More airlines cancel Ljubljana launch plans

Ljubljana Airport passenger terminal

Israel’s Israir and Ukraine’s Windrose Airlines have cancelled their plans to launch operations to Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport this year. Although both services were initially to commence in May and June, they were delayed on several occasions due to the coronavirus pandemic and rescheduled for September. They have now been indefinitely cancelled. Furthermore, Brussels Airlines has delayed the resumption of its service between the Belgian and Slovenian capitals until the start of the 2020/2021 winter season on October 27. Flights were originally to be restored during the first week of September. Earlier this week, British Airways cancelled plans to resume its seasonal summer operations from London Heathrow to Ljubljana.

Ljubljana Airport’s operator, Fraport Slovenija, previously warned that quarantine measures and travel restrictions put in place for nationals from a number of countries are hindering its post-lockdown recovery. Its General Manager, Zmago Skobir, said last month, "The situation now is no better than we anticipated back in April. It’s of paramount importance to keep these routes so they're here when passengers regain their trust in travel. There is fierce competition for air carriers among airports. Good connections will be key next year, when Slovenia presides over the Council of the European Union during the second half of 2021”. The airport has proposed for the government to provide subsidies to airlines. During the first half of the year, Ljubljana Airport's revenue declined 58.4% to 9.4 million euros. Overall, it registered a net loss of 5.6 million euros.

Nine carriers presently maintain operations to Ljubljana Airport. They include Air Serbia (Belgrade), Montenegro Airlines (Podgorica), Lufthansa (Frankfurt), Wizz Air (Charleroi), Transavia (Amsterdam), Air France (Paris), Turkish Airlines (Istanbul), LOT Polish Airlines (Warsaw) and easyJet (Berlin). “The resumption of flights and the number of frequencies largely depend on the easing of travel restrictions, as well as the recovery in demand”, Fraport Slovenija said. Previously, Iberia, which was also to launch a new service from Madrid to Ljubljana cancelled its plans to do so this summer season.

Comments

  1. Anonymous09:01

    From these nine, how many weekly flights do they operate?

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:07

      Air Serbia 4x
      Montenegro Airlines 1x
      Lufthansa 12x
      Wizz Air 2x
      Transavia 2x
      Air France 7x
      Turkish Airlines 3x
      Easyjet 1x
      LOT 4x

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:19

      When did JU increase it from 2 to 4?

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    3. Anonymous10:05

      I don't think they did. They don't have enough planes to increase to 4.

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    4. Anonymous10:10

      They have as of this week increased to 4x. And the spare plane comment is rubbish. They've never had more spare planes.

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    5. Anonymous10:44

      So that means LJU performs ok for them. It's not all doom and gloom for LJLJ.

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    6. Anonymous14:44

      How often does JU fly elsewhere?
      Do they still operate ATR on LJU route?

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    7. Anonymous16:07

      Meanwhile those trade Air charters seem to be performing really well in LJU. God I love that airline, very well run. They even bought a third A320!

      Delete
    8. Just watch, Adria will be back. Someone will pay 50k for the name (maybe JU for a spinoff?) and our airports will show the Adria logo on departure/arrival screens.

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:02

    A good example why a national carrier is needed. Adria flew to Tel Aviv, Kiev and Brussels.

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    Replies
    1. JU520 BEGLAX09:11

      It would cost you Millions of EUR to support it during the next 18 months. So good to not have one.
      Even during Covid, you are well connected: 12 x LH, 7 x AF, 3 x TK. That means u reach every important city in EUR and the planet

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:44

      exactly, we need a national carrier. you know because belgium is on the red list - 14 day quarantine, and therefore we need for a national airline to fly empty planes for the sake of flying a big toy around.

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    3. Anonymous10:11

      anon @ 9:02 - They flew to Tel Aviv just for Israeli tourist - Israel is now on red list and all arriving pax are obliged to 14 days self-quarantine. By your opinion they should fly empty planes? Same situation with Ukraine, since 21st August also on red list. Brussels is covered with Wizz Air, most politicians and government officials now do video conferences and those who need to be phisically (politicians and government officials) in Brussels go there with biz-jets.

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    4. Anonymous12:45

      when someone equate BRU and CRL than everything is said about this "expert". There is still huge demand for BRU but now they have to use OU flights out of ZAG as there is no other alternative. I haven't heard of any politicians that would use flights to CRL. It's more and more clear that Slovenia will have to do something about connectivity in LJU.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous13:34

      anonymous @ 12:45
      I didn't equate BRU and CRL. Read more carefully replies and post before writing your own - I never said that I'm expert - you might be one of those "experts". In my reply I clearly said that politicians use biz-jets if they need to go to BRU. And as Croatia is on red list in Slovenia even less pax will use OU out of ZAG.

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    6. Anonymous13:46

      FYI...Current decree allows Slovenians to fly from/to Croatian airports without getting quarantine decision.

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    7. Anonymous15:42

      To Anonymous at 13:46

      Wow that's interesting!

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    8. Anonymous22:37

      @anon 12:45
      Some politicians used to fly to CRL last September. Really annoying for both sides - they learned flying on most basic fares doesn't entitle them to much, still behaved as if they were flying business, we learned they don't read (or look at pictures) and are a bit nicer when flying JP or SN.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous23:01

      @anon 22:37
      That's strange, as on government tenders it was always request for flights out of ZAG. Probably some of them has changed to CRL as in case of OU flights they should wake up at 3am to catch flights at 7am in ZAG. Now imagine how effective our politicians were in BRU when they have to wake up in the middle of the night...

      Delete
    10. Anonymous10:10

      @anon 23:01
      That only happened on a few flights in September and with only a few politicians :)
      hah, well, (I cannot really answer on that without sarcasm) poor guys having to wake up that early and than being tired all day long when (in normal times) we start working each day at different hour - first day it can be at 3am, second day at 6am (end at 6 or 7pm), third day at 6am, forth day at 4pm ending the shift at 3am waving the next day's morning shift. Poor politicians but apparently still not poor enough to start taking aviation more seriously.

      Delete
    11. Anonymous10:19

      I totally agree with you, poor guys :)

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    12. Anonymous16:30

      really, how bad things need to go for our brilliant politicians to get their marbles together?

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:05

    We will be lucky if we have 500,000 pax this year.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous14:48

      Actually more like 300.000...unfortunately

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  4. So no OU base at lju airport

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:08

      Doesn't look like it.

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    2. Anonymous09:44

      It was the same like bases in TIA, SKP, SJJ etc.

      Delete
  5. Anonymous09:16

    Plus we lost Iberia and Finnair.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:30

      BA too.

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    2. Anonymous09:32

      British and Finnair will be back next year.

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    3. In a new large terminal.

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    4. Anonymous09:57

      @9.32 Let's wait and see. Nothing is certain at this point.

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  6. Anonymous09:36

    Munich

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:12

      According to LH preliminary winter 2020/21 schedule no flights to MUC.

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    2. It will probably be back in summer next year, when covid-19 is hopefully over

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    3. Anonymous13:52

      Interesting there won't be MUC to LJU in winter which is served from ZAG but they will have FRA which was cut from ZAG

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  7. Anonymous09:45

    well with Belgium being on the red mandatory quarantine list, what do you thing how big the demand for tickets was/is ?

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:53

      It is the capital of the EU. There is always demand.

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    2. Anonymous22:41

      There should be at least few flights per week if not everyday...

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  8. Anonymous09:54

    Fraport is right. The constant changes to quarantine lists and entry rules are killing off any chance of the airport recovering.

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    1. Anonymous12:37

      of course they are, Serbia and Croatia are on red list on most of EU countries but they still have connections to all major airports in EU. There are many people who fall of under exceptions in terms of quarantine so demand is for at least one flight for BRU/ZRH/MUC.

      Delete
  9. Anonymous09:57

    Expected

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  10. Brussels started flying in November 2019 and stopped flying in March 2020 due to covid 19. After the corona, however, Brussels fell into a financial crisis. The Belgians made state aid to the owner of Brussels Lufthansa conditional on flights to Brussels, which the Germans did not accept. Therefore, Brussels rationalized the network, and deleted the Ljubljana - Brussels flights. Whether it will start flying in the fall is questionable (source: RTV SLO).

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:42

      eventually they received it

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    2. If they wont start it themselves, the government will probably give subsidies for this route

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  11. Anonymous11:09

    This "quarantine lists and limitations" has now become a regular excuse of Fraport's management, which is obviously not able to cope with situation. Playing field regarding Covid limitations is pretty much the same for all EU countries and airports, yet Slovenia and LJU is strongly underperforming recovery. ICAO's forecasts for EU in march 2021 are between -16% and -30% of 2019 passenger number levels. LJU expects such recovery only in 2022 or 2023. For comparison EU passenger figures in July stood at -63%, LJU -90%. But sure enough, they are pushing hard with the terminal which in terms of passengers numbers will not be needed for at least for 2-3years and could easily be delayed a bit. They are saying that this would be even more costly and if that is true they should ask themselves what strange contract terms they have agreed to. So don't be surprised if in the next few months they figure out that they will not make it no matter how many more people they lay off - simply because they are pouring money each month into the concrete.
    Not only Fraport, also the government is to blame here as they completely lost their compass regarding aviation sector in Slovenia. They didn't even try to mitigate Covid crisis in aviation. All this combined and you get such sad result as we are now seeing in LJU.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:19

      True. And let's not forget that Adria was still flying around this time last year. That is also having a big impact on the airport.

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    2. Anonymous12:29

      well said Anon 11:09

      In addition, actual drop si even higher than 90% to PY numbers as JP already canceled numerous flights in July. On particular days JP had only 2 aircrafts departing out of LJU, all other were flying for LH group or in PRN/TIA base.

      Delete
  12. Anonymous12:19

    Biggest mistake was not offering an LCC to open a base - Wizz or Easy.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:31

      that would cost even more than establishing a new national carrier..

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    2. Anonymous13:01

      @12.31 lol

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    3. Anonymous13:22

      anon 13:01: whats funny?

      Macedonia pays around 10€ per pax. For 1 mio pax that's 10 mio EUR. And believe me that Wizz or Easy would take much more from our government because Slovenia does not have any mass tourism or have few mio people living across the world. That are two most important business casses why low cost would open a base somewhere.

      As far as I know Solinair was asking for 5 mio of subsidize from state, so much lower than it would cost to have LCC here (which will not happen in milions of years...).

      Delete
    4. Anonymous13:37

      @12:31
      +100%

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    5. Jatovac13:52

      Anon 13.01 and anon 13.22, I partially agree with you both. N. Macedonia has much much much much less tourists than Ljubljana, N. Macedonia barely has any tourists, but LJU HAS tourists. And Macedonians that live abroad usually travel with car, as of financial status, and Slovenians has much much much better financial position (both in Slovenia and abroad) so they travel more with planes, this is not a norm, as we would say ,, Cast izuzecima", this is for me just why Slovenia would have much more passengers and the reason for W6 and EC to lower the price. The second thing is that W6 and EC already have planes, pilots, FAs, management,... and a new national carrier has nothing and would have to pay all that and to gain trust of people which those companies, I think, have. But let`s ignore the money for a while, national carrier would be much much better for Slovenia, as the planes are the country`s and all the benefits I will not now list. During the lock down we saw why national carrier is important for any country, and we could read that all the analisists say that national carrier is important. Wish all the best for both and would love to see contra-arguments for this, maybe I am totally wrong for you

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    6. Anonymous14:11

      SKP airport: 2,3 mio PAX + OHD airport: 300k PAX. Those are the figures LJU will will never be close again (without national carrier). Also what we have to understand that majority of those passengers work in EU countries where financial status is much higher than in Slovenia so travelling by plane does not represent a problem for them.

      Delete
    7. Jatovac14:48

      That is why I said that Slovenia needs national carirer or a based carrier, but national carrier is better option. I think that the most Macedonians in EU do some lower paid jobs, again ,,cast izuzecima". But I just think that they travell less by plane than Slovenians abroad like Turks, at highway in Hungary, Serbia, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Grecce you can see Turks coming from Germany by car. Much longer ride than to Macedonia, and there is not justa a few cars, there is a lot. I personally can not say if in german registred car is a Macedonian because we are all similar, but I think there are because of language at the petrol stations. And the other thing, less important but a reason is a habit, I think that Macedonians do not have a habit of travelig by plane, as they are grown up without or just a few flights because of their standard, again ,,cast izuzecima", and in Slovenia is much much higher standard and they travel more by plane. Again if you think I am wrong and have contra-arguments, I would love to read them, to exchange our thoughts

      Delete
    8. Jatovac14:50

      I forgot to add that I think Slovenians abroad are at much higher position than Macedonians abroad, usually

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    9. Anonymous16:03

      Jatovac, probably most Slovenians have higher positions abroad but still in total there are not so many of them. We could measure it in few thousands, while there are huge ethnic groups coming from Macedonia across all the world. In addition mentality of Slovenians is not the same as with other Balkan nations, we are not so connected to our families and country so most Slovenians travel max once per year (which is quite sad I must admit). There would also be certain people who would choose travelling by car rather then by plane. I know there are a lot of them but reason for that we could also search in bad connectivity of Macedonia. Most flights has Wizz to several destinations with big aicrafts while some countries/regions are still not covered at all. All the best to you Jatovac!

      Delete
    10. Jatovac19:46

      If you are a Slovenian, you for sure know better than me what they do. I did not know some do not visit their families often

      Delete
  13. Anonymous12:19

    At least we will have a new terminal...

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:30

      could be usefull for indoor karting (same as they had on parking lot for few years)...

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    2. Anonymous22:45

      brilliant idea!! also, outdoor karting is back ;)

      Delete
  14. Anonymous12:30

    By my opinion Slovenia should stop thinking about new national carrier, because let's be honest there won't be another Adria. Period. There is no sustainable business case for this.
    There are carriers which are already flying to LJU, this can stay as it is, because they are connecting Slo travellers through their hubs.
    Government should decide about routes which are important for Slo economy… and subsidize them.
    They should also attract one established carrier to base few aircraft in LJU. Instead of focusing on connecting EXYU with western Europe they should focus solely on LJU.
    Airbaltic comes to my mind… They are serious, reliable, established, they codeshare with all major carriers, like all others they have now spare planes.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:51

      And how much would cost if Air Baltic places 4 aircraft in LJU? It's cheaper if you establish new national carrier. Now it's perfect time, aircrafts are much cheaper, Slovenians have knowledge in aviation business, only what they should change is to place competitive managers and not those who are political apointed. What we must not forget is that even with those political apointed managers, JP received 50 mio € in ten years which is 5 per year. For airline with more than 10 aircrafts that's not disaster but I agree that it could be much better with competitive managers.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous13:39

      @12:30

      Couldn't agree more!

      Delete
    3. Anonymous13:51

      Actually we could object about every single sentence of your comment Anon 12:30.
      Who said that there won't be another Adria? You don't even realize what is happening behind the scenes. Yes we have carriers flying to LJU, that's why LJU had 90% less traffic than PY (and even July 2019 was not briliant as JP already canceled many flights in that period). Slovenia need national carrier, PERIOD!

      Delete
    4. Anonymous14:36

      I still don't understand how some people view aviation sector only through net profit/loss mentality. It's not bicycle factory. It represents vital infrastructure for any country, good connections mean important advantage to business, tourism and people. It has so many external benefits which are so underestimated in this story. Sure, such small national airline may have few milions in losses, but how much money goes into public budget through tourism, business investments, paid taxes, not counting many other companies that rely on aviation sector. Nobody has ever presented such calculations. These are the reasons we are now seeing every country subsidizing their airlines, even privately owned, including LH or AF for example.
      And one question for all who are against national airline: Why are we subsidizing railroad company and all the bus companies? Heck, if there's market someone else will step in, if not you can buy a car or walk.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous16:09

      Do keep in mind that here are different people representing different interest groups.

      From Slovenia who travel to the ones that do not.

      From Fraport to control their quite strange narrative.

      From Croatia who push different perspective. Croatia airlines use this as PR to further their own interests and to gain support for their cashflow problems.

      From Serbia, who support us in our efforts.

      From Wizz who would like a bit of risk-free money (think Croatia has the same logic).

      And do not forget all the keyboard warriors.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous16:16

      Bravo @Anons 14:36 and 16:09!

      Delete
    7. Anonymous16:37

      "Slovenians have knowledge in aviation business"

      The only AOC holder that has been around since Slovenia's independence is Solinair, which has been owned and controlled by its Turkish owner for more than a decade.

      Which other successful commercial air transport business did you have in mind?

      "JP received 50 mio € in ten years which is 5 per year."

      JP was re-capitalised by the government in 2007, 2009 and 2010 ot the amount of 15,2m EUR. Furthermore, they received a financial injection of more than 50m in 2011.

      "For airline with more than 10 aircrafts that's not disaster but I agree that it could be much better with competitive managers."

      There are airlines around that don't need 500k EUR/aircraft/year from their shareholders just to keep the lights on, but (in normal times) make 1-2m EUR/aircraft/year in profit. That's with sane business model, cost control and competent management.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous16:46

      So more than 500 ex JP employees do not posses knowledge how to deal with airline?
      Please name one airline (scheduled one) in our region which made profit in last decade?

      Delete
    9. Anonymous18:15

      It seems so. They are excellent pilots, flight crew members etc., however they do not posses knowledge on how to run a company with sane business model. Balkans are not really a region to look for sane business models.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous18:40

      Sane business models?

      One day a guy had an idea ‘I will sell stuff that I do not own and I will not have any stores’
      Other day a guy had an idea ‘I will make electric cars, that are better than BMW and AUDI’
      Next day a new idea ‘If I cannot buy ballistic rockets from Russia, I will build my own and go to the moon and mars’

      Bezos, Musk

      What is the difference between 3 generations that lived in Balkans after WW2?

      First generation
      We have no resources, but we can count on each other to build a nation that will be a beacon of hope!! (team work)

      Second generation
      Everything was given to us (housing, safe jobs, …) if we mess everything up others will fix it. (competition between each other, only personal gain matters)

      Third generation
      We have to rebuild, we have no resources, we understand that others will not fix our mess, how we will do it? (team work)

      THE BALKAN WAY (WE WILL WORK TOGETHER AND MAKE IT HAPPEN)

      Delete
    11. Anonymous20:11

      @anon 18:15
      So which company do posses knowledge about that?

      Delete
    12. Anonymous21:23

      Company? no company, but a set of diverse skilled people (no superstars solo players) who are nuts enough to do it.

      Delete
  15. Anonymous15:40

    Right now how are LOT and Air France doing in Ljubljana?
    Load factor? Cancellations?
    Currently people not resident in Slovenia or not Slovenians need a quarantine flying to Ljubljana.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Anonymous20:47

    We will all have to remain patient and see what will happen after the terminal is built. Slovenia has undergone various aviation challenges starting from Maribor and Portroz to the demise of JP.
    It seems, however, that London will for quite a while remain the most important destination in Slovenia, followed by Istanbul.
    SU might also increase their frequencies.
    The LH group shall remain for a while, too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous21:25

      London will for quite a while remain the most important destination in Slovenia, followed by Istanbul ???????????

      Delete
    2. Anonymous22:55

      London is not even a destination anymore
      we hoped IST would be 3 times daily but then MAX happend, now it's 3 times per week
      forget SU, welcome pobeda
      by LH group you mean LH flying to FRA or LH group flying to where they should instead of JP?

      Delete
  17. Anonymous11:09

    What about a connection to London? I know many people would book those flights. Easyjet is selling flights between Oct-Dec from London Luton and London Gatwick. Can someone at Fraport please confirm whether these flights will be going ahead or if they will be cancelled?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous16:36

      even if fraport would officially confirm flights to LON going ahead, things are changing so much it's pointless to build hopes.
      if you are booking a ticket to LON, buy a cancellation-friendly one

      Delete

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