Low cost carrier Eurowings has discontinued its Dusseldorf - Ljubljana service after one season of operations. The airline launched flights to the Slovenian capital in mid-April and operated its final service yesterday. Eurowings has no plans to restore the route in 2026 and has already removed Ljubljana from its booking system. The carrier had previously secured funding for the route under a Slovenian government subsidy program designed to attract new airlines to the country. However, as Eurowings did not meet the required conditions outlined in the tender process, it will not receive any payments.
Eurowings had also planned to launch flights between Berlin and Ljubljana this summer and had successfully applied for state subsidies for the route. However, the service never materialised, and tickets were never placed on sale. The airline had indicated that flights from Berlin could be introduced at a later stage, depending on the performance of the Dusseldorf service. While full-season data is not yet available, the Lufthansa subsidiary handled 6.701 passengers on the Dusseldorf - Ljubljana route between April and June, recording an average cabin load factor of 61.6% during that period. Prior to Eurowings’ operations, flights between the two cities were last operated by Adria Airways in 2018 and 2019.
Ljubljana Airport has recorded increasing demand for nonstop services to German cities, its largest market, over the past several years. However, it is currently connected only to Frankfurt and Munich, both operated by Lufthansa. Before the pandemic, easyJet maintained flights between Berlin and Ljubljana, while in the years leading up to its collapse, Adria Airways also served Hamburg in addition to Frankfurt, Munich and Dusseldorf. In 2017, Eurowings explored the possibility of launching a Dusseldorf -Ljubljana service and, a year later, included the Slovenian capital in a public vote to determine new destinations. Although Ljubljana made the shortlist, it was ultimately not selected. According to indirect traffic data, Berlin currently ranks as Ljubljana’s busiest unserved German destination, followed by Hamburg and Hannover.
They really should have started with Berlin. Sad to see them leave.
ReplyDeleteBerlin region is heavily gastarbeiter populated.
DeleteIs that a problem? (I'm curious, I really don't know.) EasyJet achieved some decent loads when it still flew.
DeleteFor Slovenia it is. Very few Slovenes have migrated abroad to work and most gastarbeiter populations in Germany prefer to visit their home country when on holiday.
DeleteIt is the exact opposite situation to Bosnia and Kosovo.
40.000 people travelled between BER-LJU and like 8.000 more indirectly. More than enough to relaunch this route.
Delete^ Clearly the yields were trash so they moved the aircraft and its crews to more profitable routes.
DeleteClearly not as they flew the route for 3 years. They even resumed the route mid-covid.
DeleteAnon 09.24
DeleteYes but as you mentioned in your comment, gasto traffic to Bosnia and Serbia will fly on high density A320s and A321s but LJU should be ok with a smaller jet, a regional one. Problem is that EW doesn't have the Q400 anymore. If they had it then LJU would be great for them.
high density expert?
Delete"The airline had indicated that flights from Berlin could be introduced at a later stage, depending on the performance of the Dusseldorf service." What kind of logic are they using?
ReplyDeleteEurowings is by fat the worst performing LCC of the 3 main European aviation groups.
DeleteBoth Transavia and Vueling are way better run airlines.
+1
Delete@9.09 lmao. EW is the main cash cow in the Lufthansa Group right now. Check their recent numbers. Experts here !
Delete^ SMFH...
DeleteThe stuff you can read here...
Anon 15:44 is totally right. Just look at the capital markets presentation of Lufthansa Anon 09:00. It's insane how ignorant people are when something doesnt fit in their perception.
DeleteFacts rarely make it into the comments section here.
DeleteThe capital markets presentation of LHG clearly demonstrates that Eurowings is nowhere remotely near "the main cash cow in the Lufthansa Group right now".
DeleteCan't stop laughing with the staff people dare to write here...
But but but LJU is owned by LHG and its only goal is to serve LHG airlines and drive everyone else out, what happened here? 🤔
ReplyDeleteThey saw it's better to just fly via FRA.
DeleteI'm sure that is!
DeleteWho cares! EW is not prestigious enough for LJU. It's more important they are charter hub! 🙂
ReplyDeleteWell you had a new route and basically no one used it. I guess it's back to Ryanair with you.
DeleteNot "prestigious enough", what bullshit are you talking about? Is Singapore Airlines flying to LJU? C'mon! EW is MUCH better than EasyJet or any other of those really low cost shit.
DeleteI guess EW was one of the few airlines that weren't successful in LJU this summer. Load factors in July for some of the routes:
ReplyDeleteFinnair to Helsinki: 91 %
AirFrance and Transavia to Paris: 93 %
AirBaltic to Riga: 87 %
KLM and Transavia to AMS: 92 %
WizzAir to SKP: 98 %
BAW and easyJet to London: 91 %
According to some expert here no airlines are allowed to succeed in LJU unless they belong to LH.
DeleteJust the opposite. Airlines outside LHG are not incentivized by Fraport to come, the only come because of demand and/or government incentives. They stay only if demand is really high which means LF way over 80% to sustain very expensive "premium" airport.
DeleteShhh.. how dare you with those conspiracies!
DeleteWhat subsidies does LH receive that KL does not?
DeleteWas EW also receiving subsidies from Fraport?
^ They are receiving none.
DeleteHe just suffers from FDS*
*Fraport Derangement Syndrome
You are suffering from FFS*
Delete*Fraport Fanboy Syndrome
Berlin has never worked from LJU people need to get over it. No wonder DUS failed. LJU would do better looking south and west for inspiration, Spain is the way forward.
ReplyDeleteNever worked yet easyJet operated route for 3 years and it went from seasonal to year round. Also comparing BER with DUS shows you have no idea what you are talking about.
DeleteChoosing DUS instead of BER clearly shows how Eurowings absolutely does not understand the Slovenian market.
DeleteThe Rhine region is a LOT more prosperous than Berlin is.
Delete@10.11 they likely had an aircraft available in DUS and not in BER.
Delete@10:20 it's not all in GDP per capita. Berlin has many more Slovenians living there who would prefer to have a direct connection to Slovenia. Also, many more Slovenians prefer to visit Berlin for a short trip rather than the Rhine region.
DeleteZAG-BER barely survives with 3 weekly flights and people expect LJU to be a smashing success?! Yeah, right...
DeleteLJU has routes that ZAG does not. You have no idea.
Delete@Anon 10:47 - are you aware that Berlin in ZAG is upgraded to year round? Seems that you speak about things you don't know much...
DeleteBerlin would still be operating if successful.
ReplyDeleteSlovenia is a small and limited market surrounded by other bigger regions. Ljubljana Airport is not very centrally positioned and for most people it is equally distant from other neighboring airports.
ReplyDeleteYou are absolutely right. This is the fact which no one in Slovenia is ready to accept. Anyone who relies on patriotism has already failed. Among other factors like connectivity, prices, accessibilty by any means of transportation. Above all, the lack of public transportation.
DeleteAh yes so i should now fly from LJU to some destination in the south because its ideal to fly first to the north have a stopover and pay 200 eur pp more to fly with LHG instead of LCC :) sayonara
DeleteA bit of a conspiracy theory that I belive in. This route was made to fail. No way anyone thought that 6am Wednesday flight from DUS to Ljubljana would work. Almost looks lile the route was opened up to showcase other airlines that Germany routes aren't viable from Ljubljana. Take that as you want
ReplyDeleteI am sure the airlines are a bit smarter than that and would do their own research as well. However it is interesting to me that they didn't try to do it 2x per week. That would maybe work better.
DeleteI don't think they were planning on failing but they weren't really trying to succeed either. They had all the data pf Berlin and yet they opened up DUS which is a bigger risk, and like you mentioned the departure times were horrific
DeleteMoreover it was usually cheaper to fly with Lufthansa via MUC with cabin bag included than flying with backpack on EW.
DeleteSad thing here is, that it somewhat makes sense
Deleteno pun intended but I stil shake my head about EW choosing DUS-LJU over DUS-SKP despite Wizz flights to DTM and CGN. DUS and NRW in general is primarily a diaspora destination from ExYU. Most here are right when they say BER would have been a better choice
ReplyDeleteTo the surprise of absolutely noone, Düseldorf is not an attractive destination for many travelers. What were they even thinking?
ReplyDeleteI went from LJU to Dusseldorf and stayed there for a few days before continuing to Madrid. I was talking to a german lady in the hostel and she said that I have chosen the worst city in Germany to be a tourist in.
DeleteLJU doesn't need an Airport. Zagreb is close enough and has all the connections that Slovenes need.
ReplyDeleteAbsolute nonsense. LJU is basically the only airport in Slovenia, which is the least poor ex-yu country, maybe even almost rich. Population like to travel, it's also tourist destination for foreigners. Business travel is not insignificant as well. LJU has some destinations ZAG doesn't have, and the two perfectly supplement which other. Prices and taxes could be lower, and the management much more proactive, but "doesn't need an airport", please, give me a break
DeleteHahahahahaha hey @20:57 fanboy, you forgot to add Bravo Fraport at the end. What a clown.
DeleteThe problem is that my relatives in Slovenia have zero loyalty to contribute to their own economy. They would rather drive all the way to Vienna if they could save 20 euros on a flight. They had no loyalty to the ex-Yugo, why should they have it today?
DeleteWhy don't you answer the question? Why should someone pay 20 euros extra per person out of "loyalty"?
DeleteBigger slovenian diaspora or many gastarbeiter in Western Germany? No.
ReplyDeleteMany important business relations between Western Germany and Slovenia? No.
Slovenian tourist like to travel to Western Germany? No.
German tourists like to travel to Slovenian mountains instead of Bavaria, Austria or Switzerland? No.
You see, it is simple.
No, thats a conspiracy theory ?
DeleteSlovenian tourist fly from VIE, VCE, TRS, ZAG, BUD to Greece and Spain in the summer ? - YES
Slovenian tourist fly from VIE, VCE, TRS, ZAG, BUD to Billund in the summer ? - NO
Slovenian tourist fly from VIE, VCE, TRS, ZAG, BUD to BCN yearround ? - YES
Its simple :D haha
I would rather call it 'facts' ;)
ReplyDeleteMany Slovenians often don't fly out of LJU and take flights from other airports nearby, okay, I got your point. But what else do you want to say with your comment? I don't get it.
here we go again
ReplyDelete