I'm puzzled by this route.
Why would Fraport allow UA to fly here when we can fly to New York with Lufti via FRA?
Isn't that the reason Fraport bought LJU?
At least that is what some experts have been telling us for years here.

^ So true, LOL!
I hope that guy is OK after yesterday's news.

Perhaps because it was not Fraport's decision, but a decision od UA where it wants to fly

Relationship between Fraport (Slovenia) and Lufthansa changed a lot during last year. Also change of CEO has a big impact in Fraport mentality (very positive IMHO).

that guy should see the list of destinations and airlines from FRA too

@09:38
Nothing can happen in LJU and no airline is allowed to launch new flights unless LH gives its approval.
At least that's what the expert has been repeating ad nauseam since for ever.
Could he be wrong? 🤔

@09:01 well your comments are one narative that cant be understand. Any one that says that Fraports decisions in last 5 years until 2026 were in favour of ordinary passenger and logical is probably not being able to have constructive debate.

^ Is that you FDS* sufferer? 😆
So did Fraport buy LJU to lose money by driving pax away in order to help FRA and LH or they are a business who are trying to make money from their investment???
Which one is it?

* Fraport Derangement Syndrome

@09:57 no not that one but also not a FB 😃

You all forget that UA and LH have a TATL revenue sharing agreement as part of their joint venture, so LH will not be impacted by this news at all (except perhaps in terms of operations/LF).

Actually LH would have been the one carrying the pax via MUC and FRA that are now gonna be flying directly to LJU with UA.

This is a dream come true. I fly from the US to LJU every year. It's so tiring when you have to take at leats 3 flights to get to your final destination. Last time we ended up missing our connecting flight due to weather issues and ended up waiting almost 11 hours for our next flight to LJU. I always thought that ZAG would be the first one to get non-stop UA flights, especially since it's OU's hub and they are both Star Alliance members. Congratulations to LJU and let's hope this lasts more than just one season.

It really is a dream come true; been flying to the US almost monthly in the last 2-3 years, and I got used to layovers, sometimes backtracking to IST to ensure just 1 layover; but this really is amazing. I can see it won't be as "cheap" as TK through IST or AZ through FCO from Trieste on their promo fares, but since I need to travel quite "heavy" baggage-wise this will be so much more convenient.

The only downside currently is that due to 80% business nature of my trips I would benefit even much more flights between Oct and Mar ;-) I guess there is hoping for a business cooperation boom, which is sadly unlikely!

I think it is easier to establish catering, than expand lounge. Around the time of United departure, you also have 3 LH Group departures and TK 321neo/737, which brings total business pax in the lounge to well over 100, without considering additional pax, such as credit card holders, etc.

Yeah it will be impossible with the lounge.

As for catering, what happened with LJU catering? They used to have it.

TO ALL COMMENTS :)

- company for catering is already selected
- business lounge expansion project is in process.
- police will probably add more officers (not confirmed yet)

BR #edi

Damn, the new CEO really is doing wonders here.

@09:33: Do you mean Jürgen Deischl? I hope that Ljubljana is recovering.

Yes, Deischl. I don't know if he is the actual reason for all the good changed, but a lot of good things have started to happen since he came.

United was his personal project - so yes, it would never happen with the old management.

Yeah the new one is really good. Great communication, efficient at what he does, etc.

Thank god Bratušek and Stapel are gone

#edi: Tirana will be with Wizz and Berlin with Eurowings? Thanks :)

How are they going to expand the lounge?

Edi will both be next summer? Or is tirana coming sooner?

There's a huge terrace, which is unusable if the weather is bad, they can close the part of it.

Can someone who actually works at the airport explain the planned operations ? Will they use jetbridges or not ? What catering is coming (anon 9.29) ? The plane will obviously block a gate for 3 hours from 6.40 to 9.55

all roofs at the airport are strong enough to be transformed into terraces. there is also a plan to transform one of the roofs above kiss and fly area into a terrace ... soon more will be known ...

Don’t forget, United only provide contract lounge access to C class, no cardholders whatsoever.

All Goold member has access to lounge. And bunch of priority pass holders (you get it with almost all mid tier CC)

Incorrect. United don’t pay for Star Gold, 1K, Premier etc to access contract lounges. It’s only Polaris and Global Services.

If business class lf will be good + cargo we might see some winter flights

You think the airline would make up that the flights will go to 30th of October?

Of course not, but if the loads are not there they could be reducing it. We have to remember that every other flight that they opened in the region (both Dubrovnik and split) they started 3x weekly with 767-300.

Total max business pax at around 10 will be:

United - 40
Lufthansa (MUC/FRA/ZRH) - 18
Turkish - 16(20)

Total: 74(79), not to mention all other flights, Dragon passes etc

I counted a total of 70 seats inside the lounge, that's if all the seats are filled. Virtual tour:

https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=D22iaQMzZdb&ss=320&sr=-.21%2C.44&tag=53Ahk1urpyb&pin-pos=-181.04%2C8.04%2C15.56

if you ask me, the easiest way is to extend terrace and current terrace convert into indoor space.

+1, I remember at the start, the check in table for the lounge was on the inside, and then they moved it behind the door

This is already planned. The terrace will be closed and probably there will be another terrace as extension. The route itself was launched as seasonable and will be limited to summer season only.

plan is to have 2 business lounges ...

Last Anon: I reckon 1 Shengen & 1 non-Shengen?

I hope the old lounge is opened (now on non-schengen side). The old one is in my opinion even nicer than new one

Why do you think it's happening sooner than later? The numbers of chinese tourists have been declining sadly.

How do you know that they are happening even? I mean are you just guessing or what.

Let's wait and see, my prediction is that the flights will be announced in October

What are those predictions based on? It seems to crazy for LJU to get two widebody long haul operations in a span of a few months.

Lets wait and see, but if anyone told me if I need to select which route would be opened sooner - New York or China, no one would select New York just two days ago. United opening the route will also add credibility to Ljubljana for other airlines, so I expect both China carriers, as well as some European looking at Lju and checking it out. Riyadh Air is a possibility for 2028 start as well

Berlin and Tirana are next

A TIA route will put pressure on JU's prices via BEG which are routinely around 250€.

It would be amazing a route that JP served with CRJs to know be flown by A321s

if you compare prices to Wizz or Ryan eur 250 may be high, but for a legacy not the case imo.
Even the LCC in high season charge more

doubt somebody uses the 1stop option via BEG when you have two airlines flying this route from TRS

one way from TRS is 13.99€ (Wizz) and 14.99 (Ryanair) for the whole of September 😂

^ Yes bot W6 and FR do not give you a biscuit! 😉

"Even the LCC in high season charge more"

obviously not

Terminal is ok, I'm worried about the police checkpoint and lunge. As well as passport control for arriving pax. Two out of 3 issues above is on slovenian police so...

If the airport continues to expand like it did this year and is going to next year, we are soon gonna run out of space. Hopefully they will realise this soon enough.

Its not that many passengers as you think. Uniteds -400 has a seating capacity of 231…Wizzair has 239 in its a321neo so and its no problem to service that number of people…The problem lies in 40 business pax..

Why is everybody so worried about the lounge? it would be crowded 4x week for let's say 2hrs before UA departure.
Before and after that it's business as usual

Even if it is only 4 times per week for only two hours you cannot allow that half of business passengers stay outside because the lounge is overcrowded..For a nice experience you have to make sure things run smooth, especially for high end passengers who notice this kind of mistakes immediately…It also adds to a bad reputation of the airport and the country

I would say its the only negative comment left :)

Read the article and you will understand.

I have read it and it's a good piece but I'm still not convinced. Don't take it as hating on LJU or Slovenia.i think it's an amazing achievement and I hope it works.

EWR is a massive hub for UA and it gets a LOT of feed from the rest of the US.

I don't see it returning in 2028

Calm down.

^ Hew can't. He is really upset since yesterday,

Haha love it :)

yikes.

this would be the uncoolest thing ever to happen

She hasn't set foot in Slovenia for years. Which is for the best.

No you are not correct about special gates needed for US flights.

Not special gate but additional checking yes

depends on a country ... when i was flying from paris, only random checking ... when i was flying via serbia there was additional full security check (not sure if its still the case)

A lot!

With the flights starting on May 12, there will be 45.276 two-way seats added to the market.

That's incredible, thank you!

That amount of seats will hopefully drive down prices for flights to the US with ASL.
They have gotten much more expensive recently.

^ If you bothered to read the article you would see that "ASL" is not even in the top 5 for transfers from Ljubljana to the US. Why on earth would United's relatively expensive tickets to Ljubljana have an impact on their pricing from BEG to US.

^ Because JU gets a lot of transfer traffic from the Slovenian and Croatian markets for it's flights to JFK and IRD.

It obviously does not.

JU clearly do not pick up much transfer traffic, I do wonder what goes on in peoples heads before they comment on here.

It does pick up transfer traffic as it constitutes 40% of its passengers but that does not mean that it has transfers for every single route from everywhere.

I am yet to read a new route launch to anywhere in ex-Yu where I have not read a comment how "This will hurt JU". Yet they are still here flying 100+ destinations.

Half of all pax on JU transatlantic flights are BEG o&d.
The other half are transfers.

i was in NYC 3 times in past few years and air serbia was never a good option for flying out of Ljubljana compared to Airfrance and Lufthansa ... mainly due to the transfer time in Belgrade.

Also both other airlines offer a better product and numerous daily flights if things go wrong.

I think most of us that traveled through Ljubljana see only one issue and that's the business lounge

well and passport control ...

Passport control works just fine with TK A321, it will also work with UA.

It works fine until you combine TK A321, Wizz A321neo and UA 767 in the span of 1h on Sunday mornings

+1

is that you?

With this tempo the new ceo can be one of the best things that can happen to LJU airport after Adria collapse. And yes + 100 on charter hub bullshit :)

Todays mgt often praises themselves. Fact is, USA benefits from the situation we have since 2022 in Europe, their economy was growing more than ours. Prices in the US are high and in Europe cheaper, some parts much cheaper, so Americans fly out wherever they can. UA figured out that 200K americans were visiting SLO in 2025, so lets fly there, especially since travellers can combine travel with DBV, SPU, VCE or even MXP, FCO or MUC. But we shall see if LJU flights have a sustainable future.

I am more curious how the mgt will face all the challenges with space and passenger conveniance. This will be the real proof, how capable the new guy is.

maybe from western Austria and Croatia. Venice has six US destinations at least

It will be hard to fill 200 seats whole summer season.

200k Americans are already visiting Slovenia, do you really think they would launch this route without some calculations?

I think that this route can be highly successful; I'm constantly amazed when travelling back and forth in how many Americans have been or are planning to visit Slovenia. Strangely, I've met 10+ people on separate occassions in random places across the US that have been to cycling trips in Slovenia... Didn't know that was even a thing.

I think with a bit of activity from the tourist organization, and maybe MAYBE with some activity of some local tourist organizations that would do some extra promoting we could see this developing nicely, and eventually lead to a year-round service. I do hope for some proactive approach from tourism sector in Slovenia on this. I could see the demand being stronger from Slovenia for NYC in winter months, but not sure how many premium seats they would sell to Slovenians at their Polaris prices :-D

+1

I sadly agree

+1

At least it is in their news already (Slo news only)

This is probably officials on the inaugural flights. All the other flights are still empty for now, but I don't doubt those will fill up nicely :).

and when has that not happene for any other route?

It’s not about being negative, but about being realistic—especially when it comes to Slovenia. Slovenia is known for its modesty; it often lacks an open mind toward other perspectives, which means that while this may be enough for a Slovenian, is it enough for the rest of the world? And that keeps getting in Slovenia’s way time and time again—especially when it comes to infrastructure development. Just yesterday in a Slovenian daily newspaper: the Ljubljana Bus Station, built to last 10 years, is still in operation after 80 years. Do you remember the 2023 Nordic World Ski Championships and all the negative reaction across Europe? Hardly any spectators, overpriced hotels of poor quality—so much so that most of the teams and journalists stayed in Austria or Italy. There are many more examples. LJU Airport is the best example. Among the larger airports in the former Yugoslavia, it was one of the last to get a new terminal, even though Slovenia is the wealthiest region in the former Yugoslavia.

These UA flights pose a challenge for Ljubljana Airport, because even now, space is very, very tight—especially in the gate areas—particularly when larger aircraft are in use.
I hope this blockbuster UA flight will prompt Slovenia to further accelerate its infrastructure expansion. On the coast, in Kranjska Gora, and also in Bled, there’s still work to be done on hotel quality, and above all, progress must be made with the rail system. Slovenia now has state-of-the-art trains and, starting in late 2027, a state-of-the-art central station in LJU, but train travel times are still far too long. As it stands, the 110-kilometer journey from LJU to Koper takes 2 hours and 40 minutes. A horse-drawn carriage would be faster.... Unfortunately, the highway toward the coast is also very congested, especially during the summer months, which makes it all the more important that progress is finally made on the rail system.

After all, Slovenia may market itself as “green,” but marketing and reality are still two different things.
Criticism isn’t meant to demoralize, but to bring about improvement. That’s something people tend to forget these days.

There are valid points here, but some of the examples need more context.

The Ljubljana bus station example is already outdated. The old station closed this week and buses moved to a new temporary terminal while the permanent project awaits the court’s decision on the Alpe Adria Green appeal. In fact, opening a temporary terminal is evidence of the opposite point: the problem is being actively managed rather than simply ignored while the legal process continues.

The airport example is also misleading. Ljubljana substantially modernised its terminal already in 2007/2008, making it one of the earlier major airport terminal upgrades in the former Yugoslav region after the breakup of Yugoslavia. A further major expansion followed in 2021, increasing both space and passenger capacity.

As for the railway, the current situation on the Primorska line also needs context. A large part of the delays is caused by extensive modernisation works taking place along the corridor. The new Divača–Koper second track will soon open and significantly increase capacity. It is also no secret that freight is prioritised on this route. Slovenian Railways have repeatedly pointed out that this is the main rail artery connecting the Port of Koper with its Central European hinterland, so freight traffic naturally has strategic importance.

So yes, Slovenia has historically been slow with some infrastructure projects and passenger journey times are still far from ideal. But saying that nothing is happening ignores the fact that some of the country’s largest transport investments are taking place right now.

Slovenia is a 22 year EU member, and already 35 years of independence. Look at Western Europe how developped it was in 1980 after parts such as German cities or other places were heavily damaged by the end of 1945. Yes things are going into the right direction, but way too slow. Over the past few decades, the EU has repeatedly reminded Slovenia that EU fundings are available, but that Slovenia lacks projects, that it would also need to co-finance. Slovenia has a problem with infrastructure development; that is well known. They definitely could have done more, though one has to agree that, at least when it comes to hotels, quite a bit has been accomplished over the past 7–8 years. Ljubljana, in particular, will be well-positioned with the two additional hotels in the Emonika project.

You have to factor in economies of scale. Slovenia has just over two million inhabitants, so major infrastructure projects have to be financed and maintained by a much smaller user and tax base than in Germany, France or even Austria. That does not excuse slow planning or bureaucracy, but it does make direct comparisons with much larger Western European countries somewhat misleading.

And this is not negativity, just some concerns that will probably need to be solved. United flights are great additions and will help LJU in many ways.

I hope the new flight will create the necessary pressure to improve things. And who knows if that UA flight creates now the attention also for other carriers to launch flights to LJU....

Nonsense, we need another 5 Ryanair flights departing at the same time. Sincerely, Fraport haters

New York is amazing in spring and autumn

+1

And so is Slovenia, Kärnten, Friuli-Giuglia and Istria

Primary target is LJU, not EWR/New York. Outbound flow from LJU is listed as third in the text: The new route is expected to draw on a mix of higher-spending US leisure visitors, corporate traffic, Slovenian outbound passengers.

^Exactly. Without ambition you get nowhere.

If there wont be war in Europe or who knows what, I see a bright future for Belgrade. The entire river bank projects promise a lot and will turn Belgrade into an attractive European capital city. Already now it offers quite some attraction, but there is much more to come, so in 10-15 years from now, we will see more longhauls than just the ones of JU and 2 Chinese carriers, again all subject to the political development in Europe. Wishing Belgrade and its citizens all the best for the future.