Ljubljana targets Spain flights and Austrian Airlines service

Ljubljana Airport has seen the arrival of several new airlines this year, with its management currently working on improving frequencies to hub airports, restoring connectivity to Spain, and securing Austrian Airlines flights from Vienna. The General Manager of the airport’s operator Fraport Slovenija, Babett Stapel, told the “Finance” daily, “In our discussions with airlines we are working hard for them to increase flights to important hubs, as these will strengthen Slovenia's connectivity to the world the most. From March next year, there will be a second daily service to Munich and based on preliminary forecasts, there will be a 10% increase in scheduled flights from Ljubljana”. Ms Stapel highlighted that, in addition to the Bavarian capital, Ljubljana boasts flights to London Heathrow, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Istanbul and Dubai, as major global hubs.

Iberia served the Slovenian capital during the coronavirus pandemic in 2021, with Ms Stapel hopeful flights between Ljubljana and Spain will be restored in the coming period. “I would like to see Spain on the map of scheduled destinations. We are putting in strong efforts not to have a grey area on the map. In 2021, this market was covered for a short while by Iberia with flights to Madrid, which, in addition to being an attractive final destination, also offered an excellent starting point for connecting flights to Central and South America”. On the other hand, the airport is also in talks with Austrian Airlines in order to regain flights to Vienna, which were discontinued upon the demise of Adria Airways in 2019. “The obstacle is the capacity available at Austrian Airlines, as it currently does not have a suitable smaller aircraft that would make it worthwhile to fly to Ljubljana. We are in constant contact with them regarding the establishment of flights to Vienna and, of course, we are working towards this, and we hope that it will be back in our network as soon as possible”, Ms Stapel said.

The General Manager explained that market demand dictates the arrival of new carriers, noting that Fraport offers incentives to reduce the risk for airlines. “Market demand is the main factor on the table during negotiations with airlines to establish flights. If, according to the carrier's estimates, there is satisfactory demand to create conditions for profitably, the path to a new route is much simpler. Fraport Slovenija directly reduces the risks with an attractive scheme of incentives for carriers to fly in the form of reduced prices for our services. These are completely competitive with surrounding airports. The costs of airport services represent only a fraction of all operational costs and are therefore not a decisive factor for establishing services. The state's efforts to improve Slovenia's air connectivity, in the form of aid or subsidies, also contributes to reducing risks. Even more important are activities aimed at establishing Slovenia as a tourist destination, which stimulates demand for inbound flights. Unfortunately, with all these efforts, we cannot completely eliminate the risks for carriers and stakeholders” Ms Stapel said.