Slovenia to see biggest air travel decline in Europe
Slovenia will see the greatest decline in commercial flights and capacity in Europe this month despite government attempts to alleviate the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic through aid and subsidies. In February, both traffic and capacity at Ljubljana Airport will decline over 90% compared to the same month last year. Three carriers - Lufthansa, Turkish Airlines and Air Serbia - have confirmed flights to Ljubljana. Despite initially deferring its planned service resumption to late April, Aeroflot has now rescheduled its Ljubljana service for February 12, with one weekly flight from Moscow each Friday operated by the Sukhoi Superjet 100 aircraft. However, these are subject to government approval, with Russian authorities yet to issue the go-ahead for the service to be restored. Even with Aeroflot’s potential return, traffic volumes at Ljubljana Airport will plummet over 90%.
The Slovenian government has introduced a range of measures in an effort to mitigate the negative impacts of the global health crisis on the country’s aviation sector. It has put into effect the first of three airline subsidy schemes for the upkeep of existing routes and has provided five million euros in aid to Ljubljana Airport’s operator Fraport Slovenija, however, more funds will likely be needed. Recently, the government also reduced taxes for the use of aviation-related infrastructure at airports in the country. The state is also still considering whether to invest funds into a new national carrier.
In response to the latest waves of Covid and risks associated with new variants, many states across Europe are imposing stricter travel restrictions, which strongly discourage air travel unless it is for essential reasons only. As a result, demand for air travel is greatly suppressed and airlines are having to dramatically reduce their capacity accordingly. “It is clear that the months of February and March will be exceptionally low across Europe, except for cargo, some business traffic and skeleton schedule services. Even April is expected to perform very poorly with only a limited pick-up for the Easter period. Flights in Europe will probably only be around 25% - 30% of normal. It is a complete disaster for European aviation - an industry that’s already on its knees”, the Director General of Eurocontrol, Eamonn Brennan, said. Individually, Slovenia will be the most affected market this month. In comparison, Montenegro, which has lost its national carrier, will see its traffic decline 75%.
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