Slovenia moves to secure Japan flights
Slovenia and Japan have resumed talks over the introduction of scheduled services between the two countries. The Slovenian State Secretary at the Ministry for Economy and Technological Development, Aleš Cantarutti, hosted Japan's Minister for Economy, Commerce and Industry, Yoshihiro Seki, yesterday during which the two discussed the necessary steps for the establishment of nonstop flights. It involves the swift conclusion of a bilateral Air Service Agreement, which would pave way for Japan's largest carrier, All Nippon Airways (ANA), to initially conclude a codeshare agreement with Adria Airways. Last year, ANA noted the two carriers plan to mutually exchange flight numbers and designator codes on services from Japan to Paris, Frankfurt and Brussels, as well as from these European points to Ljubljana.
Last year, ANA expressed interest in upgrading its annual charter operations to the Slovenian capital by introducing scheduled flights to Ljubljana. It came following talks between the airline's President and CEO, Yuji Hirako, and the current Slovenian Minister for Environment and Spatial Planning, Jure Leben, who was the State Secretary within the Ministry for Infrastructure at the time. ANA has also sought a temporary arrangement in order to allow the Japanese carrier to operate regular services to Ljubljana, if it wishes to exercise such rights, until an Air Service Agreement is finalised. The Japanese carrier has been maintaining summer charters to the Slovenian capital for several years. This year the flights will take place on August 31 and September 14 with a 787 Dreamliner jet.
Slovenia has seen a steady flow of Japanese tourists over the past few years, with the Slovenian Tourist Board putting Japan amongst the country's key overseas markets. Over 32.000 Japanese travellers visited Slovenia last year, which is up some 6% on 2018. They are most likely to visit the country in May, August and October and spend almost half of their time in Ljubljana, followed by mountain resorts and seaside resorts. However, it is tourists from South Korea which are most plentiful in Slovenia from the Far East, followed by China and then Japan. The Slovenian Ministry for Infrastructure recently noted that it is concentrating its efforts on boosting the country's air connectivity and linking Ljubljana Airport with new destinations. "In our opinion, it is important for Slovenia to be connected with the rest of the world, no matter which airline provides the service. As long as they are safe and offer affordable fares to the public".
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