Norwegian Air Shuttle has failed to secure state support in the latest round of Slovenia’s air connectivity subsidy programme, after its application to maintain services Copenhagen and Ljubljana was rejected. The outcome represents a setback for the carrier, which had previously benefited from financial incentives for its Ljubljana operations. Norwegian had sought to extend backing for its Copenhagen service, which it has been running on a seasonal basis. Slovenia’s subsidy scheme, now in its tenth round, is aimed at improving the country’s air connectivity by offering airlines partial reimbursement of airport charges. While both Norwegian and airBaltic submitted applications, only the latter was awarded support - securing funding for a new seasonal service to Tenerife, as well as extended backing for its Gran Canaria operations, launched last year.
Norwegian’s failure to secure subsidies for its Copenhagen service does not necessarily mean the route will not operate in the future. At present, the carrier has scheduled seasonal flights between the two capitals from May 8 until October 23, maintaining two weekly rotations with the 189-seat Boeing 737-800 aircraft. This represents a shorter season compared to last year, when services resumed on March 31. The low cost carrier launched operations to Ljubljana in April 2024. In 2025, Norwegian handled 17.276 passengers on its Ljubljana flights, achieving an average cabin load factor of 76.8% over the course of its operations.
Ljubljana Airport has continued with its strong growth this year by handling 110.615 passengers in March, representing an increase of 17%. This was complemented by a 13% increase in the number of aircraft movements, which stood at 1.920. During the first quarter, the airport welcomed 293.408 travellers, up 18.2%, or an additional 45.082 customers. However, the figure is still down 14.4% on the pre-pandemic 2019, which the airport anticipates surpassing this year. Strong growth is expected to continue into the ongoing second quarter with capacity growth on scheduled flights throughout the April - June period to average a strong 21.6%.
Ljubljana's largest airlines by scheduled seat capacity, March 2026
With them reducing the season and without subsidies next year it is not looking good for this route.
ReplyDeleteWith fuel prices and costs rising, airlines are becoming more selective. Marginal routes like this are always first under pressure.
DeleteThey will be able to sustain the 2 weekly flights.
DeleteTime for SAS to step in. They are building a major hub in CPH
ReplyDeleteThey've had a major hub there for a very long time
DeleteYes, but I don't know if you have been following their expansion after joining Sky Team. They have launched 40 routes combined this year and last year.
DeleteSurprised SAS hasn’t stepped in more aggressively on Copenhagen – Ljubljana. Seems like a natural fit for them.
DeleteThey will come sooner or later.
DeleteWhy did they not get the subsidies?
ReplyDeleteMight be due to them shortening of operations on this route
DeleteDue to EU rules. They maintained scheduled operations after subsidies expired which is an argument that the route can survive without further support.
Delete^ Huh?
DeleteSlovenia's air tender is entirely funded by the EU via a scheme to support routes that cannot feasibly exist without subsidies
DeleteA lot of airlines apply and are given the funding at the end of the period if the route was unprofitable, otherwise not. Iberia didn't get a dime either for example
With those load factors they are not gonna operate the service for a long time without subsidies. Im interested in why it wasn't able to perform better.
ReplyDeleteIf I remember CPH didn't perform particularly well for Adria either
DeleteIf the route is viable, it should survive on its own. If not, maybe it shouldn’t be there in the first place.
Delete17k passengers and nearly 77% load factor is solid for a seasonal route. The issue is probably yields, not demand.
Delete77% load factor isn’t that impressive for an LCC. They usually aim higher
DeleteThe problem is lack of feeder traffic. Without a strong hub operation in Ljubljana, point-to-point routes are harder to sustain.
DeleteThis route is not strictly P2P. Norwegian offers connections via CPH to other destinations in Scandinavia and beyond.
DeleteWould be interesting to see what is the share of transfers and P2P on this route.
Delete18:17 There are many routes in EX-YU for which it would be interesting to obtain exactly that information.
DeleteIndeed
DeleteSchedule for these Norwegian LJU flights are not good for connections.
DeleteAny chance anyone will apply by the August tender deadline?
ReplyDeleteHighly doubt there will be any interest. Ongoing crisis in aviation + summer deadline + few airlines will launch flights in winter which this deadline is effectively for.
DeleteWell this winter season four new routes started, so if the crisis wont be too bad I think there is a possibility of more. Winter is the time when airlines have more spare capacity so its better for them to test the waters at that time.
DeleteI really hope so!
Delete@admin which month in April-June has the highest increase in capacity?
ReplyDeleteIn June, currently at +24.2%
Deletewow
DeleteVery impressive growth
DeleteHighly doubt it will stick.
DeleteThe results are excellent.
ReplyDeleteYes, excellent, still legging behind 2019. Clown.
Delete-17% compared to 2019 is excellent? I knew Fanboys are delusional but not this much.
DeleteNow compare to 2018
DeleteLjubljana Airport is clearly on the right track. Double digit growth and strong capacity increases suggest the market is recovering well.
DeleteLol
DeleteIt’s actually double-digit catching up, not growth.
Deleteits profitable... are others?
DeleteYes, most airports are
DeleteIf you closely follow Fraport’s PR you will realise how much BS they try to sell. Worse than Stevanovic and his party.
DeleteZagreb isn't
DeletePeople in Slovenia are used to driving for flights anyway. That’s the biggest challenge for the airport.
DeleteBecause people prefer to fly direct and aren't prepared to pay 3x more to fly via hubs.
Deletehahah no one will drive if there are direct flights elwith okay prices
DeleteFrom my experience, people will drive even if the flights are 5 euros cheaper.
DeleteIs there still any chance that ITA launches flights? There was some rumours about that a few weeks ago.
ReplyDeleteNo, they rather serve Slovenian market from TRS, for less than half of the cost our reliable german partner charges.
DeleteYou never know. I think FCO-LJU could work.
DeleteIt’s gonna be interesting to see the numbers for April with flyDubai gone and Lufthansa being on a strike almost for a week now. Four canceled flights per day is not so little.
ReplyDeleteYes but Easter will probably help
DeleteLufthansa will really put a dent into the numbers I think. FlyDubai won’t help either. And with these unserious beaurocratic tenders LJU won’t surpass its 2019 numbers this year for sure. That’s my belief at least
DeleteThey are for sure passing 2019 figures. For that, they need to add approx 130k passengers this year, and with a growth of 15k+ passengers per month through the year it is gonna happen is there wont be some serious reductions.
DeleteWhat is the obsession with 2019? Why do you need to see every year "record numbers"?
Delete^ 2019 was not a record year for Ljubljana, 2018 was. It is normal to have you number reach figures from 7 years ago or more.
DeleteLJU is about to be hit by all the crap happening at Lufthansa Group.
DeleteHopefully Airbaltic routes will stay: https://www.ch-aviation.com/news/166150-airbaltic-loan-more-important-than-govt-survival-pm
ReplyDeleteIt's not looking good for air baltic.
DeleteA lot of airlines are currently in a deep mess.
DeleteBut that said, got to commend the Latvian government for putting the interests of people first. A rarity these days.
DeleteNot getting subsidies is a blow, but with a 76.8% load factor the route doesn’t look weak. The real question is whether Norwegian can make it without state support.
ReplyDeleteYes but didn't Fraport say they are matching the subsidies for another 3 years for all airlines/routes that qualified?
Delete76.8 % LF is not the best for a LCC, the bad news is also the fact that last year the route performed worse than in 2024 for most of the operating months, even in peak summer. Hoping for some growth this year.
DeleteI tried booking last night for May. The flights were still for sale.
Delete^ they have subsidies for this year. This concerns next year.
DeleteLosing incentives could easily lead to Norwegian scaling back further or even exiting. Slovenia still has a fragile network and can’t afford to lose carriers.
ReplyDeleteWhat is more to scale back? If they do it will be a flights operating for 3 months. If they do anything it is that they will discontinue flights.
DeleteSubsidies are necessary for small markets like Slovenia. Without them airlines will always prioritise larger and more profitable bases.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteOther regional airports are aggressively attracting LCCs. Ljubljana needs to be careful not to fall behind again.
ReplyDeleteAgain? It never caught up in the first place.
DeleteIt already is behind.
DeleteHahhahaha Fraport doesnt even attend a single route conference and you think they care about the LCC. Like I have said before. Fraport is a cancer for slovenian aviation.
DeleteBehind what? Tuzla and Banja Luka?
DeleteWould love to know the reason why
ReplyDeleteThe flight times are mostly horrible for connecting onwards to Scandinavia. First flight out to LJU means you have to overnight at CPH if you're connecting from somewhere or last flight out of LJU in evening means you have to overnight at CPH again if you're connecting to anywhere. Not all times are like this, in July it improves, but still Norwegian isn't selling the possibility for connecting tickets at all those dates with noon-afternoon flights, which honestly sucks.
ReplyDeleteAs this is already the tenth round of the incentive scheme — which has been widely discussed both here and in other media — it is somewhat surprising that it is still being misunderstood.
ReplyDeleteThe incentive is clearly intended for new routes only (see Section 3 of the tender documentation). Existing routes, i.e. those already operational or announced at the time of application, are explicitly excluded from eligibility (see Section 6 of the tender documentation).
Accordingly, since the CPH route is already operational, Norwegian is not eligible for funding.
Seems the airline was unaware.
DeleteAirbaltic also applied with Riga again.
DeleteSubsidy programmes should be more transparent. It’s not always clear why one airline is selected over another.
DeleteHoping for some new routes and airlines from LJU.
ReplyDeleteWe can all dream
DeleteGrowth figures at Ljubljana are very encouraging. If this trend continues, airlines won’t need subsidies much longer.
ReplyDeleteShorter season already signals Norwegian is cautious
ReplyDeleteairBaltic seems to be playing this very smart. Building a leisure network first, then potentially expanding further.
ReplyDeleteairbaltic and smart should not go in the same sentence. They are on the brink of collapse again for god knows how many times.
DeleteGood to see growth at the airport, but still below 2019 levels. The real test will be sustaining this momentum without heavy reliance on incentives.
ReplyDeleteCopenhagen is a strong hub with plenty of one-stop options via other airports. Maybe passengers simply found cheaper or more convenient alternatives.
ReplyDeleteBut why bother with CPH when you have MUC and FRA, which are closer, with multiple flights. Or even ZRH.
DeleteLjubljana is growing but slowly. Until it reaches critical mass, these kinds of subsidy decisions will keep shaping the network.
ReplyDeleteAt least flights are still planned for summer. That’s what matters for now.
ReplyDeleteWizz air to Skopje is hitting hard this year too 👏👏
ReplyDeleteAnother person that does not know the diffeeence between capacity and actual passenger numbers.
DeleteThere is a fanataical fan of the Skoplje to Ljubljana route. Quite sweet but a bit strange
Deleteam not him but it became the 4th busiest route at LJU in Jan and fifth in Feb
DeleteI'm surprised that JU has such low numbers. Was expecting more.
ReplyDeleteOnce again, you don't know the difference between capacity and passenger numbers. And their capacity is the same every month.
DeleteThey are comparing the numbers before COVID (the year 2019). But no one mentioned one of the more important things. In 2019, Slovenia had its own airline until September. So, these are, if I'm not mistaken, record numbers after the collapse of Adria Airways.
ReplyDeleteYes they are.
DeleteSad
ReplyDelete