Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport is expected to see a busy 2018 summer season with Adria Airways launching seven new routes and foreign carriers adding extra frequencies on existing services. Following on from a record 2017, the airport has continued to post strong results in the new year. In January, Ljubljana Airport handled 100.375 passengers, representing an increase of 12.3% on the year before. The number of aircraft movements grew 11.4% to 2.465. Furthermore, the airport processed 1.016 tons of cargo, up 18% on January 2017.
| Month | PAX | Change (%) |
|---|---|---|
| JAN | 100.373 | ▲ 12.3 |
Apart from the seven new routes being added by Adria this summer, which include Sofia, Bucharest, Hamburg, Geneva, Dusseldorf, Dubrovnik and Brač, the Slovenian carrier will also be running flights to Kiev, which were launched over the 2017/18 winter season, maintaining the service three times per week this summer. Furthermore, it plans to operate extra frequencies to several destinations including an additional four weekly flights to Podgorica for a total of eleven, two weekly services to Prague for a total of five, one weekly flight to Skopje and Vienna, as well as three weekly services to Tirana all resulting in double daily operations. Adria also intends on running a number of holiday charters from Ljubljana. ”We are pleased that Adria Airways made a significant contribution to the number of passengers at Ljubljana Airport last year. By introducing scheduled flights to Kiev, it also increased the number of destinations from our airport, and thus contributed to our efforts to provide the widest possible range of flights from Ljubljana. Since Adria Airways has announced new destinations for 2018, we look forward to the future with great optimism”, the General Manager of Ljubljana Airport, Zmago Skobir, said.
Foreign carriers will also strengthen their presence in the Slovenian capital. Budget airline easyJet will inaugurate three weekly flights from Berlin to Ljubljana, complementing its existing services from London's Gatwick and Stansted airports. "Given that Germany is Slovenia's largest economic partner, we are convinced that this and all future flights from our airport to German cities will be successful and contribute significantly to a further rise in the number of tourists in Slovenia", Mr Skobir said. Low cost airline Transavia will increase its number of flights from Amsterdam to five weekly during the height of the summer season, up from three last year. Furthermore, LOT Polish airlines will run daily services from Warsaw, an increase from six per week last summer.
well done Ljubljana. I think it will be the big surprise this year.
ReplyDeleteFraport have been doing a great job lately.
DeleteAdria, Fraport not realy.
DeleteYes but the airport has also attracted new airlines/routes and they are about to start construction of the new terminal.
DeleteHonestly I was expecting that more and more airlines would launch flights to LJU after Fraport took over but so far not too much action. I really hope things change. I'm happy Easy Jet will start new flights.
DeleteIt's a real shame the airport didn't try more to keep Aegean Airlines when they started flights in 2016.
DeleteMaybe Adria will reconsider Athens next year.
DeleteJust 4 new routes (exempt Adria) in 4 years. That is not a good result for Fraport at all.
DeleteGood to see that foreign airlines will also be adding flights.
ReplyDeleteLOT is expanding like crazy in ex-Yu. Either new routes or opening up new frequencies.
DeleteIs there a chance Flydubai or Qatar Airways will start LJU?
ReplyDeleteToo late for summer. Maybe in winter. Apparently they are talking to both.
DeleteLjubljana could handle 2 million pax in 2018.
ReplyDeleteProbably not really. But 1.900.000 could happen realistically if Adria manages to deliver what is meant to.
DeleteGreat to see LJU booming again.
ReplyDeleteAnd especially LCCs growing. Shame Wizz Air isn't more active.
DeleteActually Wizz will have the only decrease this summer of all airlines flying to LJU. They will fly London 3 instead of 4 times (obviously competition from easy jet having an affect). Other than that they keep Charleroi 2x per week and all other airlines are either keeping the same frequencies or increasing them like the article mentions.
DeleteI don't understand how Wizz does not see potential to launch new routes from LJU. There are many potential destinations they could launch.
DeleteIt's probably too expensive for them. It's good they fly what they do considering they don't fly to ZAG.
DeleteActually Wizz will still be flying 4 times per week to LTN this summer season:)
DeleteOops my mistake. I thought it was only three but on their website the dates that are coloured in indicate when there are no flights, I thought it showed when there are flights. Good!
DeleteBut unfortunately their plans to operate A321 on London route did not happen.
DeleteSooner or later I am sure that Wizz Air will be expanding there is the future. LJU can be a nice cheaper alternative to Zagreb.
DeleteExcellent news for Slovenian consumers.
ReplyDeleteTwo million this year? I think it's possible
ReplyDeleteI wish but I think that would be difficult. Like someone said above, 1.9 million seems more realistic but I hope for the best.
DeleteThe airport has really woken up lately. A lot of new flights from Adria, new flights from easy, Trasavia and LOT too. It would also be nice for Finnair to go year-long.
ReplyDeleteWell it took them a good 3 years to wake up.
DeleteLooks like Finnair will be sticking to 4 flights per week during summer. Doesn't seem to be enough demand in winter.
Delete“Ljubljana is developing well and we hope that someday it will be feasible to operate there year round. We actively follow many markets where we could either increase frequencies or make them year round operations”
Deletehttp://www.exyuaviation.com/2017/11/finnair-sees-ex-yu-market-potential.html
It would be nice. They have been flying to LJU during the summer for years.
DeleteI think that's the first time Ljubljana has had over 100,000 passengers in January.
ReplyDeleteYes. It's best January on record.
Deleteyes, the previous best january was in 2008 with about 95000 passengers.
DeleteIt's still problematic in my opinion that Adria holds over 75% of the market. They need more competition. Now it is great for the airport because Adria is growing but remember what happened 2 years ago when Adria was cutting flights and LJU fell behind Pristina and Skopje.
ReplyDeleteA few months at the end of last year Ljubljana was handling more passengers than Pristina actually. I think it started in October.
DeleteWill ANA fly its charters from Japan to Ljubljana this year too?
ReplyDeleteThey should. Usually they have these flights in August/September.
Deletewith B777
DeleteDubrovnik as well!
Deleteit was just 2 flights last year all season.
DeleteGreat news for Ljubljana Airport. I'm glad things are finally picking up with new airlines and routes, plans for a terminal expansion and passenger numbers growing.
ReplyDeleteLJU is really moving forward this year! Good luck, Slovenia!
DeleteIt's good to see some positive news coming from Slovenia again with both Adria and Ljubljana Airport recovering.
DeleteFuture is looking good at the moment.
DeleteIt would be interesting to see how many Slovenian passengers use Zagreb, Trieste and Venice for travel and whather this number is increasing or decreasing.
ReplyDeleteAttracting more and more LCCs is the best way to compete against Zagreb and other surrounding airports at the moment. And also the best way too boost passengers numbers without depending on Adria.
DeleteWell I think LJU's recent growth only goes to show that the airport is finally learning how to attract the market around it.
DeleteNice. How many passengers can we expects Ljubljana to end up with this year?
ReplyDeleteMy guess is 1.9 million tops.
DeleteEven more interesting will be to see how many passengers Adria might have this year. It should be huge growth.
DeleteGreat numbers. When does construction of the new terminal starts?
ReplyDeleteOctober.
DeleteGreat finally. And do you know when it's supposed to be finished?
DeleteMarch 2020.
DeleteNice. Hope it all goes to schedule and that it results in some new airlines.
DeleteI think Norwegian may be coming soon too.
ReplyDeleteThey said ages ago they were interested in flying to LJU but since then nothing.
DeleteThere's 0 news on Norwegian and it's too late to announce a new route now anyway. Maybe next year,but I doubt it
DeleteIt just shows how the aviation business is always changing. In 2016 we were disappointed with declining figures at LJU and overall bad situation. This year and last we are celebrating strong growth and new routes.
ReplyDeleteThat's because they still need to bring in new airlines. Their entire growth (and demise) over the years has been completely dependent on Adria.
DeleteGood result
ReplyDeleteI would love to see an LCC takeover some monopoly routes by Adria. Vienna with Wizz Air would be nice.
ReplyDeleteDoubt it. Adria already competes against a low cost option between these two cities - the bus.
DeleteYou can’t compete on LJU-VIE with A320. You would need at least two daily and there’s just not enough demand.
DeleteAdria is becoming everything Air Serbia always wanted to be. A transfer airline between east and west.
ReplyDeleteTrue. And they are actually serving most of the region with more than one daily flight which was Air Serbia's original aim.
DeleteAir Serbia also flies to the majority of the cities in the region more than daily.
DeleteThe situation gets even more impressive when you look at BEG's connectivity in stead of JU's.
DeleteQuestion is will all these new Adria routes be kept after summer. I know DBV and BWK are seasonal bu the rest are planned as year round. But let's see if there is enough demand.
ReplyDeleteAll of the routes are operated with a plane that has a capacity of only 50 seats so I think it's safe to say they can fill them during the winter too. Kiev was launched during the winter and it is doing extremely well.
DeleteWhat's with the sudden interest from/to the German market? 3 new routes this summer.
ReplyDeleteBiggest economic and trade partner, increased tourism, the airport is owned by Germans, the national airline is owned by Germans. No big surprise.
DeleteMakes sense
DeleteLjubljana Airport is getting close to Skopje again. Good results.
ReplyDeleteReally? Skopje will probably have 2.1 million while LJU is looking at 1.9 million.
DeleteLjubljana should be handling 2 million pax by now.
DeleteSkopje had around 145k in january
DeleteI think LJU will surpass SKP in April no doubt. But W6 will deploy its A321, so it will be a tough competition.
Deleteseriously?? SKP has 6 new wizz routes started last July (expect a growth of 10-20% each month). The only chance of LJU getting close is the second half of the year when they JP will start the expansion
Deleteits already 44.000 ahead
DeleteNo way of LJU surpassing SKP. With the additional WAW flights and the A321 of W6 this is mission impossible.
DeleteSKP will have a tough fight with PRN this year.
LJU will overtake SKP when two things happen:
Delete1. government subsidies end
2. PRN gets its act together
Good luck LJU overtaking SKP with the SBs which will be deployed on the new routes, great capacity added right there.
Delete@anon 7.13 you must be Einstein
DeleteStill no flights to Spain, the Middle East, Italy, Greece...
ReplyDeleteJust a few years ago Adria used to serve all those markets. Well except the Middle East.
DeleteIt would be fantastic to finally get some scheduled flights to Spain again so I'm really hoping for Vueling.
DeleteI agree. I think Spain is underserved from Ljubljana and I also think there is potential for more flights to the Scandinavian market.
DeleteAdria already flew to Spain and it didn't work out. I don't know why people think it would be any different now.
DeleteAnon @11:47 times change
DeleteIt will be a great year for LJU! Good luck! Does Air France still fly there from Paris?
ReplyDeleteHop flies to Ljubljana daily. Plus Adria.
DeleteLJU should try to get Paris flights upgraded from HOP! to AF.
DeleteThis is good news for Ljubljana Airport which desperately needs more destinations and airlines.
ReplyDeleteWho would have thought that London would be the number one destination from Ljubljana with three airports being served.
ReplyDeleteEspecially since it's a destination which is not served by Adria.
Delete15 flights per week from Ljubljana to London in S18. Not bad for an airport of Ljubljana's size.
DeleteAnd if you look at easyjet prices in may/june its not enough still... barely any fare under 100eur one way (no luggage of course)
DeleteStill waiting for Ryanair
ReplyDeleteI think you will be waiting for quite a while.
DeleteNow imagine how the growth would look like if they would attract more LCC traffic
ReplyDeleteLCC ne donose place na stol.
DeleteBrojke su jedno.
Korist od brojki nesto sasvim drugo.
If you read the article you will see they are doing just that.
Deletethere was article on uporabna stran that LJU airport will get one more fuel distributor... maybe it will help getting new airlines
ReplyDeleteThat is good news. I think in this case competition is good.
DeleteWhile there's many optimistic plans and good news coming from LJU, the (predicted) growth seems to be wholly dependent in JP.
I think that is problematic on two counts. One, we still don't really know what's going on with JP - the thing with Darwinb the SAABs and all that. And two, there's little competition, seems like JP will actually increase its market share, which can't really be good for the consumers' pockets.
Fraport have been very effective lately. In FRA they went friendly with FR, in Greece they are heavily investing in most regional aiports, Bulgarian coastal airports have improved dramatically and LJU is now expanding with JP and new terminal will be opened.
ReplyDeleteHere is where you can find info about LJU:
https://www.fraport.com/content/fraport/en/misc/binaer/traffic-figures/traffic-figures-fraport-group/2018/monthly-traffic-figures/current-group-traffic-figures/jcr:content.file/traffic-sheet-2018-januar_en.pdf
Congratulations to LJU, Fraport and Slovenia for turning around the situation at the airport. LJU has a massive catchment area and only now things will start to change in the region. For too long LJU was sleeping in ZAG and VCE shadow but no more.
ReplyDeleteeasyJet is expanding in LJU while ignoring ZAG for a reason, same with Wizz Air. I think LJU might be the next place they expand or open a base.
More good news to come, more good news to come. :)
Sometimes reading the threats here I was wondering does folks smokes something.
ReplyDeleteDo you get a lot of....threats?
DeleteCongratulations, this is a great news, Fraport is doing a great job!
ReplyDelete