Nine carriers apply for Ljubljana subsidies


Nine airlines have applied for a first round of subsidies to be issued by the Slovenian Ministry for Economic Development and Technology for maintaining flights to Ljubljana between March 30, 2020 and September 30, 2020. They include Lufthansa, Air Serbia, Montenegro Airlines, Air France, Turkish Airlines, Swiss, easyJet, Wizz Air and LOT Polish Airlines. In order to be eligible for the financial grant, the carriers in question must have operated at least two weekly flights for a period of at least two months within the set timeframe. This would disqualify Swiss which has not operated any flights to Slovenia since the start of the coronavirus pandemic in early March. 

An expert commission formed by the Ministry will now review each application. The total amount of funds to be shared between airlines for flying during the aforementioned period is 1.5 million euros. The commission will decide the amount each airline gets depending on a range of criteria including the number of flights the company maintained to Slovenia and the number of passengers it carried to the country. However, limits will be set on the maximum amount of funds the beneficiary can receive. Airlines which are maintaining services between October 1, 2020 and May 31, 2021 must apply for the aid by June 10, 2021, while carriers that will serve Slovenia between June 1, 2021 and December 31, 2021 must submit their applications by October 11, 2021. Another 3.5 million euros in funds has been set aside for those flying from October onwards. 

The Ministry previously noted, “The purpose of the tender is to maintain the existing schedule operated by international airlines, to encourage the resumption of suspended flights due to the consequences of the pandemic, and to encourage new airlines to fly to Slovenia. Lacking a national carrier, Slovenia is currently experiencing a very slow recovery and kick-start of air passenger transport”. Ljubljana Airport is currently served by just three airlines. In October, it handled 10.775 passengers, down 89.1% on the same month last year. The number of aircraft movements fell 47.2% to 935. Overall, since January, Ljubljana Airport welcomed 278.555 travellers through its doors, down 82%.

Comments

  1. Anonymous09:03

    Love Swiss' optimism :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:09

      Considering they are owned by Lufthansa, I wouldn't be surprised if they give it to them anyway.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:14

      It is very rare to incentivise somebody now for flights IN THE PAST, so probably they did not understand the brilliant idea.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:30

      wasnt there subsidies for launching new flights as well? maybe thats Swiss' plan

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:32

      No. Read the article. " for maintaining flights to Ljubljana between March 30, 2020 and September 30, 2020".

      Delete
    5. Anonymous11:19

      @9.30: No subsidies are for maintaining flights. There are ones for this winter and next summer, which could lead to someone launching flights but these first subsides are for airlines that operated during the summer of 2020. Swiss didn't at all.

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:04

    Interesting Transavia didn't apply even though they flew to LJU.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:33

      Sounds like someone in Transavia wasn't doing their job. An expensive mistake!

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:38

      Maybe they didn't see or have the time. The deadline to apply for the first round of subsidies was very short. Something like 9 days.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous21:04

      I'm sure it wasn't that difficult to send in the documentation.

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:06

    I think for LJU it's very important to have more flights to BEG because JU offres the fastest connections to the Balkans, a market left unserved since JP died.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:06

      TK: Hold my beer.

      Delete
    2. Not to be rude or anything, but IST is further from BEG and hence it takes more time to get to your destination.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous13:42

      Not to mention that IST is massive and you shouldn't have a connection less than 2 hours. In BEG you can easily connect in 40 minutes.

      Delete
    4. JATBEGMEL15:27

      JU is quite competitive for Balkan destinations from LJU. Typically, you can get anywhere in the Balkans within 4-5 hours of departing LJU, including the transit time. With TK, its typically 4 hours flying time without calculating the transit. Not to mention that with JU its usually on slower ATR's compared to TK with faster A320/B737.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous16:19

      IST-LJU is around 02.30 while LJU-BEG on the ATR is not more than 55 minutes. Like someone wrote, in BEG you can have a 40 minute connection while in IST you need 40 minutes to reach your gate from the runway. Sure TK and IST are great for Asia but for the Balkans, BEG beats anyone in terms of total travel times. There is a reason why JU always did so well in (L)JU.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous16:38

      IST is not best located for airtravel from the Balkans, unless to the south-east Asia/Australia. Its advantage is price and connectivity with the world.

      When it comes to airports with relatively smaller connectivity (as is the case with airports in the Balkans), in the times of corona the problem is more with long transfer times than time spend in the air on each of the legs of the travel.

      TK is not after travel from one Balkan airport to another Balkan airport. These short-hauls are loss-making. TK is after long-haul to/from Balkan airports via IST. The rest is an addition.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous07:40

      BEG is TK's most successful route in ex-YU and that's probably because there are a lot of O&D passengers where yields are the best.

      Delete
  4. Anonymous09:09

    October results are terrible.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:22

      They are really bad. Above the industry average.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:22

      Wait for November....

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:25

      Hopefully we see some better numbers in December, as per this article https://www.exyuaviation.com/2020/11/ljubljana-airport-to-see-mild-recovery.html

      Delete
  5. Anonymous09:11

    So pretty much everyone applied.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:14

      Except for Transavia which is a surprise.

      Delete
  6. Anonymous09:12

    I am not surprised about LH, they are really not doing well these days. Just yesterday they issued bonds worth €660 million.

    Ouch.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:28

      Why shouldn't LH apply, if they fulfill the criteria? Even in good times, nobody has too much money.

      Have you ever heard of credit? Businesses typically use also external financing, like bonds, credit facilities, leasing... Why is it supposed to show they are not doing well? You are not doing well if you cannot get financing.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:55

      Yes but they just got €9 billion which was supposed to be enough until spring. Seems like the situation got much worse than expected. :(

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:09

      Issuing bonds is completely normal in the business world, especially in aviation.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:22

      9:12 wasnt saying that LH shouldn't apply; where did you get that from?

      Delete
  7. Anonymous09:13

    Strange. So you fly and only then learn if and what you will get in a form of subsidy.

    For me the normal course would be that the money is aproportioned upfront, so everybody knows what they get if they fly, and money is paid once a given season is finished and the airlines actually flew what was agreed.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:15

      Agree

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:20

      Agree. Especially since it isn't guaranteed you will get them or the amount you will get if you do.

      Delete
    3. notLufthansa13:33

      but you keep forgetting this is Slovenia and Jansa is in power....since he took office, there has not been a single public procurement sans criminal investigation.....

      Delete
  8. Anonymous09:15

    I still don't think this will encourage new airlines to launch flights.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:19

      It's nice support for airlines that fly to Ljubljana but I also don't think it will attract new ones.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:20

      What it can do is get airlines flying multiple routes restart them. So Lufthansa to resume Munich, Air Serbia to restart Nis and easyJet to restart Berlin.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:55

      It is not intended for airlines to fly happily to LJU with zero pax on board and still make profit. It is intended to meet PART of the cost and help those airlines that are on the fence, ie close to a decision to start/increase offering, but hesitating because the figures are not yet quite there for them. Whether they fly multiple routes has no meaning.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous20:54

      +1 last anon

      Delete
  9. Anonymous09:17

    This is a really low amount. 1.5 million divided by eight airlines (under the premise Swiss is disqualified)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:29

      It really depends on the operating costs each airline has. For some, it may cover part of the cost of flying to LJU.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous20:53

      Exactly. I assume it would cover a nice amount for JU which is flying with ATR which isn't very costly.

      Delete
  10. Anonymous09:19

    Hope it helps with LJU's recovery.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:21

      We won't know until summer. It didn't help for the start of winter.

      Delete
  11. Anonymous09:21

    More money will be needed.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:23

      More is prepared for national carrier

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:33

      Sure it is.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:34

      Yes, it is. 76 million if the EU approves
      https://www.exyuaviation.com/2020/11/new-slovenian-carrier-hangs-on-eu.html

      Delete
    4. Anonymous11:21

      It's the only thing that can save LJU. These subsidies to foreign airlines will do little.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous11:32

      Actually these subsidies are joke, it's only an excuse for government to say "We have tried with subsidies, situation did not get better and now we have to improve connectivity by ourself" - in other words to establish national carrier. Which is quite good move by this government (one of the rare one).

      Delete
    6. Anonymous14:34

      Supporters of national airline say reason for a new national airline is that other airlines abandoned LJU. This shows they are not leaving LJU if you give them small subsidy. This is so much cheaper than creating a new company.

      They also said LJU is not good for LCCs. We can see both Easy and Wizz are ready to stay in LJU for a small fee.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous14:36

      We will only know if they will stay next summer. These subsidies are for March 30, 2020 - September 30, 2020.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous15:21

      Extend subsidies and they should stay. Still much cheaper than starting a new airline.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous10:41

      @anon 14:35

      are you aware that we don't have flights at all in LJU? So what are you talking about that foreign airlines did not leave LJU!? Actually we need both, subsidies for foreign airlines and national airline

      Delete
  12. Anonymous09:21

    JU and YM never miss a chance to get subsidies :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:28

      Neither does it seem Wizz Air.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:10

      I swear that I was checking for a comment on this. JU like really loves sweet subsidies to death. Remember INI, KRR, TIA and now LJU? Really unbelievable :D

      Delete
    3. Anonymous13:28

      At the time when JU was offering special, low prices for JP passengers just to bring them to their final destinations you were not "swearing".

      At the time when JU, before LH started flying to LJU, had the most frequncies you were not "swearing".

      At the time when JU remains one of rare airlines that still flies to JU, you are "swearing" that JU likes subsidies.

      They certainly have much more right to do it than W6, LO, YM, LX etc.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous16:20

      JU did not get subsidies for KRR, what are you going on about?

      Delete
  13. Anonymous09:24

    Realistically speaking, what other airlines could we see come to LJU with some incentives?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:22

      I don't think we will see any new airline coming as a result of these.

      Delete
  14. Anonymous09:24

    LH will get the most money without doubt.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:25

      Well they are LJU's biggest airline
      https://www.exyuaviation.com/2020/11/ljubljana-airport-to-see-mild-recovery.html

      Delete
    2. Anonymous20:50

      Well to be honest they deserve the most. They offer the most frequencies and most capacity.

      Delete
  15. Anonymous09:38

    Did LOT fly during the summer?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:44

      Yes they did.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous20:52

      They flew between July and September.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous06:59

      And they were supposed to restart in October but now it won't be before mid December.

      Delete
  16. Anonymous09:44

    Why didn't Trade Air apply? They flew charters all summer.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:47

      It was written here in the previous article about subsidies that charter flights/airlines are not included.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:12

      Ok thanks. That makes sense.

      Delete
  17. Anonymous09:50

    LCCs are not interested in small LJU market, some say. Then Easyjet and Wizzair apply for subsidies.

    Same would happen in ZAG.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:51

      But why wouldn't anyone apply for these subsidies when it's easy money.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:57

      Ask Transavia. They are obviously swimming in cash.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:03

      Real question is why wouldn't other airport offer not evan a small subsidy to LCCs?

      Delete
    4. Anonymous20:49

      Which other airport? Maribor?

      Delete
  18. Anonymous10:05

    I have to ask what does having an intercontinental network have to do with flying to Ljubljana?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:08

      Because it means the airline offers greater connectivity for passengers from/to Slovenia.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous20:48

      I think everyone meets that criteria. I mean even Wizz has intercontinental flights (Dubai).

      Delete
  19. Anonymous10:18

    Good. Almost everyone applied which means that the tender has worked.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:27

      The only thing I don't like is that the tender is only for airlines with European AOC. And they could have attracted airlines from mid-east for summer 2021 with these subsidies.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:41

      True

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:46

      They probably had to do it this way so the EU would approve it.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous20:48

      Most likely. Typical EU move.

      Delete
  20. Anonymous10:39

    Who knows if all these airlines would stay if they haven't made these subsidies available.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:41

      This concerns summer 2020. Very few of these airlines did stay in fact. Just 3 of them did!

      Delete
  21. Anonymous12:12

    If almost everyone applied, shows how important these subsidies are.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:22

      Like I said above, who doesn't want free money???

      Delete
    2. Anonymous20:47

      Exactly

      Delete
  22. notLufthansa13:27

    currently apron in Ljubljana is packed with planes on storage. It is their main business these days

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. notLufthansa13:30

      this incentive smells like paying a prostitute to do what prostitutes do. Didn't they all say, market will take care? Which market then? Its always like this...first they scream that we are no longer in socialism, and then they use exact measures....understand that if you can.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous20:47

      Even with the parked planes I don't think Ljubljana Airport gets any money. It's actually Linetech (Adria Airways Tehnika)

      Delete
    3. Anonymous21:50

      they do because they rent their space to the adria tehnika ...

      Delete
  23. Anonymous13:29

    Is it too early some neighbours to apply?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous13:31

      Is it too early for you to read the article so you can understand the tender requirments?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous14:57

      Maybe subsidies for bus transport to neighbouring countries?

      Delete
  24. Anonymous13:31

    LOL at Swiss' application. Might be worth reading what you're applying for.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous20:46

      Watch the tender commission give them money anyway.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous21:37

      I don't see why they would give it to them when they don't meet the most basic of criteria.

      Delete
  25. Anonymous14:19

    Is this sharing for everyone who meets the criteria or just for the let's say top 3?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous14:51

      Everyone that meets the criteria.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous21:37

      We will know soon enough who gets how much.

      Delete
  26. Let me get this straight..1.5 Million...and possibly Lufthansa will get it who recently
    received over 9 Billion funding from the German government!! I am curious to know
    the salaries and fees paid to people from the 9 airlines, Ljubljana airport management,
    EU and Slovenian officials to finally decide who gets this amount. Probably an amount
    equal to a few hundred thousand will be involved to pay all the airline, airport, city,
    and country heavyweights!! My suggestion let*s ask every Slovenian man, woman, and child
    to give the airport 10 Euros each, hey that*s 20 Million right there...then subsidize
    10 airline routes with 2 Million Euros each, new jobs, new visitors, new business potential,
    all bringing in much more than the 20 Million investment, but what do I know !!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:43

      We had better product for much less money. it was called JP..

      Delete
    2. notLufthansa13:55

      some people still deny this. And they were exactly against "throwing money into a black hole".

      Delete

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