Ljubljana Airport anticipates return of key carriers
Ljubljana Airport expects for airlines which discontinued flights to the city over the past month to return in 2023 and believes 52% of its pre-pandemic traffic will be reached this year despite their absence. Over the past few weeks, Iberia, Finnair and Aeroflot ended their operations to the Slovenian capital, although the latter was forced to do so as a result of sanctions. Ljubljana Airport’s operator noted that Iberia’s flights to Madrid, which were launched last year and were to resume this August, were cancelled due to logistical issues. “A reduction in demand during the global health crisis forced many airlines to reduce fleets and crew. Now that air traffic has escaped from the grips of the Covid-19 pandemic and demand is recovering, they are struggling with a lack of aircraft and staff”, the airport operator said. It added, “There is interest for flights to Spain. Among the major challenges for airlines is the highly seasonal nature in demand for services to and from the Iberian Peninsula”.
Iberia is expected to return next year, with flights to operate over a limited two-month period. On the other hand, Finnair decided not to restore services from Helsinki to Ljubljana this year due to a lack of transfer passengers from the Far East and the suspension of several key routes in Asia because of the war in Ukraine. “As a destination, Ljubljana has been especially popular among Asian travellers. But as we have now reduced both network and frequencies, for example to Japan, the Ljubljana route has not been included in the summer program”, Finnair said. Ljubljana Airport is hopeful the Finnish carrier will return next year when more Asian markets should be fully reopened.
Despite the loss of a handful of carriers, Ljubljana Airport still estimates it will handle 52% of its 2019 traffic. This would result in the Slovenian capital welcoming some 895.000 travellers through its doors this year. During the first two months of 2022, it handled 75.731 passengers, which is still down 63% on 2019. This summer season will see Lufthansa restore operations from Munich to Ljubljana, Transavia launch flights from Paris Orly, Israir resume seasonal services from Tel Aviv, while other carriers, such as Flydubai, will increase frequencies on existing flights. The airport also anticipates a strong charter season which last year accounted for 20% of all passengers. This year, in cooperation with tour operators, flights will be chartered to Antalya, Barcelona, Jordan, Madeira, Egypt, Malta, the Greek islands, the Azores, Albania, the Netherlands, Sicily, Iceland and Latvia.
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