Nordwind Airlines to enter Slovenian market

Nordwind Airlines plans to add flights to Ljubljana, with the carrier filing a preliminary schedule for services out of Moscow’s Sheremtyevo Airport. Under the planned timetable, operations could begin as early as November 6, with a scheduled departure from the Russian capital at 13.45, arriving in Ljubljana at 15.00, before commencing its return journey at 16.15 and touching down in Moscow at 21.10. Flights are to operate once per week, each Saturday, with its Boeing 737-800 aircraft. The airline is yet to put the flights on sale and changes to the launch date are possible, however, the carrier has so far this year delivered on all of its planned new routes to former Yugoslav markets, which have included Belgrade, Zagreb and Skopje.

Nordwind Airlines would compete directly against Aeroflot on the route, which plans to maintain three weekly rotations out of Sheremetyevo Airport this coming winter season. Late last week, Russia eased caps on flights to Slovenia, enabling the forthcoming Nordwind service. The airline has also filed and received rights from Russian authorities to introduce services from St Petersburg to Ljubljana at some point. Nordwind's Moscow operations will become the latest in a slew of new routes set to be introduced from the Slovenian capital in the coming months. These include Wizz Air’s new service to London Luton in December, easyJet’s flights to the same airport in March, Windrose Airlines’ planned operations to Kiev in April 2022, followed by Transavia’s new service to Paris Orly that same month.

The General Manager of airport operator Fraport Slovenija, Babett Stapel, noted, “Air traffic has been showing signs of recovery for a few months now. Although we would like this recovery to happen at a quicker pace, we are aware that the health situation around most parts of the world isn’t supporting that scenario at the moment. Flight announcements for the winter season, as well as for the next summer season, clearly show that the Slovenian market is attractive for airlines”. She added, “At Ljubljana Airport we have welcomed back all the carriers that had suspended flights because of the pandemic during the 2020 winter season, and we greeted new additions to the network. For the first time Iberia and Fydubai touched down in Slovenia. Moreover, airlines are constantly optimising their flight schedules and expanding them with additional frequencies. We believe that, with an improving epidemiological situation ,the network of flights out of Ljubljana will be strengthened, offering passengers attractive options for direct and connecting flights".