Norwegian to enter Slovenian market

Low cost carrier Norwegian has announced it will commence flights between Copenhagen and Ljubljana, along with several new seasonal operations to other cities including Tivat, Zadar and Pristina in the summer of 2024. It will mark Norwegian’s entry onto the Slovenian market. Services to Ljubljana are yet to be scheduled and put on sale. Flights between Ljubljana and Copenhagen were last maintained by Adria Airways until its demise in September 2019. At the time, the former Slovenian flag carrier operated six weekly rotations between the two capitals. During its final full year of operations between the two cities in 2018, it handled 33.037 passengers on the route with an average annual cabin load factor of 62.5%.

Ljubljana Airport has been seeking to improve its connectivity with Scandinavia, as well as restore the remaining routes previously operated by Adria which have remained unserved. Ljubljana Airport’s operator Fraport Slovenija has held talks over the past month with 28 airlines, both legacy and low cost, regarding the potential introduction of over thirty routes. Norwegian told EX-YU Aviation News as far back as 2016 it was considering the launch of flights to both Ljubljana and Skopje, noting both were “very important markets”. Eventually, it inaugurated services to the Macedonian capital this summer, with Ljubljana to follow next year.

Norwegian will launch a total of forty new routes during the 2024 summer season, however, many are yet to be scheduled and put on sale. The majority will operate only during the peak summer months in June and August. Among the new services are flights from Oslo and Copenhagen to Zadar, Gothenburg to Pristina, as well as from Riga and Copenhagen to Tivat. Norwegian has been present on the Croatian, Kosovo and Montenegrin markets for several years. “Launching these new routes expands our network and offers our customers more choice. From our bases in Europe, we are also starting new point-to-point routes. We are looking forward to a busy summer season and to welcoming our customers on board”, Norwegian’s Chief Commercial Officer, Magnus Thome Maursund, said. Next summer Norwegian will have a fleet of around ninety aircraft and will fly a total of 332 routes to 123 destinations.