PREMIUM
Ljubljana Airport is continuing its traffic recovery in August with the arrival of new airlines and the resumption of flights. As one of the most affected European capital city airports by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Ljubljana will see its number of scheduled flights for the month increase 17.9% to 600 commercial aircraft movements compared to July, while capacity will grow 23.4% to 69.379 seats. This month, Iberia will inaugurate seasonal flights from Madrid, with a total of eighteen operations planned (return service included). British Airways also intends on restoring services from London Heathrow on August 23, with five weekly flights scheduled at this point. Over the past month, other carries have added frequencies, including Lufthansa and Air Serbia, while SunExpress has discontinued its new seasonal operations from Antalya.
As was the case throughout the previous thirteen months, Lufthansa continues to be Slovenia’s largest carrier, offering both the most flights and capacity, while Frankfurt is the country’s busiest destination. Overall, in August, Lufthansa is maintaining 160 flights (return service included) and offering 14.856 seats to and from the Slovenian capital. Due to increased demand, the airline recently added an additional three weekly flights to Ljubljana for a total of seventeen weekly rotations, while more will be introduced in the coming weeks. Lufthansa is followed by Air Serbia, which is operating 68 operations on its Ljubljana route, however, as the airline uses the regional ATR72 turboprop it comes only eighth in terms of capacity with 4.488 seats. In a further sign of improving demand, the Serbian carrier is increasing frequencies on the route from six to eight per week. Starting August 2, the airline is introducing a new evening service from Ljubljana to the Serbian capital, while an additional evening flight will be added from August 12. As a result, the airline will now operate two daily flights from Ljubljana each Monday, Thursday and Friday.
Busiest airlines at Ljubljana Airport based on frequency, August 2021
Busiest airlines at Ljubljana Airport based on capacity, August 2021
Most frequent aircraft types at Ljubljana Airport, August 2021
Commenting on its existing operations, Ljubljana Airport said, “The aviation sector is still heavily dependent on existing entry restrictions and other measures introduced individually by each country to combat the coronavirus pandemic. This impacts on the recovery in demand for flights. International services to Slovenia are currently operated by twelve airlines. We expect a few more to come during the remainder of the summer season, with a total of seventeen destinations to be made available”. It added, “The easing of travel restrictions is also being followed by an increase in charter traffic. Among the most popular charter destinations are the Greek islands, Antalya in Turkey, Djerba in Tunisia, Egypt’s Sharm-El-Sheikh and Hurghada, as well as Barcelona, Madeira and Tenerife”.
The recovery of Ljubljana Airport’s traffic coincides with Slovenia easing its own entry restrictions for foreigners. From July 15, the country abolished its Dark Red, Red, Amber and Green Lists. Instead, the same rules now apply for arrivals from each country. Entry into Slovenia is now permitted if one of the following is provided on arrival: a negative PCR test not older than 72 hours, a negative Rapid Antigen Test not older than 48 hours, a positive PCR test that is older than ten days but not older than six months or proof of vaccination.