Hybrid carrier Flydubai plans to launch operations from its hub to Ljubljana from late September. The carrier’s planned operating schedule has been published by Ljubljana Airport, based on which services will commence on September 24 and operate three times per week, each Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Tickets are expected to go on sale soon. Slovenia has been seeking connectivity to the Gulf for years and talks have taken place with all major carriers from the United Arab Emirates. The Slovenian Ministry for Infrastructure previously noted that Flydubai was negotiating with airport operator Fraport Slovenija over the introduction of flights to Ljubljana. "There are good prospects for the establishment of flights between the UAE and Ljubljana. UAE carriers are interested", the ministry said at the time. The Slovenian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Economic Development and Technology, Zdravko Počivalšek, renewed calls this January for flights to be established between the two countries.
During the pre-pandemic 2019, some 19.483 passengers flew between Ljubljana and the Middle East as origin and destination passengers, based on OAG data. Out of the Gulf markets, Dubai was the largest, accounting for 3.782 travellers. It was followed by Muscat, Abu Dhabi and Doha. These figures indicate travellers who either started or ended their journey in these cities. Flights to the Gulf are also largely used for transfer purposes, which would add to the overall loads for carriers launching flights from the region. In 2019, Istanbul was overwhelmingly used by Ljubljana passengers as the transfer point to reach Dubai with 74% of travellers opting to fly via the Turkish city. Accordingly, Turkish Airlines was the busiest feeder airline, with the same passenger share.
Flydubai and Emirates have a close partnership, with the latter planning to codeshare on the hybrid carrier’s Ljubljana service. Both are owned by the government of Dubai. Emirates’ Area Manager for the region, Martin Gross, previously told EX-YU Aviation News, “Emirates is currently represented in various countries of the former Yugoslavia by a General Sales Agent. We see a growing demand to a number of destinations we serve over our hub in Dubai and of course also to Dubai itself. The close distance to our own destinations Venice and Vienna make this area important to us and we also have a very good working interline relationship with Flydubai”.
Flydubai offers passengers a dedicated business class hard and soft product on board its aircraft, which includes recliner seats, personal in-flight entertainment and meals, while economy class passengers can purchase food and beverages, as well as stream entertainment content onto their devices. Flydubai aircraft also feature on board Wi-Fi for an additional payment. Within the former Yugoslavia, Flydubai currently maintains operations to Belgrade and Sarajevo. It will resume seasonal summer flights to Tivat next month, as well as restore operations to Zagreb in September. Dubai is currently open to foreigners with a negative PCR coronavirus test required prior to entry.
Finally!
ReplyDeleteGreat news!
ReplyDeleteNice article. Interesting about Turkish having such a huge share of passengers. Not that I'm surprised.
ReplyDeleteTK rules as the main transfer airline for anything east of Slovenia.
DeleteAeroflot was about to get really close to being the main transfer airline
DeleteNot true at all. Read recently the article about main transfer airlines from LJU in the newsletter and Aeroflot is nowhere near being the main in anything.
DeleteI said was about to get
DeleteWill it be seasonal or year round?
ReplyDeleteThe season in Dubai is in winter, not summer. So if they are starting at the end of September, my guess is it will be year-round.
DeleteWell let's wait and see. I hope it's not just for Expo.
DeleteSlovenia was the only one in ex-Yu without flights to the Gulf. This is good news
ReplyDeleteIt is amazing how accessible ex-Yu has become to the Gulf over the past few years.
Deletethe best thing is you can fly to wherever worldwide with just 1 stop (& short transfer times).
DeleteIt's good for transferring to Africa, Asia and Australia.
DeleteWill be a nice addition to the new terminal :)
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteGood luck Ljubljana
ReplyDeleteLJU is definitely an underrated destination by the Gulf carriers. Slovenia is a small market, but also the richest ex-YU country. But anyway, LJU is heading on the right direction.
ReplyDeleteIt will definitely bring some desperately needed variety for connections to Asia, Africa and Australia. Hopefully it affects the prices to those destinations as well.
DeleteWouldn't this affect their Zagreb flight though?
ReplyDeleteYes, it will
DeleteDid flyDubai finally return to ZAG?
DeleteRead the article
Delete"It will resume seasonal summer flights to Tivat next month, as well as restore operations to Zagreb in September."
Yes, airline launch routes to canibalize another one of their routes. Please. There is a sufficient market to serve both.
DeleteWell didn't Aeroflot cannibalize SVO-ZAG by launching SVO-LJU? Numbers dropped in ZAG while they had huge growth in LJU.
DeleteHaving 100 fewer passengers year-on-year while offering less capacity isn't considered a drop. I know you dislike Zagreb but give it a break.
DeleteI just hope they do restore those ZAG flights. They have been delaying the resumption very often.
DeleteIts not the thing of cannibalisation of own routes, its about borders, covid19 tests and so on. Cheaper to go directly rather than being refused to board in one or another country due to local regulation... new century, new rules of traffic... :(
DeleteGood luck Ljubljana. I am happy they managed to find someone to operate these flights having in mind that there are so many larger nearby markets.
ReplyDeleteExpected. FZ has been expanding a lot in the last few monrhs. It was just a matter of time.
ReplyDeleteJust in the last two weeks they announced Sharm el Sheikh, Santorini and Mykonos.
DeleteThey have also launched a bunch of new routes to Russia.
DeleteDubai as a market is recovering extremely quickly. Then being open for travel and having such a quick vaccination program has obviously helped.
Delete3 weekly service Dubai-Ljubljana nonstop will work without a problem.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteDubai- Ljubljana - New York by Emirates would be great :D
DeleteThe Ljubljana Gulf saga. Hope they finally get the flights from Flydubai.
ReplyDeleteHopefully this is finally the end to the saga :D
DeleteThey have been talking about UAE airlines coming to Ljubljana for years. I can't believe it is finally happening.
ReplyDeleteLet's just wait for tickets to go on sale before we celebrate :D
DeleteHave there ever been flights from Ljubljana to the GCC?
ReplyDeleteIn 2014 for a just over a month Adria operated seasonal charters from Ljubljana to Kuwait. But that's about it.
DeleteHa didn't know that. Interesting. Did they ever operate those again?
DeleteNot that I'm aware of.
DeleteFor those interested, this was the schedule:
DeleteJP 186 ----5-- LJU KWI 1935 2335 A319
JP 187 -----6- KWI LJU 0120 0640 A319
That was a good schedule but there was probably not enough demand at the time.
DeleteInteresting. Thanks
DeleteI think these flights will be a major success.
ReplyDeleteWould be nice to see their B737 MAX 8 in Ljubljana :)
ReplyDeleteTheir business class sure looks good on those planes.
Deletethat is true- they are described a "hybrid carrier" but at least their old premium product is same as what you get with some legacy carriers, and now with the Max planes and the lie-flat seats it will be even better
DeleteI have flown Flydubai in business and they definitely do not resemble hybrid in their premium product. In fact they have really above average service. In economy it is hybrid with buy on board but a cool feature on these MAX planes, if they ever deploy them to Europe again, is that you can do all the ordering through your tv screen and you pay by taping your card right under the screen.
Deleteif you have a connecting flight with Emirates you get full service in economy for free on Flydubai.
DeleteI'll believe it when I see it
ReplyDeleteFlydubai are the best fit for Ljubljana for Middle East flights for the time being.
ReplyDeleteAgree, Emirates 777s are way too big.
DeleteWhat's the obsession with Mid East flights? I would rather we get Ryanair to be honest.
ReplyDeleteAgree! The Slovenian market can be served with TK to the East.
DeleteSlovenians were in large numbers using EK service from Zagreb and Flydubai before that. Better to have them fly from LJU don't you think?
DeleteIf u don't use it or need it, that does not mean no one wants it
Deletewe need more - Ryanair and anyother airline ... we are not in a position to be picky!!!!
DeleteThis is good mainly because it will become a good alternative to TK.
ReplyDeleteWhy do you need an alternative to TK? They fly virtually everywhere and their prices are extremely competitive. Not to say that their service is also at a high level.
DeleteMore flights, more competition, lower prices and/or more destinations?
DeleteI think FZ could have a lot of success in LJU. The catchment area is much wealthier than from other ex-Yu cities as they could attract passengers from neighboring Croatia and Italy.
ReplyDeleteI don't understand that Ljubljana Airport does not take advantage of it's catchment area. It is true that around LJU there are many airports within two hour driving range but still the potential is about 5 million inhabitants and the road infrastructure is great.
DeleteFlights to the Middle East were way overdue.
ReplyDeleteGood for LJU but only of those flights will be realized. While everyone is talking about GULF but on other hand we are missing flights to EU capitals for connections. Honestly LJU need that more than anything...
ReplyDeleteI'm interested to see what the fares will be like.
ReplyDeleteThey are not that cheap in general actually.
DeleteThey are not expensive either. In economy return fare with luggage from ex-Yu destinations is usually around 450 euros. I mean this is a 6 hour flight.
Delete450 EUR return is not cheap for a low-cost airline. For that kind of money you can often find return flights to the US or the Far East. Besides, look at what Wizz is charging for BEG-AUH, less than half that even with luggage.
DeleteI hope it will last past the end of EXPO 2020(1)! Good news at last!
ReplyDeleteThat's so great to hear, I am so happy that i will be able to spot them :O
ReplyDeleteI was expecting in the end it would be Wizz Air Abu Dhabi.
ReplyDeleteLet's see if this can be sustained. They are not afraid of trying and suspending routes if it doesn't make sense (Podgorica being an example). That said I think Ljubljana will work out.
ReplyDeleteWith 3 weekly flights i don't see a problem how they could not fill aircrafts.
DeleteLJU could definitely work for FlyDubai
DeleteInteresting data. Wonder which was the second airline for transfers after TK
ReplyDeleteProbably LH.
DeleteSo in total we will have 2 new airlines at LJU this summer?
ReplyDeleteThat is Iberia and Flydubai
DeleteFlydubai, Air Montenegro, Iberia and Sunexpress plus Easyjet is launching LTN-LJU. Also Windrose and Luxair are interested in flying to LJU.
DeleteActually it's hilarious where we fell, now we are happy even with peanuts...
DeleteAnd people here were saying how LJU had no chance of getting flights to the Gulf. So much for that.
ReplyDeleteIt only took 10 years of talks...
DeleteWhile others can choose where to fly to the GULF, we are happy with 3 flights per week to DBX (if they will happen!). Good progress LJU! #sarcasmOFF
DeleteBetter 3 flights per week year round than nothing right?
DeleteWould have preferred Qatar but anything will do at this point.
ReplyDeleteGive us anything as far as I'm concerned
DeleteMaybe if Flydubai has big success in LJU, something similar to Aeroflot, maybe Qatar will want this piece of cake :)
DeleteLjubljana needs more direct flights
ReplyDeleteGood luck Ljubljana. I am happy they managed to find someone to operate these flights having in mind that there are so many larger nearby markets.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteZa zdaj je ta linija načrtovana do konca poletnega voznega reda, torej do 30. oktobra, pričakujemo pa, da se bo nadaljevala tudi v zimskem voznem redu," so še sporočili s Fraport Slovenija.
ReplyDeleteYear round operation .
ReplyDeleteNice :)
Deletereally hope that it will materialize.
ReplyDeletehappy to see a bit of hope
LJU has confirmed the flights :) tickets will probably be on sale next week.
ReplyDeleteYay beyond excited for these flights :)
ReplyDeleteI've been flying to Ljubljana from Dubai since 2006 using a combination of multiple carriers and this for me and a lot of other flyers is very good news.
ReplyDelete