Ljubljana - Pristina flights restored after four years

Regular flights between Ljubljana and Pristina have been restored after almost four years. Trade Air launched a two weekly service between the two cities yesterday, linking them for the first time since the collapse of Adria Airways. Flights will run twice per week, each Monday and Saturday. The service is being operated on behalf of the Kaltrina Travel tour operator with the 180-seat Airbus A320 aircraft. Adria Airways, which maintained a base in Pristina, operated double daily flights from Ljubljana until it cased all operations on September 30, 2019. Although it primarily catered for transfer passengers, Pristina has been within Ljubljana’s top twenty busiest unserved routes based on indirect passenger flow since the company’s bankruptcy.

Ljubljana - Pristina route performance

* Flights ceased on September 30

The Slovenian government recently said it would target regional routes with subsidies in an attempt to improve Ljubljana Airport’s connectivity, although these incentives are yet to be rolled out and have not been applied to this new service. Within the former Yugoslavia, Ljubljana is now linked to Belgrade, Podgorica and Niš, in addition to Pristina. Prior to Adria’s collapse, the Slovenian capital also boasted flights to Sarajevo and Skopje, with efforts being made for the latter to be introduced later this year.

There have been recent attempts to link Pristina with other former capital cities in the former Yugoslavia, albeit with little success. In late 2021, Croatia Airlines, Trade Air and Kosovo operator MyWings launched joint flights between Zagreb and Pristina. The service was initially maintained three times per week with the Croatian flag carrier’s Dash 8 turboprop aircraft before being decreased to two weekly shortly after. The service was discontinued within a month due to low demand. On the other hand, the resumption of nonstop flights between Belgrade and Pristina, trumpeted in 2020, has still not occurred, with the designated carrier Eurowings blaming the Covid-19 pandemic for the delay. “Unfortunately, there is still no further movement as a result of the Corona pandemic”, Lufthansa’s low cost subsidiary said late last year commenting on the service.

EX-YU Aviation News

Share this post