Portorož Airport negotiating Air Serbia flights

Slovenia’s second busiest airport, Portorož, is in the final stages of talks with Air Serbia over the introduction of scheduled flights from Belgrade. At a presentation marking the airport’s sixtieth anniversary over the weekend, its General Manager, Bernard Majhenič, said the service, which would be operated by an ATR72 aircraft, would be subject to weight restrictions due to the length of Portorož’s runway, which would limit passenger numbers on the flight. Air Serbia recently said it was looking to expand its regional network and boost frequencies on existing routes to feed its developing long haul destinations. This winter, the airline will operate two daily flights from Belgrade to Ljubljana, and a two weekly service from Niš to the Slovenian capital.

The potential launch of Air Serbia’s flights to Portorož would mark the carrier’s return to the city after thirteen years. Its predecessor, Jat Airways, maintained services between the two on a seasonal summer basis for two years - in 2009 and 2010. Furthermore, in 2010 it was granted approval by both Slovenian and Italian authorities to commence operations between Portorož and Rome. However, the flights never materialised due to low interest and poor sales. If an agreement is reached, Portorož would become Air Serbia’s sixteenth destination in the former Yugoslavia. Portorož Airport’s single-largest shareholder is the Serbian MK Group, which also runs the nearby Kempinski Hotel. 

Portorož Airport has also signed a letter of intent with Czech carrier Van Air Europe for a two weekly service from Portorož to Prague, Brno and Budapest. Over next three months, the Slovenian coast will launch promotional campaigns in the three cities to evaluate the potential of these routes. "We don't want a repeat of previous years when flights were co-funded by local tour operator and had just three or so passengers", Mr Majhenič said. Van Air Europe boasts a fleet of five nineteen-seat Let L-410 Turbolet aircraft and had maintained domestic Public Service Obligation flights within Croatia on behalf of Trade Air up until June of this year. Portorož Airport has handled over 20.000 passengers so far this year, although it lacks scheduled commercial flights.

EX-YU Aviation News

Share this post