Ljubljana Airport’s operator Fraport Slovenija has held talks over the past month with 28 airlines regarding the potential introduction of over thirty routes, General Manager, Babett Stapel, has said. Ms Stapel noted that airport charges are not off-putting carriers but conceded the size of the Slovenian market is a deterrent for some. “We would like to set the record straight - our charges aren't keeping airlines from taking flight. In the last month we've been in extensive discussions with 28 airlines, both legacy and low cost carriers, about more than 30 destinations. One recurring reason emerged for some airlines opting out. Market size matters: legacy carriers often find their economic viability in feeding hub airports. These hubs are already well-served, making them less interested in new destinations. Additionally, the demand for "non-hub" routes might not be substantial enough to justify the investment”, Ms Stapel wrote in a Linkedin article.
The General Manager noted the airport is on the mend, with passenger numbers on flights to Belgrade, Brussels, Istanbul, Paris, Tel Aviv, Warsaw, and Zurich expected to surpass pre-pandemic levels in 2023. “For 2024, we expect to reach pre-pandemic levels for Frankfurt, Munich, Niš, and Skopje, and, looking ahead to 2025, we have Helsinki in sight. It's like rebuilding an intricate puzzle, piece by piece, with full recovery expected in 2026”, Ms Stapel said. On the other hand, figures on charter flights are expected to see a full recovery this year. “Charter flights recovered actually one year earlier than anticipated. Hence, our efforts to establish a charter hub at Ljubljana paid off”, Ms Stapel added.
Last week, Ljubljana Airport handled its millionth passenger of the year so far, the first time it has managed to do so since 2019. The airport anticipates surpassing 1.2 million passengers by year’s-end forecasts 1.36 million in 2024. “For the full year, Ljubljana Airport is expecting to serve 1.2 million passengers, a remarkable 23.5% increase from 2022, and a solid recovery of 70% compared to 2019 or 80% if one excludes transfer passengers - we are talking about 200.000 [travellers] - who cannot be recovered since the Balkan hub established by Adria Airways has been replaced by point-to-point traffic. For the next year we are expecting a further passenger increase of at least 10%, resulting in about 1.36 million passengers”, Ms Stapel concluded.
This article was very positive to read until it wasn't xD
ReplyDeleteLjubljana is in absolute shambles
What do you mean?
DeleteOP is probably referring to the title saying that Ljubljana is in talks with 30 airlines to them thwn figuring out that nothing will happen because there is no demand
DeleteLjubljana needs to do more marketing to combat all this negativity out there. Slovenia is a small country, Ljubljana is a relatively small capital city with rail and road links to central Europe and with VIE, TSF, VCE, TRS and ZAG immediately nearby with no border crossings anywhere and with PUY and RJK also having lots of options in the peak summer season. LJU is doing just fine.
Deletelol you really think just because of the anons here there is a "negative" image of Ljubljana. haha move on!
DeleteMost people in Slovenia have a negative image of Ljubljana Airport.
DeleteJust like they had of Adria until it went bankrupt.
Deletepeople in EX-Yu love to have negative image of everything :D
DeleteAdria had a briliant brand until 2017
DeleteThe current situation with pax numbers is the reallity of LJU. They are still below 2019 because of the transfers and that is the reality. The market will recover in 2026 which is logical, and in 2026 BEG will have 15 million, Skopje will have 4 million passengers which is natural and expected growth. Just use logic and everything will make sense.
Delete@ 10:38
DeleteYou're obviously not Slovene. If you are - well done, you know the few people that thought Adria was a "good brand".
true but thats the story from outside SLO
DeleteLJU ain’t going anywhere
ReplyDelete"Adria Airways has been replaced by point-to-point traffic"
ReplyDeleteFor all transfer friends.
And yet we are missing basic destinations like
Delete-vienna
-berlin
-amsterdam
-brussels
-zurich morning flights
-sarajevo
-pristina
-bucharest
-sofia
-helsinki
-copenhagen
All previously covered by Adria
09:03
DeleteAnd this.
"The General Manager noted the airport is on the mend, with passenger numbers on flights to Belgrade, Brussels, Istanbul, Paris, Tel Aviv, Warsaw, and Zurich expected to surpass pre-pandemic levels in 2023. “For 2024, we expect to reach pre-pandemic levels for Frankfurt, Munich, Niš, and Skopje"
09:12
DeleteI think you need to look again at the list of airlines and destinations.
9:15
DeleteAmsterdam is not covered to 2019 level
Brussels and Zurich are capacity wise but the timetable is MUCH worse
timetable timetable ...
DeleteLet's see if any of those 28 airlines come. So far, the only new airlines are those that got Slovenian state subsidies.
ReplyDeleteabsolutely wrong. none of them wanted them well except one
DeleteBoth Air Baltic and Luxair applied and have started or announced flights. Wizz Air's Skopje route is subsidized by Macedonian government. Flydubai got the previous subsdies.
DeleteAre people here just spewing BS left and right now? FlyDubai did not get any subsidy and cannot get any subsidy as both the route and the carrier are outside of EU.
DeleteI await your apology anon @10.01
DeleteNa podlagi razpisa bo ministrstvo v višini 1,825 milijona evrov sofinanciralo letalske prevoznike Deutsche Lufthansa, Swiss International Air Lines, Brussels Airlines, Flydubai, Air Serbia, Tomontenegro, Turkish Airlines, Easyjet, Wizzair in LOT, so zapisali v sporočilu za javnost.
https://www.dnevnik.si/1042992036
"Ten airlines operating flights to Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport will share 1.83 million euros amongst themselves following the completion of a government tender aimed at improving the country’s connectivity. All ten carriers that applied were granted funds. These include Lufthansa, Swiss International Air Lines, Brussels Airlines, Air Serbia, Air Montenegro, Turkish Airlines, Wizz Air, LOT Polish Airlines, easyJet and Flydubai, with the latter two included for the first time."
Deletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2022/07/ten-airlines-granted-slovenian-subsidies.html
My bad, to my knowledge the tender in 2022 was only to subsidize the landing and handling charges for those airlines. Here is how much they got: https://www.gov.si/assets/ministrstva/MGTS/Dokumenti/DTUR/JAVNI-RAZPIS-ZA-SPODBUJANJE-PONOVNE-VZPOSTAVITVE-LETALSKE-POVEZLJIVOSTI-SLOVENIJE-V-LETU-2022/Seznam-prejemnikov-subvencij-javnega-razpisa-v-letu-2022.pdf
DeleteThe 2020-2022 tenders were not for opening new routes but for keeping the old ones, whilst 2023 tenders is only for opening new routes.
DeleteBoth of you are wrong and correct at the same time :D
BUT FlyDubai didn't start operating because of the subsidies, but because of EXPO and their need to connect Dubai with countries that were present there
At least they are being proactive
ReplyDeleteGood news. Hope they manage to attract carriers for new destinations and to keep steady work to improve timetable to existing destinations.
ReplyDeleteThey should work to get Aegean to extend flights into winter.
ReplyDeleteLet’s hope about that
DeleteAegean did extend their flights compared to their original timetable by a few weeks until early October. Hopefully next year they extend further.
DeleteThey also need to make Aegean return next summer because Aegean published most of the destinations for summer 2024 and LJU isn’t included
Delete:/
DeleteFlew LJU-ATH on Friday and the flight was almost full so LF should be okay. Hoping for 2024 flights to go ahead!
DeleteThats not right. There are many destinations ( even those who are year around) and still don't have upload their summer flights. Probably we gonna see them in November but Aegean has add many destinations even 2-3 months before high season. I think they had announced Podgorica in March
DeleteAegean is really reducing seasonality and I think from next year they will fly year round to LJU
DeleteWell AEGEAN uploaded ATH-LJU flights for summer 2024 with 2 weekly flights resuming earlier in 5 April with the A320neo !!!
DeleteAnon 15:22 do u have a link?
DeleteWell check their website and their flight schedule section!
DeleteAegean is also increasing ATH-SPU to 3 weekly and ATH-DBV to 6 weekly from next summer too!!
DeleteImprove Scandinavia coverage please.
ReplyDeleteIt has always been kind of a hole in Ljubljana's network, even during Adria times.
DeleteIt's a long flight. Regional aircraft that are smaller and suitable for lower demand (like the CRJ900) are expensive to fly longer distances. A320 family and 737 aircraft are more suited for those distances, but they are too big for markets like Scandinavia to LJU.
DeleteIs it just me or are none of the aircraft in the photo using air bridges even though they are parked at one?
ReplyDeleteLow cost Airlines tend not to use Air bridges to save money.
DeleteTradeair started using them this year methinks. Klara was stationed there and I've seen it connected to the airbridge a couple of times
DeleteVery good news for LJU
ReplyDeleteHow many passengers per year do charters generate at LJU?
ReplyDeleteIn the range of 10% in the summer. For tomorrow there are 6-8 (depends on if telaviv is going ahead) departures
DeleteThanks. Considering LJU's overall passenger numbers, that is impressive
DeleteLjubljana is still at the bottom of all capital cities in Europe.
ReplyDeleteMinsk, Kiev, Ljubljana - that's the bottom. Kinda funny if you ask me as the only war we are fighting is seemingly against more flights. And we are quite clearly winning
DeleteBut things are improving which is important.
DeleteAt a snail's pace...
DeleteI'm missing flights to Brussels, 300€ roundtrip is absolutely absurd, when Zagreb or Trieste with Ryanair costs less than 100€. There is a bus service now betwen Ljubljana and Zagreb, but not the airport, I know that there is a free transfer but still annoying, why can't the bus just stop in Zagreb and run directly to the airport?
ReplyDeleteCrl vs bru... 200e to pay for convince is a fair price just because Crl really is a terrible airport
DeleteYou are crazy if you think a ticket price that is THREE TIMES more expensive justifies the "inconvenience".
Delete300 Euros isn't a lot for a roundtrip and it goes to BRU, big difference.
DeleteJust a reminder that during Adria times, BRU return flights were mostly 400-600€ despite the regular subsidies.
DeleteUp to 800+ EUR. Just checked my ticket LJU-BRU-LJU for March 16-18, 2016, bought two months before flight: 812,00 EUR.
DeletePlease work on getting Iberia back
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteGreat to see them improving but still a way to go
ReplyDeleteAnd what is happening with national airline?
ReplyDeleteThe government said they will present plans in autumn although I wouldn't hold my breath.
DeleteI think it will be a bit pushed back following the floods
DeleteThey can say whatever they like. Numbers speak for themselves and at the moment, LJU is towards the bottom in passenger recovery.
ReplyDeletehow bitter are you about it?
DeleteBitter about what? Is it wrong what I said? The management is constantly making excuses and everything is an issue except them.
DeleteAustrian?
ReplyDeleteNot gonna happen.
DeleteWhy?
DeleteThey don't have an appropriate aircraft.
DeleteThey fly 3 times per day to klagenfurt… they will start Ljubljana as soon as they finish tunnel between graz and klagenfurt
DeleteNow that ITA is joining Lufthansa Group, I hope to see them start LJU flights.
ReplyDeleteIsn't it a bit too close?
DeleteEasyJet operated Milan flights a while back, Rome is also a good possibility
DeleteEurowings to Berlin would be great
Delete@anon 9:56
DeleteThey dont gave any planes for this route, i think even the A319 is too big. Maybe when they get A221s
Easyjet used A319/20 on the route and the aircrafts very full for the most of the times so i think A319 3x a week should be completely fine
DeleteRome will never happen. The competition from Trieste is too strong.
DeleteEurowings is also a possibility. Remember reading an article here about demand for secondary cities in Germany from Ljubljana.
ReplyDeleteDidn't they plan to start flights a few year ago?
DeleteThey shortlisted LJU as a potential destination a few years ago but nothing happened.
DeleteThey shortlisted LJU and Mostar and went for Mostar. Go figure
DeleteEurowings had LJU on that 'you vote we fly' thing. I hope they eventually launch it.
DeleteActually in 2017 Eurowings announced flights to LJU from Dusseldorf but then cancelled their plans. Same for Skopje.
DeleteTAROM should start Ljubljana. Demand between Bucharest and Ljubljana is surprisingly high.
ReplyDeleteI really hope Wizz Air will expand its network to Ljubljana. I think there is a lot of potential. Why have they not done more?
ReplyDeletethey even waited 4 years for launching Skopje ...
DeleteStapel has applied her phd thesis: “Talking to airlines in highly competitive aviation industry in relation to inclination of the cold front and cloud base at Ljubljana airport”’
ReplyDeleteAt least it is good to see that they have become more proactive. Let's hope it gives some results.
ReplyDeleteLJU is really moving forward this year! Good luck.
ReplyDeleteAgree. It's good to see some positive news coming from Slovenia again
DeleteFlights to Spain, Italy and Scandinavia needed.
ReplyDeleteI see potential for eiher SAS or Norwegian launching flights
Delete* either
DeleteStill waiting for Ryanair
ReplyDeleteI think you will be waiting for quite a while.
DeleteTrieste is here.
DeleteI don’t think we will see Ryanair at Lju in near future. I even think that Maribor will get Ryanair flights eventually before Lju
DeleteWhat was the number of transfer passengers at the time of Adria?
ReplyDeleteApprox 200k per year out of 1.8 mio
DeleteSo what now? Can we expect some news about new airline launching flights or announcing them to come back next year?
ReplyDeleteOf course they don’t tell which airlines those are or which were the most interested (i mean fraport)
ReplyDeleteIt seems the Fraport Slovenia is sharing same know how with OU one…nobody, nobody will establish s route unless there is not enough and more or less CONSTANT demand. Wishful thinking and dedires to fly somewhere from LJU are NOT enough. Airports like LJU can only survive in symbiosis with local carrier flying smaller aircraft all over the Europe. Something like Adria. But in order to maintain positive net result, some dacrifices need to ne made, even on state level.
ReplyDeleteI hope that with more airlines and more flights come also better work schedules and segregation/specializations per airlines groups - for checkin agents it is already hard to keep up with all procedures, rules and dcs systems differences of current airlines, I can't imagine adding another 10 airlines :S
ReplyDeleteI'm still thinking that Air Serbia should base 2 aircraft in LJU. It would benefit both companies.
ReplyDeleteHow exactly would it benefit JU at times when they desperately need any aircraft they can get for their BEG operations? It would require hefty subsidies by the Slovenian government either way.
Deletegosh they only have rights for flights SRB-EU ... JordanianAviation 2.0
Deletewhen you run to the press after the very first meeting...
ReplyDeleteAfter reading article it seems there is NOTHING new in plan…..nothing!
ReplyDeleteBtw I am going this Saturday on my 51st flight of this year at VCE Marco Polo…..and I live 20km from Ljubljana airport. Impossible to travel from LJU
ReplyDeleteI will have my 38th flight this year on Thursday, 36 out of them from LJU. And I live in Ljubljana.
DeleteWithout knowing where you need to fly, such comparisons make no sense. If you fly to FRA, BEG or IST and/or connect there to other flights, LJU is a good option. P2P travel to other airports, many of which were previously well served (schedule wise) by Adria, has become a nightmare.
DeleteAn airport named Joze Pucnik can't do better. At least change Joze to Jose.
ReplyDeleteManchester. please.
ReplyDeleteThat name is already taken
Delete