Ljubljana Airport outlines network development plans


Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport has defined its priorities for the expansion of its network a month following the demise of its main customer Adria Airways. Speaking at the Gorenjski Finance Forum, the airport’s General Manager, Zmago Skobir, said, “Out of the 29 routes operated by Adria, nine remain unserved. These can be divided into destinations within the former Yugoslavia and those in the West. It is certain that some routes are unlikely to resume soon, and some even never, such as Pristina and Tirana. Destinations in the West, which are much more important to the Slovenian economy and tourism industry, are relaunching. These include Frankfurt, Zurich, Munich, and Brussels. Vienna is slightly more difficult, but I am sure it will be launched soon”. He added, “Adria discontinued operations at the end of September. Within a week we had announcements for new flights. This was a great success for us, as we were able to respond quickly and maintain connectivity. We are now working on improving the scheduling of these new services. However, it will take some time, as aircraft are not readily available. We are working hard, and we will certainly have more convenient schedules in the near future”.

Commenting on replacing Adria’s network within the former Yugoslavia, Mr Skobir said, “Flights to and from Tirana and Pristina did not play a key role in the Slovenian economy and tourism sector. Skopje is a different story, and we will work hard to resume this route. Belgrade and Niš are already served by Air Serbia, which has increased both frequencies and capacity. Other destinations in the region are well connected via Belgrade”. Mr Skobir previously noted the airport expects for Czech Airlines to launch services from Prague while flights to Copenhagen would resume “sooner or later”.

The airport’s aspirations to secure nonstop services to the Gulf have not been diminished by Adria’s collapse. “The East continues to be another big market for us which is mostly served through Turkish Airlines. In my opinion, we do need flights to the Arabian Peninsula, which would act as a transfer point to other destinations. These are primarily Dubai and Doha. We have been working hard on this matter over the past six years, and we expect progress very soon”, Mr Skobir said.

The airport reiterated it would be hit by the bankruptcy of its primary customer in the short-term but that it should rebound within a year and a half. During the summer of 2019, Adria Airways had the most Available Seat Kilometres (ASK) on flights from Ljubljana to Frankfurt, Brussels, Tirana, Paris, Skopje, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Zurich, Pristina, Munich and Podgorica.




Comments

  1. Anonymous09:03

    So I'm guessing they are not interested in reestablishing flights to Sarajevo and Sofia either...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:07

      They probably fall in the same category as Tirana and Pristina.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:42

      Hopefully FB considers Ljubljana.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:45

      Don't expect much from Bulgaria Air.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:47

      The route was purely for transfer passengers, so don't expect it to resume.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous12:59

      Transfers to the west?

      Delete
    6. Anonymous14:37

      It was a mix of transfer and OD traffic. MCT in LJU is around 25min which is great!

      Delete
    7. JU520 BEGLAX16:39

      Btw Swiss will operate E190 E2 fm 04-27Nov twice weekly to LJU

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:04

    The middle east saga continues. Doesn't seem to me they are close to a deal if they still don't know if it will be Dubai or Doha.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:06

      QR would make most sense to me. Their CEO was mentioning LJU as a possible destination years ago.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:07

      haha +1

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:15

      Qatar has more money to burn so it makes sense that QR is more likely to launch flights than Fly Dubai is.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:38

      Are you sure?
      https://onemileatatime.com/qatar-airways-reports-losses/

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:56

      They have losses but the government is willing to tolerate them especially ahead of the world cup. I mean they just started flights to Langkawi in Malaysia and from what I'm hearing there are barely any passengers. In the UAE the story is a bit different and government can no longer tolerate excessive losses.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous10:02

      Al Baker himself admitted profitability is still not their priority as they are building a business. Easy for them when they have the world's largest natural gas reserves.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous13:00

      Al Baker mentioned LJU as a possible new destination back in 2017. Hopefully it finally becomes a reality next year.

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:05

    Why is it more difficult to get flights from Vienna?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:07

      Because OS has no spare capacoiy.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:07

      *capacity

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:07

      too close maybe

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:21

      OS is being attacked left and right, they are reporting massive losses, the last thing they need right now is another potentially loss-making regional destination. I mean even LX and LH send small regional jets to LJU despite having much larger networks.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous12:04

      They fly 4x per day Vienna - Graz. No wonder that they have losses.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous13:01

      Why do you think that route would be loss making? They wouldn't be flying it four times per day if it was.

      Delete
  4. Anonymous09:07

    SKP: Come on Wizz, change Vaxjö for Ljubljana :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:11

      If Wizz starts Skopje-Ljubljana I think it will be Wizz's first inter ex-Yu route :D

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:13

      true and finally i would say.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:19

      not going to happen...

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:21

      Why do you think so?

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:23

      because he doesnt want it to happen

      Delete
    6. Anonymous09:31

      Because Wizz A320 has 180 seats. Its a no-go between any 2 ex-yu continental cities. Also, no connecting flights with Wizz.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous09:32

      lol

      Delete
    8. Anonymous09:46

      Only ex-YU routes that could make sense for Wizz Air are:

      ZAG-DBV
      BEG-TGD
      BEG-TIV

      That's about it.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous13:03

      ZAG-DBV is heaviliy subsidised by the EU and Dubrovnik city, so I doubt Wizz would be successful.

      The other two routes you mention they can't launch.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous15:58

      Wizz Air can work if either Ljubljana or Skopje subsidize the route. Also, it can work good even without them, since many students from MKD and the region study in Slovenia, it can do well also with the tourism because it's on a good location which may connect Skopje to Venice, Trieste, Zagreb, Maribor, Graz, Slovenia's termes or even Rijeka, Pula, Rovinj and Salzburg with cheaper flights if Wizz Air keep them as low as 20€. In my opinion it can work well, 2 times per week, ex. On Monday late night flight and on Friday early morning flight. ��

      Delete
  5. Anonymous09:07

    "Belgrade and Niš are already served by Air Serbia, which has increased both frequencies and capacity. Other destinations in the region are well connected via Belgrade”

    This is obviously big chance for Air Serbia and they are surely using it. It seems that not only for ex Yugoslavia (SKP, SJJ, TGD) but also for almost all eastern connections (OTP, SOF, KBP, SVO) as well as southern (SKG, ATH, TIA, BEY, CAI) Air Serbia will be choice nr. 1 for passengers from Ljubljana.

    Well done Air Serbia!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:10

      Aeroflot is present at LJU

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:22

      SU also flies to VCE yet JU had 20 transfer passengers yesterday to SVO via BEG. ;)

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:51

      Link for what?

      Delete
  6. Anonymous09:13

    Anyone have an idea how they are performing in October?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:14

      I doubt it's too good.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous13:04

      October will probably be the most affected month out of all. My guess is -15%

      Delete
    3. Anonymous13:44

      @Anon 13:04. What do you mean -15%? Adria had 50% share at LJU. October will be the worst month for LJU as no new airlines stepped in immediately after Adria's demise. As there was/is a lack of capacity these days in LJU, other airlines have significantly higher LF on their routes and some of them even gained their capacity with more flights or bigger aircraft. Also the mojority of the ex Adria's charter flights are still being operated, but with other airlines. All of the above considered, october will be around -40% in pax figures. In november everything will go up again as LX, LH and SN are starting their flights with around 30.000 available seats/month. So, in november and and through all the winter season (without major surprises) we will most likekly see some -25%. Then with SUTT I hope for some interesting announcements.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous18:43

      Your math is a bit of :) LH group will serve LJU with 3.600 seats per week (official number from todays press conference) . So around 14.5k seats per month :)

      Frankfurt will be the first get morning and evening flight in the coming months.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous01:14

      Sure, 3600 seats per week out of LJU. As the airport also counts inbound pax, you have to multiply that by 2, which gives you around 30k seat per month. If you think my math is off, you do the math:
      - 3 LH flights per day (2FRA,1MUC) with 90 seat CRJ
      - 1 LX flight per day to ZRH with 112 seat E190
      - 1 SN flight per day to BRU with 141 seat A319
      Anyway, my point was that october was the worst month for LJU pax figures, which will significantly improve from november. Also, it's good news if LH is seriously considering schedule change to morning/evening flights.

      Delete
  7. Anonymous09:13

    QR would be a really nice addition. I assume if it's Dubai it would be Fly Dubai?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:17

      Obviously. I doubt Emirates would start flights, especially with them serving Zagreb which has not been a super success if we take into account its their only seasonal route.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous13:04

      +1

      Delete
  8. Anonymous09:18

    Well I'm glad they recognize that the schedule of the new flights aren't great and that they are working on it. Hopefully it will change in summer.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous09:20

    just imagine return flights LJU-SKP for less then 100€.

    Slo has a 40k mk diaspora and some 800 mk students currently according to SLO ambassador in MK. add to that businiess ties and the popularity of Ljubljana down here. lots of potential

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:26

      If the potential is that massive then what is Wizz Air waiting for? Why haven't they launched this route already?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:27

      It takes time. They don't have a spare plane sitting around. They slowly responded in LJU by reinstating Charleroi flights from December.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:28

      Yeah but I am sure they could find spare capacity in SKP for two weekly, after all, haven't you read what massive potential there is?

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:30

      Well it seems everyone but you thinks there is potential, including the airport which has prioritized reinstating this route.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:34

      there is no spare capacity in SKP. everything is planned 6 months in advance. what a childish idea

      Delete
    6. Anonymous09:36

      browse through the last LJU-related topics. same story by the same guy and we know where hes coming from .

      Delete
    7. Anonymous09:39

      It's like any route out there can work and no one knows why someone has not launched it. Reality is that if there was a market, real market, Wizz Air would have launched it regardless if Adria was around or not, not like they were a threat to them.

      Delete
  10. Anonymous09:27

    Fingers crossed for QR. Would give Turkish some competition.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:38

      its a nightmare when TK has its check in. the whole terminal is occupied with waiting pax

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:54

      TK would do just fine. It has survived QR and EK/FZ in Zagreb, Belgrade, Sarajevo, Skopje.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous11:09

      Yeah but TK downgraded ZAG to ten weekly in winter the moment QR and EK launched flights. Same might happen in LJU.

      Delete
  11. Anonymous09:33

    "near future"... "sooner or later"..."we expect progress very soon" ... bla bla with basically nothing particular to say

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous09:52

    I hope SAS starts CPH.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:54

      Better yet Norwegian Air Shuttle.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:03

      SAS offers better connections, is a member of Star Alliance and it's immediate future is not in doubt.

      Delete
  13. Anonymous09:53

    Finnair could now consider extending their flights to year round.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:54

      Finnair said in some interview here that the LJU route exists only for transit passengers from Asia. They come in summer. Adria's collapse really hasn't changed anything for them.

      Delete
  14. Anonymous09:55

    It's too bad that routes like Sarajevo, Pristina and Tirana will probably never be resumed :/

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous09:59

    So routes that were served to which there are currently no flights are Vienna, Prague, Pristina, Tirana, Sarajevo, Copenhagen, Skopje and Sofia right?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:03

      Yes

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:03

      Dusseldorf too

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:12

      Adria suspended Dusseldorf months before they stopped flying altogether.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:17

      Time to set up Air Slovenia.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:19

      ^No thanks

      Delete
    6. Anonymous15:36

      Please, no Air Slovenia.

      Delete
  16. Anonymous10:11

    First Lufthansa (in decades (?)) regular flight to Ljubljana yesterday. No welcoming ceremony?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:12

      I noticed that too. They didn't put much of a welcome for Swiss/Helvetic either.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:18

      Maybe LJU is pissed off that they blew off the proposal to set up a new national airline? After all that was LJU's only hope at being somewhat relevant in the region. Now they are like a fourth tier airport. Today they have 17 departures from 09.00 to 20.50. Depressing.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:22

      Fraport was never pushing the national airline project. In fact they are even against the government giving subsidies to airlines to fly there.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:23

      Just because they were against subsidies doesn't mean they opposed the creation of a new airline. After all, they would stand to gain the most from it.

      Delete
    5. JU520 BEGLAX10:28

      Intetesting is that all LH LX flights operate mainly not fm Jetbridge Gates, anyone knows why? I guess higher costs and therefore they prefer Bus Gates

      Btw i found out LH used to be 1974 in LJU when ZAG airport was closed for RW extension. They had flts DUS-MUC-LJU and FRA-LJU

      Delete
    6. Anonymous10:47

      Today is Official ceremony. As someone told yesterday; officials don't want to travel on work free day.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous10:51

      That's why they sent the CRJ with the new livery to LJU today.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous11:01

      Water salute https://imgur.com/GIF3yhA

      Delete
    9. Anonymous13:05

      Good luck to them!

      Delete
    10. Anonymous13:59

      @JU520 BEGLAX. LX and LH being parked at bus gates has nothing to do with costs as you suggested. There are some operational questions that have to be sorted out and after that we will see LX parked at the jetbridge, but I'm not sure for LH as it's a CRJ. Anyway, with their current competitive ticket price policy I think we might see some LH A319/320 in LJU soon.

      Delete
    11. JU520 BEGLAX15:14

      Thanks anonym 1359h for clarification

      Delete
    12. Anonymous15:35

      Hm. I'm not sure. LX doesn't use jetbridges also in VCE (mix A220 and A320 operations) despite availability at LX time of departure.

      Delete
  17. Anonymous10:13

    Who were the passengers flying LJU-PRG? Transfers? I don't think there would be much point to point demand.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:44

      P2P pax.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous13:06

      I'm surprised. How cone there is such p2p demand?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous13:16

      tourist travel and business, as a lot of multinationals have their regional seat for Eastern/South Eastern Europe in Prague. For example if I recall correctly all of Big4 auditing firms have their reginal HQ either in Prague or in Budapest, same with IT firms, etc. etc. It actually adds up in the end but of course not A320 7pw.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous13:27

      Interesting. Thanks

      Delete
  18. Anonymous10:17

    Interesting from what I read, it seems Fraport is against a new national airline being set up. Which is odd in my opinion.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:22

      It's not odd because the potential new national airline it would be in for "free rides", not paying regularly or not paying at all, asking discounts and privileges by default so it is.

      Delete
  19. Anonymous10:26

    Even with Adria, Ljubljana was still missing many major European cities. So this is not good for them.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Anonymous10:28

    Is BA coming back next year on the Heathrow route?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:31

      They have been scheduled twice per week from next July, so I would say yes.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous16:45

      I flew with adria on the summer holidays from Ljubljana to Pristina on their a319 for some reason and their were only 10 passengers

      Delete
  21. Anonymous10:32

    I talked with one of the check-in employees a week ago about the situation. She said that they are in constant talks with Ryanair who is very demanding, but that Iberia might start Madrid next summer for a duration of 2 months, same as BA.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:35

      Would be good to have Iberia. Even if for a short period.

      Delete
  22. Anonymous11:00

    Wish all the best to LJU.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Anonymous11:32

    We need new LCC routes.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:44

      To where?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous13:08

      From Cerklje to everywhere. Build a cheap Cerklje terminal like BUD barn and for 4-5 eur per passenger LCCs will come. ZAG does not want them so Cerklje can serve market for ZAG+LJU = millions.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous15:30

      That would be great!

      Delete
    4. Anonymous16:30

      Is it the runway long enough?
      I think it's a civil airport too (with all the necessary permits).
      Just build a simple functioanal terminal and fly there!

      Delete
    5. Anonymous18:13

      "Just build a simple functioanal terminal and fly there!"

      It's not as if the government has wasted millions on building "a simple functional terminal" in MBX that has proven to be a very profitable investment.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous22:45

      Location. Cerklje is like 30-40 minutes from Zagreb, Maribor is 1h and 10 minutes.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous23:41

      Cerklje is about an hour from Ljubljana, Maribor is almost one and half. And "simple functional terminal" can be something like CDG 2G or SFX, just much smaller, something like CTA terminal C :)

      Delete
  24. Anonymous12:12

    I am highly disappointed by Transavia's response. There was no boost of weekly rotations although LJU-AMS was very successful for them even though there was Adria directly competing with them. Very sad to now see only 2-4 weekly direct flights between LJU and AMS, although there is quiet some p2p passengers in my opinion (Slovenia is very popular tourist destination with Dutch people and Amsterdam for Slovenians). Would be nice to see KLM cityhopper to fill in some weekly flights.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous15:30

      Really disappointed. Despite capacity problems at AMS I also expected at least some kind of reaction.

      Delete
  25. Today I flew with Swiss from Bru to Lju. From Zurich it was an E190, i would say a load factor of arround 80 to 90%. The ticket was 110 eur. And in Lju I saw the bilbpards of Croatia airlines, advertising routes from Zag for 110 eur. :)

    ReplyDelete
  26. Anonymous21:07

    Good news today from Lufthansa: "Especially for Frankfurt there is good news. We will very soon adapt to morning flights from Ljubljana and evening flight back from Frankfurt to Ljubljana. Frankfurt is the first step in our plan for adapted schedule, because we see there is a need for that." (Peter Pullem) Frankfurt being first in a row of schedule changes. Source: https://bit.ly/2BQDnHS

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:18

      what do you mean great news? the fighters for national interest said that SLO is now doomed and cut off from the world and that it needs a new national airline like yesterday to make loses even further. this news is bad news for them :D

      on the serious side: did someone with some sanity left really think that if the demand is there the supply wouldn't want to capture it before some other competitors kick in? we're talking about hte busiest route(s).

      Delete

Post a Comment

EX-YU Aviation News does not tolerate insults, excessive swearing, racist, homophobic or any other chauvinist remarks or provocative posts with the intention of creating further arguments. A full list of comment guidelines can be found here. Thank you for your cooperation.