Low cost carrier Wizz Air will launch flights from London Stansted Airport to Ljubljana this winter season, complementing its existing service from London Luton to the Slovenian capital. The flights, which have been filed by Ljubljana Airport, will be operated by Wizz Air's newly established UK subsidiary, that will also maintain operations from Stansted. According to the "Sierra5" portal, the budget carrier will run two weekly flights from Stansted to Ljubljana, each Tuesday and Saturday, starting October 30, while services from Luton will be maintained on Thursdays and Sundays. Currently, the airline runs flights from Luton on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays. Tickets for the new Stansted service are yet to be put on sale, although the flights have been scheduled. All services will be operated with the Airbus A320 aircraft.
Wizz Air will compete directly against easyJet on the Stansted route. According to the Slovenian portal, a total of 239.727 passengers flew between Ljubljana and London last year, with 47% of those opting for easyJet's Stansted service, followed by Luton and Gatwick. Slovenia's busiest airport still lacks flights to London's busiest airport - Heathrow. Wizz Air obtained a license for its UK operations in May in part to ensure it can keep operating in the country after Brexit. The airline's UK unit boasts a fleet of eight A320 and A321 aircraft. Wizz Air previously flew out of Stansted but currently has no flights from the airport.
Low cost carriers have steadily increased their presence in Ljubljana over the past few years with easyJet launching year-round services from Berlin in August and Transavia introducing flights from Amsterdam last year. High refuelling prices, state taxes and other charges, which the airport has no control over, continue to act as a deterrent for low cost airlines in Ljubljana. Eurowings, which intended on introducing services from Dusseldorf to the Slovenian capital earlier this year, cancelled such plans later on. The CEO of Ryanair, Michael O’Leary, previously said, “If Ljubljana Airport were to lower its taxes Ryanair would surely return to Slovenia”.
Further flight details for the new London Stansted - 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.
ReplyDeleteGreat news for Zagreb and Croatia as well as tickets to London are extremely expensive.
ReplyDeleteCongrats to LJU though. Great add.
what is so great for Zagreb?? Instead of flying 4 times to LTN wizz will now fly two to to LTN and two to STN? So what?
DeleteLJU is an alternative for ZAG same like people from Zagreb are using Transavia to AMS.
Delete? but there is NO increase in capacity nor in frequencies! So what is so great for either LJU itself or in particular Croatia? It is not even an addition of a new airport in London, as EZY already flies to STN. In contrary, just shows that Wizz is feeling EZY and losing PAX on their LTN route, and that is why they react.
DeleteThis is not an impressive or important news. Number of frequencies stays the same plus it Ljubljana is already connected to Stansted. Flying only twice a week to a single airport is not competitive when you speak about London. Not smart move.
DeleteTrieste also has daily LON flights. Just 100 km from LJU.
Deleteto be exact, RYR has 4weekly flghts to Ts, not daily!
DeleteCongrats, good news from LJU :) More options to London.
ReplyDeleteWon’t the market become a bit saturated?
ReplyDeleteAs you can see, almost 50% of all passengers flying between London and Ljubljana are on the Stansted route. It makes sense that Wizz Air wants a piece of the cake.
DeleteActually, I think the market could sustain a third airline as well.
Deleteeasy and Wizz are going head to head on more and more routes.
ReplyDeleteWhich other besides BEG-BSL?
DeleteI didn't mean in ex-Yu, I meant wider. In Poland quite a few.
DeleteStill no LCC flights to LJU from anywhere north of Luton.
ReplyDeleteI just noticed the flights on the Ljubljana Airport website. Interesting. Especially since it means Wizz is going back to STN.
ReplyDeleteso basically no frequencies increase but a shift of airports?
ReplyDeleteInstead of one they will serve two airports. Exactly the same thing easy did in LJU two years ago.
Deleteyes, two to STN and two to LTN, instead of 4 to LTN.
DeleteLjubljana is the only capital city airport in ex-Yu to be served from so many different airports in London.
ReplyDeleteWas it a smart decision for Adria to leave London completely? The market seems to be significant.
ReplyDeleteThey even ended seasonal Gatwick flights.
DeleteOf course they ended it. They can't compete against U2 on that route.
DeleteNo way JP can compete against LCCs on London route.
DeleteWho is using these flights in such great numbers? Who would have thought London-Ljubljana would be so popular.
ReplyDelete4 times to LTN or twice to LTN and twice a week to STN ?? SO what great number are you talking about? People obviously want to fly to other airports then LTN and Easy tapped that so WIzz is movong two of 4 flights to STN, so no increase in seats or anything just another airports. Same as Easy is doing in Berlin.
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.
DeleteWhy is everybody obsessed with LHR? There is no added value of flying there. too expensive, too crowded, massive waste of time in all respects, many other connection options available to all ex-yu airports.
DeleteBecause Hethrow offers connections to just about anywhere in the world.
Deletebut what would those LHR connections be good for, if you can not use them?
Deleteoption 1: BA would fly; but they do have much more profitable unserved routes from LHR...
option 2: JP would fly; but they have had to code share with BA if they are after the connecting passengers; I can not see how this may be better for them to feed some star alliance hubs, and how this would add significant better options for passengers
Didn't JP also fly to Southend Airport?
DeleteYes but from Maribor.
DeleteThe very least, if JP flew to LHR, their pax could at a minimum seamlessly connect onto all Star Alliance flights, currently at least the following 31 routes, most of them long haul:
DeleteAir Canada: 7 destinations non stop to/from Canada: Calgary, Halifax, Montréal–Trudeau, Ottawa, St. John's, Toronto–Pearson, Vancouver
Air China: Beijing
Air India: 4 destinations non stop to/from North America and India: Ahmedabad, Delhi, Mumbai, Newark
Air New Zealand: Los Angeles, Auckland
Asiana: Seoul
Avianca: Bogota
Eva Air: Bangkok, Taipei
SAS: Copenhagen, Oslo–Gardermoen, Stavanger, Stockholm–Arlanda
Shenzhen Airlines: Shenzhen
Thai: Bangkok
United: 7 destinations non stop to/from US: Chicago–O'Hare, Denver, Houston–Intercontinental, Los Angeles, Newark, San Francisco, Washington–Dulles
Major detour for most of 31 routes named. On top of that, almost all served from Frankfurt and Dubai.
DeleteWould have preferred a different destination to be honest.
ReplyDeleteParis CDG would have been a good option :)
DeleteAlready served by HOP.
DeleteU2 used to fly to CDG from LJU in the past and failed.
DeleteThey also used to fly to Berlin, failed but they started the route again a few months ago and it seems to be performing well.
DeleteIt would be good if Hop got upgraded to Air Frane mainline.
DeleteIs it just me or tickets still aren't for sale? There is also no announcement of Wizz Air opening STN base...
ReplyDeleteIt says in the text that tickets aren't on sale yet.
DeleteFlights are already listed on Ljubljana Airport site with operational schedule.
DeleteThey will announce Luton flights in next week.
DeleteStill seems very shady. Sierra5 (and this website) is the only one reporting on this. Nothing in any foreign media, nothing on Wizz Air websites... And normally they keep the new bases announcement quite secret.
DeleteYou have it on Ljubljana Airport website.
DeleteLondon for Ljubljana is the same as Gulf for Sarajevo.
ReplyDeleteBut who is using these flights predominately? Business people, city breakers, English people, Slovenians?
DeleteBritish drunk tourists, same as Tallinn or Riga!
Delete118,508 British tourists in Slovenia in 2017.
DeleteSeventh largest group of tourists in Slovenia.
DeleteInteresting info. Thanks.
DeleteI am using the route on a monthly basis. There's around 5k Slovenians living in London now and the number is increasing. Also, every time I fly, I would say about 60-70% of the passengers are English tourists and always few % of Asians who either fly to London and then connect the flights to reach Slovenia (Gatwick has good connections around the world) - Or are simply exchange students visiting Europe while they can with their Schengen visa. In 3 years time, since I moved to London, I have never seen a flight that would be less than at least 90% packed, but most of the time they are completely full. I am convinced there's space for more flights or another airline.
DeleteThanks for the insight :)
DeleteIf there would not be demand there would not be such offer. Looks like that Brits like Slovenia
ReplyDeleteWell it's at least something. I see this as a beginning with more routes to be added in the future.
ReplyDeleteYES! Once a week to LGW, once a week to STN and twice a week to LTN.
DeleteOk 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.
ReplyDelete+1 same feeling I had two years ago with "new" easyjet route to London. The new part being a new London airport.
DeleteLJU managment identified Spain a few years ago as one of the most undeserved markets. I don't understand why they didn't get Wizz Air to fly to Madrid or Barcelona.
ReplyDeleteThey can't just "get" an airline to fly a route. The airline itself has to calculate if they can make money flying that route.
DeleteLjubljana needs flights to Dubai.
DeleteWe need Scandinavia, Italy and Spain.
DeleteMilano, Madrid, Barcelona and seasonal to Lissabon
DeleteSeems London-Ljubljana is where money can be made.
ReplyDeleteWith extremely low costs yes.
DeleteWhich London airport is the best for passengers in terms of comfort and proximity to the city?
ReplyDeleteLCY, LHR, LGW, STN, LTN and SEN. In this order.
DeleteThanks. Thought London City might be the most convenient.
DeleteBtw what's wrong with Southend?
DeleteNothing, just that other airports are closer to London.
DeleteI have now flown to all airports of the London area except LTN and yes, LCY is by far the closest to the city centre and also the most convenient. I dont mind transferring in MUC or FRA and if you are not fixed on a certain date/rush hour then fares are affordable with LH! Plus it is really cool to descend steeply over the London city centre during final and touch down in the harbour and then break very hard due to the shorter runway.
DeleteApart from LCY, I don't see a big difference between the other 5 airports. Actually almost none regarding the combined time you need to go through the airport, collect your luggage, and till you are outside of it or in the train station.
All of the other 5 have a direct train connection to the city taking at least 31 and up to 53 minutes, also depending on what type of train you take. Bus services will take (often significantly) longer but are cheaper.
I actually liked the SEN train, took 50 minutes but was less crowded and hence more enjoyable. I hate LHR just due to its massive size and things take ages there sometimes. It also can take like 90 minutes from LHR by tube to the centre (of course you can also take the expensive Express train line).
LHR keeps exciting people but there is nothing to be excited about really.
DeleteYou always arrive to London and then end up in a holding pattern for 30 or so min before landing. On the ground everything is so slow. Tube is crowded and takes a lot of time. Booking private transfer is the best option for some 40-50 pounds.
Interestingly the flights to London from Ljubljana are used by quite a lot of people from nearby cities.
ReplyDeleteYes, that is true. In such a small region it is normal.
DeleteWizz has been flying Brussels and London since 2006. Time for something new guys.
ReplyDeleteThey could compete against JP on Prague or against JP and LOT on Warsaw route. Comparing to demand from Venice to Poland, these routes should work.
DeleteNot enough demand for A320 to PRG and WAW.
DeleteI would prefer some other airport in the UK. Maybe Manchester?
ReplyDeleteAdria used to fly to MAN seasonally. Not sure if they did this summer.
DeleteThey did this summer, once per week.
DeleteUsed to be two weekly last summer.
DeleteNice. How many passengers can we expects Ljubljana to end up with this year?
ReplyDelete1.8 million.
DeleteAttracting more and more LCCs and LCC routes is the best way to compete against Zagreb at the moment. And also the best way too boost passenger numbers
ReplyDeleteLJU has a great option and position to develop into a hybrid airport...mix of legacy and LCC. When the new terminal is built, the current one will be used for LCCs.
DeleteNew terminal won't be done until 2020 the earliest.
DeleteSome suggestions for LJU:
ReplyDelete- Try to get Paris flights upgraded from HOP! to AF
- Try to get Finnair fly year round, not just seasonally
- More LCCs - Norwegian should be a priority so people can connect to their transatlantic flights
- End Turkish monopoly on Istanbul route. Try to attract Atlasglobal
+1
DeleteWith Turkish increasing frequencies to LJU next summer again, it is odd that neither Pegasus or Atlasglobal have launched flights.
DeleteMajority of passengers to IST route are connecting on TK flights anyway...
DeleteIt's really unusual that there are only 2 flights per day on THY webpage. Just bought tickets to from LJU to IST in April and to ATH in May with the mid-day flight (the third one, the one that is not available on THY webpage): TK 1062 LJU-SIT (14:35-17:50), TK 1061 IST-LJU (12:25-13:40). Do you have any similar experiences? It looks like there is a third flight available in the Amadeus system and not in the one used by THY. Strange.
DeleteYep that seems to be the case. Maybe they are still waiting for government approval or something?
DeleteIt's great to see some positive news coming from Slovenia again.
ReplyDeleteHopefully they add some more flights from different destinations soon. Like someone said, they have been serving Brussels and London to Ljubljana for 12 years.
ReplyDeleteLjubljana was nicely featured in Wizz magazine recently :)
ReplyDeletevery bad news for Adria airways.
ReplyDeleteBut Adria doesn't fly to London, why would this be bad news for them?
Deletelol exactly. I fail to see how this can hurt Adria in any way.
DeleteIt is really surprising that LJU is linked with 3 airports in London. Good job.
ReplyDeleteEven more surprising that the market didn't get saturated.
DeleteA city having 6 airports, what do you expect? JP lost their chances on a happy ending, they could´ve considered LCY. The CR7 is the PERFECT aircraft, double daily S200 and CR7
DeleteLJU-LCY 07:00 07:45 D S200
LJU-LCY 17:00 18:45 D S200
LCY-LJU 08:45 11:00 D S200
LCY-LJU 19:45 22:00 D CR7
CRJ can't go to LCY. Even SEN proved difficult for CRJ900.
DeleteHow about the S200 ?
DeleteNo problem for the Saab 2000
DeleteI see we have lots of clueless armchair CEOs on here today.
DeleteMaybe another destination in the UK could also work.
ReplyDeleteNot maybe, but definitely. Liverpool, Edinburgh, Birmingham, Newcastle...
DeleteNah, not NCL but the first 3, defo. I would add GLA and BRS too.
DeleteI read so many laughable comments here. Ljubljana is an EU capital and almost all 26 capitals are connected to at least 2-3 London airports. It is the financial centre of Europe, business, leisure, always ongoing events, London has the population of entire south Yugoslavia.
ReplyDeleteStansted belongs to Ryanair but we also see Jet2.com expanding agressively and now Wizz wants a slice of the cake. They are clearly focusing on Western points now, I won't be surprised if they add another destination from LGW and not only OTP.
That said, Ljubljana is becoming a more versatile, regional product combining leisure, business, transfer, O&D and is soon probably considering long-haul.
Fraport has an ambitious 2020 plan and the future is indeed looking very bright for LJU.
Sidney Ljubljana. Evo samo sto nije krenula prodaja.
DeleteThe winner here is Stansted. It adds to the longest list european destinations of any airport. Primera Air started long-haul flights to take advantage of this fact. Emirates has commenced floghts as well.
ReplyDeleteIt is one of the most horrible airports in Europe similar to BVA, FCO and all those former military airports.
DeleteWhy is Stansted horrible? It's a new, big and nice terminal. Is Luton any better, in which regards?
Deletelove it or hate it,it handles more passengers than all exyu airports put together.
DeleteIt is really one of UK's worst airports:
Deletehttps://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-45286347
MAN is even worse.
LTN was rated the worst.
DeleteSEN rated the 2nd best in the UK.
I think W6 will open more UK routes Slo.
ReplyDeleteplease launch jp timetable
otp reduced from4 to 2 weekly in winter! :(( big surprise
sof days changed to 1,3,5 instead of 1,4,7 - cr7 only
dus 3 weekly
prg, cph 4 weekly
led still no news
kbp 3 weekly
ams sjj, skp, prn, tgd, tia daily
svo 2 daily still no codeshare with su
zrh 3 daily
fra 20 weekly
muc 2 daily
cdg 9 weekly
bru 12 weekly
waw 10 weekly combined with lot - super!
ham - no service :(
i hope jp launch lhr soon.