Ljubljana Airport “unlikely” to see transatlantic flights


Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport is continuing its recovery from the coronavirus pandemic and although Slovenian nationals are able to enjoy visa free travel to the United States and Canada, while New York was one of Ljubljana’s busiest unserved routes prior to the global health emergency, services across the Atlantic remain unlikely. Ljubljana was last linked to the United States through a nonstop air service prior to the collapse of the former Yugoslavia, when JAT Yugoslav Airlines maintained operations to New York’s JFK Airport. The Big Apple remains Ljubljana’s number one destination in the United States, however, the Slovenian capital's chances of handling transatlantic flights thirty years on are slim.

Ljubljana Airport’s former long-time General Manager and current Advisor to the Management, Zmago Skobir, previously said, “Theoretically it is possible for us to have transatlantic flights again, but it is unlikely. The Ministry for Infrastructure has concluded agreements with a number of countries. One of the most liberal ones is with the United Arab Emirates, which would allow for flights from Dubai to New York via Ljubljana. So, it is possible, but in reality, it depends on the actual demand and economies of scale”. Mr Skobir added, “Within a radius of 500 kilometres, we have five airports, most of which offer flights to the United States for 500 to 600 euros. Can Ljubljana generate enough traffic for a transatlantic route to be profitable? If for example, Emirates established two to three weekly flights from Dubai to New York via Ljubljana, I think some fifty to sixty passengers would board in Ljubljana”.

In the pre-pandemic 2019 a total of 36.302 passengers flew indirectly between Ljubljana and the United States on a single itinerary. This does not take into account travellers who flew from nearby airports or has unlinked tickets to the States. A total of 23% of Ljubljana’s US passengers flew either to or from New York, followed by San Francisco, Chicago, Miami, Washington, Boston and Atalanta. That same year, Adria Airways was the most utilised carrier to reach the States, as it shuttled passengers to and from various Star Alliance hubs in Europe, transferring travellers onto Lufthansa and United. Air France also performed extremely well on the Slovenia - US market and in cooperation with its partner Delta handled 19% of all travellers between the two countries. New York was Ljubljana’s overall fifth busiest unserved route in 2019. Despite the dominance of Adria and its Star Alliance partners on the Slovenian market, both Air France and Air Serbia managed to account for 30% of all passengers carried between the two cities.



Comments

  1. Anonymous09:02

    First we need flights to many European cities because someone could even think about this.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:10

      Exactly, first get us flights to Berlin.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous01:16

      Why Berlin?

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:03

    Perfect and completely unreal scenario would be, having Adria V2 with 1-2 a321xlrs with India, JFK flights.
    Other than that, there is about 1% chance of getting those flights

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous09:04

    Out of curiosity, did Slovenians ever need visas for the US? If my memory serves me correct they were never introduced even after the collapse of Yu

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:46

      Slovenia joined the US Visa Waiver Program in 1997. I’m unsure of what the arrangement had been prior to that.

      Delete
    2. Well, obviously, you needed visa prior to 1997. It's pretty self-explanatory, right?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous18:49

      @ 13:47

      Hardly.

      Delete
  4. Anonymous09:05

    With Lufthansa ruling the market, definitely no chance. Sad really since Adria was the first Yugoslav airline to get approval to fly to the US and the first to operate charters to the US.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous09:06

    How many weekly flights were there between LJU and JFK?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Belgrade-Ljubljana-NewYork was once weekly. Years 1988-1990, on the top of its long haul, and with 5 DC-10 units in the fleet, JFK was daily, one weekly BEG-LJU-JFK, once weekly BEG-DBV-JFK, three weekly BEG-ZAG-JFK, and two weekly BEG-JFK. But there was also once weekly seasonal Belgrade-Ljubljana-Cleveland-Detroit, which is not mentioned in the article. And the flight operated during the entire summer season, at least for four years, or even longer

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:27

      Thanks Pozdrav!

      Delete
    3. You are welcome! 😃

      Delete
  6. Anonymous09:07

    LJU first needs new management.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:45

      And you are ready to jump in?

      Delete
  7. Anonymous09:14

    There is a greater chance for LJU to get flights to the Far East than to US.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:12

      Even that is becoming a distant possibility now.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous19:39

      Air Serbia should fly BEG JFK via Ljubljana once a week

      Delete
    3. Anonymous22:38

      Sure. Add ZAG while you're at it.

      Delete
  8. Anonymous09:16

    I remember when there was a serious idea some 15 years ago for Air India to start flights to Ljubljana and continue on to New York.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:13

      True, Adria was also planning to codeshare on those flights. What happened to that?

      Delete
    2. Technologically, aircraft with increased range happened, commercialy, cost cutting measures, executed by omitting stopovers

      Delete
    3. Anonymous16:08

      Air India wasn't a very reliable partner and they gave up on the idea.

      Delete
  9. Anonymous09:18

    Wishful thinking

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous16:08

      What's wishful thinking? The article says it's not gonna happen.

      Delete
  10. Anonymous09:28

    Would be great for Flydubai to be replaced by Emirates B777 and them starting flights to the US via Ljubljana haha.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:29

      Even if there were a remote possibility of that happening I somehow think the LJU management would not use that opportunity.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:13

      Especially since they would not want to take away transfer passengers from Lufthansa.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous19:43

      Maybe deal with Lufthansa give them no opportunity for Long haul flights

      Delete
    4. Anonymous20:12

      Fraport has deal with LH cartel that prevents LJU to get routes to new markets.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous22:42

      Does Fraport have deal with LH cartel in any of their other airports or only in LJU?

      Delete
    6. Anonymous09:47

      @Anonymous20.12: Fraport-Lufthansa cartel: Can you proof?

      Delete
  11. Anonymous09:29

    Is there enough demand for an occasional charter from LJU to the US?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:34

      Even if there is, there is no one to operate the charters.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:14

      I don't think so. Who would wait for a random charter to fly to the US without the ability to come back on those same flights.

      Delete
  12. Anonymous09:34

    Good joke

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous10:08

    We can always dream

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous10:10

    Hopefully when short haul aircraft become common on TATL routes we will see some flights to Ljubljana.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:31

      More likely we see them to ZAG than LJU.

      Delete
    2. I believe by short haul aircraft you meant narrow body, or single aisle aircraft. An aircraft capable of flying 8000 km and/or 9 hours is not short haul aircraft, no matter narrow or wide body, single or twin aisle

      Delete
  15. Anonymous10:14

    If ZAG still doesn't have any US flights, Ljubljana is impossible.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Anonymous10:20

    Bring American Airlines please :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:22

      Current management is doing the opposite, its chasing airlines away.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:20

      True

      Delete
  17. Anonymous11:20

    No chance of TATL flights from Ljubljana ever again

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:31

      Never say never

      Delete
    2. Anonymous15:21

      Also true

      Delete
  18. Anonymous12:21

    First bring flights to some major European hubs/cities such as Berlin, Madrid, Athens, Barcelona, Lisbon, Stockholm, Copenhagen etc. then we can discuss about transatlantic flights.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Anonymous16:09

    New York seems to be one of the busiest unserved routes from most ex-Yu airports.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Anonymous16:10

    Interesting to see which are the most popular destinations in the US from LJU.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous22:48

      Did not expect SF to be second.

      Delete
  21. JU520 BEGLAX16:26

    LJU has excellent one stop connections to the US via MUC BEG FRA CDG and on some days even via AMS, ZRH and during Summer peak via LHR. Not every airfield can afford widebody interconti flights, I know it s something hard to believe for our very proud nationals from the region, but thats fact and reality. I would rather prefer seeing flights fm LJU to Spain or Scandinavia

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. JU520 BEGLAX16:30

      Even via IST u get in 14h to JFK and return 13h

      Delete
    2. Anonymous17:21

      "Excellent one stop connections via MUC, BEG, FRA, CDG, ZRH, AMS" first time I heard someone say that since September 2019. Schedule is absolute disaster to these airports. The reality is so sad that someone from Slovenia who wants to travel first checks flights from ZAG, VCE and other airports instead of LJU. It's is also sad that once we used to have good connectivity. Not anymore. And I believe some (like you) are very happy with current disaster for some reason.

      Delete
  22. Anonymous20:08

    There is still hope N757AF will make nonstop flight from the US to LJU. VP-BDJ was in LJU long time ago.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Anonymous15:10

    Can we please get better (and affordable) connections to Europe. We have no flights to Iberian peninsula (except for seasonal Iberia flight to Madrid), no Scandinavian destinations, we also lack connections to the likes of Dublin, Athens, Berlin, Manchester etc.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous15:47

      Iberia is gone.

      Delete

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