Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport has seen strong passenger growth this year, thanks to the opening of several new routes and the arrival of new airlines. This was supported by government subsidy policies to improve the country’s air connections. However, this winter, some airlines will reduce their operations to the Slovenian capital, resulting in a year-on-year decrease in capacity on scheduled flights. At this point, the airport will see a 1.6% decrease in capacity in the fourth quarter of the year and a 3.2% decrease in the first quarter of 2025. These figures are subject to change, as airlines have not yet completed their operations for the winter. However, it follows year-on-year capacity growth of 30.3% in the first quarter, 23.3% in the second quarter and 15.6% in the third quarter.
During the upcoming winter season, which starts on October 27 and lasts until the end of March next year, British Airways will suspend its flights between London Heathrow and Ljubljana. The airline plans to resume seasonal summer operations next April. Since launching flights in 2019, British Airways initially operated a seasonal summer service between London and the Slovenian capital, but last winter the route was expanded to operate year-round. British Airways is the only airline connecting Slovenia with Heathrow Airport. This development comes after Wizz Air suspended its service between London Luton and Ljubljana in February, which will also impact the upcoming fourth quarter’s figures year-on-year.
Greek carrier Aegean Airlines plans to suspend flights between Athens and Ljubljana for the entire upcoming winter season. Last December, the airline announced plans to extend seasonal service to year-round, but has now decided to completely eliminate the two weekly rotations during the 2024/25 winter season. Air France will reduce its operations between Paris Charles de Gaulle and the Slovenian capital in both the originally planned schedule for this winter and the previous winter season. The French carrier intends to maintain a daily service between the two cities this winter, instead of the 11 weekly rotations originally planned. The changed frequencies also represent a reduction from the previous winter, when it operated eight to nine times a week, depending on the month.
Luxembourg’s national airline Luxair will also limit operations on its flights between the Grand Duchy and Ljubljana in the coming winter season. The airline will suspend flights on this route between November 3 and December 19. After that, flights will operate twice a week until January 5. After that, operations will be suspended again until February 16, when they will resume twice a week. Last winter season, Luxair maintained two weekly rotations between the two capitals throughout the season.
