Greece’s national carrier Aegean Airlines will commence operations from Athens to both Ljubljana and Split next year. It will mark the company’s return to both cities following a seven- and four-year hiatus, respectively.
Services to Ljubljana will commence on June 6 and operate twice per week, each Tuesday and Friday, with the 174-seat Airbus A320 aircraft. Aegean previously flew to the Slovenian capital for one summer in 2016 after which it terminated operations. Back then, flights also ran twice per week, albeit with the A319 jet. This time around, the flights to Ljubljana will also be maintained on a seasonal summer basis.
Athens has been one of Ljubljana’s busiest unserved routes for several years. During the pre-pandemic 2019, Air Serbia handled the bulk of traffic between the two cities, carrying a total of 47% of all passengers. It was followed by Turkish Airlines with a 14% share. Back in 2016, Aegean Airlines handled 5.646 travellers on its Ljubljana flights over the four months of operations. The airline faces no direct competition on the route this time around, similar to back then. Slovenia’s former national airline Adria Airways served the Greek capital seasonally until the end of the 2012 summer season.
Aegean Airlines will return to Split next summer for the first time since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. Services will commence on June 7 and run twice per week, each Wednesday and Sunday, with the A320 aircraft. It will compete directly against Croatia Airlines on the route. Split’s return to Aegean’s network will result in the Greek carrier serving three cities in Croatia from Athens, complementing Zagreb and Dubrovnik. Aegean launched operations in Croatia’s second-largest city in 2016. Services were discontinued following the start of the global health emergency. In addition to Ljubljana and Split, Aegean is also launching flights from Athens to Baku, Birmingham, Bratislava, Bristol, Dammam, Palma, Riga and Seville next summer.
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