Slovenia’s busiest transfer airlines

PREMIUM

Last year was a difficult one for Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport. It was closed for two months as a result of the coronavirus Covid-19 pandemic and had to deal with the fallout from the collapse of Slovenia’s national carrier Adria Airways in late 2019. However, Adria’s bankruptcy provided an opportunity for other carriers to launch operations to Ljubljana, primarily from the Lufthansa group, as well as increase their transfer share from the airport. Lufthansa has been most successful, followed by Turkish Airlines, Air Serbia and Air France. Despite some carrier’s maintaining operations to Ljubljana last year for just a few months, such as Swiss and Brussels Airlines, they still had a healthy share of Ljubljana’s transfer market, primarily by taking over travellers from Lufthansa.

Top transfer carriers in Ljubljana in 2020

Lufthansa has positioned itself as the busiest transfer airline in Ljubljana since launching operations to the Slovenian capital just over a year ago. Although the carrier’s services to Ljubljana have been heavily impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, it held a considerable 31% share of all transfer traffic to and from Ljubljana. For the majority of last year, the German airline has been operating only flights between Frankfurt and the Slovenian capital with services from Munich temporarily suspended. Since restoring operations to Ljubljana last summer following the global lockdowns, Lufthansa has consistently offered the most flights in and out of the city.

Lufthasa's top feeder destinations on Ljubljana route in 2020

Turkish Airlines lost its position as the busiest airline for connecting traffic out of Ljubljana in 2020. It was outperformed by Lufthansa. In 2019, the Turkish carrier handled 24% of all passengers who either started or completed their journey in Ljubljana but reached their final destination via another airport. In 2020, its market share declined to 21%. During last year, Turkish carried 24.781 travellers who transferred via Istanbul to and from Ljubljana. On the other hand, Lufthansa had almost 10.000 more connecting passengers than its Turkish counterpart.

Turkish Airlines' top feeder destinations on Ljubljana route in 2020

Air Serbia was the third busiest transfer airline in Ljubljana in 2020, improving its position on 2019, when it was the eighth busiest. The Serbian carrier managed to increase its transfer market share in the Slovenian capital from 4% in 2019 to 10% in 2020. Contributing to its improved performance was the collapse of Adria Airways in late 2019, as well as it being one of the few carriers to have maintained operations to Ljubljana for the majority of last year, with most airlines temporarily suspending operations. In 2020, Air Serbia carried 11.239 connecting passengers to and from the Slovenian capital, or some 51% of all travellers on the route, which stood at 22.044. In 2019, Air Serbia carried 16.247 connecting passengers out of a total of 72.498 travellers on the route, or 22.4%. It should be noted that these figures do not include Air Serbia’s Niš - Ljubljana service which operated for a limited period in the second half of 2019 and early 2020.

Top Air Serbia feeder destinations on Ljubljana route in 2020

Prior to the pandemic, the Alps Region and Central Europe, within which Slovenia lies, was the fastest growing market for Air France. The airline has done particularly well in transferring passengers between the United States and Slovenia. In 2019, and in cooperation with its partner Delta, it handled 19% of all travellers between the two countries. Paris Charles de Gaulle was also the main transfer airport for passengers between Ljubljana and New York with a market share of over 18%. Last year, most of Air France’s transfer traffic to and from Slovenia was concentrated in Europe, particularly to the United Kingdom, Spain and Scandinavian countries.