Ljubljana Airport considering new terminal


Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport is revisiting plans to build a new passenger terminal with a final decision on the project to be made by late March. In 2013 minority shareholders, which have since been squeezed out, rejected plans for the construction of a 57 million euro new terminal building. Speaking to the "Finance" daily, the airport's General Manager, Zmago Skobir, now says, "The owners [Fraport] will make a decision by the end of March. The terminal would expand towards Šenčur and would be slightly smaller than the one previously planned. However, beforehand, it is necessary to look at all the calculations. We are in a better position now because the trends have changed, Adria Airways has a new owner and there is a greater understanding of the investment". He added, "The construction of the new terminal would cost fifteen to twenty million euros and work could begin immediately".

In 2013, the European Union agreed to fund 22% of Ljubljana Airport's new terminal but the project was cancelled after minority shareholders refused to give their support as the airport was in the midst of its privatisation process and the country was still dealing with the fallout from the global financial crisis. The new facility was meant to cover an area of 31.200 square metres, with its opening planned for 2015. Following Fraport's takeover, the construction of a new terminal was put on hold with greater focus put on revamping existing facilities. "Under current plans, the overhaul of the existing terminal would begin this autumn and it should be fitted with new technology. We have already made some quick fixes to improve passenger flow", Mr Skobir said.

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. Commenting on the results, Mr Skobir explained, "The figures recorded in 2007 and 2008 were a result of Adria's far-reaching network, which then collapsed. In 2008 there was also more traffic due to Slovenia's presidency of the European Union. In 2011 and 2012, numbers fell by 30% and we lost between 300.000 to 400.000 passengers. This was a big blow for us and it took several years to recover". The head of Ljubljana Airport added, "In 2015 numbers grew 10% and last year's decline was down to Adria's restructuring. In November and December 2016 figures stabilised. Adria's new owners are obviously doing the right thing and the market is growing. Foreign carriers flying to Ljubljana are constantly seeing passenger growth and in this sector we have already overtaken figures from 2007 and 2008. In 2008, Adria held an 80% passenger share, today it is a solid 60%. The fact of the matter is that Adria's restructuring was not as fast as we expected". Mr Skobir noted that the airport has introduced a flexible pricing policy for airlines and is doing its best to attract new carriers. However, fuel prices at Ljubljana Airport, state taxes and other charges, which the airport has no control over, continue to act as a deterrent.

Comments

  1. Anonymous09:17

    The reason for a new terminal should only be aesthetic, as the old one will always be an ugly duckling.
    Without an expansion in Adria there wont be any massive increase in pax

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:28

      There would be, if they lowered the fees and allow the LCC expansion.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:30

      The airport is privatised, not sure how much LCC the new owners really want as it would slash profits

      Delete
    3. Anonymous11:06

      @ AnonymousJanuary 21, 2017 at 9:28 AM
      Well in the text it says that fees have been reduced but other service chanrges, which are not dictated by the airport are too high.

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:48

    Anon at 09:28
    For LCCs, you don't need a terminal ;)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous09:56

    Finally! Fraport please say yes. The estimated price isn't even that expensive.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous09:59

    Just need space where to put them, Beg needs that too, i think

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous10:06

    It's interesting that last year they said it would be a few years before they consider a new terminal and now they are fast forwarding the plan. What happened?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:23

      Nothing.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:32

      Competition happened. They saw what's happening i Zagreb and realized they needed to act.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous11:04

      Don't know how people don't realise that airlines don't come to airports because of shiny terminals.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous11:49

      And they realized it now? January 2017? Last anonymus +1. If they saw only now competition coming from ZAG, they are very naive.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous13:45

      Adria happened

      Delete
    6. Anonymous19:41

      Nothing unpredictable happened with Adria. What's your point?

      Delete
    7. Anonymous21:43

      Adria is growing. That is my point.

      Delete
  6. Anonymous10:55

    it's obvious LJU needs new terminal, specially check-in area, security check, arrival area

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous13:54

      And schengen gates lower flor for sure

      Delete
  7. Anonymous10:59

    Considering traffic trends I wouldn't agree that Adria has stabilised. If it did it would not have sold its name to get cash in the short term. But I am happy that they have decided to build a new terminal.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:03

      They haven't decided yet. It will be decided in March.

      Delete
  8. Anonymous11:04

    Does anyone know what size it would be?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:11

      Well it will be smaller than 31.200 square metres ;)

      Delete
  9. Anonymous11:11

    Excellent news. Hope they say yes :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous11:43

    A small terminal with 4 gates would be optimal. They can connect it to the current terminal. A rail line from the airport to the city would be excellent.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous11:50

    I'm more interested in the filling up the existing terminal to capacity. Let's hope LJU can handle 1.7 million this year.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:05

      That would mean they need to add more than 200,000 passengers. A bit difficult but let's see. November and December were a good start.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:09

      Almost 300.000 actually

      Delete
  12. Anonymous12:37

    Is this part of the Aeropolis project, or a different scheme altogether?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:46

      I think it's a different scheme.

      Delete
  13. Anonymous12:53

    Ljubljana ima vrlo pristojan aerodrom i ne vidim niti jedan racionalan razlog za prosirenje. Obim saobracaja nije ni blizu kapaciteta sadasnjeg terminala. Potrebne su mozda samo kozmeticke izmene u cilju prosirenja prostora za preuzimanje prtljaga na dolascima i mozda face-lifting free shop prostora. Sve ostalo je na zavidnom nivou.

    ATCO

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous13:47

      Dali si video kako izgleda RUSH hour. Mnogo jim treba terminal, mnogo. Ali imaju vrlo prijazno osobje

      Delete
  14. Anonymous13:53

    jedan OT: Vueling pojačava liniju između Barselone i Beograda

    http://www.aviatica.rs/vueling-pojacava-liniju-izmedu-barselone-beograda/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous14:14

      Wow up to 94% loadfactor, that's fantastic.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous15:00

      Zašto ta linija ne postane celogodišnja? Nije moguće da nema potražnje, zimi bi mogla 3 puta nedeljno bez problema.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous17:10

      Bilo bi dobro da BEG dovede i Iberiu, ili da JU otvori liniju do MAD

      Delete
    4. Anonymous20:02

      Probao je svojevremeno Spanair da leti MAD-BEG ali je ubrzo ta linija napustena. Mnogo bolji LF je bio na liniji BCN-BEG

      Delete
  15. Anonymous13:54

    I'm really happy to hear that Fraport is reconsidering plans to build a new terminal and that we most probably won't have to wait 5-10 years for them to build it.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Anonymous14:45

    This sounds like a bad joke. They always act few years too late. Way too narrow minded...

    ReplyDelete
  17. That price sounds totally doable. Fingers crossed for Ljubljana!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Anonymous16:35

    OT: Zagreb terminal interior! Really nice!

    https://scontent.fzag1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t31.0-8/15541045_10154628664357626_2051074547001306122_o.jpg?oh=d5b07dde1e97346b703d249e01987401&oe=5911C135


    https://scontent.fzag1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t31.0-8/15590980_10154635653167626_8988045722944331585_o.jpg?oh=04aad83a704fa41ab1c2836432bacf03&oe=591FE052

    ReplyDelete
  19. Anonymous19:21

    What could LJU do to attract more pax? I'm sure there is a market between Italy an Slovenia. TRS-FCO is the line I probably flew the most often in 2016 and there were always many Slovenes, even people from Zagreb. Once a busines partner flew FCO-TRS and then drove to Ljubljana.

    Now I don't see AZ starting FCO-LJU any time soon with 5 daily flights between TRS and FCO (or Milan with 2 daily between LIN and TRS). JP could try to get some of those pax.

    LH group hubs are already served more than once daily, it would be great if they had major airports such as AMS, CPH at least daily. A legacy carrier link to London would be great - the market is def. there, and many people from the UK told me that "Slovenia is not easy to fly to."

    ReplyDelete
  20. Anonymous20:16

    Fraport has been around for 2 and a half years. Not that new anymore.
    And what new routes, only Amsterdam/Transavia are so far confirmed

    ReplyDelete
  21. JU520 BEGLAX23:28

    A new terminal with 4 new jetbridges gates pls
    So the timings of bussing people to the planes would be over
    Thank you. Lets hope it will stay unil, when LJU will reach 1,8 mio pax and would be ready with a cap of 4 mio for the next 20 years

    ReplyDelete

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