Ljubljana Airport faces Croatia’s Schengen Area entry
The Council of the European Union has proposed for controls at Croatia’s land and sea borders with Schengen countries to be revoked as of January 1, 2023, and at airports from March 26 of next year. The development is expected to coincide with Croatia’s adoption of the euro. Although Slovenia has been a strong supporter of its neighbour’s entry into Schengen, the move could impact on Ljubljana Airport’s ability to retain passengers and is expected to increase competition with Zagreb Airport, which, due to its proximity and offer of flights, has been successful in attracting travellers from Slovenia, particularly since the collapse of Adria Airways in September 2019 and the opening of Ryanair’s base in Zagreb in July of last year. Croatia’s entry into Schengen is expected to further attract travellers to its airports as cross border checks between the two countries are eliminated.
Ryanair expects to see even more traffic from Slovenia in the coming period. “We already see a lot of passengers from Slovenia on our Zagreb flights. Even if you go to Zagreb Airport, either in departures or arrivals, you will see that there are lot of Slovenians. At the airport’s parking one will notice many cars with Slovenian car plates. We know and we are sure that we are covering the Slovenian market well from Zagreb Airport”, the carrier said, adding that there are also a number of Slovenian staff working for the company in Croatia, especially among pilots.
Croatia Airlines is also benefiting from the Slovenian market and expects to see more feed from its northern neighbour. “We have had some gain on the Slovenian market since Adria Airways’ bankruptcy where we offered certain solutions in order to react to the demand that was there. However, we had not added any flights to Slovenia because our hubs are nearby and we were more focused on our sales and marketing activities in Ljubljana at the time, which helped us significantly increase our market share in Slovenia”, the Croatian national carrier said.
Ljubljana Airport has previously estimated it could reach pre-Covid traffic levels in 2026. The airport is currently facing one of the slowest traffic recoveries on the continent. However, it is upbeat about its prospects. Despite Croatia’s looming entry into the Schengen Area, Ljubljana Airport has said it sees its counterpart in Zagreb as a complimentary partner, rather than a competitor, noting that it too offers a range of destinations and alternative budget carriers, among which are easyJet, Wizz Air and Transavia. Although the airport is yet to officially publish its passenger figures for the first half of the year, it is believed to have handled just over 385.000 passengers. Speaking this week at a ceremony marking the first anniversary of the opening of Ljubljana Airport’s new passenger terminal, General Manager Babett Stapel, noted, “We expect dynamic traffic growth to continue through the summer with monthly numbers exceeding 100.000 passengers. This will allow us to meet, and hopefully even exceed, our year-end passenger numbers, when 880.000 travellers are estimated to be served. [Operator] Fraport Slovenija enters the high summer season operationally well prepared. We managed to strengthen our services to meet the needs of increased traffic".
0 Response to "Ljubljana Airport faces Croatia’s Schengen Area entry"
Post a Comment