Ljubljana Airport secures new flights for 2021
Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport hopes to stage a recovery in 2021 after its passenger numbers dipped over 80% during the first three quarters of the year. Turkey’s SunExpress has announced plans to launch seasonal summer flights between Antalya and Ljubljana starting May 10. Services will run twice per week until October 8 with its Boeing 737-800 aircraft. Ticket sales are set to launch soon. Finnair, which suspended its seasonal operations to the Slovenian capital this year as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, has confirmed it will return to Ljubljana in April of next year with six weekly flights, an additional weekly rotation compared to 2019.
Ljubljana Airport has been one of the hardest hit capital city airports in the former Yugoslavia this year. In September it handled just 21.686 passengers, marking a decrease of 87.4% compared to the same month last year. The number of aircraft movements fell 53.9% to 1.369. Overall, during the first three quarters of the year, Ljubljana welcomed 267.780 travellers through its doors, down 81.5%. Despite plans for Ukraine’s Windrose Airlines to launch flights between Kiev and the Slovenian capital next week, the carrier has suspended ticket sales on the route after just three days. In a statement, it said, “The airline has received an explanation from Ljubljana Airport’s border police that at present, under Covid-19 rules, entry is allowed only for reasons of extreme necessity. Due to the fact that most of our passengers are tourists, the launch of flights to Ljubljana has been postponed by the airline until official permission for entry is given”.
Ljubljana Airport expects for a slow return to business as usual from the spring of 2021. “We all hope that things will start to normalise in the spring, followed by additional flights. For the 2021 summer season, tickets are already on sale by the majority of airlines that would have flown to our airport this summer season were it not for the virus. This is a good sign”, airport operator Fraport Slovenija said. Next summer will see the opening of Ljubljana Airport’s new passenger terminal. Furthermore, Slovenia will take over the presidency of the Council of the European Union, which is expected to boost demand for travel to and from the country.
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