Slovenia allocates €5.6 million for launch of new routes

The Slovenian government has adopted a bill allocating 5.6 million euros in subsidies for airlines to launch new routes and boost frequencies on existing services. The state will provide a list of new destinations for which it will offer subsidies, with a public call to be issued soon. Only nonstop operations will be financed. Furthermore, airlines will be eligible for subsidies if they increase frequencies on existing services. The incentives will amount to up to 50% of the carrier’s airport fees in Slovenia. This is to address complaints, made primarily by budget airlines, that charges at Ljubljana Airport are too high.

The bill requires approval from the European Commission as it constitutes state aid. "We have already forwarded the bill to them. We are acting fast because we want to finalise the process before the summer season, which already begins at the end of March”, the incoming Minister for Infrastructure, Alenka Bratušek, said. The Minister for Economic Development and Technology, Matjaž Han, noted, "We have secured a source of funding for air links in Slovenia for a period of three years. The objective of the proposed bill is to improve Slovenia’s air connectivity by preserving existing and promoting the establishment of new regular air routes to and from Slovenia”.

The Slovenian Ministry for Infrastructure recently noted, “It is of vital importance for Slovenia to be included in global trends. As an export-oriented economy, we can only compete by being physically present on global markets, which is precisely what regular and reliable airlines provide. Solid air connections are even more important for the tourism sector, as we want to attract as many foreign guests from more distant markets to Slovenia as possible. This segment is also of great importance for congress tourism". It added, “Additional short-term measures need to be implemented, namely subsidising additional new routes and incentivising an increase in frequencies to the most important destinations for our economy and tourism”

.