Ljubljana Airport unveils new terminal


Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport has announced the construction of a second terminal building at a press conference in the Slovenian capital today. The new facility, valued at sixteen million euros, will be opened to the public in time for the 2020 summer season, which begins on March 29 that year. The construction of the new structure will allow for the airport to handle 1.280 passengers per hour, up from the current 500, and will feature a total of 22 check-in desks, five security lanes, a large duty free shop, commercial space, as well as a new premium lounge. The building will stretch over an area of 8.700 square metres. A new 2.000 square metre baggage sorting facility will also be built. The existing terminal will remain partially in use and will be utilised by low cost and charter carriers. Ljubljana Airport's General Manager, Zmago Skobir, said this is part of the airport's efforts to provide product differentiation to allow further passenger growth.


The General Manager noted, "A modular solution is planned for the terminal. This means that construction can be carried out in phases that are effectively and efficiently adapted to traffic development needs. At the same time, a convenient and high-quality passenger experience will also be provided”. The current terminal building in use at Ljubljana Airport was built in 1973 but has since been reconstructed and refurbished. It stretches over an area of 13.000 square metres. The new facility will be built next to the existing one, towards Šenčur, and will be connected to it. The company running the airport, Aerodrom Ljubljana, which is 100%-owned by Germany's Fraport, also announced a change in its name to Fraport Slovenija, in order to increase its international visibility and appeal. “Airports are of course important to the local area but at the same time they operate in a highly competitive international business environment. We believe that the Fraport brand will bring added value to the international visibility, image and business status of our Slovenian subsidiary”, Christoph Nanke, Chairman of the Investor's Committee of Fraport Slovenija, said.


Ljubljana is facing increasing competition from nearby airports which are investing heavily in improving their infrastructure. "Fraport is development-oriented, but has a very cautious and conservative development policy. The fact is that we now have a strategic owner who has a great understanding of the development process", Mr Skobir, said. As a result, the overhaul of the existing terminal should begin this autumn and it should be fitted with new technology. Ljubljana was the only capital city airport in the former Yugoslavia to see its passenger numbers decline in 2016. It handled 1.404.831 travellers, down 2.3% on the year before. However, it is off to a strong start this year with 288.355 passengers welcomed during the first quarter, up 17.5%. The airport's management estimates that growth will average 3.1% on an annual basis in the coming years.

Comments

  1. Anonymous09:04

    This is good new but I think they are late in the game. If they built the new terminal as planned with 31,200 sqm and had it completed by 2015, they could have converted the current terminal for low cost use and capitalised on the fact that Zagreb is not that low cost friendly. Could have been a win in attracting Croats to fly from Ljubljana but also make yourself more competitive against ZAG.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:05

      *news, sorry

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:07

      Agree 100%

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:26

      It could be, if the airport was owned and ran by the state. But private companies have only one ultimate goal, make money. And that can't be done with LCCs.

      So no dramatic change should be expected in LJU, unless JP goes bankrupt. Then only we can see LCCs basing aircrafts there.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:57

      True last anon but Ljubljana Airport's profits declined last two years so they need to change something.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:00

      It started declining when Fraport took over. It was down in 2014, 2015 and 2016.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous10:04

      well no surprise. They have no retail space and no commerce. It's another reason why they need to build a new terminal.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous10:29

      Their profit did not decline that much with Fraport
      It would go down next to nothing if they went with the LCC model, look at Sofia

      Delete
    8. Anonymous12:29

      Well their profit was growing before Fraport came.

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:06

    "Fraport is development-oriented, but has a very cautious and conservative development policy" - this is why I wouldn't like for them to win the Belgrade Airport concession.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous09:12

    Better late than never.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous09:14

    It's been a couple of years since Fraport took over LJU. I have kind of mixed opinion about their success. What do you guys think?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:17

      I wasn't expecting them to come in and build some new shiny terminal but I was expecting them to start attracting new airlines. Something they haven't done.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:21

      That's not really true. We have Transavia, new easy jet flights to London, new flights to Kiev coming up this summer and last year Aegean was flying to LJU (they won't come back but still they tried).

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:28

      That all comes up to 9 additional weekly flights and they have been running LJU for years.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:38

      For sure you can't blame Fraport for Adria's problems. But I do agree that they could and should attract more airlines. This year is looking good for LJU, hope the growth will continue.

      Delete
  5. Anonymous09:15

    The terminal they planned looks pretty good. Pity they never built it :(

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:05

      What's even more unfortunate is that the EU agreed to fund part of the new terminal back then. No chance of that happening now.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:30

      Stari plan terminal im izgleda kao stala. Lepsi im je sadasnji. Dobro je sto ga nisu podigli. Ne znam sto samo ne produze postojeci za jos 4 er bridza. To je samo mali aerodrom ne treba im tu letiliste za spejs satl.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous12:30

      Tada su bila ocekivanja da ce do 2015 imati 1,8 miliona putnika kao 2008. Ali dogodilo se suprotno i broj putnika je opao..

      Delete
  6. Anonymous09:18

    Hoping for the best! Good to see some development also in Ljubljana.

    Haplek

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous09:19

    Anyone know what time the conference starts?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:53

      afternoon

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:54

      Do you have a more precise time?

      Delete
  8. Anonymous09:23

    They released a new video with the new name https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eI_ffDHW44

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:37

      Another one too https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_JJss_3TDk

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:53

      They also made some changes to their website

      Delete
    3. JU520 BEGLAX10:10

      Still not all ac types avbl on new website
      Check for example AF 1187
      I cant stand this sloppyness

      Delete
  9. JU520 BEGLAX09:23

    Fraport was not a good choice. Didnt know they are so development shy. But judging their mainport FRA, i got now the picture. Change their fm Terminal 2 to a Schrngen Gate and u will know what I mean
    Skobirs enhancements were minor, the queue is no no more a long line but a snake form
    Also flew on Tuesday to ZRH fm gate 12 with 81 pax. Again just 1 damn bus used only. In ZRH they always use 2 if there is more than 50 pax

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:30

      Thanks for the insight. Did you fly into LJU as well? If yes, what were the loads?

      Delete
    2. JU520 BEGLAX10:00

      Flew last Saturday evening to LJU on JP307
      Easter Holiday Traffic already gone
      We were just 22 noses o/b Urska
      Had Jetbridge stand. Easy and smooth arrival

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:03

      That quite a light load. How was the service on board?

      Delete
    4. JU520 BEGLAX10:17

      Service is always more or less same. Clear PAs and in 3 languages Free cup of water, rest needs to be purchased
      Inflight WIFI still or again missing Newspapers Magazine Section
      Flt on time. AC clean but too hot during boarding
      Purser spoke English with English acsent
      All in all pico bello. Did not buy anything and was as usual seated on my emergency exit 14A seat
      Btw JP has nice offer for Marlboro, just 23 EUR per carton for non EU flights

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:29

      Thanks :) good to know

      Delete
    6. Anonymous17:16

      Not many Sat flights are full. Where are they? JP is very full on ZRH/LJU flights, spec FRI/SUN/MON and same LJU/ZRH. Spec for Easter. Assume ZRH is one of best JP revenue flights as ZRH serves many as connecting apt out of LJU.
      I prefer to fly CRJ than Airbus.
      Also ZRH will use only one bus, depends on the deal with the Operator.

      Delete
  10. Anonymous09:27

    Looking at the diagram, there is enough space for a small terminal next to the one we have now. It could have 4 or 5 air bridges too.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous09:39

    Good infrastructure always brings further development and opportunities.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous09:44

    Hope we get some renderings today but I doubt it. They will mainly focus on changing their name -.-

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:48

      A press conference just about the name? I don't think so.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:54

      I didn't mean that they won't announce the expansion I meant that they probably won't go into too much detail.

      Delete
  13. Anonymous10:08

    Good luck, Ljubljana!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous10:18

    Do they have any plans to expand cargo traffic? I know they have been working a lot in that sector.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:33

      Novartis is building a new logistics centre right next to LJU and will use the airport for cargo transport. They plan to renovate the cargo hangar and have signed a contract with TNT. But cargo is still less than 10% of their total revenue. They are trying to change that.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:52

      Good, thanks. Ljubljana has quite a lot of cargo traffic. I know they are well ahead of Zagreb in that respect. Then again Zagreb plans to focus on cargo as well so we will see.

      Delete
  15. Anonymous10:35

    The terminal they planned to build a few years ago looks a lot like the one in Zadar.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:54

      What are those two extended glass things on the side of the terminal? What was that supposed to be?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:04

      I think those are bus gates.

      Delete
  16. well....the thing is, that private owners (minority) was against the new terminal, since they thought it was too expensive. It would bring LJU to 21st Century. They were not keen to loose the dividends...The majority shareholder (the State) lost its voting rights by stupid clerical error and never took any steps to change that. Go figure.... By now, LJU would have got the new terminal already and the old one would not be used any more. 13 check ins? Yes, and only 2 security lines after that....So you can imagine B777 with 350 japanese eldery tourists in veeery long queue...how happy they must be. And not only them. The managment has proven itself as not capable of runing the busines. It was easy so far, they were milking Adria Airways and other airlines, crazy enough to fly to LJU with prices like that. On top of that, there is only one cerosene provider (Petrol), which has realy "nice" price policy - take or leave it. Its no wonder that so many companies were serving LJU and then stopped (Aeroflot, CSA, BA, Swiss...). The managment saw more urgent to build two new parking spaces across the road than new terminal (of which one is now racing track)... they don't care about infrastructure, well, until it became apparent that they might lose main customer..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous18:53

      Yeah, coz some people wanted to cash in (only a few million €) on some land they bought for cheap. Private owners found out about it and they blocked the expansion. The only right thing to do.
      Same is with the parking lot across the road. Land was sold for few € to certain people who then sold it for A LOT of money to the airport LJU. At that time it was absolutely essential to build that parking lot. Parking lot was then empty for few years, now you have a few rental cars there and recently some karting.
      Greedy people...

      Delete
  17. Anonymous11:05

    I wish LJU the best. At one point it was truly the most modern airport in ex-Yu. But times have really changed and everyone has picked up their pace while LJU has been left behind. So I really hope for some announcement of development.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:10

      Adria's woes certainly didn't help them.

      Delete
  18. Anonymous11:10

    With 20 million EUR they will not build a lot.

    100 million ZAD expansion
    120 million BEG modernization
    180 million SPU expansion
    200 million PRN new terminal
    250 million SKP new terminal
    290 million ZAG new terminal
    350 million DBV expansion

    So, what can they do with 20 million?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:17

      I'm thinking the same thing. This is a very low sum. Maybe enough to put some makeup on the current terminal but nowhere near to build anything.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:22

      More than you think

      Delete
    3. Anonymous11:26

      By balcanic way of business ubderstanding 20 mios mean at least 50

      Delete
    4. Anonymous11:38

      @11.22 such as?

      Delete
    5. Anonymous11:40

      Kraljevo Airport terminal cost 22 million euros and it looks quite alright

      http://www.novosti.rs/upload/images/2012//05/01/REP-morava.jpg

      http://www.novosti.rs/upload/images/2016//01/31/KRALJEVO---Pristanisna-zgra.jpg
      http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v127/Pupin11/Kraljevo5.jpg

      Delete
    6. Anonymous15:55

      half of the SKP money went into private pockets. look at the roof of our airport looks like a montazna hala

      Delete
    7. Anonymous23:46

      Zagreb was not build by Balkan mentality but French

      Delete
    8. Anonymous01:21

      No, Zagreb was build by Croatian companies, and it looks like typical "gračevina". Lack in the details.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous09:56

      Not true. They made most of the works but did not decide about price, costs, control...

      Delete
  19. Anonymous11:39

    OT: Anyone know does Air Serbia flight to CDG arrivals on airbridge or is via bus to terminal. I need to catch another flight from 2D terminal (where're arriving flights from Belgrade) to 2F so i need to see would be 90min enough for all that (no checked luggage)

    Thanks

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:16

      Sometimes they use the airbridge, sometimes the bus.

      Delete
    2. They use airbridges. That should be more than enough time. You might have to use the bus to reach 2F, but that's regular.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous17:22

      Thanks guys!

      Delete
    4. I travel frequently through CDG, and never used the bus, ASL almost always is on the same gate (D66). You will have to catch the Navette Blue to 2F terminal.. Please note that it's a circular line and buses always operate in one direction (clockwise), which in your case is good, because it's the first stop after 2D, but note that if on your way back it's the same case, you will make a loop through all the terminals.

      http://www.parisaeroport.fr/docs/default-source/passager-fichiers/acces/ligne-grise-circuit-correspondance-cdg.jpg?sfvrsn=0

      Delete
  20. Anonymous12:17

    This will be very good for Ljubljana if it materializes. Finally something moving.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Anonymous12:41

    The current terminal was originally built to handle 500,000 pax so they need to expand.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Anonymous12:45

    Hopefully they focus on getting more airlines. Along with this project, the airport should be ok. Passenger numbers are going up.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Anonymous13:11

    http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=576250&page=134

    ReplyDelete
  24. Anonymous13:16

    First photos: https://twitter.com/uporabnastran

    ReplyDelete
  25. Anonymous13:50

    Looks good :)

    ReplyDelete
  26. Anonymous13:51

    Congrats Ljubljana !

    ReplyDelete
  27. Anonymous13:55

    Looking really nice! Congrats!

    ReplyDelete
  28. Anonymous13:59

    Good to see Ljubljana hasn't fallen victim to putting A380s on airport renders like the rest of ex-Yu :D

    Good news for Ljubljana!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous15:47

      Haha true

      Delete
    2. Anonymous15:50

      That was exactly my thought. Slovenians - modest but always down to earth and realistic.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous18:06

      Finally some common sense, great comment, Anon 3:50!

      Delete
  29. Anonymous14:05

    Finally!

    ReplyDelete
  30. Anonymous14:06

    No air bridges...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous14:17

      LJU alreday have jetways...

      Delete
    2. Anonymous14:17

      It is an extension of the existing terminal

      Delete
  31. Anonymous14:09

    They have done a similar thing to the current BEG airport. They will have two terminals for check-in but the departures area will be used jointly by both.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Anonymous14:12

    I like it. Looks modern.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Anonymous14:15

    It won't have air bridges?!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous14:18

      LJU has air bridges, this new building will be connected to them

      Delete
    2. Anonymous14:25

      But there won't be new air bridges?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous14:40

      No probably they will try to get more lcc.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous16:35

      Presumably when airport hits 2.5 million pax they'll expand new terminal and add some additional air bridges on top, like at current terminal, however developer is quite conservative with their plans, so we might need to wait till they Lju hits 3 million pax for additional 4-5 passenger boarding bridges.

      Ljubljana could hit 3.0 million pax by 2025, we'll see.

      Cause Ljubljana is so close to Zagreb and central Europe, traffic beyond 3.5/4.0 million pax will be hard coming, even if Ljubljana becomes a LCC base.

      Zagreb is expected to hit between 3.5 and 3.2 million pax this year, and negotiations with EasyJet on adding few destinations out of Zagreb, Milan, Lyon, Seville and Dortmund are in play.

      So we might see the return of EasyJet to Zagreb and German Wings/Eurowings plans to establish a base in Zagreb, with daily flights to at least 5 German cities.

      So Competing against Zagreb even with Wizz and Ryan air will be hard. No idea what future holds for Ljubljana, hopefully there's a bright future ahead, i just don't see them pass 5.0 million mark any time soon (2040 perhaps ?).

      Delete
    5. Anonymous16:37

      ***

      "Zagreb is expected to hit between 3.5 and 3.2 million pax this year"

      Should say
      Zagreb is expected to hit between 3.05 and 3.2 million pax this year

      typo...

      Delete
    6. Anonymous17:30

      I think Zagreb will hit 3.5 this year. It is the only relevant airport in the region.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous18:01

      @5:30
      LOL what? I don't know what's funnier, the first or the second statement.

      Delete
  34. Anonymous14:30

    Looks good - agree they seem to be getting a lot of bang for their Euro. €20m is not very much

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous14:44

      It's actually 16 mil. EUR

      "The new facility, valued at sixteen million euros..."

      Makes me think what kind of material they will be using.

      Delete
  35. Anonymous14:52

    Yay some positive news from LJU Airport :))

    ReplyDelete
  36. Anonymous15:01

    I actually think it looks very good. Just the size Ljubljana Airport actually needs to cater for the future.

    ReplyDelete
  37. Anonymous15:08

    So, T1+T2 capacity will be apx 4 mio pax...far enough for many years

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous15:54

      Lets say for the next 7 years.

      Delete
  38. Anonymous15:30

    As they say "koliko para toliko muzike" but I think it looks good overall.

    ReplyDelete
  39. Anonymous15:48

    Nice

    ReplyDelete
  40. Anonymous16:12

    Zmago Skobir also announced two new airlines to start flying from LJU this year. One is Dniproavia with Kiev, the other one is unknown.

    I don't want to get my hopes high :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous16:26

      He probably meant Transavia which started 10 days ago...

      Delete
  41. Anonymous16:57

    OT: With Emirates making pretty drastic cuts to their US network and abandoning plans for new points there, a number or airframes will become available - and according to a source in the sand pit from this morning, may bring forward momentum to expansion elsewhere with the Balkans and ex-YU high on the potential list. My money is on OTP, but perhaps BEG could also feature in their news release shortly.

    ReplyDelete
  42. Anonymous17:19

    It's been a long time coming but I'm glad there will be some new development in Ljubljana.

    ReplyDelete
  43. 22 milion € is not so little. New Air Traffic Control building in LJU was built for that money, including all the equipment and other infrastructure, which is, as you may know, doesn't come cheap....

    https://www.google.si/search?q=kontrola+zra%C4%8Dnega+prometa+slovenije&num=30&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwijhNPvvbPTAhWFqxoKHZHKC7EQ_AUICCgB&biw=2560&bih=1321

    ReplyDelete

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