Air aviation news – The Slovenian government held talks with representatives from airBaltic last week and discussed the possibility of the opening of a new base in Ljubljana. The Latvian carrier will introduce two weekly flights between Riga and the Slovenian capital from May 2, 2024 after it successfully applied for state subsidies which will cover 50% of the airline’s fees at Ljubljana Airport. Both the Ministry for Infrastructure and the Ministry for Economic Development and Technology said, “We pointed out that we are very interested in all forms of cooperation that would contribute to Slovenia’s improved air connectivity. Our external partners presented key findings of the analysis on Slovenia’s air connectivity with possible Public Private Partnership models”. The analysis refers to a study on the establishment of a new flag carrier in Slovenia, which the state is using as a framework for the launch of a national airline.
airBaltic representatives said they currently have no plans to open a base in Ljubljana, noting such action would require substantial financial and organisational investment, along with the need to establish a new brand on the Slovenian market. However, they expressed interest in further discussing the matter after examining the findings from the study on Slovenia’s air connectivity. airBaltic noted they look forward to the launch of the new Riga – Ljubljana service, which they say is already showing solid demand. airBaltic has multiple bases and will open its latest one this December on Gran Canaria island, with flights to ten destinations. In May 2022, airBaltic opened a base in Tampere in Finland. Furthermore, it has bases in Tallinn and Vilnius, alongside its main hub in Riga.
Speaking to EX-YU Aviation News earlier this year, airBaltic’s CEO, Martin Gauss, said, “I am very sad that Ljubljana doesn’t have an airline anymore. Looking at Latvia with 1.8 million people, being in the northern end of Europe and having connectivity with more than 100 routes from just one airline, Ljubljana should have its own carrier and have that connectivity”. He added, “Adria Airways failed and nobody else stepped in. What we have done in the Baltics is take a bankrupt company to where we are now. The same development is possible in Slovenia. Why not do what we do and start out with five planes out of Ljubljana and just establish connectivity. Don’t try to compete with Ryanair and Wizz Air and carry 200 passengers for no money from A to B. Establish connectivity, with a proper plan. Important for these kinds of models is to have the right aircraft. For example, in Tampere we put an aircraft and established flights from an airport from which nothing was happening, and we have now built up a network. We are not connecting Tampere only to leisure destinations, which of course works as well, but we connected it to the hubs of our key codeshare partners and then you have proper connectivity with proper timing”.
