Lufthansa and Turkish Airlines were the two busiest carriers at Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport during the first quarter of the year, with Flydubai and Russia’s Aeroflot handling a notable number of travellers, despite the latter being banned from operating into Slovenia from late February. Based on data provided by Statistical Office, the German national carrier handled 20.566 passengers on its Frankfurt - Ljubljana service during the January - March period. In January, it had just 400 passengers more than Aeroflot, which was the airport’s second busiest carrier at the time. Lufthansa has steadily increased its capacity in Ljubljana and earlier this month restored operations from Munich after almost two years.
During the first three months, Turkish Airlines retained its position as the second busiest airline in Slovenia with 17.344 passengers, followed by Air France with 12.161 travellers. Air Serbia restored flights between Niš and Ljubljana in January to complement its Belgrade service, handling a total of 9.149 passengers on the two routes run by turboprop aircraft. Flydubai, which commenced operations to Ljubljana last September, handled a solid 8.640 travellers on its flights to and from the Slovenian capital. On the other hand, Wizz Air’s presence in Ljubljana during the first quarter was negligible as the carrier suspended services from Charleroi at the start of the year, while its London Luton operations were halted in early February. Both were restored later in March.
|
Airline |
Passengers |
|
Lufthansa |
20.566 |
|
Turkish Airlines |
17.344 |
|
Air France |
12.161 |
|
Air Serbia |
9.143 |
|
Transavia |
8.772 |
|
Flydubai |
8.640 |
|
Aeroflot |
8.317 |
|
Swiss |
6.786 |
|
LOT Polish Airlines |
5.394 |
|
Air Montenegro |
2.288 |
In a further sign of air traffic recovery, all carriers operating at Ljubljana Airport saw their passenger numbers increase during the first quarter of 2022 when compared to the same period last year. Ljubljana Airport estimates it will handle 880.000 travellers this year, while pre-Covid traffic levels should be reached in 2026. The airport is currently in talks with airlines already serving Ljubljana over the introduction of new routes. Operator 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.
No big surprise
ReplyDeleteLH, TK and AF were the busiest in 2021 too.
DeleteFlydubai is a nice surprise.
DeleteWow Aeroflot was second in January. I assume it was because of the vaccine tourism that was happening back then.
ReplyDeleteYes. It was the same case in Zagreb.
DeleteFlydubai is performing really well. No wonder they are increasing LJU.
ReplyDeleteWould be interesting to compare to the performance on their ZAG route.
DeleteSo on average they had LF of 67%?
DeleteAround that yes. Since these are numbers for first three months I assume lf should be around 75% now, before going daily.
DeleteThat's not bad at all for a route that is still within its first year of operations.
Delete+1
DeleteIt's fantastic actually
DeleteReally fantastic performance by JU in LJU.
ReplyDeleteWith those numbers and loads on an ATR, JU is turning a nice profit on their Ljubljana flights.
Deleteflew they a few times lately and plane was more or less sold out.
DeleteDo they often send the ATR72-600 there or no?
DeleteI think they are conservative in LJU as they might not have enough ATRs to have double daily from BEG.
DeleteNice to see Air Serbia performing well in LJU.
Delete@anonymous 09:11 Yes, around half flights in May were with -600
DeleteNice
DeleteTime to go 21 in LJU. Don't know what they are waiting for, the market is asking for it.
DeleteThe smartest decision they made was to operate INI-LJU with the ATR72 instead of the A319 like in 2019.
DeleteI wonder what the average LF is on INI-LJU-INI. Anyone know?
DeleteInteresting numbers.
ReplyDeleteLufthansa rules the Slovenian market now.
ReplyDeleteIt always has, through Adria in the past.
DeleteThings are definitely improving
ReplyDeleteAt a snail's pace.
DeleteWhile other's a recovering at full speed...
DeleteHad Adria still been around the airport's situation would have been much better. This virus and crisis showed how important it is to have a national airline
DeleteAnd we would have flights to several major European cities that we are missing.
Delete+1
DeleteAt least LJU would have a chance to fully recover
DeleteWith this new government and Fraport leading the airport, a national airline won't happen..
DeleteI don't think Fraport is against national airline at all.
DeleteHope KLM replaces Transavia.
ReplyDeleteOr we get KLM and keep Transavia. Like we have Air France and Transavia to Paris now.
DeleteYes that would be best but I doubt it.
DeleteBut we already have KLM in LJU, like once per week, but the callsign is from Transavia
DeleteThey don't need to replace them, they could just add a few flights and operate on days Transavia is not flying to Ljubljana.
DeleteExactly. There is enough room for both. Like with Paris.
DeleteMaybe in 2023.
DeleteIn the past Adria operated 2 daily flights to AMS and there was also Transavia. Both were successful so I don't think this would be an issue.
DeleteTK catching up to Lufthansa. Not a big difference.
ReplyDeleteNo one will be able to catch up to LH, especially now they started Munich.
DeleteIt's interesting how TK lost almost nothing from Flydubai's arrival.
Deletewell they do have the most flights so it makes sense.
Delete@ yes it's me again
DeleteI thought about it too. Obviously not as many claimed how they will suffer because of FZ.
Loads are quite good all things considered
ReplyDeleteBA also resumes flights yesterday.
Delete*resumed
DeleteNice. Hope they extend their flights into winter.
DeleteAeroflot did amazingly well and they flew for just 2 months.
ReplyDeleteWhat aircraft did they mostly use to LJU? The SSJ100 or Airbuses?
DeleteAirbuses, a few times also A330.
DeleteNo wonder Rossiya started flights too.
DeleteDidn't Nordiwind also plan flights?
DeleteWhile numbers are headed in the right direction, flights to Iberian peninsula and northern Europe are still missing. Hope this will change too.
ReplyDeleteYes and this has been an issue for LJU for a very long time
DeleteNorthern Europe and Iberian peninsula.
I wonder if these airlines carried mostly transfers or point to point passengers.
ReplyDeleteDepends on the airline.
DeleteLH is full of both.
DeleteI wonder if there will be any impact to AF's numbers in Q2 now that Transavia has started Orly.
ReplyDeleteIt's the same company.
DeleteRegardless. It will show us if they created a new passenger base or took away traffic from AF.
DeleteHope to see more LCCs at Ljubljana.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, Wizzair could launch like Bucharest and Madrid/Barcelona. High LF guaranteed.
DeleteAir Montenegro is also doing well.
ReplyDeleteYes and during Easter and May Day holidays they had to add extra flights because they were sold out.
DeleteIf we knew how many flights each had we could calculate the load factor.
ReplyDeleteWhen will Aegean return??
ReplyDeleteI doubt they will. They suspended LJU years ago.
DeleteDoes Aegean codeshare with Air Serbia to Ljubljana?
DeleteI don't think so.
DeleteI honestly think Aegean (and several other airlines) are overlooking LJU for no reason. I am certain TAROM would have a full ATR to LJU. Aegean would do well with the right equipment too.
DeleteI think Aegean will come back in 2023 they are expanding fast.Their A319 even A320 could do well in LJU.
DeleteWell it should be the management's job to attract new airlines. Let's hope recent Routes Europe event they attended will bring some results.
Delete@11.08 No they don't anymore but they used to, until Aegean briefly began flying to Ljubljana. But they never restored their codes after they discontinued Ljubljana. Currently airlines codesharing on Air Serbia's Ljubljana flights are ITA, Finnair and Bulgaria Air.
DeleteI expected LOT to have somewhat better numbers.
ReplyDeleteWhat equipment do they use?
DeleteMostly embraers, twice they used B737 Max 8
DeleteSo, according to the official Fraport figures, LJU had almost the same number of passengers similar to Varna or Kos Island in Greece but slightly higher than Mykonos. Lima and Antalya had huge traffic in April as well.
ReplyDeleteHow surprising that Lufthansa is dominating at a Fraport owned airport.
ReplyDeleteAnd doing little to attract other carriers.
DeleteI don't think Fraport is actively trying to attract any new airline. They already said they are more than happy with what they got.
DeleteI hope we will see more new airlines and routes.
ReplyDeleteHope dies last.
DeleteMore like Star Alliance dominance.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteReally interesting to see the passenger numbers. I think things will improve at LJU this year. Let's see.
ReplyDeleteLet's hope so.
Delete"In a further sign of air traffic recovery, all carriers operating at Ljubljana Airport saw their passenger numbers increase during the first quarter of 2022 when compared to the same period last year."
ReplyDeleteWhat a shocker considering there was barely any traffic in Q1 2021.
Lol true
Delete" The airport is currently in talks with airlines already serving Ljubljana over the introduction of new routes."
ReplyDeleteWhich airlines could this be?
Other than Wizz and Easyjet I don't see who else could it be.
DeleteYes they are the only two possible candidates.
DeleteBut it also means Fraport is not talking to any new airline.
DeleteThe main question is how many Slovenian passenger flew with Ryanair from ZAG.
ReplyDeleteThis would be interesting to see.
DeleteHow many pax handled by Trade Air on charters?
ReplyDelete