VLM Airlines upbeat over new Maribor operations

VLM Airlines is buoyant following the launch of its new service from Antwerp to Maribor via Munich, despite initial poor loads. Following the launch of its five weekly flights to Maribor just over ten days ago, the airline has been forced to cancel a number of its departures from Slovenia's second largest city since no tickets were sold, however, the carrier noted that this was expected and that similar action was taken shortly after its route between Antwerp and London was introduced in October 2017, which has since become the most popular in its network. "The first two months of the year are the worst in terms of passenger numbers. Reservation for flights in the coming weeks and months are already accumulating. Recently, we had a record number of reservations for our flights, which is likely also to have resulted from an advertising campaign we launched in Belgium and other countries. We are confident that the number of passengers will increase in the coming days and weeks", VLM spokesperson, Yves Panneels, told the "STA" news agency. The largest number of passengers to have boarded the service from Maribor so far is twelve, while the greatest number of travellers to have arrived from Munich is 23. The flights are operated with the fifty-seat Fokker 50 aircraft.

VLM Airlines' Chief Operating Officer, Carl Runge, indicated that although no concrete plans have been made yet, the carrier is interested in establishing flights from Maribor to Zurich and Belgrade, as well as summer charter flights to the Croatian coast. The General Manager of Maribor's Edvard Rusjan Airport, Boris Bobek said, "We're happy that regular services are returning to Maribor Airport. We believe both Munich and Antwerp are very interesting destinations, mostly because of the onwards connections offered from Munich, and, of course, because of the strong existing ties of our region with Bavaria". Excluding a handful of flights to Split and Dubrovnik last summer, VLM has not operated scheduled services from Maribor up until now. As a result, the airport handled just 6.000 passengers last year.

VLM Airlines maintains scheduled services from Antwerp to London City Airport, Zurich and Munich, in addition to its new Maribor flights. Furthermore, VLM also operates charters, ACMI and private flights from Antwerp, Brussels and other European airports. It holds an Air Operator's Certificate both in Belgium and Slovenia. Its fleet consists of six Fokker 50 turboprop aircraft and two Airbus A320-200s, which are all registered in Belgium. However, earlier this month, it was announced that an unnamed Dutch investor would take over the two A320s, as well as some forty of VLM Airlines' employees. The investor also intends to proceed with VLM’s long-term ambition to commence long haul flights between Europe and Asia using Airbus A330 aircraft.