Lufthansa turns down Slovenian flag carrier proposal


Lufthansa has reportedly rejected the Slovenian government’s proposal to jointly set up the country’s new national carrier. The development comes following talks on the matter last week in Frankfurt between a Slovenian delegation led by the State Secretary within the Ministry for Economy and Lufthansa executives. According to the business daily “Finance”, the German carrier informed the Slovenian Minister for Economic Development and Technology, Zdravko Počivalšek, that it was disinterested in setting up a new airline at Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport several weeks ago and reiterated its stance at the meeting last week. The Lufthansa Group is gradually adding flights to the Slovenian capital, with Swiss launching operations from Zurich last Wednesday, which will be followed by Lufthansa itself from Frankfurt and Munich, as well as Brussels Airlines from Brussels, over the coming two weeks. The four routes accounted for around 40% of Adria’s scheduled flights and seats this summer.

Mr Počivalšek has led efforts to establish a new national airline in Slovenia in the wake of Adria Airways’ demise on September 30. He is believed to have proposed the creation of a new flag carrier which would launch towards the end of February 2020 with a fleet of ten to twelve aircraft. The minister previously said any new national airline should be established only in partnership with Lufthansa. Commenting on last week’s meeting with the airline, Mr Počivalšek said, "I can't make any statements about what happened. First, we have to talk to the group of people that attended the meeting and then we will decide the best way forward", he said.

The travel analytics firm ForwardKeys has revealed that Adria Airways’ bankruptcy will lead to a significant reduction in connectivity from Ljubljana Airport this winter. Key source markets such as Austria, Germany and France will be impacted, as Adria accounted for 99.6%, 87.3% and 50.8% of seat capacity on flights from these countries. Despite the rapid response from various carriers to Adria’s bankruptcy, scheduled capacity in Slovenia is still set to fall by almost 40% this winter. “Given the attractiveness of Slovenia as a destination, I expect other airlines to fill the gaps left by Adria Airways but how long it will take to get back to the previous level is anyone's guess”, the Vice President for Insights at ForwardKeys, Olivier Ponti, said.




Comments

  1. Anonymous09:02

    What a surprise...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:06

      This was exactly what I had ijn mind when I saw the title.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:22

      It's not a surprise.
      It was a nice journey for the delegation with good hotels, alcohol and socialization. It's way better than to seat in the boring office in Ljubljana and because when you are going to meetings abroad you "write" overtime hours so you have free days later.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous18:38

      Take turkish airlines
      Nr 1 airline in europe

      Delete
    4. Pa da naravno. A da je Janša na vlasti ti bi sad hvalio njihov trud i mudrost

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:03

    "The four routes accounted for around 40% of Adria’s scheduled flights and seats this summer."

    wow that's the significant. I'm assuming these were also the only four routes profitable for Adria.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:05

      Even more interesting for me

      "Key source markets such as Austria, Germany and France will be impacted, as Adria accounted for 99.6%, 87.3% and 50.8% of seat capacity on flights from these countries."

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:07

      Well the French market will now be 100% Air France's. And they prepared for it accordingly.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:07

      While Austrian market will not be covered at all. I'm really surprised that no LCC jumped at the opportunity to launch flights from Vienna.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:10

      LJU-VIE would only work on daily basis, as a lot of people would be connecting (even on a separate ticket) to longhaul flights.

      And you definitely can't fill A320/B738 on LJU-VIE with 7pw or more and make profit.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:12

      no lcc fly such short routes

      Delete
    6. Anonymous09:13

      I'm assuming Austrian will start the route in summer 2020. Their explanation of how they are serving Ljubljana through Vienna is ludicrous.

      Delete
    7. 4 hours drive between Vienna and Ljubljana is something what LCC carriers are not aiming for

      Delete
    8. Anonymous09:15

      What is VIE-LJU flight time approximately?

      Delete
    9. Anonymous09:17

      Ryanair flies a lot of very short routes from DUB to UK, but there's a sea in between.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous09:24

      They fly ATH-SKG, that's a pretty short route.

      Delete
    11. Anonymous10:07

      FR stopped flying ATH-SKG since March 2019.
      A3 on the other hand has something like 10 flights a day each way. Maybe even more than that.

      Delete
    12. Anonymous10:12

      Austrian serves LJU through KLU not VIE !

      Delete
    13. Anonymous10:14

      Oops sorry yes, meant to write Klagenfurt instead of Vienna. Still early over here.

      Delete
    14. Anonymous19:22

      LJU - VIE net flight times were 25-40mins on a CRJ.I experienced everything in between, usually they were faster back to LJU as they could land immediately. Without a schengen passport control you could be in city city center in an hour using a train, rather convenient.

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:04

    LH is not your friend.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:05

      LH looks after its own interest, as any company should.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:11

      People in Adria don't understand profit and company's interest.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:15

      People in our region don't understand profit and company's interest.
      Fixed!

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:16

      +1 last anoon

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:40

      in the famous words of Mr. Maks Tajnikar: Adria is not here to make money but to fly passengers.

      Delete
  4. Anonymous09:04

    Good. I hope now the government gives up on this ludicrous idea.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:37

      Why is it ludicrous to ask Lufthansa to help out and set up a new company? They tried.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:44

      By ludicrous idea I mean setting up a new national airline.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:18

      Our government knew that LH will decline from the very beggining (demise of JP), therefore they linked the establishment of a new national carrier to LH opartivcipation. Now it's not their fault for not establishing it, but LH should be blamed.

      Of course, this argumentation is for imbecile political purposes only.

      Government is always objectively responsible for such situations.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:28

      Government is responsible for not setting up another loss-making airline?

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:38

      well it all depends on your viewpoint. it may very well be loss making for the taxpayer, but it can certanly be lucrative and profitable for the sons/daugters/nephews/nieces that were/would be employed there based solely upon their merits and not on political shenanigans. let me just now find the sarcasm button...

      Delete
    6. Anonymous10:46

      Now now, there was never any nepotism in Adria. It was the fairest employer you could find anywhere in the world.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous10:59

      exactly. and the new company would hire only pure professionals with miles of experience, and no outsourcing of consulting contracts would be necessary. and no comissions would need to be paid for imaginary services rendered :D

      Delete
  5. Anonymous09:08

    Too bad. I was hoping for Lufthansa Slovenia :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:09

      We already had that. It was called Adria Airways.

      Delete
    2. Once upon a time, there was Lufthansa Italia. Nothing happened as expected.
      I'd suggest the Slovenian gov't try the AF/KL Group or why not IAG?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:17

      The problem is that the Slovenian market is small for any one of those major companies to care. Even in Croatia, which is a bigger market than Slovenia and would provide significantly more feed, no one is interested in Croatia Airlines.

      Delete
  6. Anonymous09:11

    Shock... not.
    Hopefully we will put this discussion to end. Slovenian politicians needs a dose of a reality check.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:33

      Well at least they are trying to do something. Better than sit with their arms crossed.

      Delete
  7. Anonymous09:14

    I don't know what made politicians think that Lufthansa would magically set up an airline in Slovenia. If it wanted to it could have bought Adria years ago when it was put up for sale. It would have been such a strong buyer that it could have dictated all the terms to the government which would have done anything it was told by them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:30

      they had to try something for public eyes

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:19

      +1000

      Delete
  8. Anonymous09:18

    Why limit yourself to Germany and Lufthansa? They would have had a better chance of finding a partner outside of the EU with 49%/51% ownership structure.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:26

      Where is SHS Aviation when you need it?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:29

      lol. Don't give them ideas!

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:35

      Had a non european company been interested it would have applied for the Adria tender years ago.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:41

      Circumstances have changed.

      Delete
  9. Anonymous09:20

    I don't get the minister's idea of a 12 fleet airline. Adria had 12 planes and look where it got them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:27

      He is full of great ideas. He was the one who oversaw Adria's sale to 4K Invest.

      Delete
  10. Anonymous09:21

    What is happening with the government's plans to subsidise airlines to fly to LJU?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:25

      Nothing. Parliamentary committee has rejected the proposal and told the government to look at ways to set up a new airline (seriously).

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:29

      Wow...

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:06

      Interestingly LJU Airport general manager said that offering subsidies would be a bad idea and that the market should stabilize first.

      Delete
  11. it seems that LH is darth vader of east european airline market
    whatever LH does is pure evil

    Adria bought by amateurs - LH is behind it
    YU gets sued by Adria - LH is behind it
    LH in talks with slovenian government - ha! they bankrupted adria, here is the proof
    LH talks with government fail - those evil z germans!
    garbage doesn't get picked up on thursday - LH criminals!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:23

      Any airline in ex-Yu they have strong connections with or helped set up has turned into an unprofitable feeder.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:11

      Which company is YU?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous12:11

      +1 Anon 10.11

      One would think people on here would know their codes.

      Delete
  12. Anonymous09:21

    And what about the airline that said it wants to open a base at Ljubljana Airport according to ex Adria employees?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:24

      That will also likely never happen.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:28

      It's probably an unrealistic dream by former Adria employees. If it wasn't something would have happened already.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:39

      I doubt they made it up.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:00

      They probably didn't make it up and they were probably talking with Cityjet or Nordica... But it was still a longshot.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:27

      But what happened?

      Delete
  13. Anonymous09:27

    This will be a very unpopular opinion on here but it needs to be said. With JP going bust the Slovenian market will become somewhat irrelevant. While JP was around at least they had some action, some relevance. Now they will be a third or fourth tier airport that will barely have 1.3 million passengers. This was probably something local officials wanted to avoid.

    I mean right now there are no departures before 9! That's a disaster but it's the reality and the truth.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:32

      Agree completely with you and I'm Slovenian. That's why, unlike many of my countrymen, I think Adria's bankruptcy will have a big impact on Ljubljana Airport and Slovenia. Time will show. A couple of flights by Swiss, Lufthansa and Brussels Airlines which many are celebrating as something spectacular won't make up for it.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:02

      Wait for LH, LX and SN to adjust their schedule. Did people really think all these airlines have had aircraft waiting on the ground the entire summer, just to start the most optimum schedule the next day after JP went bust?

      Some people really think Slovenia is the center of universe. Give it a year or two, and then see how the schedules look.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:04

      @9.32 people are benefiting from the fact that Brussels Airlines fares on LJU-BRU route are actually affordable. Adria's pricing on this route was out of this world.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:08

      +1 last anon. The only people who could afford BRU tickets with JP were government and their entities, so Adria priced it at the "milking the taxpayers" prices, because nobody from the public sector actually looks at the prices, as long as it's convenient for them.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous12:12

      JU, LO, AF, HV... all responded in time to JP's demise so why couldn't LH Group? It's simple, they gave up on dominating the market now when they actually had to make money in Slovenia. It was easy in the past when JP flew at a loss.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous15:47

      Maybe LH will do a night stop in LJU once they adjusted the FRA-LJU schedule (maybe with summer schedule)?

      Delete
    7. Anonymous17:54

      They will do it sooner or later. It is in their interest to capture the passengers connecting to long haul as well.

      But some people think only Adria was capable of flying morning departures out of LJU, while they themselves were flying a lot of early morning flights as a part of wet-leases last two summers from outstations to VIE and MUC.

      One would think with their decades long experience they would see the light dangling in front of their eyes.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous07:26

      They are capturing long-haul flights like this but through Munich, they have an afternoon bank of departures.

      Delete
  14. Anonymous09:31

    Had the government been serious about this it would have started talks with Lufthansa well before Adria went bankrupt but when it was visible it would go bust.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous09:34

    My question is what on earth is Ljubljana Airport doing. Waiting for airlines to flock to them? Go out and get some customers (airlines).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:05

      For starters they could reduce their fees now that they have 40% of their capacity wiped out.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:17

      Can the concession business plan with the level of money transfers to the state and investments to the terminal and the rest of LJU facilities work with a 40% reduction in fees?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous17:19

      They have no concession. They are own 100% of the airport.

      Delete
  16. Anonymous09:37

    Those numbers won't look good for LJU in October.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Anonymous09:38

    Under EU rules, can a government even set up a 100% privately owned national carrier. I mean the start up capital has to come from government coffers.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:39

      that was meant to say 100% state owned national carrier, not privately owned.

      Delete
  18. Anonymous09:58

    Lufthansa Group Eurowings should hurry for holidays season open flights FRA-PRN
    FRA-TIA and more operate instead Adria.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:14

      They obviously do not intend to do it.

      TIA as well as SJJ, SKP, SKG, SOF, OTP etc is well covered via BEG

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:27

      ANON 10:14 - Covered to travel to BEG? PRN - FRA, PRN - LJU, TIA - LJU, SKP - LJU is a big issue.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:33

      FRA-PRN is well connected via VIE.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:41

      Since EW opened base in Pristina I guarantee Eurowings will base second aircraft in Pristina soon operate flights to Germany FRA and MUC instead of Adria.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous12:03

      @anon 10:33 - Yeah right, i meant direct flights, all Europe is WELL Connected if you account 2 or more flights.

      Delete
  19. Anonymous10:02

    Lufthansa could simply base 1 Eurowings plane in Ljubljana like they have done in Pristina. Would cover all that LJU needs.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:05

      It's probably more expensive to do that in Ljubljana then it is in Pristina. Especially since Pristina gives incentives for airlines to base a plane there... unlike Ljubljana which is still sticking to its expensive pricing policy.

      Delete
  20. Anonymous10:02

    In addition to the routes that LH Group is launching, which ones does Ljubljana really need?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:04

      Well according to LJU it is Skopje, believe it or not.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:09

      Can SKP route work with only O&D traffic or it was heavily dependent on transfers to the rest of JP's network?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:11

      Apparently it had O&D because in that article published last week here, Skobir who is CEO of Ljubljana Airport said how Pristina and Tirana won't work anymore because they were routes purely serving transfer passengers while Skopje had a lot of point to point traffic (which surprised me to be honest).

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:13

      It shouldn't come as a surprise. Slovenian investments in these regions are high.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:14

      They have JU :-)

      Delete
    6. Anonymous10:19

      Wizz Air will most likely start SKP-LJU in 2020.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous10:39

      Isn't a 186 seat W6 aircraft too much capacity for this route?

      Delete
    8. Anonymous10:52

      If they fly it twice per week, like they do most routes, I think it would be efficient.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous12:07

      What about Sarajevo? Mostly transfers too?

      Delete
    10. Anonymous12:14

      lol Wizz will fly to LJU only if the Macedonian government gives them subsidies like they did for Turku and Larnaca.

      Delete
    11. Anonymous12:18

      Skopje is a good connection point for further destinations with Wizzair.

      Delete
    12. Anonymous12:20

      That's not how it works especially not when almost all Wizz destinations from SKP are to western and northern Europe. In that case driving to Treviso is easier

      Delete
  21. Anonymous10:18

    Perhaps Ljubljana Airport could have helped in these negotiations? It is run by Fraport after all.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:22

      Why would that have an impact on Lufthansa?

      Delete
  22. Anonymous10:27

    I hope the government finds some other solution.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:36

      Yes, the government has always proved to be very smart when it comes to aviation in Slovenian.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:45

      Well, this one at least doesn't seem to be keen on wasting money on another Adria-like loss-making project, without a long think.

      Quite a refreshing surprise to be honest, didn't expect that.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:51

      +1

      Delete
    4. Anonymous12:46

      If the SD party would lead the economy ministry they would have had signed two weeks ago at least 5 747-8 with Boeing. You know for export-inport spreading of national interest. The purple kind with 500 written on the paper.

      Delete
  23. Anonymous10:38

    I'm hopeful the government will stay out of setting up a new airline or any other aviation adventures. Their track record is atrocious.

    Adria - sold to 4K and now dead
    Maribor Airport - given to Chinese and now dead
    Ljubljana Airport - given to Fraport and struggling

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous19:15

      Adria was already on life support before it was sold, MBX was more or less dead before the sale, and LJU was doing great until Adria went bankrupt.

      Delete
  24. Anonymous11:08

    I have a feeling Lufthansa met with them in Frankfurt last week as a courtesy.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous14:50

      Correct, probably between a coffee break and another one.

      Delete
  25. Anonymous11:08

    Well they tried. Gotta give them that.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Anonymous12:05

    Actually AirFrance has currently (for specific days from November and further on) a nice offer from Ljubljana:
    Tajpei 408eu, Hong Kong 421 eu all round trip etc.
    I don't remember such offers in the past.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Anonymous12:14

    Which air route the delegation led by the State Secretary within the Ministry for Economy of Slovenia took to Frankfurt?
    Business class of course I suppose.
    You can ride a direct train too:)

    ReplyDelete
  28. Anonymous12:32

    Meanwhile JU does really well in LJU.

    25.10 A319 in morning
    26.10 B733 in morning
    27.10 A319 in morning, 733 in evening
    14.11 B733
    15.11 B733 in morning, two more flights that day

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous14:04

      Impressive.

      Good job JU!

      Delete
    2. Anonymous14:31

      Maybe in summer 733/319 becomes a regular?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous14:45

      Great job JU! Also LX with A220 on 27 Oct. and A320 on 03 Nov. (with just 1 economy seat available).

      Delete
    4. Anonymous14:48

      LJU is on fire!!!

      Delete
    5. Anonymous19:07

      Ha ha ha. Well, TK1062 on Oct. 24 an 25 indeed with A330, otherwise mostly with A321.

      Delete
  29. Anonymous13:00

    I do not know if this data has been mentioned before (LH owns Fraport with 8,44% share) - this by all means affects LJU

    Shareholder Structure of Fraport AG:

    State of Hesse: 31.31 %
    Stadtwerke Frankfurt am Main Holding GmbH: 20.16 %
    Deutsche Lufthansa AG: 8.44 %
    Lazard Asset Management LLC: 5.02 %
    Unkown: 35.07 %

    ReplyDelete
  30. Najveća moguća glupost. Slovenija da novac za aviokompaniju koja će LH voziti transferne putnike

    ReplyDelete
  31. But there is on fact. Lufthansa have 8 percents of Fraport stocks.

    ReplyDelete

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