Turkish Airlines maintained its position as Slovenian’s and Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport’s busiest carrier during the first quarter of the year, carrying 44.512 passengers. It improved its figures by 23.2% year-on-year on the back of a 19.8% capacity increase. It was proceeded by Lufthansa, which saw 20% passenger growth. Its subsidiary - Swiss - was one of the fastest growing airlines at the airport, with 24.095 travellers handled on its Ljubljana flights, up 49.3% on 2023. The carrier significantly increased its operations to the Slovenian capital with 31.4% more flights, resulting in a 55.9% increase in capacity.

Other strong performers included Flydubai and Air Serbia, both of which saw their passenger numbers grow over 10%. Low cost carrier Transavia registered triple digit growth, however, this was primarily the result of a lack of flights last year. The airline suspended services to Ljubljana during February and most of March in 2023. Wizz Air continued its strong performance on the Skopje service, launched last September, with an average cabin load factor of 92% for the duration of the first quarter. On the other hand, its figures on the London Luton route declined as the service was discontinued in February.

Air France recorded an 18% slump in its Ljubljana figures, on the back of reduced operations. Despite being one of Ljubljana’s busiest carriers during the pandemic, the French airline cut flights by 28% during the first quarter of this year along with a 16.3% reduction in capacity. This trend is expected to continue into the second and third quarters. LOT Polish Airlines saw a 13% reduction in passengers, along with a 6.3% cut in capacity. The Polish carrier faces increased competition for transfer passengers to the Baltics, Scandinavia and Eastern Europe from the second quarter onwards, following airBaltic’s arrival in Ljubljana late last month. New entrant Luxair handled 2.300 travellers in Q1 with an average load of 58.2% on its Dash 8 turboprops.