airBaltic will suspend its Riga - Ljubljana service this winter but will continue to maintain flights to Gran Canaria and launch operations to Tenerife on October 30. “airBaltic, like other airlines, continuously reviews its route network and schedule, adjusting it in line with passenger demand, seasonal travel patterns, commercial considerations, and the overall market environment. This is standard practice across the aviation industry”, the carrier told EX-YU Aviation News. It added, “Following this regular network review, airBaltic will discontinue flights between Riga and Ljubljana during the upcoming winter season to better align capacity with expected travel patterns. However, during the summer 2027 season, the airline plans to resume flights between Riga and Ljubljana”.
The Latvian carrier had initially planned a two weekly service between the two capitals for most of the 2026/27 winter season, from October 25 until January 11, resuming again from March 1, like the previous winter. Ticket sales for the upcoming winter period were suspended last week and the airline will now operate its last flight on the route on October 20, before being restored on March 28. “airBaltic remains focused on maintaining a stable and competitive route network while ensuring the efficient use of its fleet and resources. This adjustment affects only a small share of the airline's network and is part of its regular schedule optimization process. To minimise the impact on affected passengers, airBaltic is offering refunds through the airBaltic website”, the airline said.
Despite the setback, Ljubljana Airport is set for a strong winter, despite the loss of Lufthansa’s Munich service and the Riga route. Average capacity growth is expected to stand at around 10% for the duration of the winter period, although still down on the pre-pandemic 2018/19 winter. The Slovenian government’s long-running tender offering financial support for the launch of new routes remains open until the end of the month. With a new government now in power, it remains to be seen whether the scheme will be extended in its current form.
I do wonder who flies this route. Transfers? Tourists?
ReplyDeleteMostly tranfers to/from Estonia, Lithuania, Sweden, Norway, Finland… During the summer, the flights are actually constantly 90%+ full.
DeleteThanks. One would conclude more flights from Scandinavia to LJU are needed.
DeleteFor sure, I wouldn’t be surprised if they increase RIX to 4 weekly next year.
DeleteIf they are around next year....
DeleteI wonder whether Riga would perform better with better connections beyond Latvia. Two weekly flights are not exactly ideal for transfer passengers
Deletewinter demand was probably too weak to justify keeping it.
ReplyDeleteWas good. November 25, LF77%, December 76%, Januar 26, 70% and March 80%.
DeleteThe issue was yield most likely. Or they need a plane somewhere else.
DeleteairBaltic has been cutting and reshuffling quite a lot across its network. Ljubljana is probably just one small piece of a much bigger fleet and profitability puzzle
DeleteairBaltic has one of the most flexible networks in Europe. They move capacity very quickly depending on seasonality, so I wouldn’t read too much into this
DeleteHow is this possible? A lot of the time when I was reading comments here, they were about full flights to Riga. And now it seems it's a flop.
ReplyDeleteLoad factors are not always the main indicator of the route's success. It's mainly how much money you are making, or if you can make more money by deploying the plane elsewhere.
DeleteI used the Riga flight last summer and it was quite full.
DeleteSummer is not winter
DeleteEspecially when you choose completely wrong aircraft for your type of business
DeleteIf Riga comes back every summer and performs well, there is nothing wrong with that. Not every route needs to operate twelve months a year.
DeleteWeren't they rejected for additional subsidies?
ReplyDeleteYes, for Riga. Very foolish. It defeats the purpose of the subsidies.
DeleteWell I guess that is why the route is ending.
DeleteThe government subsidy scheme clearly hasn’t transformed the market yet. The real test is whether it can attract airlines that stay once the incentives end
DeleteThe question is whether this government will continue paying airlines to open routes. At some point the routes have to stand on their own commercially.
DeleteLosing both Munich and Riga is disappointing but 10% growth is still very good.
ReplyDeleteLet us see whether the 10% growth materialises.
DeleteWhy wouldn't it?
DeleteWell we couldn't have predicted that Lufthansa would suspend Munich but here we are.
Delete^ true that
Delete10% growth sounds excellent until you realise Ljubljana is still below winter 2018/19 levels. There is still plenty of ground to recover.
DeleteThey should increase LPA and TFS instead
ReplyDeleteWhat are the frequencies for these two in winter?
DeleteEach 1x per week, on fridays.
DeleteI think 1pw on both routes
DeleteIf i remember correctly 2 PW
DeleteThanks. Yeah definitely could go up to two at least.
DeleteWhy increase? How do you know they have lack of capacity there?
DeleteThey operate these routes with planes from their Canary Island bases right?
DeleteTenerife should do well. Slovenians love the Canary Islands and that has been the case even during yugo times.
Delete^ how did they get there?
DeleteAdria and Aviogenex flew there.
DeleteInex Adria?
DeleteYes Inex-Adria/Adria.
DeleteYes, back in the 90s that was Adria's longest route on their A320. If I remember correctly they flew to both Tenerife and Las Palmas
DeleteThey flew there before the A320s as well.
DeleteAnd the longest A320 routes for Adria were the Seychelles :)
Adria's longest route was to Seychelles, not to Canaries. Just shows how difficult the life was "behind iron curtain", as forgers of recent history, who usually didn't even live at that time love to teach us
DeleteStill can't rap my head around them flying to the Seychelles., What a niche route that must have been from Europe at the time.
DeleteAirports all around Europe should prepare for the inevitable collapse of Air Baltic. The airline is really struggling financially.
ReplyDeleteand many staff have left them already
Deleteyeah, but somebody was saying a while ago, their yields were high, thus they would be fine.
DeleteThis company has been a dead man walking more or less since its inception, and a nail on the coffin was this stupid decision of its management (another German CEO, just like with Adria) to take a bond with almost 15% interest back in 2024 and due in 2029.
Hopefully the airline will still be around when the next summer season starts. Their financial situation is dire.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, this is their swan song
DeleteThey should hire Jasmin if they want better results 🤣🤣🤣
DeleteLjubljana needs more year-round business destinations
ReplyDeleteLjubljana’s problem remains frequency. A destination served twice per week may look good on a route map, but it is not particularly useful for business travellers.
DeleteIt is a shame because Riga was a useful alternative for reaching the Baltics and Scandinavia without connecting through Frankfurt or Warsaw.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteBetter to suspend the route for a few months than cancel it completely.
ReplyDeleteexactly. It's unfortunate but good that they are coming back and that tickets are already on sale
DeleteThe Slovenian government should review the subsidy scheme. Supporting routes for a limited period is pointless if they disappear immediately afterwards.
ReplyDeletesupporting routes can ONLY be for a limited period otherwise it makes no sense. If they have not provided a business plan showing how they will make it profitable they have provided a binding written declaration committing to operate the route for at least as long as the period of support.
DeleteAre you saying Slovenia should reconsider its EU membership?
DeleteWhere on earth did he say that?
Deletebecause their routes support must comply EU rules and you cannot support them endless
DeleteSlovenia’s subsidy options are strictly constrained by EC state aid rules. While Fraport has the leverage to enhance connectivity, its contribution has been virtually nonexistent. Instead, Fraport’s high airport fees continue to directly counteract and jeopardize the government's efforts.
Delete^ +1
DeleteWith Munich gone, Riga could have provided another useful connecting option. The timing of this suspension is unfortunate.
ReplyDeleteHope we don't have any more downgrades by the end of the summer.
ReplyDeleteDon't think so
DeleteNot a massive loss. But I do hope we see ITA and some new airlines soon.
ReplyDeleteAnd a year ago we thought how they might open a base in Ljubljana
ReplyDeleteA year ago they were not on the brink of bankruptcy.
DeleteApparently 25 out of 54 of their aircraft operated under ACMI agreements this summer.
ReplyDeleteYes, they have the most ACMIs of any airline.
DeleteIf they were not wet leasing aircraft they would have been bankrupt long ago. The funny thing is, the guy who got them into this mess, by buying an unreasonable number of A220 planes is now the ceo of Gulf Air.
DeleteIt’s a shame they’re (re)launching both Canary routes with the start of the winter season rather than a week earlier. Slovenian schools have their autumn holidays around that time, when many people travel to the Canary Islands. I’m sure there would be enough demand to fill a widebody during that period if they had it.
ReplyDelete+100 missed opportunity.
DeleteYes, but unfortunately, the airport operator believes it plays no role in connectivity. Any other operator genuinely invested in a route's success would have proactively communicated this to the airlines.
DeleteIs there any realistic chance we will get another new airline from the current tender that ends in a few weeks?
ReplyDeleteI think it is highly unlikely but I'm hoping for the best.
DeleteWho would you expect to apply?
DeleteMaybe Ljubljana should be looking more seriously at airlines from Central and Eastern Europe. There are still quite a few obvious gaps in the network.
DeletePerhaps Riga could work over Christmas and New Year
ReplyDeleteWith all due respect, who goes to Riga for New Years?
DeleteLjubljana is moving in the right direction but it still has a long way to go before recovering its pre-pandemic winter connectivity.
ReplyDeleteLjubljana’s biggest challenge remains geography. Vienna, Venice, Zagreb and even Trieste all compete for the same passenger base.
DeleteLJU's biggest challange remains incompetence.
DeleteUnfortuante
ReplyDeleteDo we know how much is the winter capacity below 2018/19 levels?
ReplyDeleteAdmin, any news about second Tenerife flight in LJU?. Maybe they could add second flight to LPA too.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like a very "dark winter" is expecting us. So many capacity reductions all over Europe
ReplyDeleteIndeed.
DeleteLJU it seems to be generally holding up so far.
DeleteYes, there winter is looking relatively good, although suspending Munich is a big hit.
DeleteGran Canaria survives, Tenerife is launching, Riga goes seasonal. Pretty clear indication that leisure traffic is outperforming business traffic.
ReplyDeleteGran Canaria and Tenerife could actually become quite strong from Ljubljana. Slovenians have limited nonstop winter sun options.
DeleteA two weekly frequency is always difficult. It is neither convenient enough for business travellers nor frequent enough to build strong connecting traffic.
ReplyDeleteMunich is a much bigger loss than Riga. Lufthansa’s decision affects connectivity across its entire network, whereas Riga was completely irrelevant.
DeleteYes, Ljubljana’s winter network is starting to look stronger for leisure passengers but weaker for traditional business connectivity.
Delete