Nine carriers apply for Ljubljana subsidies
Nine airlines have applied for a first round of subsidies to be issued by the Slovenian Ministry for Economic Development and Technology for maintaining flights to Ljubljana between March 30, 2020 and September 30, 2020. They include Lufthansa, Air Serbia, Montenegro Airlines, Air France, Turkish Airlines, Swiss, easyJet, Wizz Air and LOT Polish Airlines. In order to be eligible for the financial grant, the carriers in question must have operated at least two weekly flights for a period of at least two months within the set timeframe. This would disqualify Swiss which has not operated any flights to Slovenia since the start of the coronavirus pandemic in early March.
An expert commission formed by the Ministry will now review each application. The total amount of funds to be shared between airlines for flying during the aforementioned period is 1.5 million euros. The commission will decide the amount each airline gets depending on a range of criteria including the number of flights the company maintained to Slovenia and the number of passengers it carried to the country. However, limits will be set on the maximum amount of funds the beneficiary can receive. Airlines which are maintaining services between October 1, 2020 and May 31, 2021 must apply for the aid by June 10, 2021, while carriers that will serve Slovenia between June 1, 2021 and December 31, 2021 must submit their applications by October 11, 2021. Another 3.5 million euros in funds has been set aside for those flying from October onwards.
The Ministry previously noted, “The purpose of the tender is to maintain the existing schedule operated by international airlines, to encourage the resumption of suspended flights due to the consequences of the pandemic, and to encourage new airlines to fly to Slovenia. Lacking a national carrier, Slovenia is currently experiencing a very slow recovery and kick-start of air passenger transport”. Ljubljana Airport is currently served by just three airlines. In October, it handled 10.775 passengers, down 89.1% on the same month last year. The number of aircraft movements fell 47.2% to 935. Overall, since January, Ljubljana Airport welcomed 278.555 travellers through its doors, down 82%.
0 Response to "Nine carriers apply for Ljubljana subsidies"
Post a Comment