No interest in Maribor

Maribor Airport

The Slovenian Transport Ministry received no bids for the offered 30 year lease of the state owned Maribor Edvard Rusjan Airport, as the deadline ran out on Tuesday. Therefore, the call for bids will be repeated. If the call fails again, the ministry might enter direct negotiations with potential lease holders. The winning bidder was offered a 30 year lease of the airport’s infrastructure. The tenant would also have become the new manager of the airport which is currently not served by any airline (with exception to the odd charter flight). Maribor Airport is currently leased to the Aerodrom Maribor company, owned by the troubled car seat cover maker “Pervent”.

It is believed that interest was low because potential buyers were unhappy with the terms and conditions of the tender. The national postal service “Pošta Slovenije” was most interested in the lease, although Adria Airways also expressed interest.

Maribor is Slovenia’s second largest airport, behind Ljubljana but ahead of Portorož. Maribor Airport opened to commercial traffic in 1976 and upgraded its runway in 1999. In 2007, the airport reported 1.480 flight operations, 31.936 passengers and over 19 tonnes of transported cargo. The airport was, for several months, served by the low cost Ryanair, between 2007 and 2008. In 2010, Adria Airways and several other airlines relocated to Maribor during Ljubljana’s runway overhaul.