Ljubljana sets sight on Malaysia Airlines

Possible new visitor for Ljubljana

Ljubljan Jože Pučnik Airport is hoping to attract Malaysia Airlines as the first scheduled Asian carrier to serve the airport. Janez Krašnja, the airport’s sales and marketing director told the Malaysian News Agency Bernama that this year the passenger trend at the airport is set to change, adding that Asian countries were expected to be one of those contributors to the improved traffic volume. "There is a growing interest on the part of Asians to visit Europe", he told Bernama in a recent interview during a business visit to Malaysia. Krašnja said that Ljubljana Airport was also hoping to attract Malaysia Airlines as the first Asian carrier to fly to the Slovenian capital. Currently, Malaysia Airlines operates flights to Paris, Frankfurt, Amsterdam and London in Europe. At one time in its history it also served Zagreb via Vienna.

There is already a great exchange of goods and services between Malaysia and the European Union. Since Slovenia is in central Europe it has good connections and offers good tourism potential as well, Krašnja added. “People from Asia are not always going to travel to the most known destinations in Europe such as London and Paris because they want to experience "new" destinations like Slovenia”, Krašnja said. He also noted that most Asians travelling to Slovenia currently come via European hubs such as Frankfurt, Vienna or Paris. Krašnja also revealed that the airport is looking to attract cargo airlines from Asia and the Middle East.

From August 21 to August 28, the national airline of Japan – JAL, will operate charter flights from Osaka to Ljubljana. From August 27 until September 6 the airline will fly from Ljubljana to Fukuoka via Sapporo and finally from September 4 to 10 the airline will fly from Tokyo to Ljubljana. As was the case in previous years, the flights are being organised for Japanese tourists by the Japanese Tourist Bureau. All flights will be operated by the Boeing B747-400.