LOT Polish Airlines is considering introducing its first flights between three former Yugoslav markets. The airline is planning on commencing seasonal services from Ljubljana to Podgorica and BraÄ during the upcoming summer. Based on preliminary schedules, operations could commence from May 29. Flights to both Podgorica and BraÄ will run once per week, each Saturday, until October 2. Departure from Ljubljana to BraÄ is currently planned for 16.40, while the flight from the Slovenian capital to Podgorica is scheduled to leave at 20.05. In addition, LOT plans to operate a one weekly service between Ljubljana and Olbia, on the Italian island of Sardinia, from May 30 until October 3. All plans are preliminary and subject to change.
The development comes just weeks after the Slovenian Minister for Infrastructure, Jernej Vrtovec, met with representatives from LOT Polish Airlines in Warsaw. LOT plans to restore flights between its hub and Ljubljana on April 29. Although it has not put tickets on sale for its newly planned flights out of Ljubljana to Podgorica and BraÄ, its timetable for services between the Polish and Slovenian capitals change on May 29, indicating that the inbound and outbound service will not be operated by the same aircraft. The Slovenian government recently entered talks with Air Serbia over the possibility of employing a similar model as LOT for flights to a select number of destinations.
Last summer, the Head of Airline Management at Ljubljana Airport, Janez KraĆĄnja, said the airport was is in talks with one of the “largest carriers in the region”, which may hire local pilots and crew for their flights from the Slovenian capital. “We hope this project will see the light of day as soon as possible and that, perhaps, it will best enable members of the Slovenian aviation sector to quickly become active again". Mr KraĆĄnja said at the time. It is unclear whether developments from last summer are related to LOT’s current plans. Flights between Ljubljana and BraÄ were last operated in the summer of 2018 by Adria Airways with limited success. The seasonal route was cut short by two months and were not restored the following year. Services between the Slovenian capital and Podgorica were last run by Montenegro Airlines in December of last year, prior to the carrier’s collapse.
wow
ReplyDeleteNice. Finally some good developments. But just once per week?
ReplyDeleteYes because these would be more or less charter flights in the sense that they would carry Slovenes going on holidays.
DeleteWouldn't Tivat had made more sense then, than Podgorica?
DeleteThis is Ljubljana we are talking about so I will take any flight we can get, even once per week.
DeleteTivat is congested in summer, TGD has more room and they are probably more cooperative when it comes to discounts.
Delete^ I don't think it has so much to do with congestion at Tivat (especially during corona times) but "JP Airport of Montenegro" which is contently pushing Podgorica ahead of Tivat. It has been their policy for the past few years. Nothing new.
DeleteTIV is a massive chaos in summer, even JU struggles with slots. The airport is tiny for the amount of flights it handles in summer. Also there is no taxiway to the runway, same as SPU, so traffic is slower than it could otherwise be.
DeleteLOT is one of the most manipulating airline in this pandemic. They stranded people all over and they offer horrible customer support. They keep scheduling flights, collecting money and hardly even notify customers about the cancelations . Don't think they are going to fly anywhere . They deserve to go under and nobody is going to be upset about it . I had never ever experienced a good service by LOT.
DeleteWonder if it will be the Dash or Embraer operating the flights.
ReplyDeleteAnd also if they will get some money to operate these flights.
DeleteIn terms of capacity, the E170 would make most sense and would be ideal for these routes.
DeleteHmm interesting. I guess Air Serbia would be offered to do Ljubljana-Sarajevo and Ljubljana-Skopje?
ReplyDeleteOr maybe even flights to Tirana.
DeleteHow so? JU is not an EU airline like LOT?
DeleteSo? MNE is not in the EU either so LO would not be allowed to operate flights to TGD. They will get a special permit, same way as JU.
DeleteJU is not an EU airline and LO already has experience with BUD. Finally some good news for LJU.
Deletelol Dude. LOT and LJU are in EU. They can fly to all ExYu from Slovenia and Croatia. Capito?
Deleteand not only LOT every single EU airline can do this.
Yes, LO has a lot of experience with milking various governments for money.
DeleteI knew it was unlikely that the minister met with LOT executives just to discuss their resumption of flights to LJU.
ReplyDeleteNice. This could be a good start for LOT in Ljubljana. If these work out maybe we see them open more routes and permanently base an aircraft.
ReplyDeleteI hope so. Especially if they hire local crew and pilots, like Krasnja indicates (although he might not have been talking about LOT).
DeleteIronically, only a couple of years ago it was Adria hiring Polish pilots and crew.
DeleteIronic and sad at the same time.
DeleteI am pretty sure they won't be hiring any local crew, since they have more than enough of their own.
DeleteHiring crew for what, 1 flight per week? :) Forget about it..
DeleteGuys, if you read what I said, I meant hiring local crew if this mini base expands in the future. I didn't mean they would hire locals for these three weekly flights.
DeleteNot to mention Adria, which equals slovenian crew, didn't have E jets and Q400, so these local crew would require additional training, which I doubt
DeleteI hope Brac works out this time around.
ReplyDeleteWhich aircraft type did Adria use for its flights to Brac?
DeleteCRJ700 and Saab 2000
Deletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/p/adria-airways-ljubljana-bra.html
In reality they used the Saab 98% of the time.
DeleteLO is reminding me more and more of LCCs. Just going to places where they can get some extra cash to cover their ambitious plans. First they got God knows how much from Orban, they are getting millions from the Polish government and now they have arrived to milk Slovenia.
ReplyDeleteDon't forget that LO recently used a Polish minister to block the purchase of some empty land near WAW which would allow for a small expansion. LO turned WAW into LHR in terms of congestion and like that they are limiting their competition.
Well I don't blame them. Use any chance you can get for more money and reducing competition.
DeleteIt blows my mind how people were against subsidizing Adria, yet they have no problem whatsoever subsidizing foreign carriers.
DeleteComplexes my friend. Many in Slovenia think that something is better just becasue it's foreign.
DeleteLO didn't get a single Forint from Orban.
DeleteTrue, LO probably paid Orban. Remember when the Hungarian government presented the plan to move LCCs to Kecskemet?
DeleteAnon @11:52. Maybe not from Orbån himself, but yes from the gov. For LCY, they got bs contracts and for ICN they got money through the Samsung subsidy (Even though ICN itself is really profitable). JFK/ORD was their idea and no surprise that they failed miserably in ORD. So did their planned regional network which got postponed and postponed and postponed since 2018 and now due to COVID they have an excuse not to launch them at all. All in all, their BUD base was mismanaged operationally and now ot wouldn't be surprising if they dropped it completely. Also, there was never a plan to move LCC flights to Kecskemét, just idiots saying idiot things.
DeleteLet's also not forget their operational disaster in BUD. Many times they had to lease ancient B767 or A340 because their B787 had technical issues. Those were some crazy times and because of them people started avoiding them.
DeleteThats great news đ I only hope that dont fly with 737 MAXs đ
ReplyDeleteThey just returned them to service so who knows :D
Delete95% of will not know or care which aircraft it is!
DeleteDon't see why anyone would have a problem with MAX in 2021. It's the safest, most scrutinised aircraft in the world at the moment.
DeleteWell, I really don't think they will be operating a MAX between Ljubljana and Brac so it 's not an issue either way.
DeleteI flew MAX from YVR to LAX last month with AC and engine died before we started to land. Very unsafe and still lots of uncertainty about safety of that aircraft . I would never fly that aircraft again .
DeleteEngines on planes die almost each week, every couple of days, on all types of aircrafts, not only MAX
DeleteAny source for that Anon 17.54?
DeleteIt is very simple, just go and search on Google 737 max aircana engine failure. You are going to find a few as they seem to had more then one engine issue .
DeleteIt is very simple, just go and search on Google 737 max aircana engine failure. You are going to find a few as they seem to had more then one engine issue .
DeleteIf they launch flights to Brac then OU management and the Croatian ministry of tourism and economy need to commit seppuku. This would be such a massive slap in the face and a humiliation for OU.
ReplyDeleteI mean it's not like OU can't spare a freaking Q400 for a one weekly BWK-LJU flight.
I think they have missed much bigger opportunities than BWK-LJU to even notice this.
DeleteWhy would OU even do that? It already flies international flights from all airports except BWK, LoĆĄinj and OSI. Their network would just get more messed up.
Deleteflying LJU-Brac would mean flying ferry to either of them so yes they will only mess their schedules.
DeleteIf OU concentrates on the islands then they will need to give up their ZAG hub system. Choose now which u want
Seppuku is what is expected from people with integrity, honesty and ethics. Uhljebs are not such type.
DeleteHahahahahahaha thank you Pozdrav, that made me laugh... unfortunately you are right.
DeleteAs for OU, funny how some claim they would have a problem for Brac-LJU flights because they operate flights elsewhere and they would have to ferry the plane but they think it's logical for a Polish airlines to fly between Slovenia and Croatia.
and also funny how some think that ALL routes to HR must be flown by OU as if there are no other airlines. Its as logical for polish airlines to fly betwenn SLL and HR as for OU to fly slovenian or macedonian football teams around as if there were no other airlines ...
DeleteAnon 10:35 Damn, so right. There were more than 10 million passengers flying in and out of Croatia in 2019 with Croatia Airlines operating a total capacity of 2.8 million seats that year, and people still expect Croatia Airlines to carry all passengers and cover all markets. That's a different level of stupidity, by softest definition.
DeleteAnd there is no definition at all for people who put "stupid" or any other label on someone because he/she does not share their opinion. Actually there is the definition, but I will refrain from labeling.
DeleteWell Adria was operating out of Polish bases for such a long time it is only fair LOT returns the favor :)
ReplyDeletehaha best one. Lodz reloaded
DeleteGreat news!
ReplyDeleteI really hope this happens. It would be a great development for Ljubljana and give potential for future cooperation.
ReplyDeleteLOT's Saturday schedule on WAW-LJU flights are already a good indication that these flights will indeed happen. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteyes! Sat 16:00 arrival from WAW, then LJU-BWK, BWK-LJU, LJU-TGD, TGD-LJU, then on Sun LJU-OLB, OLB-LJU, and back to WAW :)
DeleteFantastic news. Maybe we see them add Sarajevo, Skopje and Tirana in the near future.
ReplyDeletePristina too.
DeleteTIA, PRN and SJJ were all operated purely for transfer passengers by Adria. There was very little point to point traffic, so I'm not sure LOT could make it work with the current set up.
Delete50% of passengers were p2p so it's not so small number
DeleteThe good thing about this i that LOT could expand in the future with western European routes too. Plus they are Star Alliance so I assume Lufthansa would not object too much.
ReplyDeleteWouldn't be so sure about LH. But there is not much they can do anyway.
DeleteFinally some light for LJU.
ReplyDeleteThis will bring in very few additional passengers but it's a start.
DeleteOut of all the ex-YU routes Adria operated in the past, Skopje was most successful in terms of P2P passengers so they should look into starting those.
ReplyDeleteMaybe Air Serbia gets those, if talks with them are serious.
DeleteBut were citizens of Macedonia really in majority on those flights? SKP tickets were much cheaper than those on PRN flights also due to strong LCC competition on SKP airport. So many families from Kosovo used flights out of SKP due to price difference.
Deleteand they will use it again if thats the case
DeleteOf course, but I believe that PRN has much bigger potential than SKP. Even Slovenia's company are much more connected to Kosovo than to Macedonia.
Deletelol sure. thats why LJU and slovenian politians are lobbying for Skopje
DeleteThey are lobbying because they are checking same figures as you do. If you would know exact nationality of passengers onboard then picture would be much clearer.
Deletelol. Never been on a JP flight out of SKP clearly. Your claim is as ridicolous as the the one with the companies. check SLO statistic agency first before you write something here
DeleteLove this!
ReplyDeleteWould be interesting to know if a certain level of payment was required from the state
ReplyDeletezero. this is probably a deal with travel agencies and LOT
DeleteI would really like to know how much Slovenia will pay for that. And why do they focus on TGD so much, this will be covered by 2Montenegro or how will be called new national airlines from MGX.
ReplyDeletelol
Deleteone weekly is really focusing much ^^
Deleteheh you are right, it's one flight per week :) but that route is covered, there are so many destinations which should need much more focus than TGD.
DeleteLOT Embrarers would be nice for 2-3 weekly LJU-SKP
ReplyDeleteexcitements aside these flights look like flights for tour operators where they put the remaining tickets free on sale.
ReplyDeletebut we count every flight these days so its fine
Bravo Hrvatska!
ReplyDeleteBravo Croatia Airlines!
preterujes. Lju-Brac is that important? come on
Deletehope this turns more serious then Czech's idea of SKP-ZAG-PRG (in the middle of the night) few years back
ReplyDeleteAmazing job, LOT and also let's not forget Fraport. There was a massive Ryanair Greek expansion yesterday and a Burgas one a couple of weeks ago. I think Fraport is finally waking up and will look into LJU.
ReplyDeleteFraport should first get rid of Skobir/KraĆĄnja co.
DeleteLet's assume that they lisend to your comment and got rid of them and then?
DeleteGetting rid of someone never solved the problem.
Replacing it did, if that person is more skilled.
Do you have any candidates for that?
I hope they have thought through Brac connection. I’m just wondering what kind of people would fly there. Slovenes are hardly stay-put tourists.
ReplyDeleteThere must be a reason Brac was chosen and why Adria also attempted to fly there in 2018.
DeleteThey were just throwing routes around and tried to see if something stuck. You can see how well it ended...
DeleteThe schedule could be guessed from WAW-LJU flights, which are in the system already. It will be like that:
ReplyDeleteWAW-LJU (arriving SAT 1600 in LJU), then
LJU-BWK-LJU
LJU-TGD-LJU
overnight in LJU
next morning LJU-OLB-LJU
Return in WAW Sunday at 1340 as scheduled service.
First weekend E70 is planned and E90 the next one.
Will be great if lot open flights from frankfurt and munich to brac.
ReplyDeleteBad news for JU transfers if this trend continues and picks up momentum.
ReplyDeleteAlmost all JU transfers from Ljubljana are from southeastern Europe. I know its 'genuine' concern, but don't worry.
DeleteIt's ok, first we have to see how well these flights perform. I am still skeptical about them. JU will do fine because they will offer something LO could never: flexibility.
DeleteLCY was a good market before pandemic for LO both from BUD and WAW. Could it work from LJU?
ReplyDeleteUnlikely. Most pax on LJU to London are tourists or Slovenians living in the UK.
DeleteExcellent news for LJU, just what we need to boost connectivity /sarcasm off
ReplyDeleteSmart move by LOT.
ReplyDelete