Croatia Airlines to submit Ljubljana base proposal


Croatia Airlines will submit a proposal to the Slovenian government this week over the opening of a base at Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport, for which it is seeking state incentives. According to the “Delo” daily, airport operator Fraport Slovenija has expressed interest for Croatia Airlines to serve Vienna, Skopje, Prague and Copenhagen out of the Slovenian capital. The carrier is considering basing one or two Dash 8 turboprop aircraft in the city. According to the Slovenian Ministry for Infrastructure, the conditions under which Croatia Airlines could establish flights from Ljubljana have already been discussed with the company and a final offer is expected during the week.

Fraport Slovenija has also urged the government to provide incentives to all foreign airlines serving Ljubljana. “Carriers should be offered assistance by the state. Initially, this could amount to ten euros per passenger, for example. It’s a transparent policy in which everyone would receive the same amount of funds. We should aggressively market Slovenia as a Covid-safe, green and healthy destination. Through these incentives, we would attract tourists”, the General Manager of Ljubljana Airport, Zmago Skobir, said. Last week, Mr Skobir expressed concern that some airlines may not maintain services to Ljubljana over the winter due to a large number of passengers currently cancelling their bookings at the last minute due to ongoing quarantine requirements for a number of nationals entering Slovenia.

The Croatian carrier recently said, “Croatia Airlines is potentially interested in establishing flights from Ljubljana Airport in order to enable passengers from Slovenia to connect to European destinations”. Croatia Airlines previously toyed with the idea of setting up bases outside of its home market. In 2017 the airline planned to station aircraft in Sarajevo, Pristina, Skopje and Tirana. At the time, it said, "Market research data has shown that there is a potential for the successful opening of additional bases in the south-eastern European region and Croatia Airlines, as a European Union community carrier, has recognised its business interest in this. The prerequisite for this is to purchase four to six new aircraft and extensive preparations are underway”. However, the idea was abandoned upon the departure of the carrier’s CEO at the time, Krešimir Kučko, to Gulf Air.

Comments

  1. Anonymous09:02

    The Q400 is the ideal plane for the routes Ljubljana wants established.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. JU520 BEGLAX13:03

      +1

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  2. Anonymous09:03

    Let's say this is successful, what will OU do next year if things are more or less back to normal and they need planes in Zagreb.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:04

      They will lease additional planes I guess

      Delete
    2. Back to normal next year..... That is being really optimistic.

      Delete
    3. I don't think they need to lease additional planes at least for the winter season. In 2019 winter schedule I think they needed maximum 9 planes.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:35

      I meant next summer season. Surely they will need planes in ZAG.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous12:01

      Exactly, they will lease new planes. And Croatian tax payers will pay for that. Simple as that.

      Delete
    6. Exact same situation as JU and YM.

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:04

    This would be cool

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous09:06

    So obviously the plan isn't for them to fly to places like FRA, MUC and ZRH which are already served, unlike what some claimed. They will be flying unserved routes from LJU.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous09:06

    When could this base be established?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:10

      I'm guessing by the start of winter. Considering the current situation maybe even sooner.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous17:25

      If it's approved, 20th of July is latest confirmed date.

      Delete
  6. Anonymous09:06

    What about Ljubljana-Pristina?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:11

      No local demand, it was all transfers

      Delete
    2. With the downsizing of international staff in Pristina there is no need. But LJU made a killing for almost 20 years on this route, taking the former BEG/PRN market away from JU. Frequently saw Adria staff in Gracanica restaurants.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:25

      comm 09:11 this is simply not true. Connections pax had a bit more than 50% share on PRN route (out of LJU)

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:37

      How many times did they fly LJU-PRN per week?

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:46

      Double daily last summer.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous10:50

      It would have sense if OU decide to open PRN-ZAG flights.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous10:50

      So if they had only 50% transfer passengers, still a daily flight or at least 3-4 per week could be working.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous10:59

      Yes, I believe a few weekly flights could work.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous11:01

      During the 2019 summer season, Adria Airways had the greatest capacity allocated onto flights to Germany, followed by Albania, Switzerland, Belgium and Macedonia. The airport’s busiest routes were Istanbul, Frankfurt, London Stansted, Paris, Amsterdam, Zurich and Munich. So these are the ones to watch.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous11:03

      I found this in an article here from last year.

      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.

      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”.

      Delete
  7. Anonymous09:09

    Can't believe this is actually happened. Fingers crossed it's successful.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous09:09

    I would have proffered if an LCC opened a base.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous14:27

      Me too. Vienna and Prague are driving distances. No benefit to Ljubljana airport.

      Delete
  9. Anonymous09:11

    So which routes from Ljubljana are still unserved at the moment which were operated by Adria Airways in the past?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:19

      Vienna, Skopje, Prague, Copenhagen, Manchester, Pristina, Sarajevo, Sofia and Tirana.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:26

      So Vienna, Prague, Copenhagen and Skopje they wanna operate.

      For Manchester, Pristina, Sarajevo, Sofia and Tirana no demand?
      Especially Sarajevo and Sofia? Didn't they have much P2P traffic?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:28

      I'm assuming there will be more routes than those four. They can do much more with one plane, and they are even mentioning the possibility of a second.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:30

      Actually its much more than that. If JP flew to FRA 3x per day and now LH does it once per day, then we could easily say that this route is unserved aswell. Same story with BRU, MUC, ZRH.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous12:04

      You can't make profit on LJU-SJJ from P2P alone. Especially not with aircraft with 70+ seats.

      Delete
  10. Anonymous09:12

    How about Fraport actually makes a deal with a successful business like easyJet, Wizz, Volotea or Ryanair ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:17

      It will cost them much more and I hardly doubt an A320 or B737 from any of those airlines could be successfully filled to places like SKP without any transfer traffic.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:38

      There's not enough P2P demand from LJU really except few select destinations (London) to fill an A320/737.

      Delete
  11. Anonymous09:13

    Long overdue decision. ADR and CTN should have cooperated and and optimised their operations in the 2000s. With Dash 8 they can nicely emulate some of the former JP operations but with mama Lufty in crisis now everything will be different.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous09:14

    Remember that Lufthansa turned down Slovenia's proposal for it to open a base in LJU.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:15

      No, they rejected to set up a new Slovenian national airlines with the government.

      Delete
  13. Bravo OU! Now that's a smart move.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous09:15

    Bravo Hrvatska!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous09:21

    Should have done this earlier.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:29

      Better late than never. Also circumstances have completely changed.

      Delete
  16. Anonymous09:22

    The 10 EUR incentive for all airlines per passengers for all airlines is a good idea.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:22

      It's quite expensive.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:34

      All losses must be public, all gains private.

      Why doesn't Fraport introduce these incentives on its own?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:38

      True. They were very quick to ask for the state for help, yet when it comes to sharing profits they keep it all for themsleves.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:35

      So Fraport did have 1.8 mio pax in 2018, that means 18 mio € incentives to foreign airlines. And people went crazy in Slovenia when state was considering establishing new national carrier which wouldn't cost much more. And we wanted to be second Switzerland, now I feel more like second Zimbabwe.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous11:41

      @Anon 10:35: If Fraport though they'd get 1.8m pax anytime soon, they wouldn't be even thinking of subsidies.

      Delete
  17. Anonymous09:23

    Magical word for OU - incentives

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:27

      It's a magical word for most airlines that wan't to make some kind of profit.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:38

      *want

      Delete
  18. Anonymous09:43

    This would be fantastic news for Ljubljana and Croatia Airlines.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Anonymous09:43

    Finally something smart from OU.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Anonymous09:46

    Would this be the first time Croatia Airlines has ever flown from Ljubljana?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:55

      Scheduled flights, yes.

      Delete
  21. Anonymous09:47

    If this happens, I hope they offer decent prices.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:55

      I'm sure they will be similar to those in ZAG.

      Delete
  22. Anonymous09:47

    But wouldn't them offering transfer options via Ljubljana for people from say Skopje canibilise their own Skopje-Zagreb operations?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:08

      Where did you read that they will offer transfers via LJU?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:09

      Why wouldn't they?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:23

      With two aircraft? Really?

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:24

      Yes, you can do it with one as well.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:34

      You can do it, but it will not canibilise Zagreb network.

      Delete
  23. Anonymous09:48

    Isn't it still too early?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:54

      Well it seems that them waiting in the beginning has actually paid off :)

      Delete
  24. Anonymous09:54

    Natural choice to base a plane in LJU.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous22:16

      I think so to. I wish OU and JP cooperated much more in the past then they have. Perhaps JP would still be around.

      Delete
  25. Anonymous09:56

    Good news

    ReplyDelete
  26. Anonymous09:59

    Will they base crew in LJU. Or will they jut transport them from ZAG?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:00

      It would make sense just to transport them for the day for them to do the two or three rotations. Unless they decide to have the same crew for the entire week and keep them at a hotel in LJU... something JU does with its base in Nis for example.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:00

      Hotel is cheaper than shuttling crew up and down from ZAG.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous14:25

      it will be van transfer and then 3-4 working days (staying in hotel) and back with a van

      Delete
  27. Anonymous10:06

    Bravo OU!! Top!

    ReplyDelete
  28. Anonymous10:14

    If the government is going to be providing money OU, why didn't they do the same for Adria?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:19

      Nije isto financirati /spašavati kompaniju pred raspadom ili samo dijelom subvencionirati nekoliko ruta drugoj kompaniji,koja se za preživljavanje ipak mora izboriti u svom dvorištu. Ovo je u trenutnoj situaciji čisti win-win ako se naravno i realizira. OU iskoristi višak letjelica pogotovo zimi, ima dodatan prihod, a Lju dobije vezu sa destinacijama koje su godinama bile uhodane.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:38

      Win/win only for Croatia, not for Slovenia tax payers or former employees. Fraport clearly stated that market will take care of itsels, now lets live with that.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous12:03

      With OU (or any other airline), if you are not happy or don't need them anymore, you just end the contract.

      If Slovenia had a state-owned airline and decided it doesn't need it anymore, it would be a very painful and expensive process to liquidate it.

      Delete
  29. Anonymous10:16

    I was amazed that a developed airline like OU was so passive when JP went bankrupt. But good to see they woke up.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Anonymous10:16

    Hope the offer will be reasonable.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Anonymous10:17

    would this have happened without corona?

    ReplyDelete
  32. Anonymous10:31

    The beauty of EU membership :) Croat carrier can open a base in Larnaca and operate flights to Iceland or Estonian carrier opening a base in Athens and operating domestic flights to Salonika or Corfu. Nice!
    Lets see what happens with OU and I think this move is quite brave. The only concern is the smaller aircraft that will not allow to competitive with the bigger planes such as A320 or A321.
    OU can also focus on long-haul LJU-JFK or LJU-YYZ flights.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:45

      Oh yes, long haul flights with zero aircraft now, and zero aircraft in near future. From airport even without Qatar and FlyDubai. How nice can it be?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:01

      As if OU could compete with any LCC if the market was big enough to sustain passengers to fit A320.

      Delete
  33. JU520 BEGLAX11:12

    This would be cool to have 2 OU a/c based in LJU. I am always in favor if I see HR and SLO finding ways to cooperate together

    ReplyDelete
  34. Anonymous14:10

    This is defensive / limit pricing or even predatory move (depending on the price) to discourage establishment of new flag carrier within Slovenia. Nothing else.

    https://www.dnevnik.si/1042932443

    If Slovenia re-establishes flag carrier Croatia will again have competition on its own market.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Čitam raznorazne šovinističke komentare, što za Croaciju što za Er Srbiju. Malo je više postalo bljak. Što se mene tiče drago mi je da se razbudjuju, i da uspeju u toj novoj da kažem bazi. Da se naši prevoznici što jače pozicioniraju na ovom tržištu. Samo napred 🇷🇸🇭🇷

    ReplyDelete
  36. Anonymous14:56

    they can stil base one aircraft in SKP... lost of unserved destinations...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous15:23

      With the W6 downsizing, I don't think there is a market anymore in SKP simply because it's covered. SKP remains an extremely LCC airport. LJU has more potential because it needs more flights to Europe for sure. OU is highly unlikely to look into SKP as a base.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous17:06

      W6 is downsizing because they have monopoly there and nobody will destroy them so there is no need for expansion. SKP has potential for legacy carrier flights to MUC, FRA, CDG, CPH and FCO. Currently everyone are flying to these transfer hubs via BEG, ZAG and VIE.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous18:21

      @15.23 your obsession with Skopje should end

      Delete
  37. Just an information please if anybody knows :will they start Athens flights and when?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous22:15

      If you mean Croatia Airlines from Ljubljana, I highly doubt it. They don't fly nonstop from Zagreb to Athens either.

      Delete
  38. Anonymous22:14

    Fingers crossed. Hope it works.

    ReplyDelete
  39. Anonymous22:29

    The VIE-LJU route would suffer from the fact that the Austrian government has just introduced high taxes for very short flights.

    ReplyDelete
  40. Anonymous10:44

    I hope this doesn't happen. Instead of paying OU to fly from LJU, I sincerely hope the government will reconsider launching a new national carrier. That way, local people will be employed and taxes will be paid.

    ReplyDelete
  41. Anonymous10:23

    Sounds like a sensible move from both Croatia Airlines and the Slovenians. What about LJU- OHD as seasonal? I remember the days when Adria's CRJ-operated summer evening flights were making a left turn over Lake Ohrid right before final. Twice pw if I am not mistaken?

    ReplyDelete

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