Ljubljana Airport in talks with major carrier


Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport is in talks with one of the largest carrier’s in the region, which may hire local pilots and crew for their flights from the Slovenian capital. Speaking to the “24ur” portal, the Head of Airline Management at Ljubljana Airport, Janez Krašnja, said, “We hope this project will see the light of day as soon as possible and that, perhaps, it will best enable members of the Slovenian aviation sector to quickly become active again". Mr Krašnja did not reveal the name of the company in question, noting only that it is one of the largest airlines in the region.

Slovenia is seeking to improve its connectivity following the collapse of Adria Airways late last year, as well as the setback posed by the coronavirus pandemic. “Airlines establish flights to places where there is a market. Even if it is not a domestic or flag carrier, it is crucial for the population and the economy to have solid air connections”, Mr Krašnja said. Ljubljana Airport has argued the government should not get involved in the creation of a new national airline and should instead provide subsidies to foreign carriers. Croatia Airlines is still considering the possibility of basing some aircraft in Ljubljana as well.

Last November, the Slovenian government noted it was in talks with a regional carrier as a potential part-owner in a new national airline, noting that talks had come “a long way”, however nothing has materialised since. Ljubljana Airport handled 197.090 passengers during the first half of the year, representing a decrease of 77.1% on the same period in 2019. In June alone it welcomed 5.085 travellers. Aircraft movements during the first two quarters stood at 6.561, down 60.7%. Ljubljana Airport was closed for commercial traffic from March 17 until May 12, but saw its first revenue flight on May 29. The airport anticipates it will process between 400.000 and 500.000 passengers this year.

Comments

  1. Anonymous09:01

    Wizz Air no doubt.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:02

      I really hope so!!

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:05

      They are the only ones that make sense since they are the only ones that are expanding at the moment.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:09

      ZERO chance that W6 or any other LCC would invest in a JP 2.0

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:12

      But here we are not talking about an airline investing into a new Adria. The person from LJU airport says that they are in talks with an airline to establish flights and that the airline might hire local staff. It doesn't say they would invest in a new airline.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:17

      If Wizz comes to LJU then it's basically game over for ZAG.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous09:22

      Anon@09:17
      SMFH...

      Delete
    7. Anonymous09:22

      Why would it be?

      Delete
    8. Anonymous09:59

      Why are people overlooking Ryanair? They have been expressing interest in the Slovenian market for years.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous10:26

      I can only imagine what they would ask from LJU to start flights. I don't think it's Ryanair.

      Delete
    10. ryanair is expecting to big discounts and to high amount of money for their f. marketing. they should develop traffic on MBX.

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:02

    Who could it be?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:12

      OU

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:15

      OU is not one of the largest airlines in our region

      Delete
    3. Jatovac09:19

      Ou is the one who a 100% is not

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:35

      "is in talks with one of the largest carrier’s in the region" you have couple of airlines in the exyu region and OU is one of the largest carriers in the region, second largest actually.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:37

      He is not referring to OU because it's separately listed in the article. And obviously the airline he is referring to does not plan to base an aircraft in LJU.

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:02

    Who is the largest carrier in the region anyway?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:09

      Tarom?
      Aegean?
      Austrian?
      ASL?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:39

      FlyBosnia :D

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:42

      ASL is not a regional airlines anyway, it is based in France. And I think this guy thinks about exyu region.

      Delete
    4. Dejan09:53

      ASL is ICAO's code for JU.

      Delete
  4. Anonymous09:05

    Whoever they are, they would be a lifesaver for Ljubljana at this moment.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous09:05

    It could be LOT Polish Airlines.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:10

      Perhaps. They are expanding and they have a base in Budapest.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:26

      Some people are saying LOT is on the brink of bankruptcy and that they created a new company so they could carry through with a controlled bankruptcy.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous13:50

      Indeed, in different times, it could have been LOT, but given the state of the industry at the moment, I really can't see anyone but Wizz Air.

      Croatia Airlines flying some thinner business routes with a business friendly timetable could complement Wizz Air quite well...

      Delete
  6. Anonymous09:09

    Those numbers are really worrying. Sarajevo had almost the same passenger numbers as Ljubljana.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:35

      This is tragic, basically they risk handling less passengers than Tuzla.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:27

      Sarajevo didn't have almost the same passenger numbers as LJU.

      SJJ - 143.540
      LJU - 197.090

      Delete
  7. Anonymous09:10

    Austrian?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:16

      I highly doubt it. They didn't even want to establish Vienna-Ljubljana.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:28

      LH group will shrink drastically, not expand in the next couple of months or years.

      Delete
  8. Anonymous09:18

    this looks quite depressing, it’s a classic example what happens to the airport when national carrier is gone, when wrong people make wrong moves, when you have personal interest only and nothing else. I just hope the government as well as LJU won’t fail miserably again when finding new carrier, cuz otherwise airport won’t fully recover for years and years...
    Miss Adria :‘(

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:32

      +1

      Delete
    2. Anonymous14:17

      yeah right. it's adria, not corona and associated travel bans and layoffs in companies. dreamers squared.

      Delete
  9. Anonymous09:23

    Eurowings?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:23

      Well its possible. They hired locals in Kosovo for their flights.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:02

      their fleet is not suitable for LJU base, it must be someone with aircrafts between 70-100 seats.

      Delete
  10. Anonymous09:32

    They've been talking about this for ages. Time to seal the deal.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:38

      I can assume airlines are very hard negotiators now. They can basically ask for anything in this situation

      Delete
  11. Anonymous09:35

    I think they should do everything they can to get Wizz Air to open a base in LJU.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:38

      I agree, especially since they are willing to open bases at such short notice

      Delete
  12. Anonymous09:41

    Things will remain bleak for a very long time if they don't manage to strike a deal with someone soon.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous09:42

    Taxpayers get ready

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:48

      It's either that or no flights at all.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:54

      I would rather taxpayers pay for a new national airlines then these quick fix solutions offered by foreigners.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:55

      *airline

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:04

      Taxpayers paying for new national airlines is the worst solution!
      No thanks.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:25

      ^for you it is better to pay to foreign airlines instead of giving jobs to Slovenians? What's wrong with you..

      Delete
    6. Anonymous11:16

      ^
      You are creating many more jobs for Slovenians when a successful business minded carrier serves your airport instead of a state owned dinosaur who;'s main focus is to offer overpaid and underworked jobs to politically connected individuals.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous12:38

      ^
      "successful business minded carrier" - I would ask you to name one who is interested in serving LJU airport but this would be impossible. To be a bit easier for you, please name one of "successful business minded carrier" in our region...

      Delete
    8. Anonymous20:12

      @ anon 1238
      oh yeah when it's overpaid and underworked airline staff is bad, but when it's underpaid and overworked airline/airport staff nobody cares. how about fairly paid and reasonably-worked? no? come on where are creative solutions now?

      Delete
  14. Anonymous09:48

    I would like LJU to be much more proactive. They were aware a year ago that JP would go bankrupt. They said how they have everything ready when that happens and what have they done? Few LH group flights

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous20:14

      well it's the old mantra of "the market will take care of itself", LJU will get proactive when some seats are reorganized

      Delete
  15. Anonymous09:49

    What happened to the Banana King? Will he launch the new Adria? He bought their AOC.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:50

      What a wasted investment.

      Delete
  16. Anonymous09:49

    I hope LJU will be able to find some sort of solution.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:00

      I've been hoping that for 9 months already...

      Delete
  17. Anonymous09:52

    LJU is now recovering from the loss of Adria and Corona. Even if there were no corona, LJU would have had a 40% decline in passenger numbers and a big decline in revenue this year. Something has to be done.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:59

      This couldn't come at a worse time for LJU as it was trying to recover from Adria's collapse.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:04

      ^1000

      Delete
  18. Anonymous09:53

    LJU airport is always "negotiating". Nothing comes of it, ever. They are just trying to persuade the government to give them money (subsidies), so they could start earning money again for their German owners. Screw them.

    Let the government help establish a new carriers. If they sincere about the idea of employing local people, I am sure they will have nothing against it. We all know all they care about is profit (and rightly so), so cut the crap about helping local economy.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Anonymous10:00

    Good luck

    ReplyDelete
  20. Anonymous10:01

    Possibility 1
    Reason why they try to get 10 EUR per passenger from the Government.
    What airlines are using this approach as their standard practice?

    Possibility 2
    Airport is in worst shape ever. They are deep in read.
    They need to present to the shareholders that they are capable.
    In this scenario, more desperate top management is more high-flying stories they publish.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:12

      Unfortunately I think it is scenraio 2.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:27

      They are playing strange play, they are against national carrier which would cost them nothing but they would have most of it. If that's not insane..

      Delete
    3. Anonymous20:18

      #2

      Delete
  21. Anonymous10:13

    It will be more difficult to attract new airlines in the covid era, especially to smaller markets such as LJU where it was never easy to attract airlines in the first place.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:18

      Airports will have to give a lot of incentives and stimulus to attract airlines.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:35

      And governments too...

      Delete
  22. Anonymous10:19

    What a joke. Shutting down Adria has proven to be the worst decision for Slovenia's aviation industry.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous22:43

      And the best for the average taxpayer!

      Delete
  23. Anonymous10:22

    Please let it be an LCC!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:25

      I would be happy with Wizz, Ryan or Easy!

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:35

      I would take whatever I could get at the moment.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous11:11

      Forget about LCC, there is not a single airline which would place 180+ seater in LJU. Slovenia is not a country of mass tourism, it does not have huge amount of diaspora around the world and those are top two parameters for LCC to start operating. Even if you give them 20 eur incentives per passengers does not help much if they fly with 50% LF. I am quite sure that Fraport is full of crap in this case.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous11:54

      "there is not a single airline which would place 180+ seater in LJU" Adria had an A320 in the fleet and it was able to operate it thanks to transfers. LCC can also operate A320 in LJU because of cheap prices which are really familiar with people. People here many times forget that LCCs are making money despite flying to the villages where no one can see any demand.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous12:09

      @anon 11:54

      Indeed, JP had A320 few years ago but this aircraft was mainly used for charters and in peak season for PRN/TIA base. On scheduled flights out of LJU, LF on that A/C was a disaster. I can't even imagine what would happen if you had to operate with it 3 times per day / 7 day a week.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous13:34

      During the first decade of 21st century, Adria was using these planes to LHR,CDG, FRA and even SPU out of LJU.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous13:52

      They have used it, but what was the LF on these flights is another story. LHR could be fulfilled few times per week, CDG I highly doubt it with AF presence, FRA impossible as more than 50% of FRA pax is conx pax so it's not compatible with LCC model.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous13:54

      "Adria had an A320 in the fleet and it was able to operate it thanks to transfers."

      First of all, Adria's A320s were retired a decade ago and had 162 seats, not 180+. Also, when in the recent history did Adria make any real profit?

      Delete
    9. Anonymous14:22

      to the JP fanboys that's not important. main thing they had a320 and hired local people. 50 million, 100 million deficit, no problem, government (taxpayers) will be happy to cover the losses, year-on-year.

      because now they have to change their seat at some hub. no go. others must pay for their convenicene.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous14:40

      ^

      It was not 100 mio deficit for the time when JP was under Slo ownership. Before 4k took over JP losses were acceptable, much lower than state is losing because of . Of course it could be better if JP would lead someone from airline business and not politically appointed managers.

      Delete
    11. Anonymous17:55

      JP fanboys? That still exists? I tought that Adria was dead for more than 7 months? LCCs can make profit literally everywhere so i dont see why they wouldnt be able to fill A320s from LJU.

      Delete
    12. Anonymous18:19

      @anon 17:55

      you are absolutelly right, that's why I can't decide either to pick Wizzair, Ryanair, Easyjet, Volotea for my next vacation out of LJU. I even heard that some longhaul LCC will set up a base in LJU :)

      Delete
  24. Anonymous10:24

    Just promises and talk from LJU, as usual.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous20:23

      +1
      won't believe it till the plane is on tarmac

      Delete
  25. Anonymous10:35

    It could be Turkish Airlines. When we talk about Ljubljana, the term "region" is rather flexible.

    Regards,
    Eight

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:56

      lol do you realize Turkish will have only rights to fly between SLO and TR?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:26

      Could TK help establish a new company and give 2-3 aircrafts like it did with Albanian government and established Air Albania?

      It already flies to many destinations now.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous17:59

      That would be nice but i dont think that slovenian goverment will talk with someone about this. This is now a problem of the airport.

      Delete
  26. notLufthansa11:07

    this managment has "been in talks" for ages with all sorts of companies and never delivered anything. They are talking for the last 20 years.....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous20:27

      oh come on maybe this time they'll get emirates & co. to fly from LJU. it's 2020, maybe another weird and unexpected thing of this year will be LJU management actually get something done and not just being smart about how things function :D

      Delete
  27. Anonymous14:13

    LOT and OU would be great results as Star Alliance carriers and could allow some sort of hub activity again code sharing with eg LH from Frankfurt. Their regional aircraft fit perfectly in terms of filling holes post Adria, eg Skopje, Pristina, Munich, Vienna, etc where frequency is needed. As indicated above, W6 320s are just too big.

    Would also be good to have a flight into LHR or LGW on a full service carrier to allow connectivity; BA's times don't allow connections, whilst EZY is a point to point carrier

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't think OU would set up a hub in LJU to compete with their hub in ZAG. What interest would OU have in flying pax from SKP & PRN via LJU as opposed to ZAG, or even directly to FRA for that matter?

      LOT makes more sense, but I don't think it will happen.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous21:12

      Forget about LJU as a hub. All it needs is good connections to FRA and MUC so people can catch the connecting flights and perhaps some LCC P2P routes.

      Delete
  28. Ingvarrson15:08

    Pure smokescreen and nothing else. What a coincidence they float this information just as Solin Air has presented its plan to launch a new national carrier...

    ReplyDelete
  29. Anonymous21:13

    I wonder how are they going to get around with "hiring local people" and the EU legislation against discriminating people from employment opportunities.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous21:43

      language

      Delete
    2. Anonymous14:26

      Same as air france, lufthansa and many others

      Delete
  30. Anonymous02:40

    The 'region' for Slovenia is: Italy, Austria, Hungary and Croatia - first and foremost. ex-YU is not much relevant. I wonder if it could be Volotea, they have perfect sized aircraft for that market...

    ReplyDelete
  31. Anonymous02:44

    Some big news coming out soon, with a group to take over Croatia Airlines and Air Serbia, both governments to have a 25% share each in the company. They will launch a new company BAT (Balkan Air Transport) which will run the existing 2 airlines and set up the 3rd which will run in ex Yu territories for now with the eye to expand into Albania, Bulgaria, Romania.
    Company head quarters to be based in Zagreb to appease EU regulations
    Air Serbia to concentrate on long haul flights to Far East and US and Africa
    Croatia Airlines to concentrate on connecting the coast to European markets and key European cities.
    BAT to be set up with;
    3 planes in LJU and SKP
    2 planes in SJJ, TGD, PRN
    Croatia Airlines to leave Star and the new group investigating weather to join a group or concentrate on code share partners
    You will find this has been in the planning for a while and Covid has only accelerated the process.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Good one!
      Hahahahah!

      Delete
    2. notLufthansa09:50

      and the ceo will be Batman :)

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:55

      hahahah cool, with Batman in charge this will be the most just company in Balkans

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:58

      hahahhahahahahahhahahah cool, this would be the most just airline for both employees and pax with Batman in charge. wouldn't last long though, cause moneeeey

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:59

      sorry guys for two comments :)

      Delete
  32. Anonymous13:10

    Anyone with plane capacity of +150 pax will only make loss in LJU airport. Adria with crj has been dispatching half empty planes for years. However ticket prices were high. So how would LCC cover this with their business model? Namely as slovenians are stingy too and dont buy onboard.

    ReplyDelete
  33. the new Adria Airlines or Air Slovenia should be feeder also to MAD,MXP,LIS and BCN, not just FRA,ZRH and maybe MUC.

    ReplyDelete
  34. JU, OU, C3 or EN?

    ReplyDelete

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