Finnair terminates Ljubljana flights


Finnair has decided not to restore seasonal operations from Helsinki to Ljubljana next summer season as the carrier embarks on a major structural overhaul to maintain competitiveness and return to profitability. Ticket sales for the route for the summer of 2023 have now been discontinued. Finnair launched services to Ljubljana in 2006 and has served the city on a seasonal basis until the coronavirus pandemic. Despite plans to resume operations on the route this year, it postponed its plans until 2023. Finnair handled a notable number of transfer passengers from Asia on its Ljubljana service, with the carrier holding an 8% share of all single-ticket travellers between the continent and the Slovenian capital in the pre-pandemic 2019. That year, it handled a total of 32.218 passengers on the route, representing an increase of 11% on 2018 when it saw 29.019 travellers but down 6% on 2017. Services were scheduled to resume on May 9, 2023 but will no longer go ahead. 

The Finnish carrier's seasonal flights to Zagreb have also been reduced to a month and a half of operations. The airline launched flights to the Croatian capital this year but halted the service ahead of schedule due to the “changing operating environment”. Flights were set to resume on April 30 of next year but have been postponed until mid-June after the airline undertook a review of its entire network. Further changes remain likely. Croatia Airlines previously maintained flights between the two capitals as well but suspended its seasonal service due to the Covid-19 pandemic and never restored operations.

Finnair is among the hardest hit European carriers by the ongoing war in Ukraine and the closure of Russian airspace to EU carriers, forcing it to add hours onto its flights to the Far East. The carrier has established itself in recent years as a transfer airline between Western Europe and Asia. “The changes in our operating environment require a new strategy and significant renewal of Finnair, especially related to costs. The target is to build a leaner Finnair that can return to the pre-pandemic levels of profitability. Together we can rebuild a Finnair that employees, customers and all Finns can continue to be proud of”, Finnair’s CEO, Topi Manner, said this week. As a result, the airline will seek to achieve mid-term operating profit levels comparable to those recorded in 2019 based on measures to optimise its operations. These include reducing and optimising its fleet, reducing unit costs by approximately 15% compared to 2019 levels, excluding fuel cost, as well as leveraging the company’s partnerships with other operators. Furthermore, the airline will aim to offer a more geographically balanced network connecting Europe with North America, Asia, India and the Middle East through its hub in Helsinki.



Comments

  1. Anonymous09:01

    Such a shame. I love flying Finnair, especially to North America via HEL. Their product is very solid and transfers at Helsinki are a breeze

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous09:02

    Not entirely unexpected considering their situation.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous09:03

    This is worse news for Ljubljana as I don't see a single airline that could serve this route

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:04

      It was for Asian transfers. They will just use LH, TK and FZ now.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:33

      Maybe perfect time for Qatar to start flying?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:38

      LJU will also have a link with JU from autumn when China flights start.

      Delete
  4. Anonymous09:07

    Cartel keeps on winning!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:39

      Not really, cartel boss announced massive cuts in the winter long-haul network. here is the list so far:

      Frankfurt – Austin Planned reduction from 7 weekly in NS22 to 3 weekly unchanged. A340-300 operating, instead of A330-300
      Frankfurt – Boston A340-300 replaces A330-300, 1 daily (Previous: 1 of 7 weekly A340 instead of A330)
      Frankfurt – Seattle Reduce from 7 to 4 weekly, A340-300 (Previous: 6 weekly)
      Frankfurt – Vancouver Reduce from 7 weekly to following
      30OCT22 – 06NOV22 3 weekly. 747-400 service extended by one week until 06NOV22
      07NOV22 – 14DEC22 6 weekly, A340-300

      Munich – Montreal Reduce from 7 weekly to following, with A350-900XWB
      30OCT22 – 06JAN23 4 weekly (Previous: 5 weekly)
      07JAN23 – 25MAR23 5 weekly

      Frankfurt – Almaty Reduce from 4 to 3 weekly, A330-300
      Frankfurt – Atlanta Reduce from 7 to 5 weekly, A330-300 (A330/340 from 15DEC22; Previous: 6 weekly)
      Frankfurt – Bangalore 747-400 instead of 747-8I, 1 daily
      Frankfurt – Beijing Capital 1 weekly A340-300 (PEK departure only)
      Frankfurt – Buenos Aires Ezeiza Reduce from 7 to 6 weekly, 747-8I
      Frankfurt – Cape Town Reduce from 5 to 3 weekly, A340-300
      Frankfurt – Chennai Reduce from 5 to 3 weekly, planned A340-300 replaces A330-300 unchanged
      Frankfurt – Dallas/Ft. Worth 3 of 5 weekly A330-300 replaces A340-300 (1 of 5 weekly from 19DEC22)
      Frankfurt – Delhi A340-300 replaces 747-8I, 1 daily (Previous: 747-400)
      Frankfurt – Detroit A330-300/340-300 operating (A340 only from 17DEC22). Planned reduction from 7 to 6 weekly unchanged (Previous: A340-300 service only for entire season)
      Frankfurt – Doha 14NOV22 – 19DEC22 Various flights scheduled during World Cup, A330-300/340-300
      Frankfurt – Hong Kong A340-300 replaces 747-8I, 1 daily
      Frankfurt – Houston A330-300 replaces 747-8I, 1 daily
      Frankfurt – Kuwait City – Dammam Reduce from 7 to 5 weekly, A330-300
      Frankfurt – Lagos – Malabo Reduce from 7 to 5 weekly, A330-300
      Frankfurt – Miami 747-8I continues operating 1 daily (Previous: 747-400 replacing -8I)
      Frankfurt – Mumbai A340-300 replaces 747-8I, 1 daily (Previous: 747-400)
      Frankfurt – Nanjing 1 weekly A340-300
      Frankfurt – Nairobi A330-300 replaces A340-300, 5 weekly
      Frankfurt – Newark A330-300/340-300 replaces 747-8I, 1 daily
      Frankfurt – New York JFK LH400/401 747-400 replaces 747-8I (Overall 1 daily each 747/A330-300)
      Frankfurt – Nur-Sultan – Almaty Reduce from 3 to 2 weekly, A330-300
      Frankfurt – Orlando A340-300 replaces A330-300, 1 daily
      Frankfurt – Philadelphia Reduce from 7 to 5 weekly, A340-300
      Frankfurt – Qingdao 747-400 replaces A340-300, 1 weekly
      Frankfurt – Seoul Incheon Reduce from 7 to 3 weekly (2 weekly 747-8I, 1 weekly 747-400; Updated 31AUG22)
      Frankfurt – Shanghai Pu Dong 2 weekly 747-8I
      Frankfurt – Shenyang Serviced removed in NW22
      Frankfurt – Tehran Imam Khomeini A340-300 replaces A330-300, 1 daily
      Frankfurt – Washington Dulles 747-8I replaces 747-400, 1 daily
      Munich – Beijing Capital Service removed in NW22
      Munich – Cape Town Increase from 5 weekly to 1 daily, A350-900XWB
      Munich – Charlotte Reduce from 7 to 5 weekly, A350-900XWB
      Munich – Mexico City Service suspended in NW22
      Munich – Miami A340-600 replaces A350-900XWB, 1 daily
      Munich – New York JFK A340-600 replaces A350-900XWB, 1 daily
      Munich – Shanghai Pu Dong Service removed in NW22
      Munich – Washington Dulles Service suspended in NW22 (Previous: reduce from 7 to 5 weekly with A350-900XWB)

      Delete
    2. JU520 BEGLAX17:26

      Where u got these flights fm? I had it but lost it and I am looking for that page

      Delete
    3. Anonymous19:12

      https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/220909-lhnw22inc

      Delete
    4. Anonymous20:01

      That page was down for a while but they came back about a month ago or so.

      Delete
    5. JU520 BEGLAX21:16

      Thank you 10000 x !!!!! I love this page

      Delete
  5. Anonymous09:12

    Hope they come back one day

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous09:12

    Always a mistery this obsession of each nordic country to have their own carrier... even Iceland hat 2 at some point... i guess Mr. Market will take care of things

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:01

      I dont think so .
      Money is easily available nowadays for everything .
      Quantitative tightening will seemingly never happen .

      Delete
  7. Anonymous09:22

    The Amadeus-GDS is showing three weekly - still bookable - flights between Helsinki and Zagreb between end the of June until middle of August:
    AY1846 2 ZAG HEL 1015 1400 0 20JUN23 08AUG23 E90 2:45
    AY1846 6 ZAG HEL 1845 2230 0 24JUN23 12AUG23 E90 2:45
    AY1846 4 ZAG HEL 2205 0150+1 0 22JUN23 10AUG23 E90 2:45
    will the get cancelled too?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:34

      Flights still on sale on Finnair page for ZAG.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:47

      Zag flights will get cancelled. Mark my words.

      Delete
  8. Anonymous09:24

    Winter is coming!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous09:29

    They will still fly to SPU&DBK during dummer

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous09:46

    Nothing new and this was expected. It will be a tough winter in the whole of Europe, not only Finnair but many other carriers:

    https://www.euronews.com/travel/2022/08/26/winter-travel-warning-all-the-airlines-cancelling-flights-between-now-and-march-2023

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous09:54

    So LJU looses another airline. Great.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:54

      There is simply no need for the route anymore. It relied on Asian transfers while Finnair will no longer rely on Asian transfers. Simple as that.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:57

      The writing was on the wall for a few years now.

      Delete
  12. Anonymous10:02

    Feel a bit sorry for AY. I don't think this latest strategy will work either.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous10:06

    This is great news for LH cartel. No more Finnair in LJU. HEL is their busiest route from LJU. LJU CEO even mentioned that they "welcome all airlines that fit into their business model." I doubt Finnair stealing passengers from cartel fits into their business model.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:04

      I have never seen a capital city airport do so little to attract new airlines or even keep existing ones.

      Delete
  14. Anonymous10:35

    Well LJU is thinking of becoming a charter hub so this fits perfectly with their plans.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous11:00

    Hel route was used for asia connections and with most of them gone this was something expected.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Anonymous11:00

    What a surprise.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:55

      I honestly can't blame Fraport for this. It has more to do with Finnair and their current predicament.

      Delete
  17. Anonymous11:01

    Disaster

    ReplyDelete
  18. Dubrovnik is DBV, not DUB, not DBK

    ReplyDelete
  19. Anonymous12:21

    Who is next? BA? Easyjet?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:48

      Most likely are Easyjet and Wizz. High chance for these two. Then for maybe but not likely I would say BA, Transavia, Flydubai. But atleast the cartel is here to stay.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:54

      High chances of Wizz Air. They have suspended their two routes to LJU on many ocassions this year.

      Delete
  20. Anonymous12:21

    What a shame

    ReplyDelete
  21. Anonymous12:54

    When did Finnair start flights to Ljubljana?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:55

      It says in the article 2006. I can't believe that up until Covid they were not able to exnted these flights past the summer. We are talking about 13 years of seasonal flights!

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:55

      * extend

      Delete
  22. Anonymous13:30

    lol

    ReplyDelete
  23. Anonymous17:02

    Finnair is a lost cause I think. I use to travel with them on yearly basis from FIN to SLO, but once they decided to stop the route Helsinki- Ljubljana I said they will never resume it. Their financial situation is near the bottom if not already at the bottom. Their lies about the lack of Asian travelers which they claimed last year was and still is a complete BS.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous18:33

      Well, if the Covid crisis didn't finish them, the Russian airspace ban certainly may. Don't see why anybody should fly to the Middle East or India via Helsinki

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:33

      True anon 17.02

      Delete
  24. JU520 BEGLAX17:24

    Confirms the Great Reset agenda, which we all experience since 2020. Asia will be restricted in 2023 too, so 4th year in a row, clear evidence that the plandemic was the trigger for the Great Reset agenda.
    A pity there was not enough o/d traffic between SLO and FIN. Another special loss for LJU, after IB did not return in 2022.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous18:25

      Is this Great Reset with us in the room know?

      Delete
  25. Anonymous17:49

    Oh no, anyways..

    ReplyDelete
  26. Anonymous18:36

    Another one bites the dust.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Anonymous16:31

    Air Baltic, where you are ? ....

    ReplyDelete

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