Ljubljana Airport wants Ryanair

Ljubljana seeking Adria alternative

Ljubljana Airport has begun talks with the low cost airline Ryanair in fear that Slovenia’s biggest airport will suffer as a result of Adria Airways’ plan to cut up to a third of its flights from the Slovenian capital. The troubled Adria currently holds an 80% share of flights from Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport. Recently, the airport managed to lure RusLine to commence flights from Moscow to Ljubljana. The service was originally planned to commence on August 15, though it has now been pushed back to September 2. According to the Slovenian media, the airport is now in talks with Ryanair which had a short and unsuccessful run in Slovenia. In 2007 the no frills airline operated 3 weekly flights from London Stansted to Maribor Airport. The flights lasted 9 months before they were cancelled. Following Slovenia’s accession to the European Union in 2004, several new airlines commenced flights to Ljubljana but Adria’s dominance saw them cancel their services soon after.



This week, Ljubljana Airport’s Supervisory Board is discussing whether the airport’s CEO, Zmago Skobir, is capable to steer the airport through its upcoming time of crisis. Skobir will be up for re-election for another 5 year term next summer. The airport warned that the construction of a brand new second terminal, to commence in 2012 with a price tag of 50 million Euros, will be affected by Adria’s crisis and states it must find new customers, which is why it is in talks with Ryanair. The airport is also hoping that Air India will make good on its promise to begin flights to Ljubljana in 2012 which will continue onwards to the United States.



Adria Airways has little competition on most of its routes. From September 1 only 7 airlines will have regular scheduled flights to and from Ljubljana, although the airport sees a flurry of charter airlines operating throughout the summer.