Foreign carriers boost Ljubljana operations

Foreign airlines are increasing their presence at Ljubljana's Jože Pučnik Airport as the Slovenian national carrier Adria Airways continues to struggle both operationally and financially. British Airways has upgraded equipment on its planned new two weekly seasonal service from London Heathrow to Ljubljana, which is scheduled to commence on July 15. The carrier will offer an additional 76 seats per flight by deploying the Airbus A321 aircraft on the route, which has the capacity to seat 220 passengers. It initially planned to operate the smaller A319 jet. The service is set to run until September 2, however, the airline will consider extending its flights if they prove successful.

Air Serbia will add an additional 288 seats each way on its operations to the Slovenian capital from August 1 with the introduction of a new two weekly service from Niš. Flights will be operated by the Airbus A319 aircraft. They will complement the twelve weekly services maintained between the Serbian and Slovenian capitals. "The service to Ljubljana will serve as a bridge between Niš and Slovenia, which will benefit both people-to-people exchange and trade links. We hope this new route will result in the arrival of more tourists to Niš, considering some 100.000 Slovenians visit Belgrade and Novi Sad each year", the Mayor of Niš, Darko Bulatović, said. The Slovenian Ambassador to Serbia, Iztok Jarc, noted, "We are delighted by the launch of this new route. We see potential to cooperate with Niš in tourism, cultural exchange and sport. It is also important to note that we have excellent trade relations with Serbia. Slovenia is a significant investor in Serbia employing some 25.000 people in the country, while some 4.000 Serbs work in Slovenia".

Air France will more than double its flights between Paris and Ljubljana from October 27. The French carrier will maintain thirteen weekly flights between the two cities, up from six last winter season, through its regional subsidiary Air France HOP!. It will coomplement Adria Airways' flights on the route, on which Air France continues to codeshare. ”We are very proud to increase our capacity to thirteen weekly flights to Ljubljana, which will benefit everyone - passengers from Slovenia, France, Europe and overseas, Ljubljana Airport, French and Slovenian companies and, of course, Air France. Thanks to this additional daily flight, our travellers will have a wider access to our extensive network of worldwide destinations from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport. The world will become closer”, Air France - KLM's Country Sales Manager for Slovenia, Ildiko Kiss, said. The Head of Airline Management at Ljubljana Airport, Janez Krašnja, added, "The upgraded connection will benefit Slovenian tourism, as well as connectivity to the world. For outbound passengers, the new flights will come in very handy when planning their journey towards North America, because many afternoon flights will be available”. The company stressed its cooperation with Adria. "Air France would like to uderline that the codeshare on Adria Airways flights from Lljubljana to Paris remains well in place for connecting flights via Charles de Gaulle Airport. The code share on Adria Airways flight is important for Air France as it enables Slovenian passengers to connect to morning long haul flights from Paris to all destinations all over the world", it said.

Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport, whose traffic trends and business has been heavily dependent on Adria Airways, has eased its reliance on the national carrier, with foreign airlines having an increasing impact. Adria's passenger share at its home base in Ljubljana stood at 56% in 2018, down from a high of over 77% in 2010. This year, the Slovenian carrier is estimated to account for around 50% of Ljubljana's traffic. "The share of travellers carried by Adria Airways has been declining for several years and currently accounts for more than half of our passenger traffic. The decrease in the number of travellers handled by Adria is being replaced by foreign carriers, which are introducing new services and increasing capacity on existing ones", Ljubljana Airport said. This summer, Aeroflot has upped capacity on its flights from Moscow to Ljubljana from the Sukhoi Superjet 100 to the Airbus A320, while LOT Polish Airlines is maintaining all of its services from Warsaw to Ljubljana with its Embraer jet-engine fleet instead of the Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 turboprop.

The Slovenian government recently adopted plans to subsidise airlines for the launch of new routes to and from Ljubljana Airport in an attempt to improve the country's air connectivity by 2021. The measure is being implemented through the Slovenian Tourist Board which will offer funds for promotional and marketing activities which will be provided on behalf of airlines establishing new flights to Ljubljana from markets deemed to be "of strategic importance for Slovenian tourism". This will also include subsidies for airlines increasing frequencies on existing services. Following jitters over Adria Airways' fate, the Slovenian government announced last week that it has a contingency plan in place in case the national carrier is no longer able to provide services.

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