Low cost airline easyJet will launch flights from London Gatwick Airport to Ljubljana this winter season, complementing its existing service from London Stansted to the Slovenian capital. The budget carrier will run four weekly flights from Gatwick to Ljubljana, each Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, starting December 5. It comes after the airline boosted operations from Stansted to Ljubljana from daily to nine per week this summer. During most of the coming winter months, the route will be maintained five times per week. The British carrier operates all of its flights to Jože Pučnik Airport with a mix of Airbus A319 and A320 aircraft.
easyJet faces no direct competition on its new route, although rival Wizz Air operates services from London Luton to Ljubljana. On the other hand, Adria Airways maintains flights to Gatwick only on a seasonal summer basis. Combined, the three airlines handled 150.000 passengers on services between the two cities last year. easyJet’s Senior Route Manager, Dimitris Schoinas, said, “We are pleased to be adding this new route today giving more choice to connections to the UK’s capital city at affordable fares for both our business and leisure passengers departing from Slovenia and also offering a great airport for onward connections throughout Europe and the UK”. The low cost airline will expand its presence in the former Yugoslavia this winter season, with services from Paris to Pristina to be launched next month.
Ljubljana Airport, which has seen its passenger numbers decline over the past few months on the back of a weaker performance by its main customer - Adria Airways – is looking to ease its reliance on the carrier. Earlier this year, LOT Polish Airlines launched services from Warsaw to the Slovenian capital, while Greece’s Aegean commenced seasonal flights from Athens. The airport recently held talks with Emirates, Etihad Airways, Flydubai and Air Arabia, with the latter two believed to have shown the greatest interest in launching operations. Qatar Airways is also considering potential services to the Slovenian capital.
Further flight details for the new London Gatwick - Ljubljana service can be found here.
Smart move. They will offer the same number of flights as they did during the summer season but from two different airports.
ReplyDeleteAs soon as LJU airport stops subsidizing Adria, it'll be gone. Apparently, they are already running late on payments to Petrol (fuel supplier at LJU).
ReplyDeleteIf a LCC like easy were to open a base in LJU it would mark the end of Adria.
DeleteLjubljana is fed up of waiting to see whather Adria's latest experiment will work. Thankfully, they are looking elsewhere.
DeleteHow are the looking elsewhere? Sry, I don't see that.
DeleteCongrats, finally some good news from LJU :)
ReplyDeleteWon’t the market become a bit saturated? Three airlines flying from Ljubljana to London
ReplyDeleteTwo during the winter but from three airports :D
DeleteHaha literally Ljubljana will become the only airport in ex-Yu to be served from so many different airports in London.
DeleteExactly! Only BEG could come close if U2 launches LGW once visas are removed.
DeleteOnly BEG????
DeleteFrom summer Zagreb will have 16 flights to LHR and 3 to LGW. If U2 launch same thing from ZAG to LUT it will also have 3 destination but with much more frequencies. So, what is your statement based upon? How BEG could be the only to come close????
@Anonymous September 16, 2016 at 9:25 AM
DeleteHow exactly you expect visas to be removed for Serbians???
BEG has far more chances of getting a new link to London than Zagreb does after Monarch announced flights.
DeleteAlso, there is a good chance that OU might discontinue LHR while JU needs additional slots and Wizz Air seems to be doing fine in LTN.
We all know that W6 or U2 have no intention of linking ZAG with LON.
So yes, BEG along with LJU has the most chance in ex-YU.
BEG has more chance go get U2 route than ZAG whose owner is 2nd (CDG) and 5th (ORY) the biggest base or easyJet? Now that is typical potentate unrealism.
DeleteSince when are airlines launching flights based on who owns which airport? They are launching flights depending on the size of the market and the one served by BEG is incomparably larger than the one served by ZAG.
DeleteFirst think that ADPI said was we will help with our influence and know-how. Of course ADPI can black-mail easyJet with slots in CDG or ORY if they base aircraft in ZAG. And we all know how easyJet bag for slots in CDG.
DeleteThe one that is missing is HEATHROW! But good work for Ljubljana.
ReplyDeleteThe chances of seeing British Airways flying this route are really slim with so many flights to London.
DeleteWith all these connections the market seems to be there. Funny how JP can't seem to make LHR work.
DeleteThey sold their slots for LHR years ago, like the rest of the stuff.
DeleteAnd now Croatia run on same way. They sell planes, companies and announce to sell LHR slots.
DeleteAs we can see which result it made in Adria, I wonder if anyone in Croatia really know that or care about it?
Seems like Austrian Airlines is launching LAX flights. Six weekly on the B772. Great news for ex-YU travellers.
ReplyDeleteWhat's the difference for ex-YU travellers? They'll have one more one-stop option in a sea of one-stop options, while the OS long-haul product is certainly among the less attractive in Europe.
DeleteWhy exactly less attractive compared to other European airlines? Preferred to BA and AF for sure.
DeleteOS has high frequencies in ex-YU so they will get avlarge part of this market if their pricing is realistic. Having an extra option doesn't mean anyone is going to take it! Great for OS and VIE I guess though.
DeleteOS' long-haul product is much better than LX, AF or KL.
DeleteHow come everyone is celebrating? Listing through the comments a few days ago most of you were saying how bad the management is at Ljubljana Airport.
ReplyDeleteI don't think this has much to do with LJU management as it has to do with U2 ensuring its domination on this market.
DeleteWould have preferred a different destination to be honest.
ReplyDeleteParis CDG would have been a good option :)
DeleteHOP already flies there. But yes, some other destination would be good. Maybe in a few years
DeleteI think U2 used to fly to CDG from LJU in the past. Berlin as well if I'm not mistaken.
DeleteIt would be cool if HOP got upgraded to full&proper AF. Seems to be a popular route.
Hello everyone. I have a question. Wizz Air announced second a/c for BEG but only three more routes. Do we know if they will increase some other destinations?
ReplyDeleteMaybe MMX to daily?
It says here in the article
Delete"It will boost frequencies on services to Dortmund, Endhoven, Gothenburg, Memmingen and Stockholm Skavsta by adding an additional weekly flight".
http://www.exyuaviation.com/2016/08/wizz-air-to-announce-serbia-expansion.html
DTM 3->4
DeleteEIN 3->4
GOT 2->3
FMM 2->3
NYO 2->3
FKB departure is moved from 05.00 to 17.40
No destination will have more than 4 flights per week, MMX used to be 5 some years ago.
If there would not be demand ther would not be such offer. Looks like that Brits like Slovenia
ReplyDeleteMore than 88,000 British tourists accounted for more than 260,000 overnight stays in Slovenia in 2015.
DeleteSome 70,000 Slovenes went to London from Ljubljana last year.
UK is 6th largest tourist market for Slovenia.
Maybe a lot of people from ZAG use these flights if they are cheaper.
DeleteInterestingly the flights to London from Ljubljana are used by quite a lot of people from nearby cities, not just Zagreb.
DeleteYes, that is true. In such a small region it is normal. I saw slovenian cars even at PUY.
DeleteZAG-LON 29.10. povratak 2.11. 3 karte, kupljeno 50 dana prije
DeleteCroatia 245 EUR
British 231 EUR
Air France/KLM via CDG povratak via AMS 223 EUR - KUPLJENO (2 na BlueBizz bodove, jedna kupljena)
ČSA via PRG 255 EUR
Austrian via VIE 265 EUR
Sabena via BRU 266 EUR
Lufthansa via FRA 287 EUR
Air Serbia via BEG 305 EUR
Turkish via IST 407 EUR
EasyJet from LJU 179,26 EUR
* when you put costs of patrol, toll, vignette, and parking it is not worth it!
Purger, you are one mean motherfurther (haha...), you make your people go through CDG (one of my least favourite airports to transfer) in order to save 8 EUR per pax! If they buy a cup of coffee at CDG and AMS they will probably spend over 8 EUR each, not to mention the time wasted in longer journeys.
DeleteNonetheless, I salute you for running such a tight ship. Capitalism at its finest or worst, depending on your viewpoint ;)
PurgeJourney, you made my day, haha...yeah, mighty tight ship there, as usual if I might add, haha...cheers :)
DeleteI hope you did note that I had 2 ticket for free by BlueBizz points which will expire in December 2016 so I have to use them before that. And that is 450 EUR.
DeleteOf course I would not use connected flight for 8 EUR, even as I have BlueBizz and FlyBlue (I also have Miles and more so I would use OU, but not BA). But as it was last second to spent those BlueBizz points I have to do it.
I don't agree about CDG. I use it several times per year and I really like it. Especially Hippopotamus restaurant in terminal 2D and sweet boutique in 2E.
Excellent news. This will at least compensate for the loss of Adria's Ljubljana - Berlin flights at least.
ReplyDeleteThings are finally starting to move at LJU. Next up should be Fly Dubai announcing new flights.
ReplyDeleteIt will happen soon, believe me ;)
DeleteI belive that Aadria has gotten second chance...but there is no time left...so LJU will soon bounce back
DeleteGood news. But like others, I would prefer different destinations, such as Barcelona or Berlin...
ReplyDeleteI have just takken a look over Feb 17 achedule... Stanstwd 7w,Getwic 4w, Luton 4w .. all together 15w fligts to LON
ReplyDeletewow that's great for consumers.
DeleteThat's exactly why I think LHR could work, the demand seems to be there.
DeleteWell it's at least something. I see this as a beginning with more routes to be added in the future, maybe two, maximum three.
ReplyDeleteOT
ReplyDeleteW6 flights from Ohrid to Luton now extended to year-round.
Excellent for OHD. Not so excellent for SKP, as their loads will suffer. If LTN-SKP is affected, so will its PRN-bound pax. However, instead of PRN-bound pax, it may attract more TIA-bound pax.
DeleteBy PRN-bound and TIA-bound pax I mean pax that you otherwise have flown to these airport, not necessary pax bound for the cities themselves.
Apologies for the spelling.
DeleteMeant to say, If LTN-SKP frequencies are affected, i.e. fewer flights LTN-SKP as a result of more LTN-OHD flights.
Again, PRN-bound pax are essentially Kosovo-bound pax, and TIA-bound pax are north-east Albania-bound pax.
Hope Wizz Air expands at OHD.
OT
ReplyDeleteRelating to easyjet I have just discovered something that might be interesting for someone...
If you purchase ticket with easyjet and later on you find out that the price for chosen dates and destination have dropped (under condition that lower price is not offered in period of special sales prices) easyjet is returning the price difference in the form of voucher. This voucher can be used on easyjet flights in next 6 months, but in that case the ticket needs to be purchased by phone.
OT
ReplyDeleteWizz announced today they are resuming flights from SOF-VAR daily and SOF-CTA 2w starting March 2017. They also operate domestic OTP-CLJ. Maybe they can launch BEG-INI daily too??
They can't as Serbia is not in EU
DeleteEven if that is possible Wizzair for sure will not fly A320 on destination far away just some 230 km by highway.
DeleteSOF-VAR has almost no highway, same as CLJ-OTP. You will never find 150+ pax for a daily flight BEG-INI, unless it's for free. When you count in all the airport hassle (security), it's faster by car.
DeleteCluj - Bucharest is 450 km with just few km of highway
DeleteSofia - Varna is 455 km with just 160 km of highway.
One can not compare that with 230 km with highway!
Purger, Anon 14.45 agreed with you, no need to get excited.
DeleteI know he agree.
DeleteI am not exited. Not at all.
For that flight to work you would need it to sit at RSD1000 at the very maximum! It's 20 minutes from BEG city to the airport, check in at least 45 minutes ahead, 30 minutes on the plane, and 10 to disembark and exit. You're saving 15-20 minutes but paying RSD400 over what the cost of the Niš Ekspres or Lasta would be. Then you have all the German, Swiss, Austrian bus operators who do the Vienna-BEG-INI-Leskovac, etc routes and those are even cheaper sometimes. I got a INI-BEG for RSD350 last year with Simplon one morning. You could never justify flying costs for the time you save on those routes.
DeleteAs someone mentioned in another posting. BEG needs to implement high speed rail service that link BEG to maybe Jagodina, then INI, Leskovac, and maybe as far as Preševo. But Leskovac would be enough. Further down and then SKP and PRN are close enough to justify fly out from there.
Ok I would have been more excited if they launched a new destination rather than just a different airport from a city they already serve but I will take it. Better something than nothing.
ReplyDeleteVery good news :)
ReplyDeleteWell done LJU! Time to beat SKP! Hehe :)
ReplyDeleteLJU must overturn its negative growth before thinking of beating anyone. Hehe... indeed!
DeleteHopefully more new routes and airlines are to come. Maybe Wizz Air adds a new destination?
ReplyDeleteIs this seasonal just for the winter or will it fly through the whole year?
ReplyDeleteYear round.
DeleteLJU managment identified Spain a few years ago as one of the most undeserved markets. I don't understand why they didn't do anything to attract an airline like Vueling or even get Wizz Air to fly to Madrid or Barcelona.
ReplyDeleteDidn't Adria use to fly to Barcelona?
DeleteBecause we want to transport Slovenians over Frankfurt.
DeleteCheers, Fraport AG
Ot All New Route listings for 2016 and 2017 on this page are LCCs or seasonal/leisure routes mostly to Adriatic destinations. Not a single "legacy" carrier has new route announced. If we add MUC, PEK and IKA for JU it remains tiny percentage compared to the rest. Strong indication where Ex Yu aviation market is headed
ReplyDeleteLjubljana should be connected with Dubai and Doha soon.Why are they waiting for????Slovenians travel a lot. And of course slovenia is a perfect getaway for arab tourists.Turkish airlines flys twice per day, there is definitely space for some gulf carrier.
ReplyDeleteIf their is market they would for sure start to fly to Ljubljana at least before Skopje, Sarajevo and Priština. But as we can see they do fly there but not to Ljubljana.
DeleteFZ and QR fly to ZAG, EY and EK to MIL, EY EK and QR to VIE - some twice a day. If ZAG can't get all of these daily and LJU is so close then it's unlikely to happen any time soon. But hopefully I'm wrong!
DeleteOT seems like easyJet will keep GVA-BEG as 3x weekly unlike 2x last winter.
ReplyDelete