Slovenia in talks with Austrian Airlines over Ljubljana flights

The Slovenian government has said it is in talks with Austrian Airlines over the introduction of flights between Vienna and Ljubljana. The service was last operated by the now defunct Slovenian flag carrier Adria Airways in 2019. “We are in constant contact with Austrian Airlines. We are working hard and hope that these flights return to our network as soon as possible. At the moment, the carrier's fleet is still an obstacle, as it does not have a suitable smaller aircraft available that would make it profitable to fly to Ljubljana. Furthermore, there is an additional financial burden due to environmental taxes on the Austrian market for all flights operating on routes shorter than 350 kilometres", the Slovenian Ministry for Infrastructure said. The two capitals have an air distance of 264 kilometres.

Austrian Airlines has deemed that the smallest aircraft type in its fleet, the 120-seat Embraer E195 jet, is too large for the route. This summer, the carrier is wet-leasing 72-seat ATR72-600 turboprops from Braathens, which it is deploying on several regional routes, including Belgrade and Zagreb. The wet-lease contract is set to last until the end of the summer season, in late October, but may be extended into the winter, in which case services to Ljubljana could become viable.

The Lufthansa Group was quick to respond to the collapse of Adria Airways in 2019 by covering key routes served by the former Slovenian flag carrier and ensuring the continued flow of transfer passengers through its hubs. Lufthansa commenced operations from Munich and Frankfurt, Brussels Airlines from the Belgian capital, and Swiss from Zurich. However, Austrian Airlines has notably skipped the opportunity to introduce services between Vienna and Ljubljana, despite passenger figures indicating there is solid demand. Services to the Austrian capital were one of Adria’s better performing routes, with double daily flights maintained over the summer months and an average of around 60.000 passengers per year.

Ljubljana - Vienna route passenger performance

Adria Airways relied on transfer passengers between the two, both those headed or originating from regional markets such as Kosovo, Albania, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as those originating or heading to Ljubljana from other destinations in Europe and North America. However, a sizable number of travellers were still point-to-point. Notably an additional 10.925 people flew indirectly between the two capital cities in 2019, although this was mostly generated in the third and fourth quarters when Adria was cancelling a number of flights before ultimately declaring bankruptcy. Austrian Airlines had previously operated its own flights to Ljubljana, discontinuing its daily service at the end of the 2005 summer season. Adria Airways then increased its operations to the Austrian capital, maintaining four daily rotations until the 2009 global financial crisis. In its final summer season of 2019, Adria Airways served Vienna twice a day.