Croatia Airlines to submit Ljubljana base proposal
Croatia Airlines will submit a proposal to the Slovenian government this week over the opening of a base at Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport, for which it is seeking state incentives. According to the “Delo” daily, airport operator Fraport Slovenija has expressed interest for Croatia Airlines to serve Vienna, Skopje, Prague and Copenhagen out of the Slovenian capital. The carrier is considering basing one or two Dash 8 turboprop aircraft in the city. According to the Slovenian Ministry for Infrastructure, the conditions under which Croatia Airlines could establish flights from Ljubljana have already been discussed with the company and a final offer is expected during the week.
Fraport Slovenija has also urged the government to provide incentives to all foreign airlines serving Ljubljana. “Carriers should be offered assistance by the state. Initially, this could amount to ten euros per passenger, for example. It’s a transparent policy in which everyone would receive the same amount of funds. We should aggressively market Slovenia as a Covid-safe, green and healthy destination. Through these incentives, we would attract tourists”, the General Manager of Ljubljana Airport, Zmago Skobir, said. Last week, Mr Skobir expressed concern that some airlines may not maintain services to Ljubljana over the winter due to a large number of passengers currently cancelling their bookings at the last minute due to ongoing quarantine requirements for a number of nationals entering Slovenia.
The Croatian carrier recently said, “Croatia Airlines is potentially interested in establishing flights from Ljubljana Airport in order to enable passengers from Slovenia to connect to European destinations”. Croatia Airlines previously toyed with the idea of setting up bases outside of its home market. In 2017 the airline planned to station aircraft in Sarajevo, Pristina, Skopje and Tirana. At the time, it said, "Market research data has shown that there is a potential for the successful opening of additional bases in the south-eastern European region and Croatia Airlines, as a European Union community carrier, has recognised its business interest in this. The prerequisite for this is to purchase four to six new aircraft and extensive preparations are underway”. However, the idea was abandoned upon the departure of the carrier’s CEO at the time, Krešimir Kučko, to Gulf Air.
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