Lufthansa Group airlines benefited the most from subsidies provided by the Slovenian government over the past two years, as the state prepares to offer a fresh a round of financial incentives in order to mitigate and remedy the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on the aviation industry in the country. Jointly, Lufthansa, Swiss International Air Lines and Brussels Airlines pocketed 1.675.580 euros out of the total 3.734.640 euros distributed by the government, or some 45% of the total funds. An expert commission formed by the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology decided the amount of money each of the applicants would receive based on a number of criteria, including the number of flights operated to Ljubljana.
Overall, as Slovenia’s busiest airline, Lufthansa was granted 1.297.530 million euros, followed by Turkish Airlines with 664.560 euros and Air France with 494.550 euros. The French carrier was followed by Air Serbia, which received 414.780 euros from the Slovenian government, then LOT Polish Airlines with 233.190 euros, Brussels Airlines with 192.180 euros, Swiss International Air Lines with 186.870 euros, Wizz Air with 178.350 euros and Air Montenegro, which received 72.630 euros. Questions remain as to who Swiss was granted 22.050 euros in the first of three rounds of the subsidy allocations as it did not meet some of the criteria. On the other hand, easyJet, which was Slovenia’s busiest airline prior to the coronavirus pandemic, received no funds and was disqualified from the first round of the subsidy allocation for undisclosed reasons.
The Ministry of Economic Development and Technology has confirmed to EX-YU Aviation News it is planning a new round of subsidies with a total of two million euros to be distributed among airlines which meet the criteria. The Ministry previously noted, “The purpose of the tender is to maintain the existing schedule operated by international airlines, to encourage the resumption of suspended flights due to the consequences of the pandemic, and to encourage new airlines to fly to Slovenia. Lacking a national carrier, Slovenia is currently experiencing a very slow recovery”. The operator of Ljubljana Airport, Fraport, has praised the incentives and called on the government to offer fresh funds this year.
Those amounts are laughable, what the heck are they thinking?
ReplyDeleteFor the amount of money offered, we can't expect much better than what we have.
DeleteDidn't Slovenia let JP go because of its losses and subsidies it needed to survive? Kind of funny that they are today handing out subsidies to maintain air travel connectivity.
ReplyDeleteOnly difference is that it's no longer to JP but to LH.
Well the money required by JP was significantly more than 3 million euros ;)
DeleteNot significantly more than 3 million per year, but connectivity was significantly better than what we have now.
DeleteWhat a surprise
ReplyDeleteOnly one LCC received funds. wow
ReplyDeleteTransavia didn't even apply.
DeleteYet they are the ones launching a new route while Wizz Air has stopped all flights lol.
DeleteThis is a real shame. They should have done more to attract LCCs.
DeleteAgree. They should attract LCCs instead of throwing taxpayers money out of the window.
DeleteThis tender was an absolute shambles with short deadline and rules made up and changed as the ministry felt like it.
ReplyDeleteWell after reading some of the comments by readers about this ministry, I'm not surprised.
DeleteThese sums are peanuts!
ReplyDeleteWould it not be more beneficial to offer incentives and subsidies for the launch of NEW routes? That way you might even get new airlines opening up a whole lot of new connections.
ReplyDeleteAgree. This is usually the case everywhere in the world.
DeleteI think this government is not thinking of Slovenia but rather serving German interests in many ways. Fraport might be collaborating with Lufthansa.
ReplyDeleteIt's a shame to have reached such levels....
They really gave Swiss money but not to easyjet. LH cartel wants to get rid of competition. And its working.
ReplyDeleteAt least now we know why Easy is down to one route in LJU.
DeleteI wonder if we will see easy add new routes from LJU ever again. I can't believe they are down to one route operating 4 weekly flights at best. In February it was mostly 1 weekly flight.
DeleteIts more likely they will terminate LJU than add new routes.
DeleteThese figures are so low
ReplyDeleteMatches the performance figures at LJU.
DeleteSlovenian ministry definitely stabbed U2 in the back. I just don't understand the logic. And those amounts are really laughable coming from the richest ex-Yu country.
ReplyDeleteUgly truth is that Adria kept Slovenia relevant on the European aviation map. Without transfers to compensate for how small the market is, Slovenia will never handle more than 2.5 million passengers, especially not now with FR in ZAG.
ReplyDeleteThey wanted to get rid of Adria? Well, now it's time to live with the consequences of their stupid actions.
Are they for real?
ReplyDeleteLH getting the most money isn't really a surprise for me. Wonder how Air France got as much as it did? They weren't flying in 2020. Only 3 airlines that kept flying to LJU throughout all the variants and viruses since the airport reopened were LH, JU and TK. JU actually flew the longest and kept adding flights.
ReplyDeleteAviation in Slovenia is becoming a serious joke unfortunately.
ReplyDeleteIt has been for a long time.
DeleteEasyjet showed the most promise and potentially could have had a base in Ljubljana some day.
ReplyDeleteJust another way to give money to Lufrhansa.
ReplyDeleteIt's nice support for airlines that fly to Ljubljana. But it didn't attract new ones though.
ReplyDeleteThis is much cheaper and more effective than setting up a new airline.
ReplyDeleteOne big LOL for the Fraport fanboy.
DeleteMore effective? Are you for real?
DeleteMaybe he forgot to add #sarcasmOFF at the end :)
DeleteMuch more money is needed for this to have any sort of impact on LJU's performance.
ReplyDeleteLufthansa's is Europe's biggest cancer.
ReplyDeleteAdria needed maximum of 5 million per year to be sustainable. Shame that the government decided it was more important to fund Germany and its interests.
ReplyDeleteNational carrier with high ticket prices is not what most people need. We need LCCs.
Delete5m? Much more was pumped into Adria on a yearly basis. 50m in 2010, various debt conversion to Aerodrom Ljubljana, then ended up in the middle of 2019 with an 80m black hole.
DeleteThe number you are looking for is probably closer to 10m per year.
Don't compare JP when it was state owned and after 4k bought them. Blackhole was completely 4k fault because of their incompetence. Also JP could be managed much better when it was state owned with competent managers from aviation and not politically appointed managers. With right leadership JP could work with even less than 5 m per year.
DeleteOf course it could be better managed, but even Adria 2.0 would be inherently a political project, with politically appointed management.
DeleteBut then we should accept that such carrier need 5 m per year to maintain good connectivity. Or maybe for calculation, how much incentives should Slovenia offer to get:
Delete-LH base/overnight 2 aircrafts at LJU (for FRA/MUC) to fly morning/evening rotations
-LX base/overnight 1 aircraft (ZRH) to fly morning/evening rotations
-OS base/overnight 1 aircraft (VIE) to fly morning/evening rotations
-SN base/overnight 1 aircraft (BRU) to fly morning/evening rotations
-SK/LO/W6/SU/YM to fly daily to LJU
We are speaking roughly about 20 M per year, but on other hand we had same schedule for 5 mio per year with national carrier.
People also forgot they gave Fraport like 5m €. So in total the cartel got like 7m €.
ReplyDeleteIt should be pointed out that this tender also excludes non European airlines. So you are incentivizing absolutely no one to start flying to Ljubljana.
ReplyDeleteProbably because money is being used from EU covid recovery fund.
DeleteAnd if EU gives you money, it expects you to invest that money into the EU.
DeleteWhy did Turkish Airlines or Air Serbia receive funds in this case?
DeleteThey are part of Europe. The tender excludes non European airlines, not non-EU airlines.
DeleteWhat is Europe in this case?
DeleteNowadays Europe means solely the European Union .
Deleteexactly
DeleteI'm sure Fraport has praised the incentives. I mean Lufthansa owns 9% of Fraport.
ReplyDeleteHonestly LH group has offered little to LJU, with exception to Lufthansa. The other satellites have poor timings, and neither Brussels or Swiss flew for a very long time and often suspend their flights, as is the case with Brussels Airlines at the moment.
ReplyDeleteLufthansa has also delayed flights. Munich not starting until May (and I'm doubtful they will start then either).
Deletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2022/01/lufthansa-delays-ljubljana-zagreb-route.html
Even FRA is not covered as it should be. Their afternoon outbound flight is departing way to early..
Deletethis helicopter money intention is only to "show" to the public, that "something" is being worked on. The fact is, that even without this, all airlines which got the pickpocket sums would still fly to LJU regardless. Another funny fact - the fanboy anon, who was picking on me yesterday, saying that AA tickets for 400 € + are no more...well, try purchasing some LH tickets now (FRA only btw) for less than 500. This situation is very depressing.
ReplyDeleteLJU - FRA - Berlin - FRA - LJU, by Luthansa, 1-3 March 202, economy light, 365 EUR, bought tpday.
DeleteThere was direct LJU-BER with easyjet that was 10x cheaper but the LH cartel (with govt help) has to get rid of competition. Bravo Fraport! Bravo Slovenia!
DeleteShouldn't the airport operator provide incentives for airlines?
ReplyDeleteYes but the private airport operator is getting aid from the government.
DeleteThe biggest mistake was selling the airport operator to Fraport. Should have been offered as a concession for starters.
DeleteGood luck with the new incentives. I don't understand the point though. None of these airlines would have flown less without subsidies. You just ostracized the airlines that you didn't give money to.
ReplyDeleteThey should definitely either change the criteria or try to give incentives to airlines to attract them.
DeleteThey should let the market sort itself out, not provide subsidies. I mean that has been the government's policy to aviation no?
ReplyDeleteIf you let the market sort itself out, I fear there will be no airlines left in LJU
DeletePeople said that JP did not allow big players to be present at LJU. I am asking same people what is the reason now that LJU is not expanding as they "predicted"?
DeleteAny arguments why is this better than opening a new airline? If foreign carriers will not base aircraft in LJU, than connectivity will not get any better.
ReplyDeleteToday, you have early morning departures to FRA and CDG. All that is missing is probably MUC, and that's about it.
DeleteLJU has an extremely small catchmemt area, particularly since it always hated LCCs, even in pre-Fraport times. You can't expect direct flight to every European city.
It's 10.48 and there are 5 departures scheduled till the end of day (one of them being Serbian PSO INI route). That's just nasty bad.
Delete@09:51 wow, we have FRA and CDG at 7 am on Thursdays, good work Fraport!
DeleteNow let's get serious, we need morning/evening flight also to BRU/ZRH/MUC/VIE.
Fraport used to have 2M passengers per year, and now they are struggling to get 500k so catchment are is not so small. But if you don't have offer then you can't expect to get passengers as well. I agree that it's impossible to have direct flight to every EU city, but main hubs should be covered as we used to have them in past.
Regarding LCC, when Slovenia will have millions of gastoz around EU and will use better offers for tourist then we can expect LCC presence.
2M didn't come from catchment area, it came from transfers. And don't forget that all the passengers are counted twice, so a person travelling on TIA-LJU-MUC would be counted as 2 passengers, despite spending about 30 minutes in the terminal building.
DeleteSo please enlighten me which airport does not have transfer passengers? SKP maybe a bit less, but ZAG/BEG/PRN have more or less same percentage of transfer passengers as LJU had.
DeletePRN has transfer passengers?
DeleteFast fingers :) theoretically you could have it with TK/OS but I doubt there are any. I really doubt that transfer passengers are counted twice as that would mean that PRN has more passengers then BEG. I don't know who made that up but it does not make any sense...
DeleteCounted twice in the sense that a transfer passenger is both arriving and departing.
DeleteThey should take a look at the incentive model being offered by Zagreb Airport.
ReplyDeleteSo they plan another round of subsidies because this one was such a major success?
ReplyDeletehahahahhha
DeleteLjubljana Airport needs more destinations and airlines.
ReplyDeleteYou don't say...
DeleteSince we are stuck with LH, any chance of seeing Eurowings launch flights to some, or at least one, German city?
ReplyDeleteI doubt it, as it would have happened by now.
DeleteThey announced flights to LJU in 2017 but then cancelled their plans. Same as for Skopje.
DeleteEurowings had LJU on that 'you vote we fly' thing in 2018 or 2019, I forget which year. I hope they eventually launch it.
DeleteMaybe it is finally time for Wizz Air to increase it presence in Ljubljana. They have been flying the same two routes for many years and they got some money from these subsidies after all.
ReplyDeleteWell that's the problem of these subsidies. They don't give you an incentive to launch any new route.
DeleteI don't think there has been a market W6 has served for longer and made the fewest changes then Slovenia.
DeleteYes, shame Wizz Air isn't more active.
DeleteI don't understand how Wizz does not see potential to launch new routes from LJU. There are many potential destinations they could launch.
DeleteYou know better than them...how many experts are here :)
DeleteLooks like neighbors have not learned what has happened to Hungarian aviation market after EU brought down the Malev.
ReplyDeleteStill but still this has been approved to funds other companies instead of your own national who brings alot to economy and people even though it is not profitable.
Great article anyways.
Poor BUD, they only had nearly twice the amount of passengers in 2019 than 2011 before the collapse of Malev.
DeleteI really wish new airlines will start flying to LJU with new destinations, as there sure is a lot of potential...as passengers are avoiding LJU despite being so well positioned geographically.
ReplyDeleteIt would be interesting to see the percentage of Slovenes using Trieste, Venice, Zagreb and Klagenfurt. Anyone have some statistic?
DeleteFor the money Air France gets, they could really upgrade from HOP to mainline.
ReplyDeleteThere is no difference...
DeleteI flew LJU-CDG-LJU a few days ago. These bastards dont even block the seat next to yours in the C class. But they let you move, if there is a free seat?!?! LJU-CDG the LF was around 60-65% and 4 or even 5 C class pax (C class 3 rows), on the way back i guess the LF was about the same and 4 C class pax (C class 2 rows).
DeleteFor some time I have been reading comments here regarding LJU and Slovenian market in general, at it seems that most simply can't get real perspective about it?
ReplyDeleteIn my (very humble) opinion, it's clear that Adria lasted as long LH wanted it to live, once the LH found itself that it has surplus of it's own planes and crews, it simply cut-off Adria. It happened already in 2016-2017, since it was clear that LH reservation algorithm doesn't channel connecting passengers to Adria an LJU any more. Result is clear.
Same happened to Croatia Airlines in 2019, since than reservations for connecting passengers are pushed heavily through Austrian, Swiss and Lufty itself. So, the very much same result (and outcome) for OU is expected in next two or three years, OU will probably continue its existance as charter company.
So, it brings us to future of LJU: in my opinion again, I think LH will steer Ljubljana Airport as local airport, that will feed its hubs (FRA, MUC, ZRH) at first, and with quite strong seasonal charter potential (winter incoming, summer emission tourism), and with some really only symbolic presence of market competitors like KLM-AF, BA, Ryan, Wizz, etc... Something like Innsbruck airport.
In addition to that, probably LH will base one or two regional jets from Air Dolomite or CityLine under Lufthansa Regional brand, to cover potential P2P lines, like Belgrade, Paris, London, Amsterdam, and that is.
This is outcome that necessary doesn't have to be bad at all for Slovenian citizens and society...
I am not quite sure what do you mean with reservation algorithm, but I can assure you that every airline is trying to channel tickets on their own stock as outcome is much higher in that case. Everyone is doing that.
DeleteLJU future is not promising, there won't be any big changes in terms of air connectiviy unless government decide to establish national carrier. Or to give 20 m per year to foreign airlines to base their airlines at LJU.
20m was what Air Dolomiti wanted if i remember well. For less routes Adria had. Less.
DeleteI agree the Cartel will flush the toilet with OU, the same way as it did with JP, if and when the first convenience occurs. But I don't agree they will continue as charter airline. The market is saturated with all kinds of coast operations, including all major LCC'S, lot of legacies and plenty of charter companies, both croatian (TDR, ETF) and foreign. They have no space or capability to grow in charter. They missed their opportunity to position itself as the main carrier for the Balkans and beyond, which Air Serbia did recently. When the time comes the Cartel is not in need of their servant services, they will follow JP fate
DeleteNordwind has also cancelled LJU launch. Bad news just keep on coming.
ReplyDeleteJU was ripped off. Considering how much it flew to LJU during the pandemic without gouging customers one would expect a little recognition.
ReplyDelete