The Slovenian carrier’s owner, 4K Invest, has previously said they aim to position Ljubljana Airport as a transfer hub between east and west. Accordingly, Adria has recently boosted operations on a number of services in the former Yugoslavia. The airline has introduced an additional four weekly flights between Ljubljana and Podgorica, for a total of seven weekly this summer. The carrier initially planned to operate just three weekly services. Furthermore, the Slovenian carrier has added another weekly flight between Ljubljana and Sarajevo, for a total of seven, while an extra weekly service will be introduced from Ljubljana to Skopje and Pristina as well, for a total of thirteen and fourteen weekly flights respectively.
Adria Airways will put a greater emphasis on its operations in the Balkans where it sees opportunities for future growth. The carrier’s CEO, Arno Schuster, said, “We have a base in Pristina from which we offer daily flights. We are increasing frequencies on services to Sarajevo and Podgorica and we also maintain operations to Tirana. For us, this a very important market, because we believe Adria has a very good reputation among consumers in the Balkans”. He added, “Our aim is to firstly provide links to major airports such as Frankfurt, Zurich, Amsterdam and Paris, and, on the other hand, allow for connections to the Balkan region, where we see opportunities for growth”.
In addition to strengthening its presence in the Balkans, Adria will, from today, add an additional weekly service between Ljubljana and Amsterdam, for a total of six weekly flights, up from last summer’s four. The boost comes despite the Slovenian carrier competing directly against low cost airline Transavia on the route since April. Transavia currently boasts an average passenger load factor of 87% on its Ljubljana flights, following a month of operations. Commenting on the competition, Mr Schuster said, “Adria Airways is focused on comfort. We offer several flights per week to Amsterdam, as we have increased our frequencies. Price is another matter. The advertised price by low cost airlines isn’t accurate, because it often involves additional costs. We believe we have a competitive product, which is reflected by the demand on this route”.
