airBaltic does not rule out potential Ljubljana base in future


airBaltic has not ruled out the prospect of potentially opening a base in Ljubljana following talks with the Slovenian government on the matter last year. In late 2023, the Slovenian government held discussions with representatives from the Latvian flag carrier and discussed the possibility of the opening of a new base in the Slovenian capital. At the time, airBaltic representatives said they had no plans to open a base in the city, noting that such action would require substantial financial and organisational investment, along with the need to establish a new brand on the Slovenian market. However, asked by EX-YU Aviation News weather it has reconsidered its position, the airline noted, “We cannot comment on this specific case, but considering our fleet growth in the future, we are open to investigating different opportunities and underserved markets across Europe”.

airBaltic launched operations between Riga and Ljubljana last month, and has since upgraded the service from seasonal to year-round operations. The route benefits from the country’s subsidy program aimed at improving Ljubljana’s connectivity. airBaltic has multiple bases and opened its latest one last December on Gran Canaria island. In May 2022, it opened a base in Tampere in Finland. Furthermore, it has bases in Tallinn and Vilnius, alongside its main hub in Riga. However, the carrier’s CEO, Martin Gauss, recently said he did not see potential in establishing a base in the Balkans. "We see traffic demand into the Nordics from these regions. However, to base the aircraft in the Balkans would not make sense because we use the aircraft to and from the hubs", Mr Gauss said.

In April, the Slovenian Ministry for Infrastructure confirmed the receipt of an application from Cyprus Airways for the opening of a base and the launch of several routes from Ljubljana. However, it highlighted that the application was incomplete and required modification before any decision could be made. The Cypriot flag carrier submitted its proposal as part of the Slovenian government’s open call for subsidies for the launch of new routes from the country. The Ministry for Infrastructure stated, "The aid allocation committee formally assessed the application and identified deficiencies that hinder a decision based on its merits. The carrier has been requested to address these shortcomings. A comprehensive review of the application and a final decision will be made following the necessary modifications”.


Comments

  1. Anonymous09:01

    Cyprus and Air Baltic both stationing one A220-300 would be a dream come true for Ljubljana

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:31

      Competition is always good in aviation

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:37

      Competition is always good in everything.

      Delete
    3. Slav.Man10:18

      Would fraport and the Germans allow it is the question. They won't be too happy someone to take their market share away.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous11:09

      Sounds like a 'them' issue if they can't capture a market with their 300€+ tickets

      Delete
    5. Anonymous11:49

      HM, I a, not confident of Air Baltic, but EasyJet would be something that could happen. I am not sure if Slovenian Government approached EasyJet yet? Voltea and Transavia could also play important role. Problem is however, do they have any free aircraft. Atm only Ryan air is expanding fast, not sure for other airlines, even Wizz is stagnating atm.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous12:32

      Apparently easyjet made an offer to LJU Airport after Adria went belly up but Fraport was not interested.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous12:38

      Bravo Fraport!

      Delete
    8. Anonymous14:31

      Transavia was also searching and exploring options to create some new bases around Europe but idk if they ever considered Ljubljana.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous14:46

      How about Vueling? I know they just stopped operating from Zagreb, but i feel like it’s still something that could happen

      Delete
    10. Anonymous16:49

      Vueling is aligned with Oneworld, which has a pretty mediocre presence in Ljubljana as things stand (daily British, 4 weekly Finnair as opposed to 12+ daily Star Alliance and 2 daily SkyTeam). I doubt they'd open a base, but flights to Barcelona could always happen

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:04

    I think this could work! I would support it!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:07

      I'd give them even more subsidies than otherwise offered under the incentives program. The A220 is an incredible jet in terms of comfort, price and efficiency. Seeing it based in Slovenia in such a nice livery would be incredible

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:12

      +1

      Delete
    3. Anonymous15:39

      That would be nice! I would personally repaint the A220s based in LJU the colors of the flag. Keep the original livery just add a little touch for example the Etihad Choose USA livery. The Air Baltic livery with maybe the words “Choose Ljubljana”

      https://global.discourse-cdn.com/infiniteflight/optimized/4X/a/7/b/a7b69a1d83835604cd90f87e27372f540007f8f0_2_820x509.jpeg

      Delete
    4. Anonymous16:50

      That'd be great. But a good thing is that AirBaltic's green already suits Slovenia very well

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:05

    Lads, I don't wanna get excited too quickly, but...

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous09:05

    Bravo Fraport!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous09:05

    At leaat the government seems eager to find someone.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:12

      Not if you read their statement about Cyprus Airways.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:13

      What did they say?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:14

      How they have to fix their application. Read the article.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:16

      Yes the gov can't accept the incomplete application because the EU checks everything. It's not the gov fault here

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:26

      Yes, you don't accept half assed applications in a multi million euro deal. There's a lot of money and regulations at play, plus the whole thing is financed and screened by the EU as well

      Delete
    6. Anonymous09:28

      Yes, you don't accept haΙf assed applications in a multi million euro deal. There's a lot of money and reguΙations at play, plus the whoΙe thing is financed and screened by the ΕU as well

      Delete
  6. Anonymous09:09

    "However, the carrier’s CEO, Martin Gauss, recently said he did not see potential in establishing a base in the Balkans. "We see traffic demand into the Nordics from these regions. However, to base the aircraft in the Balkans would not make sense because we use the aircraft to and from the hubs", Mr Gauss said"

    Sounds like we are trying to make lemonade out of lemons.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:11

      Ljubljana is in the Balkans?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:29

      For the rest of Europe Slovenia and Romania are definitely considered Balkan countries.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:31

      What else do you make lemonade out of if not lemons

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:34

      ^^^
      It is an American expression that means that you are trying to make something good out of a bad situation.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:38

      He also said Slovenia need an airline
      https://www.exyuaviation.com/2023/03/airbaltic-ceo-ljubljana-should-have-its.html

      Delete
    6. Anonymous09:58

      Anonymous 09:38
      Which means nothing for Air Baltic setting up a new Slovenian airline or even basing aircraft in LJU.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous12:19

      @9.38 reading that link, the air baltic CEO seem to be very well informed about what is happening in Slovenia's aviation

      Delete
  7. Anonymous09:10

    Euroelections are on Sunday and the government is trying to look active.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:31

      Jansa+NSi already projected to get 5 seats regardless lol

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:33

      Already? Weren't the elections in Slovenia like a year ago or something. Maybe I mixed it up but I remember there was mention of it here because Bratusek was campaigning about the new national airline.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous14:32

      There are elections for the seats in the European parliament.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous14:33

      There are always some elections in Europe.
      But these Europa-elections are meaningless and very little people attend them-at least here in Germany.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous16:51

      People call European elections useless and then complain about EU-wide laws not suiting them.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous17:41

      I recall the last elections where Timmermans won against Vestagher as leader of the European comission.
      In the end they installed Von der Leyen although she has not even been candidate...

      Delete
    7. Anonymous18:21

      Not everything is perfect in the EU, but the fact is that people underestimate the importance of the European Parliament. It is not the Commission, but the EP and the Council that decide in the end about the legislation. So, if they don't vote, they should not complain.

      Delete
  8. Anonymous09:10

    The statement they gave looks like they are more interested than not. We will see.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:15

      Agree. If they were not interested they would outright say it.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:18

      Most probably they saw the loads and the transfer number to their network and they figured out that basing aircraft would be a good thing. It's been 2 months now, and most probably statistics are in LJU favor

      Delete
    3. Anonymous12:36

      The fact that they brought forward the service from initially planned launch date and then made it year round indicates strong bookings.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous12:44

      Indeed this is the case, they had LF > 70% in the first month of operations which is a big success for the new route. And (again) proving that all pessimists, claiming that there is no demand in LJU, are wrong.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous16:52

      LJU simultaneously has the demand of Liechtenstein and China, depending on who you ask here

      Delete
  9. Anonymous09:11

    Any news about Cyprus Airways? The 1 month period has passed, so that at least means that they got back to the ministry with a modified application. Maybe start of flights in November is possible? Are they expecting any new A220 this year? - Might be connected to that as well

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:19

      Ljubljana is listed under the destination at their HOLIDAY website, but not yet under their Airways website - I don't know for how long

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:37

      Meh, they also announced how they would launch Dubrovnik this summer and in the end they didn't.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous12:37

      It does not help that they are having fleet issues because of A220 engine problem.

      Delete
  10. Anonymous09:17

    I landed at LJU this morning on Turkish flight and whilst waiting for my taxi people in the B terminal were arguing A LOT, any idea what's happening there? I B terminal getting used nowdays? I never noticed it

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:17

      The B terminal or old terminal is still in use for check ins for some of the charter flights to summer destinations. I don’t really get it why as the new terminal offers a possibilty to handle at least 7 different flights to check in at the same time (which in Ljubljana never happens).

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:20

      Looking at their website Klasjet flight is 3 hours late. I think it's VIP aircraft, as Kompas - White Airways fall though.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:27

      Yep, White has been screwing Kompas over, so now they're going with KlasJet. Saw one in LJU last week heading to Prague I believe

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:39

      Kompas is paying premium for aircraft holding 105 pax instead of 150 now, whilst having to pay 50 people off as they don't have enough seats. What a mess

      Delete
    5. Anonymous12:38

      I think they will learn their lesson. Better that they stuck to Trade Air charters.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous12:52

      Kompas costumers will be happy - imagine going on a vacation with an airplane made for professional sport teams

      Delete
    7. Anonymous14:34

      Another reason to have a national carrier. Tourist companys can do this packages with them just like it was the case when Adria was around.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous15:39

      B terminal is used for all nonschengen flights (turkey, dubai, serbia, charters). Passport control is only in between A and B terminal since the renovation

      Delete
  11. Anonymous09:18

    That would actually be great. They are very well run airline. The aircraft type is perfect. Hoping for a positive outcome!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:39

      Yes 2 or even 1 A220 in LJU would be optimal.

      Delete
  12. Anonymous09:22

    Knew they would be successful with their Ljubljana route.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous16:53

      I remember airBaltic being mocked on the Slovenian subreddit. Then it turns out it's the most potent of all subsidised routes

      Delete
  13. Anonymous09:23

    It's about time the government set up a new national carrier. Forget E.U laws and put Slovenia first!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:33

      The government had several airlines express interest in a PPP airline or a base (Air Serbia, VallJet, Air Dolomiti, Croatia Airlines, Wizz Air) yet the government shut all of them down.

      The issue is the government, not EU.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:34

      From those you mentioned, only two provided written proposal (one to the previous and one to the current government) and both were extremely expensive and unacceptable.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous11:48

      I will trigger a few people now but Slovenia is past that stage where the Minister of Infrastructure/Economy/Finance or whatever will be the one ordering which airline will fly where and how often. It is a free market, anyone can come and start flights, if they see a financial benefit from it.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous12:38

      That's clear and nobody is doing that any more. But what can be (and should be) done by the government is to launch incentives for the routes of strategic interest to the state to encourage (or create additional benefits, if you wish) airlines to establish those routes, bringing back benefits to the national economy.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous15:42

      Can anyone tell me if Slovenia needs a permision from the EU to launch the inicietives or can they do it without the spproval?

      Delete
    6. Anonymous16:09

      The incentives have to be alligned with the guidelines and they have to be approved by the EC.

      Delete
  14. Anonymous09:27

    To be fair doing W flights in winter sounds like a good start.
    Operate Riga-Ljubljana-Berlin-Ljubljana-Riga flights and see how it goes. If that works, add more and more W flights until it's basically cheaper to base an aircraft out of Ljubljana

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:30

      They could also launch flights with LJU as stop and kill two birds with one stone. Something like RIX-LJU-FCO or RIX-LJU-MAD

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:35

      So W flights with extra steps...

      Delete
    3. Anonymous11:33

      Yes, but it allows passengers from Riga to fly to that destination without the need to disembark in Ljubljana and shortens turnaround timers

      Delete
  15. Anonymous09:31

    A really good airline. My wish is that you BT or Cyprus Airways should start serious negotiations with the government

    ReplyDelete
  16. Anonymous09:42

    There has been a lot of talks in the past few months even in the last year but yet still nothing happened no agreement no deal nothing. Same goes for that Qatar airways flights. Just talks as always in Slovenian aviation.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Anonymous09:57

    Where would they fly to from LJU? Most destinations are covered.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:00

      1. Berlin
      2. Madrid
      3. Barcelona
      4. Manchester
      5. Amsterdam
      6. Prague
      7. Stockholm
      8. Oslo
      9.Bucharest
      10.Tirana
      11. Rome
      12. Larnaca
      13. Malta
      14. Sofia
      15. Budapest
      16. Vienna
      17. Milano
      18. Dortumnd
      19. Cairo / Hurgada
      20. Antalya


      And much more

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:30

      I agree that Berlin and the Spanish destinations are a must.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:30

      And Dublin, Hamburg, Dusselforf, Copenhagen, Lisbon, Pristina, Sarajevo…

      Delete
    4. Anonymous12:02

      and you have enough for one or two weekly on E170 jet.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous12:42

      From my point of view even FRA is not covered entirely

      Delete
    6. Anonymous14:04

      FRA is good enough. Maybe the missing 6pm rotation similar to munich

      Delete
    7. Anonymous15:37

      Everybody is obsessing over FRA and Germany and whatnot. Sure it is profitable but not having flights to SJJ is embarrassing.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous15:45

      Sarajevo was a huge loss maker for JP, why would anyone even think about starting it again?

      Delete
    9. Anonymous16:12

      I don’t know maybe because it is in the region. Air Serbia’s flights to Mostar are not that profitable but the government is funding it to improve ties between The Republic of Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Maybe we should take notes from Air Serbia because as we can see they are the best airline in the region and more profitable than all of these wannabes will ever be.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous16:54

      Sarajevo is a rough one, considering it attracts very little business traffic and is a solid 5 hour drive away. Adria managed to make it work due to transfer capabilities. Tirana would work a lot better

      Delete
    11. Anonymous20:53

      Why all the wet dreams over Berlin, it has never worked from LJU, whatever airline.

      Delete
    12. Anonymous22:43

      Sure easyjet flew there for more than 3 years and it was losing so much money on it. Expert.

      Delete
    13. Anonymous23:10

      For younger generation Berlin has for sure a bigger appeal than sarajevo.

      Delete
    14. Anonymous15:46

      Lol many young tourists go to Sarajevo because it's cheap and there are 200k Bosnians in Slovenia who can either use a 9h bus or drive for 6h

      Delete
  18. Anonymous10:21

    I wish Air Baltic much success, but I do not see, mid term, a bright future for them.
    Obviously I am not the only one. They did refinance their junk bond just recently, but the yield was whopping 14,5%.
    This mean for the approx. 360 million euros they took, they will be paying 50 million annually in interest costs.
    Good luck with that and good luck to Air Baltic.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:27

      Completely agree. And the airline was already on the brink of bankruptcy once.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous15:36

      Well they clearly have some strategy no matter how bad going. Who knows maybe LJU will become their golden goose and take them out of their problems.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous17:20

      That was Europe’s highest-yielding bond in 2024. Speaks volumes about desperate state they are in.

      Delete
  19. Anonymous10:27

    I could see this happening. If Slovenian government would give them financial support I think they would be interested.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Anonymous10:27

    I read an interview recently where Gauss said they are looking at several bases across Europe.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:34

      Any links?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous15:35

      Well you know what Gauss can go and open those bases and leave LJU alone.

      Delete
  21. Anonymous10:28

    It is interesting how ex-Yu region suddenly came onto air Baltic radar after so many years.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:30

      They don't deny that it has become important to them because they lost the Ukraine and Russia market.

      Delete
    2. notLufthansa10:58

      So they killed Adria because it was "eating too much public money", and now they are going to give foreign airliners to do the job of Adria and will eat much more public money? Who is crazy here?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous15:35

      notLufthansa well you know the Balkan mentality! It is better to let others run things for us no matter good or bad than to gosh forbid let our own run things no matter how successful!

      Delete
  22. Anonymous11:29

    Should have done this 4 years ago.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:40

      Yes that made a lot of sense during height of Covid.... Do you remember that back then LJU barely had a few thousand passengers per month.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous15:33

      Four years ago? Do you people educate yourselves the tiniest bit before coming on here and spewing random things that come to your mind?!

      Delete
  23. Anonymous12:15

    Well well well. Air Baltic wants to start a base in Ljubljana. Never thought this would be happening…

    ReplyDelete
  24. Anonymous12:40

    Interesting that Slovenian government was quite keen for Air Baltic to open a base. They don't seem so keen about Cyprus Airways though.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:50

      Well, Air Baltic has 41 operational A220s and Cyprus have 1, so that might explain the difference in "enthusiasm"

      Delete
    2. Anonymous15:32

      Yeah like what was your point in commenting this? So what if they were not keen maybe you should go and open their eyes or perhaps even better, join the management and ✨transform them✨

      Delete
  25. Anonymous13:37

    I think it could work. Additional one daily Frankfurt, London and Paris. And few times weekly Madrid, Amsterdam, Brussels, Rome, Warsaw. Plus charter.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous15:30

      Eh but at the end of the day who cares enough about LJU to have that many flights. Just go to BEG or whatever else is closest.

      Delete
  26. Anonymous14:38

    I saw in some article few weeks ago that the government intends to launch new tender. Yes, I know the outcomes were not fantastic on the previous ones but maybe AirBaltic could apply again to base an aircraft in Lju. 4 or 5 destinations for the start and if successfull than they can expand.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous15:31

      The amount of tenders they have launched is more than the amount you get in a standard McDonalds nugget meal.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous07:55

      Yes thats true but they said that they will keep launching them until money meant for the subsidies runa out. If Cyprus will be successfull with their application, then there will probably be no more tenders.

      Delete

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