. That will be heavily influenced by how Adria Airways' new owners manage the airline, which has a market share of 60% - 65% at our airport". A recent company report notes, "Air traffic growth in Ljubljana is forecast to be moderate, but stable. Passenger numbers are expected to reach 1.8 million a year by 2020, with the average growth rate of over 4%. At the same time, changes in the traffic structure are expected to go in favour of an increased share of foreign air carriers".
Overall this year, Ljubljana Airport handled 346.015 travellers, a decrease of 0.7% compared to the same period in 2015. The number of aircraft movements stood at 9.026, down 3.2%. Ljubljana Airport is yet to surpass its all time passenger record, achieved in 2008, when it handled 1.673.050 travellers, followed by 2007 when it saw 1.524.028 passengers pass through its doors. In 2015, the airport improved its numbers by 10% compared to the year before. In a month's time, Ljubljana will welcome yet another new arrival, with Aegean Airlines to launch seasonal flights from Athens, which should provide a boost to the airport's figures.
| Month | PAX | Change (%) |
|---|---|---|
| JAN | 73.567 | ▲ 0.6 |
| FEB | 77.976 | ▲ 7.9 |
| MAR | 93.923 | ▲ 3.3 |
| APR | 100.549 | ▼ 10.5 |
This is what happens when you rely on only one (home) airline. The same might happen to BEG.
ReplyDeleteI am afraid you are right.
DeleteDiversification is needed in BEG, ZAG and LJU.
No matter how people feel about Fraport I get the impression that they have been working on diversfying the offer. They managed to bring LOT, Aegean, Swiss (short period). I think they should really work to bring Fly Dubai, which I'm sure would work well and give Wizz a chance to expand.
DeleteI'm also surprised that there are no flights from any gulf airline to LJU.
DeleteThe difference b/w LJU and BEG is that Adria is 65% of the traffic in LJU while Air Serbia is 50% of the traffic in BEG.... LJU has much more work to do to minimise their reliance on their home carrier
DeleteSwiss was not thx to Fraport but thx to thei strategy to block as much possible slots in ZRH, so Etihad Reg would not jump in. However some routes were so bad that they had to close them down immediately again
DeleteZRH-LJU was so bad?
DeleteI didn't expect the number to go down that much
ReplyDeleteThe effects of Adria's suspension are being felt. Was IST served daily?
ReplyDeleteIf this was BEG's result people would be celebrating.
ReplyDeleteNe opterecuj se previse. Svi se volimo. ;-)
DeleteThe only reason for Fraport's takeover of LJU was to fend off potential threat from the ME airlines and Turkish. They have no plans of developing the business whatsoever.
ReplyDeleteFraport killed Malev in Budapest and will do the same in LJU with Adria
DeleteNot great news, especially since they warned that there growth won't be very good this year.
ReplyDeleteThey've sold absolutely everything to Germany. Maybe not the wisest move.
ReplyDeleteCould the German strike have has an impact on the numbers?
ReplyDeleteNot a big suprise
ReplyDeleteI don't think we should all go nuts because of one month, although the extent of the decline is a bit worrying.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteAbsolutely no chance of LJU overtaking SKP now.
ReplyDeleteEven if LJU had continued with modest growth they would not be able to overtake SKP. It's growing by an average of 20%!
DeleteWe will see SKP's numbers come back into check in July unless Wizz bases a fourth aircraft there by then or Ryanair announces flights.
DeleteLjubljana does't need to overtake Skopje, long term feesability of Ljubljana Airport is far more important. Skopje is a low cost paradise, most airports that make their living on LCCs aren't very profitable and depend on state subsidies a lot, Polish Airports are fine example.
DeletePerhaps this is ok, and helps the regional development, however this only works as long as there are LCCs serving the route and in way it is dependency on such relationship that makes me wonder how sustainable this is.
Well the question is how sustainable is an airport model that is based solely on one airline that connects you to 10 destinations. Moreover when this airline states that there is no more potential for growth at it's home base. The proof of that is the cancelation of all new routes which were previously planned.
DeleteBtw. nowadays airports make the most their profit from other non-airpeort services rather than the airport tax. And for this you need a higher
number of passengers.
What you mean by "feesability"?
DeleteIt's really amazing.. Back in 2007/2008 LJU eqs one of the main transit gates for Macedonians towards Western Europe. Comparing SKP and LJU was absolitely absurd. SKP was barely 600k. But now..
ReplyDeleteSince its a slow day, lets lighten up the mood.
ReplyDeleteFirst off, why are there no flights from Slovenia to Middle East? I find it weird that FZ cannot do at least 2 p/w flights.
Second, how is FZ doing in BEG and ZAG? It was reported that during summer FZ is doing great in SJJ, but not for the other two.
Maybe Slovenians just dont want to go to places such as Dubai. Most people i know here in Switzerland give a damn about spending vacation in DXB DOH AUH.
DeleteMCT yes, Iran yes. DXB maybe for a short stopover, but thats about it. Slovenians with their intensive green homeland probably prefer other places where there are natural beauties and not just a bunch of fake watergardens and skyskrapers
Good job, Fraport! And well done, Slovenia, for selling such a company to the Germans who have no interest in developing a network. They sold it at a good pricr, too.
ReplyDeleteThe core idea of every company is to make profit. Once you start doing this (or at least stop making losses), you can focus on expansion.
DeleteLJU airport did not have a single year without profit in its history.
DeleteAnd Fraport actually said they want to focus on cargo ...