Maribor Airport is continuing to hold talks with Wizz Air over potential flights but has warned a deal is some way off. The airport’s General Manager, Smiljan Kramberger, told Radio Maribor there have been discussions regarding the introduction of flights from Skopje, which are continuing to take place. “We actually asked under what conditions and in what way would It be possible to establish this service”, Mr Kramberger said, adding the two sides are exploring potential seasonal operations. However, the General Manager noted that Wizz Air expects a subsidy of almost one million euros in order to maintain flights between the two cities.
The budget carrier has never flown to Maribor but maintains services from Charleroi and Luton to Ljubljana. The Slovenian Ministry for Infrastructure and Urban Planning has also confirmed that talks with Wizz Air have taken place over the introduction of the Skopje - Maribor service but noted that a final agreement is yet to be reached. The Ministry added it was also in discussions with Ryanair over future flights to Slovenia’s second largest city. The budget airline briefly maintained flights between London Stansted and Maribor in 2007 and 2008. Despite solid loads, the route was terminated after Ryanair hiked fees for a joint advertising program, which was turned down by local authorities. Several weeks ago, the carrier said it was “continuing to evaluate potential operations in Slovenia”.
In 2020, Skopje emerged as Slovenia’s fourth busiest unserved route following the collapse of Adria Airways. Maribor Airport, which has struggled to attract airlines for years, is expected to be put up for concession in the near future, after a previous concession agreement was terminated several years ago over the government’s inability to adopt a new spatial plan, which would enable the airport to expand. The government is adamant the new plan will be approved soon, after which the selection of a concessionaire will begin. Maribor Airport will boast scheduled flights this summer as SkyAlps plans to introduce services from three Italian cities from late June until mid-September.
Now imagine how much money it would cost for Lju to have a Wizz station a plane there. By the end of the day establishing a new national carrier would be more cost efficient
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteThey entered there where Ryanair found the exit.... I think it would be very interesting to pick some mid range airliners as Volotea, Air Baltic, Transavia... for flight connections and MBX needs connections to GB market London Southend and maybe some connection to Israeli Market. In the near future MBX needs a train track and station platform under the airport or near. It would be realistic investment. And if we continue to dream on maybe some italian carrier that connects Rome and Mailand as a good alternative connection to LH Group.
Delete+1
Delete@Anon 09:08: Dream is the key point here.
DeleteBut even Adria barely served Maribor.
DeleteDid JP only fly from Maribor to London?
DeleteIn times of EX-YU and partially also thereafter, they flew also to DBV, FRA, MUC, LJU.
DeleteHahaha a million to link SKP and MBX?!?! Are they for real? For that money they should introduce a few W pattern flights from MBX.
ReplyDeleteI fear this ludicrous situation only shows that Wizz is not serious about Maribor.
Well they probably looked at MBX having not a single flight and realized they must be desperate.
DeleteOne million in subsidies probably means paying no handling fees, no landing fees and cash incentive.
DeleteExactly. But DRI failed to communicate it in a understandable way...
DeleteBut it comes down to the same thing. Maribor Airport would have to cover those costs and I doubt Maribor has that sort of money.
DeleteThis really isn't worth that much money.
ReplyDeleteI believe it would be worth the return on investment.
DeleteI just wonder how much Tuzla and Banja Luka are paying if they are asking this much from Maribor.
ReplyDeleteI presume costs are much lower from these two cities.
DeleteHighly likely
DeleteCan I just ask why Skopje? Is that really the most perspective route from Maribor?
ReplyDeleteMost probably connecting diaspora. London, Paris, Belgrade would all work. Even frankfurt and Munich with a few weekly flights
DeleteSo why are both sides talking only about Skopje. It makes no sense.
DeleteWizz lost 650mio last year. Which is more than Ryanair did. They probably don't want to experiment. The perfect scenario for MBX would be if Amelia stationed 2x erj145 there. As they could cover important hubs not just the LLC ones
Delete+1
DeleteI think Amelia is completely uninterested in Slovenian market. They are just using Slovenian registry, nothing more.
DeleteThey publicly said last week that if they get the subsidies they are interested; and I think they would want less than Wizz
DeleteBecause its the most obvious destination east from SLO
DeleteLOL
ReplyDeleteNothing is going to come out of these talks,
ReplyDeleteSeems so. It was just a good headline that they were "in talks" before the election.
DeleteNever say never
DeleteBetter to use a tiny fraction of that money to get JU to launch two weekly flights the same way Rijeka did. They could get access to their regional and European network.
ReplyDelete+1 4x weekly with atr would work perfectly for MBX
DeleteThey have night operations at MBX? JU could have 2 at night and 2 in the middle of the day. Like that they could also connect flights to JFK.
Delete+1
DeleteMBX can't even get the airport lights to work at night, let alone have proper night operations.
DeleteNot to mention the cost to run the airport 24/7, when it's already losing millions per year.
This is a jake. Not only is it a joke the amount Wizz Air is asking for but it is also a joke the amount of time the government is taking to adopt a new spatial plan. It has been years and they are still talking about it! Not to mention potential concession.
ReplyDelete*joke
DeleteMBX is doing more to get new airlines and routes than LJU.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteThis is really big opportunity for Maribor to turn a corner and start developing.
ReplyDeleteYou really think Skopje flights are worth it this much?
DeleteThats some 25-30k pax from that one route yearly. If they spend 3 euros at the airport thats some 900k income
DeleteThey should milk it for all its worth.
ReplyDeleteWizz?
DeleteI'm sorry to say but Maribor has no choice. If it wants to seriously develop it is going to have to initially pay some big money to a big LCC. Ryanair asked for the same price (even more) to keep flying from Maribor to London over 10 years ago.
ReplyDeleteBingo!
DeleteRyanair flew to MXB when locals were interested in giving subsidies. Had they persisted a bit longer it could have done wonders for the region. Same story this time around.
When Wizz Air sees this article, they definetly won't fly to MBX. Bringing so much bad publicity out is insane. Just another example how bad the airport is led by the Ministry of Infrastructure and DRI.
ReplyDeleteWell I think MBX management wanted to say that these terms are unacceptable to them anyway.
DeleteWizz does not care about publicity, all they care about is money. They have only negative publicity (aside of the self-proclaimed ones) anway. But now they are in serious need of money after losing EUR 650 million this year.
DeleteThis means wizzair wants someone else to cover all the costs? Aren’t they LCC?
ReplyDeleteIsn't that what LCCs do?
DeleteNo chance this will happen. Slovenian government giving a total of 2 million to 12 airlines to fly to Slovenia. I doubt they are going to allow subsidies of up to 1 million for MBX flights (and seasonal ones to make things worse).
ReplyDeleteThe development of Maribor Airport would not be good for Ljubljana Airport.
DeleteMaybe it would actually force LJU management to wake up.
DeleteLJU management will do nothing about it. They said how they are doing everything to resume LJU-SKP but in the end MBX will get SKP flights.
DeleteVery true. It has been 3 years since flights from Skopje ended and they still haven't found an alternative.
DeleteDisappointing.
ReplyDeleteHope it can work.
ReplyDeleteSlovenian aviation seems to be cursed at the moment.
ReplyDeleteOf course this is the outcome. A few weeks ago the government just needed some attention how they are working on improving Maribor Airport before the elections. Now comes the reality.
ReplyDeleteExactly. At the end of the day Slovenia is too small to have two operational airports. These are just empty promises.
DeleteI can guarantee Ryanair would ask for much more.
ReplyDeleteThere is a reason why national carrier has competitive advantage in country they are from.
ReplyDeleteTo name a few, foreign airline, has to pay for crew and maintenance staff accommodations (hotels) and per diems.
I do believe operating A320 for a year (lease, operating costs) on MBX-SKP costs around 1mil.
They have done their calculations and they are assuming that load factor would be weary low. They are not prepared to take over the risk that their projection on expected loads is wrong.
So, 1 mil subsidies number is quite correct in this case.
True. Nothing shocking in what they are asking for.
DeleteWizz Air has a base in SKP, so there would be no night stop in MBX, and none of the costs you mention above.
DeleteAt what time would arrival and departure be ?
DeleteAs a Slovenian I find this embarrassing to be honest. It's a pity Maribor remains underutilized but what can we expect when the same situation is with our main airport too.
ReplyDeleteThey still haven't adopted the spatial plan???? They have been talking about it for 3 years!
ReplyDeleteSuch a sad outcome for this airport
ReplyDeleteThey may as well shut down the airport.
ReplyDeleteWhich route would have the most potential from MBX?
ReplyDeleteLondon probably
DeleteWhy London? Diaspora? Tourists?
DeleteTourists
Deleteand one-two routes for the large exyu-diaspora: SKP/SJJ
DeleteAnswers to this question has the probability of a guess “Tomorrow will be sunny else it will be cloudy”
DeleteMaribor's main problem is that Graz is 60km away.
ReplyDeleteExactly. Graz Airport does the job.
Deletenot at all. theres no Wizz or Ryanair at Graz
DeleteGraz actually has traffic. They handled 1,036,929 passengers in 2019!
DeleteBut no lcc
DeleteGraz which has no LCC at all is not Maribor's main problem, it's Maribor's main and best chance. Maybe not exactly for SKP flights, but for sure for many others
DeleteI think the best MBX can do is to approach to JU, offer them to cover empty seats on 3 weekly rotations to BEG (2,4,7) and gain SLO Govt. assistance in obtaining permit to fly MBX-SKP (if that is so needed route), thus flying BEG-MBX-SKP-MBX-BEG.
ReplyDeleteIt would cost less with AT7, get two routes, create hype and hope for more...
My 2 cents...
This would mean that MBX would have 2 daily flights to BEG on some days of the week. Completely unsustainable.
DeleteNot at all.
DeletePlease read it again. I have stated 3 weekly...
What exactly is "Lol" to you here?
DeleteYou seems to be very wise person, so please enlight us!
@Anon 10:30: My bad, should have taken that second coffee.
DeletePeople that LOL at Maribor didnt LOL at the 3 milion € INI-IST seasonal route?
ReplyDeleteThey did, it was heavily criticized, just look at the comments. But the difference is that:
DeleteA) IST is a global hub so by having flights to that city you are connected to the entire world.
B) Those flights are codeshared by Turkish Airlines, so you can easily buy a ticket to any Turkish Airlines destination from Nis
C) IST is a popular tourist destination
D) Those flights are year round
totally irrelevant. MXB will get more pax from this route since Wizz can easily fill a A320 to wherever they want (just look at INIs flights) and in the end its pax that matter to airports
DeletePlot twist: Wizz will get some money from the macedonian tender (but not 1 mio for one route) and the costs will be split between SKP and MBX
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't be surprised.
DeleteJust another conformation that NOBODY has payed the actual price of flying in the last twenty years... Giving the disappearing middle class a impression they still have a middle class standard of livnig. The only problem is that the base of the Ponzy scheme is getting more narrow each day, each hour.
ReplyDelete+ 1 000 000. Unfortunately very few people understand you
DeleteUff Tres Prestige
DeleteYou being one of them
DeleteI agree completely, and agree with Pozdrav iz Rijeke that most people won't understand you.
DeleteAnd people thought Adria was expensive :D. Just goes to show that the average Slovene has no clue what he/she is talking about. With the elections approaching, it's a shame that everyone's vote counts the same.
ReplyDeleteUnderstanding Slovene aviation logic is quite hard lately. I mean MBX-SKP flights.... really??
ReplyDeleteWhy not restore Stansted and connect Charleroi and Dublin instead?? What is happening in LJU and now in MBX is odd... very odd.
MBX wanted SKP flights few years ago too so its nothing new (it was reported here as well). Its a big diaspora market untouched by lcc's.
DeleteSKP was a key route for Adria whether you like it or not.
Wizz Air's price tag is completely normal. Don't understand all the shock.
ReplyDeleteWell here you have a classic example of what happens when there is demand between two countries but neither of the two have a national carrier (or any domestic carrier for that matter). One literally has nothing and the other relies on a Hungarian budget airline.
ReplyDeleteSo true!
DeleteAdria could, with some strong hand controlling the expenses and some trimming of the headoffice (less headcount in non-operational divisions), actually post moderate profit every year. It was the leechers, or uhljebs, as pozdrav iz Rijeke is calling them, who were draining the company into the red zone
ReplyDelete