easyJet is looking to reclaim its strong market position in Slovenia by launching new routes and increasing frequencies on existing services. The budget carrier recently announced the introduction of flights between Manchester and Ljubljana this winter, with the possibility of adding another new route. It is also boosting operations on its London Gatwick - Ljubljana service, offering four weekly flights in November and daily rotations throughout December, up from three and four weekly respectively during the same period last year. These developments are part of the airline’s broader effort to rebuild its presence in Ljubljana and return to the market share it held prior to the pandemic in 2019.
In 2019, easyJet was Ljubljana’s second-largest airline by capacity share and passengers carried, behind only Adria Airways. At the time, it maintained flights from London Gatwick, London Stansted and Berlin to the Slovenian capital. During the 2019/2020 winter season, until its disruption by the pandemic, easyJet typically operated fourteen weekly flights out of Ljubljana with over 2.180 seats on the market each week in each direction. This coming winter, based on its existing schedule, the airline will operate nine weekly rotations to the Slovenian capital with 1.520 weekly seats. It will be the country’s fourth largest carrier during the winter, behind only Turkish Airlines, Lufthansa and Swiss.
The CEO of airport operator Fraport Slovenija, Babett Stapel, said, "The offer of low cost connections from Ljubljana Airport continues to grow. We are delighted that easyJet has decided to build on our long-standing cooperation by introducing this new route. Flights to Manchester will make an important contribution to connectivity with the UK market - both by attracting tourists to Slovenia and by providing Slovenian travellers with more options for visiting the UK. The service will also support stronger business ties between our two countries”. In 2019, easyJet handled a combined total of 220.174 passengers on its Ljubljana flights, with an average annual cabin load factor at a high 90%. Last year the figure stood at 80.534 travellers, with a load factor of 88.3%.
It's good to see them back. They're definitely the best out of the big 3 LCCs in Europe and require the least subsidies and placating to fly
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteEasyjet actually asks a lot to fly somewhere, especially in small markets but mostly from the airport itself and not government or tourist authorities.
DeleteI used to think the same some years ago, but now they are all the same bs. Even legacy carriers on intra-continental flights behave as lcs more and more...
DeleteWhat could the next route be? Maybe Berlin or Luton/Stansted?
ReplyDeleteMaybe Barcelona and Rome/Naples as well, and SS to Palma/Malaga/... maybe a city in Scotland and another London airport
DeleteIt's going to be another in the UK.
DeleteAnother London. Have a feeling it's going to be Southend for skiers.
DeleteDidn't one guy who was right about MAN say Edinburgh?
DeleteHe never said MAN, only EDI and SEN.
DeleteThey have already announced new routes from SEN for this winter. Not saying they won't add more but looks a bit unlikely.
DeleteMaybe it will launch next summer, not this winter.
DeleteLuton or Stansted would be so much better than Southend but any routes are more than welcome!
DeleteSo with 1 more route they could be at 2019 levels.
ReplyDeleteCrazy how many passengers they used to have at LJU.
ReplyDeleteWith just 3 routes.
DeleteThat was before Ryanair came to Zagreb.
DeleteNah that was before Fraport and Bratušek chased them out
DeleteYeah and Covid, engine issues and EasyJet closing their Berlin and Stansted bases had nothing to do with it.
DeleteSeemed to have recovered from other airports, including Stansted and Berlin.
DeleteWhy the need to lie? Easyjet does not have a base in Stansted or in Berlin.
DeleteBerlin is one of the biggest easyJet bases outside UK if I'm not mistaken
DeleteOf course it has base in BER. It's just that @11:36 has no idea what he's talking about.
DeleteThey closed BER during Covid and with that, their LJU route.
DeleteExcellent loads, both in 2019 and 2024.
ReplyDeleteshows demand is there. Now it’s up to easyJet to scale it properly.
DeleteWould be hilarious if they launched flights from their Munich base and have Lufthansa a run for their money.
ReplyDeleteThey do not have a base in Munich.
DeletePretty sure 90% of LH's passengers on that route are transfers.
DeleteThey've launched a lot of flights to Munich due to EU antitrust laws surrounding Lufthansa, but don't have a base
DeleteThanks for clarifying, I thought it was a base.
Delete09:40
DeleteLOL, no!
^are you saying many Slovenians live and holiday in Munich?
DeleteMany do live but most of those commute by car
DeleteI've flown to Munich 4 times (will be 5th in August) and every time it was for transfers. Flights are also mostly filled with non-Slovenes so I reckon it's just a strong transfer route
@10:09
DeleteAre you saying that Germans or other ethnicities who live in Bavaria do not visit Slovenia at all?
Or that they built an airport there just for connecting traffic?
Sounds very strange for an area with 13 million inhabitants.
There are certainly not enough German from Bavaria visiting Slovenia for 2 daily flights.
Delete@10:53 never said that. I said that the route has few Slovenes and that there's a lot of transfers. People who visit Slovenia from Munich may take the plane, sure, but a lot of them also take the bus, go by car or even by rail, since point to point tickets between Munich and Ljubljana are very expensive. The main p2p source of traffic is almost certainly business travel
DeleteYou said that 90% of traffic between LJU and MUC are transfers.
DeleteThat part wasn't me
DeleteIt's probably like 60% at a glance from experience, though
So it's going to be London, and then with the new tender I see them applying for Milano, Barcelona, Berlin
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteAll 3 are served from TRS which is just across the border from SLO. FR covers BCN and BER, while ITA flies to Linate, which is very convenient.
DeleteGreat to see easyJet returning to Ljubljana with more flights! Manchester is a much needed link. Hope they add Berlin or Stansted again too.
ReplyDeleteManchester is not much needed. Ljubljana has far more urgent routes that it lacks.
DeleteFor Fanboys only needed route is FRA-LJU.
DeleteYe I'd rather get nothing than get a new route on an LCC to a major metropolis
DeleteSeriously some comments here
More UK flights mean more tourists
DeleteWell done to Fraport and easyJet for making this happen
ReplyDeleteWell done Fraport? Fraport sabotaged their plan to open a base in LJU after Adria went bankrupt.
DeleteCan you elaborate on that?
DeleteI'm not the original poster but there were rumours that Easyjet offered to open 2 aircraft base right after Adria went bust but was rejected as they were asking for subsidies.
DeleteThe usual kafič rumors..
DeleteLjubljana really needs more LCC options.
ReplyDeleteA lot more.
DeleteStill far from 2019 levels
ReplyDeleteNot that far in terms of flights.
DeleteIt is far in both.
DeleteUsed to fly easyJet from Berlin to Ljubljana regularly. Was disappointed when it disappeared. Hope it returns next.
ReplyDeleteThey stopped LJU from Berlin when they made cuts to their base there. They are growing there again so maybe it comes back next summer.
DeleteBerlin connection would be fantastic
DeleteLet's hope ot comes back.
DeleteHopefully this is just the beginning. A summer schedule with even more routes would be ideal.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteI wonder if easyJet will ever consider a base here one day.
ReplyDeleteHighly unlikely
DeleteWhy?
DeleteAirport is too exprnsive for LCCs and airport operator is not interested in having an LCC base aircraft.
DeleteHow come almost all other Fraport operated airports are not too expensive to have LCCs and a lot of them?
DeleteBecause all Fraport airports have different pricing, different incentive policies, different markets and completely different ambitioms.
Delete* ambitions
DeleteAlso most Fraport Airports are managed on a concession or a lease while LJU was flat out sold
DeleteNot sabotaging, it's just that its priorities at LJU are on something else and commercial aviation development isn't one of them. But I'm happy you think they are doing a great job.
DeleteI don't think anyone here thinks Fraport is doing a fantastic job, however they are doing a good job of keeping high profits and managing the airport well. High volume of traffic is not the only parameter of a well run airport mind you. If what you are saying is true, how come basically the only new route additions in the last couple of years are coming from non-LH carriers.
DeleteAll airlines either than Eurowings and KLM were brought by the government not Fraport.
DeleteNot by demand? You're giving Frau Bratušek a bit too much credit my man.
DeleteWell no. They all applied for subsidies and judging by the low number of frequnecies they all still have, it was precisely because of the subsidies.
DeleteI would assume the airport animated these airlines to apply for subsidies and launch flights.
DeleteFrequencies are lower because you now have 130-180 seat aircraft flying instead of the Adria 70-90 seat aircraft.
DeleteI wonder if easyJet will ever consider a base here one day.
ReplyDeleteIf the price is right.
DeleteFinally some progress
ReplyDeleteAt a snails pace
DeleteLJU has a great variety of airlines.
DeleteAt the end of the day, Ljubljana still has fewer LCC flights and destinations then it did in 2019 when Adria was around.
ReplyDeleteSad but true
DeleteWizz Air really missed an opportunity in Ljubljana.
DeleteThey tried a few routes and seem to have failed on all of them. SKP is the exception but it's also subsidised.
DeleteSure they failed lol. Failed on routes they flew for 10 years.
DeleteDoes easyjet fly from Frankfurt?
ReplyDeleteJust Milan and Rome
DeleteThanks
DeleteHalf of the regular charter routes from LJU could be served as scheduled flights.
ReplyDeleteTrue but there is progress there with the new airbaltic service.
DeleteLjubljana has been underserved for years. Compared to other capitals in the region, a bugger expansion is long overdue.
ReplyDeleteLjubljana is also by far the smallest capital in the region (or in Europe for that matter).
DeleteTrue
DeleteLooks like easyJet is waking up and expanding in Ex-Yu region. I guess we can expect more in the following period. Maybe new routes from LJU and another revenge in BEG. Looking forward, anyway
ReplyDeleteThey were much more focused in serving UK and holiday destinations for British tourists.
DeleteIt is great that they are expanding to other markets as well.
Wish they would open a base in LJU.
ReplyDelete