Time flies by

Ljubljana Airport

An event, named “Time Flies By”, was held last Thursday to mark the 45th anniversary of the Aerodrom Ljubljana company, which runs Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport. Over the past 45 years it has served approximately 28.6 million passengers at the airport. The first aircraft to land at the airport was a DC6B belonging the Slovenian air carrier, then known as Adria Aviopromet. It arrived on December 24, 1963. Scheduled flights began on January 9 the following year. Over 45 years the airport has served 28.603.914 passengers, recorded 739.723 aircraft movements (take-off or landing), and 336.281 tonnes of cargo.

The event took place at the Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre and included a look back at the airports major historical milestones, including the first landing, major infrastructural expansions, the ownership transformation of Ljubljana Airport and Slovenia’s entry into the EU, which ushered in a new market, allowing Ljubljana Airport to compete for passengers, air carriers and other non-aviation revenue on an equal footing with its competitors. At the Thursday evening event, considerable focus was placed on the future development of the airport and the company that manages it. The airport’s vision is to develop into a leading airport for cargo and passenger traffic in a region comprising of 4 million inhabitants. Ljubljana Airport wants to be number one, ahead of competitors such as Zagreb, Trieste, Klagenfurt, and Graz and even further afield. The key development projects include extending the aircraft aprons, the construction of a new passenger terminal, the re-routing of the main approach road to the north, a business and logistics centre and a railway line to the airport. The plan includes an investment of around 120 million Euros up until 2020.