Slovenia to target individual routes in new subsidy scheme
The Slovenian government plans to maintain subsidies for airlines in order to improve the country’s air connectivity in 2023, however, it aims to introduce a number of changes to the scheme. So far, Slovenia has provided limited funds for airlines already flying to the country but now intends on encouraging the launch of new routes. The Minister for Economic Development and Technology, Matjaž Han, said focus will be put on regional routes, as well as several others in Europe. Mr Han emphasised Skopje as one of the destinations the government will provide subsidies for. The Macedonian capital was one of Ljubljana’s busiest regional routes prior to the collapse of the former national carrier Adria Airways.
Commenting on the matter, Mr Han said during a visit to Skopje, "We know that with the bankruptcy of Adria Airways, we no longer have such connectivity with Skopje, despite the fact that it was one of the busier routes. Next year, the Ministry for Economy and the Ministry for Infrastructure will subsidise flights across Europe and also across the region. Skopje will be part of it, which is very important for our economy and tourism". Some of Ljubljana’s busiest unserved routes based on indirect traffic data include Bucharest, Copenhagen, Skopje, Helsinki, Berlin, Prague, Stockholm, Barcelona, Hamburg, Tirana and Sofia. Athens, which is also among them, will be introduced by Aegean Airlines next summer.
The Slovenian Ministry for Infrastructure recently noted, “It is of vital importance for Slovenia to be included in global trends. As an export-oriented economy, we can only compete by being physically present on global markets, which is precisely what regular and reliable airlines provide. Solid air connections are even more important for the tourism sector, as we want to attract as many foreign guests from more distant markets to Slovenia as possible. This segment is also of great importance for congress tourism". It added, “Additional short-term measures need to be implemented, namely subsidising additional new routes and incentivising an increase in frequencies to the most important destinations for our economy and tourism”.
Recent talks between the Slovenian government and several low cost carriers, which were seeking subsidies in order to introduce new routes from Ljubljana, have all ended without an agreement. Talks with Wizz Air were last held on September 28, easyJet on September 9 and with Ryanair on July 8.
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