NEWS FLASH
Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport anticipates its strong passenger growth to continue into the summer season when it is expected to be served by a record number of different airlines. During the peak of the summer season, Ljubljana Airport will be served by 22 airlines on scheduled services, offering more than 150 flights per week to 25 destinations. Commenting on the airport’s summer network, the General Manager of operator Fraport Slovenija, Babett Stapel, said, “With more than a 31% increase in passenger traffic, we are excited to enter the 2024 summer schedule. This season will offer the most diverse selection of carriers to date - as many as 22 will operate on 25 routes. We look forward to welcoming new flights to Copenhagen and Riga by the end of April, followed by Madrid at the end of July. The network will also be strengthened with more frequent connections to European hubs. Slovenia's air connectivity is steadily and noticeably improving. With a rich offering of charter flights to holiday destinations, Ljubljana Airport's offering is rounded out for all types of passengers”.
For the size of the country and indeed Ljubljana, the offering is perfectly acceptable.
ReplyDeleteAll leisure Ryanair routes out of ZAG could be in LJU as well.
Delete10000 times the same comments. Ryanair has announced that it is covering LJU via Trieste. Either way, this airport has a large number of Slovenian passengers.
DeleteWhat about the numbers by the end of the year, will we at least reach p2p?
DeleteNot yet. Next year, maybe.
DeleteI think FR covers LJU from ZAG and TRS well.
DeleteLJU is centrally located. Its economy is tied to CH (its largest partner), DE, and AT. The majority of tourists also arrive from those countries. CH and DE are well covered by plane, and AT is too close for significant air travel. Slovenians don’t have a sizable diaspora, nor do they travel en masse. ZAG, TRS, and VCE present considerable competition, all with larger tourist and domestic markets. So, I think LJU’s numbers are quite alright.
DeleteLJU has the most charter flights out of any Exyu airport. Shows how many leisure routes are being practically ignored by airlines, from Crete to Spain and Portugal
Delete^ it doesn't actually. Most of the charter flights are just one off.
DeleteYes - but would Slovenians actually fly regular routes as much as they do charters? The majority of the people I know are terrified of traveling alone. They prefer charters because this way the tourist agency takes care of travel arrangements. That’s why there are never full planes of us anywhere. Some here, some there. This has been my experience, at least.
Delete@14.16 kakvi teski gluposti! Thats why Ryanair and Norwegian fly to Vaxjoo.
DeleteSadly and especially comparing its economy, the aviation level is a diaster. Even Moldova has much higher figures....just saying. KIV concluded with 2,8 million passengers in 2023. How come an EU capital, Eurozone and Schengen with so much tourism have such figures? Look at Tallinn, also surrounded by big airports. It served 2,961,569 in 2023. And Estonia has a population of barely 1,4 million....it is not a personal critic, but reality. Slovene aviation is one of the last not only in EU. but the whole continent. And.....LJU is the sole real airport in the country....
ReplyDeleteDude, open google maps.
DeleteMoldova has a huge migrant community in Italy, Germany, Great Britain, Spain, Russia, Portugal, Ireland, Turkey and other countries, it also has twice the lower standard of living than Slovenia. Don't miss the many passengers from Odessa who are currently using KIV. Also the only major airport near Iași. Estonia also experienced a number of upheavals in the 1990s, associated with waves of migration to Russia and Europe, for this reason there is no small diaspora of Estonians around the world. However, Estonia creates real growth in its economy largely through the development of the service sector and its technological part.
DeleteOn the other hand, Slovenia quietly suffered the breakup of Yugoslavia and did not witness migration to other countries. This is also the reason why LJU is not like TLL. KIV is a completely different point of view, we can compare it with Skopje for example.
That is, if you are a rich country, you don't have Wizz Air to Vaxjo or Billund, if you are like us at SKP, you fly a lot of flights. I would prefer the former.
DeleteWhich is actually the smallest market in Europe? Luxembourg?
DeleteNo, of course not...Luxair has a huge base with flights to anywhere in Europe, as far as Cape Verde or Dubai. They even have scheduled flights to China and add-ons like easyJet, Ryanair. I also forgot the Cargolux base.
DeleteAndorra has its own airport on the border with Spain. Iberia flies to Madrid and Palma de Mallorca. So it's the smallest market. Comments on San Marino or Monaco and Liechtenstein I leave to you. They don't have an airport as far as I know.
DeleteSpecifically for Moldova, we can praise them with the charters to Zanzibar and Sri Lanka.
We have 40 charter destinations 😄😄😄😄
DeleteCharter hub
DeleteAnon 14:20 Don't forget, Luxair flies to LJU as well :)))
DeleteSlovenia - UK & Ireland connections are terrible. Difficult to understand the sole Wizzair destination is SKP and there not even Ryanair for an EU capital. Why did Montenegro create a new airline much quicker than Slovenia? Open any of your favourite travel search engines and see how EXPENSIVE it is to fly to Slovenia. Just checked you can fly from Málaga to Vilnius for 50€. LJU should have at least 1 LCC plane based as almost all European and especially EU capitals
DeleteI would add that for a foreigner work opportunities in Estonia are way more than in Slovenia. IT, innovation, various kind of businesses etc are attracting to Estonia. In Slovenia only physically hard or not well paid jobs are available for foreigners: exyugo arriving and that's all.
DeletePeople are comparing babi with zabi. I am Slovenian I want to go to the sea I will most likely go with car to Croatia. I am Estonian I want to go to the sea I have no other choice than to fly.And that’s basically with everything in Estonia except if you want to visit the Baltics or Finland
DeleteMoldova including Transnistria 3 million people and yes 900k more people compared to Slovenia and 1,2 million people more than Macedonia makes a difference. Moldova huge diaspora. Borders big countries as Ukraine and Romania so logical they they have a lot of traffic.
´15:57 "Moldova huge diaspora. Borders big countries as Ukraine and Romania so logical they they have a lot of traffic."
DeleteSlovenia also shares even borderless bigger countries and there is simply no excuse. Sorry, but for an advanced country like Slovenia, it is strange. Even Moldova has not 1, but 2 airlines. Bulgaria has 2 cargo airlines, Lithuania has 5 charter arlines. Clearly, aviation is not the best in Slovenia following the collapse of Adria, Solinair, VLM, etc.
15:28 full of nonesense... I have moved from Macedonia (yes the ex-yu...) to Ljubljana few years ago and what you are talkinh about is at all wrong. There is at the moment a large pool of new jobs and opportunities that are attracting foreigners to take. Maybe not in computer science, but intrest in pharmacy and research in natural sciences has just exploded. Just take a look at Novartis, Lek, Krka, IJS, KI and you will find a lot of high paying jobs that a foreigner occupies and not only from ex-yu, but from all over the world.
DeleteBut still this is aviation we are talking about... Why I think an EU capital has figures as LJU is simply because of the location. I cannot find a capital city that is better situated geographically. You are always close to everything, so majority of the popular places are doable with car - you wanna go to the see, you drive to croatia, you want a city brake, you drive to Venice,Vienna, Zagreb,Budapest... so by that I as a foreigner in Ljubljana see LJU number completely ok
Just been to Rome and spoke to a shopkeeper there, who was from Moldova. She said that everyone is leaving the country (Moldova, of course). Only going there to visit. This was in the Vatican Christian gift shop, next to St Peter’s Square.
Delete16:16
DeleteCheck again the list of slovenian airlines. For example we have two big airlines Amelia and Elit avia as Romania for example, all airlines are around 10-12.
If we exclude Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro, which are small markets, I think that the most underestimated country in terms of market potential as well as population is Croatia. Fewest airlines from all over Europe.....
DeleteFor Slovenia
DeleteRegourd Aviation/Amelia/ Equaflight
Elit Avia
Jetstream Hungary opens subsidiary in Slovenia
Camex Adria
Solin Air
Lipican Aer
AlpAvia
Thalair Slovenia
If eveything is close in LJU, so are for example Pristina, Skopje, Sofia and Nis together and all quite close and if you check the numbers. You are immediately gonna say diaspora, but in reality and corresponding to the population and especially ecoomy things are very different. Yeah, you are gonna say Ljubljana is close to Venice, Budapest, etc but we are talking about a considerably developed EU nation with barely any cheaper options to reach it. Okay, let the legacy carriers fly, but there is no competition. And now with Zagreb opening more affordable travel, of course Ljubljana will be an "option". Enough of "everything is close" theory. Because so is Tallinn just close to Helsinki and so is Bratislava to Vienna. Another very good example is Tuzla and Costanta (quite big town with coast) compared to Varna. Varna had nearly 2 million pax in 2023 and CND barely 3 destinations.
DeleteThe point here is that it took LJU forever to relaunch an airline compared to Montenegro, it is fine to have subsidies but take a longer time and simply the lack of LCC is insane. Latest reports show that LCC travel in Europe is approx. 60% Is Slovenia really incapable of leasing or buying at least 2 or 3 small planes and connect it to Europe?
Why would country invest several millions of tax payer money to establish a small airline to cover leisure routes? Every, for economy, important city or region is covered. What Slovenia should/will do now is invest in a high speed rail connecting venice with vienna wich is the future with all EU regulations that are coming to intercontinental aviation industry in the next 10 years
DeleteV Sloveniji niti politika niti večji del javnosti ne vesta kaj pomenijo redne letalske povezave (+ ustrezne frekvence in urniki). Ker se je skoraj celotna Slovenija veselila uničenja Adrie, bo LJU še dolgo, dolgo na zadnjem mestu med EU in ex YU letališči. Napredek je možen le pri čarterjih in cargo prometu. Vse ostalo pa so brez nacionalnega prevoznika le sanje (glej vozni red LJU letališča).
DeleteEveryone wants to fly to sLOVEnia
ReplyDeleteYes. Everyone. Well done for such an insightful and thought-provoking comment that so accurately reflects the truth of the matter.
DeleteFunnily enough, LJU is almost exclusively legacy carriers. Only 4 LCC routes (Amsterdam, Skopje, Gatwick, Copenhagen)
ReplyDeleteThat's quite prestigious, good for LJU
DeletePrestige - this perpetual pursuit is one of the key reasons why the Balkans remain significantly underdeveloped. The relentless fixation on external validation and status symbols has diverted attention and resources away from essential investments in infrastructure, education, and sustainable development. It’s a lamentable cycle of misplaced priorities that perpetuates stagnation and hinders progress. Truly, it’s a poignant reflection of the region’s untapped potential and the urgent need for a paradigm shift towards more pragmatic and inclusive approaches to growth. Stop with this sad fixation on prestige! It’s sad, sad, sad.
DeleteParis is also LCC
DeleteLJU je res prestižno letališče! Benny Hill.
DeleteAegean had its first flight of this season today and finnair s few days ago
ReplyDeleteAre most of passengers tourists?
Delete...for A3.
DeleteMake TIV a year round flight...friday/sunday
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteDecent but SJJ and TGD will outperform them again
ReplyDeleteInstead of self-praise and cheap self-promotion, it would be better to Babett Stapel, announces the number of passengers for the first quarter.
ReplyDeleteShe will. As always they publish them on 15th. They have 30% growth in q1
DeleteNe glede na to kar bo objavljeno, bo še vedno daleč za vsemi ex YU letališči.
Delete