iberia

Spain’s national carrier Iberia will introduce seasonal flights between Madrid and the Slovenian capital. It will mark the first time the airline has ever flown to the country on a scheduled basis. Iberia will run four weekly services to Jože Pučnik Airport starting July 28, 2020, for a period of five weeks. Flights will operate each Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday with a mix of Airbus A319 and A320 aircraft, which have the capacity to seat 141 and 180 passengers respectively. Ljubljana Airport has been attempting to secure operations to Spain for several years. Both the defunct Adria Airways, as well as Iberia’s subsidiary Vueling, previously operated flights between the two markets.

The new service will mark a welcome addition to Ljubljana’s 2020 summer schedule, which will also see a number of foreign carriers significantly boost their operations to the Slovenian capital. The airport’s General Manager, Zmago Skobir, recently said, “[Operator] Fraport Slovenija is working with airlines to meet the traffic demand left by Adria’s exit from the market. This includes quick-start capacity increases, as well as new scheduled flight services in the near future. Furthermore, Fraport Slovenija remains strongly committed to developing Ljubljana Airport and to further growing passenger and cargo traffic. All airlines are welcome in Ljubljana”. 

zmago_skobir

Meanwhile, the rate at which Ljubljana Airport’s passenger numbers have declined following the collapse of Adria Airways slowed in November. The airport handled 85.787 travellers, representing a decrease of 27%. The number of aircraft movements declined 38.2% to 1.551. Overall, during the January – November period, Ljubljana welcomed 1.635.865 passengers through its doors, down 4%. Aircraft movements declined 10.2% to 29.713. As a result, the airport has shed 67.487 travellers on the same period in 2018. It previously said it would be hit by the bankruptcy of its primary customer in the short-term but that it should rebound within a year and a half. Fraport Slovenija expects for Ljubljana’s figures to decline between 100.000 and 200.000 travellers this year.

MonthPAXChange (%)
JAN103.525▲ 3.1
FEB105.470▲ 6.3
MAR133.641▲ 3.0
APR157.992▲ 0.1
MAY170.307▲ 1.8
JUN188.622▲ 6.7
JUL207.292▲ 4.2
AUG211.431▲ 4.5
SEP172.387Decrease 10.1
OCT99.231Decrease 38.5
NOV85.787Decrease 27.0

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