PREMIUM
Ljubljana Airport has no scheduled flights to Asia despite 92.677 passengers travelling between the Slovenian capital and the continent in 2019. Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, when boarders were open, the Japanese capital of Tokyo was most popular, accounting for some 8% of all indirect travel between Ljubljana and the continent. It was followed closely by Shanghai, Bangkok and Beijing. While markets such as Japan, South Korea and China see high numbers primarily due to inbound tourists from those countries, there is also a notable number of Slovenian holidaymakers flying to Thailand, the Maldives, India and Bali in Indonesia, which all registered high indirect passenger flow from Ljubljana.
The data below displays the total number of indirect travellers to all airports within a particular city, if there is more than one.
Ljubljana Airport's top unserved destinations in Asia in 2019
Turkish Airlines benefited the most from Ljubljana’s lack of flights to Asia, as well as the lack of flights to the Gulf, which are primarily used by transfers between Asia and the region. With an expansive network to the continent, Turkish Airlines accounted for a significant 41% of all passengers travelling between the two. It was followed by Aeroflot, which has become the airline of choice for passengers from China to a number of markets in the region. Finnair also performed well, primarily with travellers from Japan. Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, the carrier, which maintains seasonal services to the Slovenian capital, told EX-YU Aviation News, “Ljubljana is developing well and we hope that someday it will be feasible to operate there year round. We actively follow many markets where we could either increase frequencies or make them year round operations”.
Top five busiest connecting carriers between Ljubljana and Asia in 2019
Prior to the pandemic, Ljubljana was served by a handful of annual charter flights from several Japanese cities operated by All Nippon Airways (ANA). Slovenia and Japan resumed talks over the introduction of scheduled services between the two countries in 2019, which requires the conclusion of a bilateral Air Service Agreement. Negotiations were halted last year due to Covid-19. ANA has expressed interest in upgrading its annual charter operations to the Slovenian capital by introducing scheduled flights to Ljubljana. Slovenia has seen a steady flow of Japanese tourists over the past few years, with the Slovenian Tourist Board placing Japan among the country's key overseas markets.