Ljubljana Airport mulls becoming hub for charter flights


Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport is recovering in line with global trends, with talks taking place over the introduction of new destinations and the possibility of turning the Slovenian capital into a charter flights hub. The General Manager of operator Fraport Slovenija, Babett Stapel, noted that while the war in Ukraine will have some impact on Ljubljana Airport’s performance this year, pre-Covid traffic levels should be reached in 2026. “We expect 880.000 passengers this year, which is only 15.000 less than last year's initial forecast. This year we will have 104% more passengers than last year, but still 49% less than in 2019. However, the number of travellers will double, so passenger traffic is recovering. We're going in the right direction. I do not expect for us to achieve the results from 2019 next year. I wish we could, but due to high fuel prices, war and uncertainty, I estimate that we will reach pre-pandemic levels in 2026, that is, we will handle 1.8 million or 1.9 million passengers”, Ms Stapel told the daily “Delo”. She added the airport was expecting to handle some 70.000 passengers from the Russian and Ukrainian markets this year, with the war also resulting in the suspension of Finnair’s seasonal service from Helsinki, which is likely to be restored in 2023. However, these losses should, for the most part, be substituted by an increase in frequencies by existing carriers maintaining flights to the Slovenian capital.

The airport is currently in talks with airlines already serving Ljubljana over the introduction of new routes. On the other hand, Iberia, which has suspended services to Slovenia this year, is expected to make a comeback next summer. Ms Stapel noted the Spanish carrier’s decision was made due to a shortage in available capacity. Furthermore, Fraport Slovenija is also considering turning the airport into a hub for charter flights. Charters accounted for over 20% of Ljubljana’s passenger traffic last year, with the share expected to grow in 2022. “I would like to review and evaluate with our employees some old ideas that have not been effective in the past. I have one specific thing in mind. I would like to create a hub for charters at Ljubljana Airport. We are already talking about it and this year we will analyse whether this is a potential that could differentiate us from others. Last year, we handled a fifth of all passengers on charters, compared to 11% the year before. This year we can further increase these numbers”.

For the time being, Ljubljana Airport’s primary goal remains to get the public flying again. “The first and most important thing is recovery and to get passengers back. The future challenge will be to deal with rising inflation, prices and costs. During the pandemic, we reduced variable costs as much as we could. We will have to go through a second and third crisis. I don't even count the crises anymore: the collapse of Adria Airways, the Covid-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, the fall in economic growth ... But we are moving forward”, the General Manager said. Commenting on the possibility of a new Slovenian government setting up a national carrier, Ms Stapel noted, “I cannot decide whether Slovenia or the state should establish a national carrier. However, I can say that if it is established, it will be more than welcome on our part. We support any development that is sustainable and increases connectivity”.

Responding to criticism that Ljubljana Airport’s recovery is lagging behind its regional rivals, Ms Stapel said, “We do not have mass tourism, diaspora travel and domestic flights, so we should not compare apples and pears. Our recovery is fully in line with the recovery in international traffic. If you compare apples to pears, you will say we are slow. If you liken us to comparable airports, and not, for example, airports in the Mediterranean that are tourist hotspots, we are doing pretty well”.



Comments

  1. Anonymous09:06

    Interesting concept. I guess it could work, especially if you attract charters for nearby markets too. 20% of all passengers on charters is a high number.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous09:06

    Good to see they are not against new national airline like previous management.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:07

      But they are as useless as the previous one.

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:07

    Wouldn't it make sense for someone in Slovenia to set up a charter airline then instead of Trade Air profiting?

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:09

      There were plans for that. Southeast European Airlines or something like that. But they never got off the ground.

      Delete
  4. Anonymous09:12

    I would much rather see plans for brining an LCC to base planes in Ljubljana.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:58

      Oh so, you mean someone like FR who is now canceling most of the flights out of ZAG.

      Same think would happen in LJU, as it hapoened in MBX, the country/airport/city wouldn't give them money and they would close every single route in a day so stop with this LCC thing.


      Easyjet is the best solution if we are talking about LCC base as they were one of the largest carriers previously in LJU so.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:07

      Yes but their presence in LJU has decreased a lot in the last 2 years.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:07

      easyjet's I mean

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:12

      It was chased away so no surprise.

      Delete
  5. Anonymous09:14

    Well if you can't get regular passenger traffic, might as well go after charters.

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  6. Anonymous09:15

    It would be cool to see some long haul charters from Ljubljana! :)

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:16

      Last year there was a charter to Zanzibar.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:06

      Did it operate nonstop or did it have a technical landing?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:07

      I believe it stopped in Sharm el Sheikh.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:09

      It was via Luxor actually

      Delete
  7. Term "hub" used in aviation as a part of "hub and spoke system" (sustav cvorista i krakova) is an "crossroad" airport, where plenty of planes/flights/airlines/passengers/cargo meet and transfer from one to another . Wish for LJU to at least return to the numbers it used to have not so long ago, and even to exceed them, but not sure how charter traffic, which is exclusively P2P, can make LJU hub of any kind, in terms of aviation

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:33

      +1 LJU management doesn't even know what they are talking about.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:59

      They don't even know what plane is :(

      Delete
  8. Anonymous09:31

    Charters won't return you to pre-pandemic.

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  9. Anonymous10:05

    Is 880,000 pax really achievable this year?

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  10. Anonymous10:09

    Happy to see Ljubljana getting some traffic.

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  11. Anonymous10:10

    So Trade Air has the most to gain?

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  12. Anonymous10:11

    Good job on Slovenian tour operators. They managed to feed 20% of Ljubljana's traffic last year.

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  13. Anonymous10:24

    Nice photo. The Ljubljana Airport complex has really expanded.

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  14. Anonymous10:30

    When full-size international airport say that 20% of it's traffic were tourist charter passengers, it's not potential chance for business development, but sign of deep coma that airport went to! Otherwise, "charter hub" idea is ridiculous, and it's clear that LJU managment have no idea how to improve their business

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:33

      +1

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:38

      Before they have 500 pax capacity X hour, now is 1250. When these capacities will be used (except for few "boom days")?
      Without charters never ever, unless Zagreb is closed for some reason.

      Delete
  15. Anonymous10:43

    What are the main charter markets from Ljubljana? I mean to where are there the most charters?

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  16. Anonymous11:00

    Stapel is saying not to compare apples with pears. Ok, LJU is not a Mediterranean hotspot but why are other airports like Tallinn doing way much better and a country even smaller than Slovenia? There is a very small Estonian diaspora as well and it's not a super touristic country...
    Maybe she can respond to this question...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:30

      Well 15% of population left Estonia since 1990, so I guess this is not a very small diaspora (one quarter of a million). And Nordica is an ACMI provider and not a national carrier.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous15:02

      Oh common, estonia has long haul flights to america, and there's less than 100k estoniams living in US, while there's arround 300k slovenes living there, but as fraport is not capable of doing much, we won't see alot of flights to Eu or not even to mention US ��‍♂️.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous15:07

      Estonia is located in the outskirts of Europe, which encourages air travel, while people in Slovenia have surface travel options.

      Also, Estonia is surrounded by a lot of coastline. Yes, there are ferries to nearby Helsinki, but there are several flights a day too, even though the distance is the same as between Ljubljana and Maribor.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous15:10

      Estonia certainly doesn't have any long haul flights to the US or elsewhere. Where on earth did you get that from?

      Delete
    5. Believe it's mix up with Latvia. Uzbekistan Airways used to operate Tashkent-Riga-NewYork. Don't know if the service still exists. But generally, what is applied to Estonia could be applied to LT and LV as well. So, definitely not big mistake

      Delete
    6. Anonymous19:26

      That route hasn't operated since 2017. Uzbekistan Airways has 787s now, which have the range to fly the route non-stop without the need to refuel in Latvia. The route didn't exist due to commercial demand.

      When the high-speed train will connect Riga Airport with the other two Baltic countries, there might be potential for an A321LR service between Riga and the US, but Estonia or Slovenia, not a chance.

      Delete
    7. Thanks for the info. Guessed RIX-NYC had stopped but was not sure. For everything else I agree, except that the route didn't exist due to commercial demand. If that was the case, RIX would have been technical stop only, but it was not. And you yourself say there is potential RIX to the US on A321 XLR. That potential, or commercial demand, is pretty much the same.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous07:58

      I'm afraid that you've misunderstood me. The route did not exist because of commercial demand, which was evident when the stop was axed as soon as the airline was able to fly non-stop. However, they did have local traffic rights, so why not allow pax to embark and disembark rather than just doing a technical stop earlier when they had to stop? The demand can be tiny and still cover the additional passenger handling costs.

      Also, I am not saying that there is sufficient demand now. I am saying that there might be in the future (for a low frequency operation with small but cost-efficient aircraft) when the airport's catchment area is greatly improved with Rail Baltica, but that is several years away.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous13:33

      "Well 15% of population left Estonia since 1990, so I guess this is not a very small diaspora (one quarter of a million)."

      Well, most of that was related to the Russian occupation forces leaving, so strictly speaking they did not form a diaspora.

      Delete
  17. JU520 BEGLAX11:18

    Except for the last part with apple and pears, I hve the feeling this lady has not much of an idea, at least not locally with LJU.

    Without more LCC flights, the 1.8 mio will remain a dream for many more years to come. Also the current crisis wont be over by 2022, but will take more years.

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  18. Anonymous14:08

    Didn't Adria fly to the Seychelles in the 90s? :D would be exotic to have some charters to there.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous16:59

      They did. One of the most odd flights

      Delete
  19. Anonymous14:09

    In my opinion this is quite sad :(

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous16:58

      Better something than nothing

      Delete
  20. Anonymous14:09

    Good luck

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  21. up to the Govt working together with the airport to bring tourism, diaspora travel and promote (domestic air travel) if possible

    ReplyDelete
  22. Anonymous19:37

    Aegean once again to operate charters from LJU , when they will realise they need to start scheduled direct flights from ATH to LJU?? Transit numbers are good enough to start the route.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Anonymous19:52

    I would like to support the statement of Ms Stapel not to compare apples with pears. In my views, in any evaluations of any airport potentials one has to take into account its’ context, framed within its location, traveling habits of the population in the catchment area

    So, I can agree, Tallin is not a Mediterranean incoming tourist hotspot, never the less, a lot of people from Estonia makes their holidays on the shores of Mediterranean see. The last fact is true also for Ljubljana catchment area, but I would like to see families from Ljubljana traveling to vacation by air to – let say - Zadar, Split, Croatian coastline and islands are number one destination when we cross the question where people from Slovenia go for vacations. Since the highway has been build between Zagreb and Dalmatia a lot of things changed. Even Adria stopped flying to Split time ago. And when we cross other Mediterranean vacation destination popular in Slovenia, the charter flights do the job for shores of Spain, Turkey, even North Africa and of course Greek islands.

    And if one is looking into incoming tourist, even National tourist strategy is betting on incoming by land, so radius of a day travel by car, lets’ say 9.00 - 1.000 km radius. Milano is 500 km away from Ljubljana by road, Zurich 650 km, Frankfurt 800 km, Prague 600 km, Vienna 400 km, Budapest 500 km, Belgrade 530 km. Not to mention a simple fact that without your own transport while being in Slovenia you are quite limited. Public transport is more or less adjusted to work and schooling adjusted needs, rent-a-car is outrage expensive, so your own car is more then welcome for any family holidays in Slovenia.

    As far as business travel, one might be surprised how many people from SME choose to travel by their own cars, of course if they are able to choose the transport. Not only to – for example – Milano, Munich, Vienna and Belgrade even much further away. The trick is in travel cost reimbursements and additional per diems one can get, of course, tax free. A trip to Frankfurt and back will get you at least 600 eur, 0,37€ per km. Of course, such travel is not only income, it is also cost but so far people will claim they get more into the purse then out of it. Fees for highways, tunnels are reimbursed additionally as well as longer mission time will bring you at least one more per diem of 55€ (for Germany).

    When it comes to diaspora, a valuable source of passengers for many airports in the region, I will only state that very few places in Europe have at least a bit of Slovenian community, so at least same volume of expats from Slovenia. Stuttgart, Brussels and Great London area. Stuttgart is reachable without a problem by car, and present connections from Ljubljana to Brussels and London satisfy expats need in London or Brussels.

    The rest of people who moved out in last 30 – 40 years are scattered all around, without that volume in any place promising at least half decent loads for a direct flight to Ljubljana. Descendants of previous immigration waves, from those at the beginning of 19 century to the USA, to immigration to South America between two wars and after the II WW, are where they are. If they visit “old place”, they visit Slovenia as a part o Europe, in terms of air transport, transcontinental flight to Venice, tour of Italy, maybe Austria as well as Slovenia.

    Back to Tallin, which is also a secondary airport for Helsinki. A flight with LCC to Tallin and then two and half ride over the see to Helsinki up to 12 times per day. Also have a quick look at the map, what are the land possibility to travel from Tallin to – let say – Frankfurt. Quite a long journey, one could see Estonia (together with Latvia and Lithuania) also as an island. But the same goes for – lets’ say – Pristina, Tirana.

    And I apologise for a fact that I am repeating some elements other has already contributed in their comments (and discussion) under this article. I read it in the morning, started to write my view, took a bit longer but I will post it anyway.

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  24. notLufthansa20:48

    ok, what they haven't tried yet? Railway hub? Spaceport? Duty Free Hub? And they keep mulling and mulling....no results or moves whatsoever. I lost all my hopes for LJU. For such small and insignifciant airport, as LJU is, there are just two solutions: if there is large diaspora, or at least pool of LCC passengers (be it for economical reasons - cheap tickets, or just due to sheer number of connections) or localy based airline, connecting country with outside world. In current state of matters, we have neither. There is option number 3, turn the aiport into long term parking and just take whatever catches into the net. This is what we have now. I'm due to travel to Scandinavia soon, and if you believe it or not, the best connection is via Frankfurt, Tallin and boat.

    ReplyDelete

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