Trade Air will run a charter flight from Ljubljana to the Tanzanian island of Zanzibar tomorrow, carrying holidaymakers ahead of the autumn break. The flight, which is scheduled to depart at 07.00 local time on Sunday, will operate via Luxor in Egypt with the carrier’s 180-seat Airbus A320 aircraft on behalf of Slovenian tour operators. In addition to Zanzibar, charters to Crete, Rhodes, Antalya, Hurghada, Madeira, Tenerife and Dubai are all planned in the coming days, tour operator Kompas said. Demand for Zanzibar among Slovenian travellers has been strong in recent months as it was one of the few destinations to have been open for tourists throughout the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
The African market represents a small share of Ljubljana Airport’s passenger traffic with 14.401 travellers flying between the Slovenian capital and the continent via other points in the pre-pandemic 2019. There are no scheduled flights between Africa and Slovenia. In 2019, Cairo had the largest number of indirect passengers to and from Ljubljana. According to OAG, a total of 2.663 travellers flew between the two cities on a single itinerary. It was followed by destinations in South Africa, as well as leisure points in the Indian Ocean such as Mauritius, Seychelles and Zanzibar. Turkish Airlines benefited the most from Ljubljana’s lack of flights to Africa. With an expansive network to the continent, the Turkish carrier accounted for a whopping 60% of all passengers travelling between the two. It was followed by Air France.
Ljubljana Airport's busiest unserved destinations in Africa in 2019
Through its history, Ljubljana Airport used to be linked to Africa by both JAT Yugoslav Airlines and Adria Airways. After purchasing four used DC-6Bs in 1961, Adria initiated flights to Tunis, Conakry and Leopoldville, today known as Kinshasa. The Slovenian carrier also used to operate services to the Seychelles in the late 1980s, which ran via Athens and Djibouti. In 1990, an Adria A320 flew nonstop from the Seychelles to Athens setting a new record for the longest flight ever made by the aircraft type at that time. Ljubljana Airport is hopeful the upcoming holidays will boost traffic. “We are looking forward to a busy end to October, which will mark a turning point as the number of passengers served in 2021 will exceed the total number of travellers handled for the whole of 2020”, Ljubljana Airport said.
Another missed opportunity for OU. I guess they would rather their A320s A319s sit idle at ZAG.
ReplyDeleteStill waiting to see their BCG inspired post-covid strategy .... As you say, I guess these sorts of opportunities didn't figure in the mix
DeleteIt's all about putting lipstick on a pig, OU needs painful reform and there is no political will for such a move in the country.
DeleteOU flies today from LJU to FCN.
Delete(24. Oct 13:25 Funchal Croatia Airlines OU9372).
Why is this a missed opportunity for OU?? Trade Air obviously gave a better offer, that's all. Not everything is drama and doomsday scenario.
DeleteWow that is going to be one long flight in the A320.
ReplyDeleteA ima kdo vozni red za Zanzibar
ReplyDeleteKompas ziher
DeleteHappy to see Ljubljana getting some traffic.
ReplyDeleteGood move by Trade Air - but they are never ones to sit idle. Shame they don't own/manage OU
ReplyDeleteThey are well run, that is why they are staying away from that dumpster fire called OU.
DeleteI hear you. But just imagine how much better OU would be if these guys ran that airline ? We can always dream ...
DeleteOnly if Trade Air would get OU without its employees and unions. Those are to blame for all the decadence. I am sure cabin crew would go on a strike right away. They are a bunch of lazy uhljebs.
DeleteYes, you are probably right. It is such a tragedy that they are held hostage to such a group. They would rather see the ship go under than see it trimmed down, restructured and then set on a better pathway forward
DeleteCan you blame them though? Their tactics have worked in the past so they always got what they wanted. Why change a tactic that gets the result you want?
DeleteNope - can't blame them at all. I blame the Govt. This is symptomatic of just how fxxxxd up everything is. No will to address or fix anything. And then they wonder why they can't get anyone interested to invest in the airline.
DeleteFunny how every single topic on this site gets possessed by OU haters.
DeleteSo people who want Croatia Airlines to be bigger and better, and to stop wasting croatian people's money for non-functional and obsolete timetable created primarily to feed LH, those people are haters. Well mate, with such an attitude, the only funny thing here is your post
DeleteWell, 'mate', not a surprise you felt called out, not at all, 'mate'...
DeleteI admit I feel called out for wanting OU bigger and better. Accusing me for that means you are one of the following : 1. OU Uhljeb 2. HDZ Uhljeb 3. Party bot in action 4. Brainwashed chauvinist. 5. All of the above mentioned. Take your pick!
DeleteTime for Air Tanzania to get its act together and to launch Zanzibar-Belgrade-Ljubljana!
ReplyDeleteYeah I'm sure it's their top priority...
DeleteWhy not if the market is there. Don't be a h8er.
DeleteGiven how active tour operators are in Serbia, I'm surprised they didn't engage JU to operate winter charters to similar destinations.
ReplyDeleteBecause they have a deal with FZ and QR. I think it was reported on here that Zanzibar was FZs third most popular destination from BEG. I don't know why Slovenes are refusing to work with FZ and support their LJU line which is not performing that well from what I heard. After they will complain how no one from the Gulf wants to fly there.
DeleteBut FZ has direct flights to DXB and yet JU still went forward with weekly charters. So why not a direct flight to the destination - which is more convenient for holiday makers - instead flying indirectly via Dubai, Doha or Istanbul ?
DeleteJU's fleet is tied to scheduled flights and in addition to that they operate charters to Egypt and Turkey. I think they have 4 flights to Hurgada today. Don't forget in winter they send planes for maintenance.
Deletehang on - sounds like a job for smartwings !!
DeleteHaha it's ok, JU can take a breath since Smartwings flights are not happening this year. They dodged a bullet.
DeleteWe dont like 737 MAX
DeleteNo flights for almost 2 years to Munich yet we somehow managed to get charters to Zanzibar is peak Fraport Lju
ReplyDeleteThere is a huge demand in Europe because Tanzania is a beautiful country with very relaxed COVID measures.
DeleteThose Zanzibar flights were a huge boom last year in Romania and Bulgaria. Flights were operated by narrow bodies via Luxor or Aswan which is cheaper for refuelling.
ReplyDeleteThe second boom was Punta Cana, which is expected to be connected this year as well to both countries.
I think the same might happen in Slovenia and Croatia if there is an EU airline that has a wide bodied aircraft to operate the route. Trade Air might consider leasing an A330, which is the perfect charter aircraft type.
I think LOT ran charters from Warsaw to Punta Cana onboard their B787.
DeleteHonestly flying such a long flight on an A320... I would rather make a stop in Istanbul and board a widebody.
ReplyDeleteTK flies the 737 Max to Zanzibar so good luck with that.
DeleteNo surprise that Turkish Airlines was the number one transfer to Africa. I wonder if things will change now that Flydubai has started flights to Ljubljana.
ReplyDeleteGood job for Slovenian tour operators for organizing such flights.
ReplyDelete+1 they are very proactive.
DeleteWhen you look at all ex-Yu countries are poorly connected to Africa. Although I would assume Cairo would be number 1 city traveled to.
ReplyDeleteInteresting that Egypt Air has never considered this region.
DeleteSo how long do these flights take> Ljubljana-Luxor, Luxor-Zanzibar?
ReplyDelete3h.30min + 4h.45min
DeleteWonder if they get proper meals on board or if it is buy on board? Would be fun to see a trip report from this flight :D
DeleteWill the Trade Air plane stay in Zanzibar until the return flight for the tourists?
ReplyDeleteMost likely.
DeleteDoes the A320 have to operate with some load restrictions?
ReplyDeleteI don't think so since it has a stop in Luxor.
DeleteWhole africa is underestimated from balkan point of view
ReplyDeleteAnyone know how much did the packages cost?
ReplyDeleteAnd how long is the stay too
Delete9 days, from 1649/pax
DeleteFlight only is 959 EU/pax.
DeleteTo this you must add the cost of a PCR test to enter Tanzania (to be taken before the flight). It's necessary for everyone. You must add additional 25USD for additional fast test done after landing in Zanzibar if arriving from a country with many cases. Not that much fun I guess. If you catch covid there "you are done": stuck in paradise ... medical insurance is a must.
DeleteAny one know the registration of the aircraft performing tomorrow's flights?
ReplyDelete9A-BTI. It arrives tonight from Hurghada and then tomorrow morning to Zanzibar :)
DeleteWhat is the number of flights to Zanzibar with Trade Air this winter ?
ReplyDeleteTommorrow flight, 21.1.22 and 16.2.22 are for now bookable
DeleteBut interestingly it says "regular line from ljubljana" instead for the chrater for the jan and feb flights; so no idea what to think about it
DeleteThank you!
Delete