On Wednesday evening, Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport opened for business after the completion of runway upgrades, which lasted for 2 weeks. The upgrade has been somewhat controversial with Slovenia’s national airline, Adria, blaming the airport for inevitable losses the carrier incurred as a result of the airport’s closure. Adria had to significantly scale down its operations and move to Maribor. Adria is seeking compensation from the airport authorities although Ljubljana Airport says that there is no basis for such claims.The closure of the airport was part of the third and final phase of the runway reconstruction project. The overhaul of the runway included resurfacing the asphalt as well as expanding parts of the taxiways, replacing the lighting system and installing additional cable conduits. The first phase, covering around 800 metres, was concluded on June 25, 2009 while the reconditioning of the other section, involving over 1.000 metres of runway, was completed in the early hours of July 15, 200. The final and most time consuming phase was completed on Wednesday, April 21, 2010. The entire runway upgrade project has amounted to a cost of 9 million Euros. It is the first time since 1978 that the runway has been upgraded.
Meanwhile, Ljubljana Airport announced that it recorded a 14% passenger decline in 2009 when compared to 2008. It handled 1.42 million passengers. According to airport statistics, in 2009, most passengers originating from Ljubljana Airport travelled to Germany (18%), followed by the United Kingdom (12%), Turkey and France (8%) and Serbia (7%). The greatest increase in passenger numbers was recorded on flights to Serbia while the greatest decline on flights to Belgium.
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