Increase In Traffic A Feature Of 2015

A major feature of the year 2015 was the change in ownership. In the early months of the year a new owner, Fraport AG of Germany, obtained a 100% holding in Aerodrom Ljubljana, and on the final day of March the company was converted from a public limited company into a limited liability company. Its shares were withdrawn from the Ljubljana Stock Exchange, and the company has since been headed by a general manager, the former president of the management board, Mr Zmago Skobir. A great deal was subsequently done in the area of integration into the Fraport Group. Financial reporting, planning and analysis were adapted as part of this process. Certain costs were optimised, and certain work processes were modified.

We were pleased to record a sharp increase in passenger traffic throughout the year. The millionth passenger was welcomed to the airport on 2 September, approximately three weeks earlier than in 2014. Passenger numbers in public transport were up 10% on 2014 at 1,438,304, while the number of aircraft movements in public transport was up 3.8% at 23,212 (number of total aircraft movements was up 4,7% at 32.893). Total cargo tonnage was comparable to 2014 (18,570 tonnes, down 0.2% on last year), while air cargo tonnage was up 3% at 10,115 tonnes.

The increase in traffic is the result of new and upgraded routes, and the resulting more competitive services, which are allowing passengers to choose Ljubljana Airport more frequently for travelling directly to nearby destinations, and to more remote destinations via major European hubs. Swiss International Air Lines launched daily flights to Zurich in March, but unfortunately withdrawed the route in the new year. The domestic airline Adria Airways began flying to Berlin and Stockholm in April, while Turkish Airlines and Air Serbia increased their number of flights to Istanbul and Belgrade respectively. In general airlines have made increasing use of larger (and heavier) aircraft, and load factors have also improved. The domestic airline’s passenger numbers were up 4,9% on 2014, while the foreign airlines’ passenger numbers were up 21,6%. Traffic was growing faster at Ljubljana Airport than at competitors in the region. It is followed by Graz with 7,4%, 6,5% at Zagreb, 3% at Venice (period 1-11/2015 and 2014) and 1.2% at Klagenfurt, and a fall of 0.5% at Trieste (period 1-11/2015 and 2014).

Other notable achievements of the year 2015 include the sale of the participating interest in Adria Airways Tehnika and the work done to reduce harmful impact on the environment. This work was confirmed with Airport Carbon Accreditation Level 2 certification and ISO 14001:2014 certification.

Integration into the group will continue in the future. Moderate growth in traffic is forecast. Two new scheduled airlines are coming to Ljubljana Airport. LOT Polish Airlines will operate five flights a week to Warsaw from 1 March, while Greece’s Aegean Airlines will serve Athens twice a week from June.

If the focus this year has been inward, on internal projects and changes, next year the focus will once again be on a series of project that will be outwardly evident. The main objective for 2016 is to improve the passenger experience. In this connection we will begin the refurbishment of the passenger terminal next year. It will be undertaken in phases and will be completed by 2018. We will also commence the project of moving the road running alongside the airport, thereby improving access to the airport and allowing the development of a commercial and logistics complex on the north side of the airport.

POLAND: LOT Polish Airlines To Link Ljubljana And Warsaw With Six Weekly Flights

On March the first Ljubljana Airport will welcome a new carrier, LOT Polish Airlines that will connect Ljubljana and Warsaw with up to six weekly flights. Through its hub in the Polish capital, passengers will be able to take advantage of LOT's onward flights to numerous destinations in Europe, North America and Asia. To present the new route, LOT Polish Airlines and Aerodrom Ljubljana held a press conference on Wednesday 10 February.

Starting from the beginning of March LOT will be operating as much as 6 flights weekly from Ljubljana to Warsaw. With frequent flights and a convenient schedule the Polish national airline will enable passengers traveling form Ljubljana access to the worldwide network, including all major European destinations as well as Beijing, China and 3 major destinations in North America.

“Due to its excellent service and individual approach to the need of passengers, LOT has the greatest potential to become one the best alternative for travels to Toronto, New York, Chicago or Beijing for thousands of passengers starting their journey in Ljubljana. Flight to Warsaw last less than 2 hours, and total travel time to North America is only 13 hours including very convenient and short transfer at our hub, Warsaw Chopin Airport. Up to this moment Slovenian passengers had to travel via other crowded and complicated giant hubs in Western Europe” – says Adrian Kubicki, Corporate Communications Director.

On Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays flights to Warsaw will take off at 13:35; on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays at 17:05. Late afternoon flights give passengers access to the evening wave of domestic and European flights, i.e. to Krakow, Gdansk, Riga, Amsterdam, London or Brussels and many others. More accurate schedule is available here.

“For example transfer time to Copenhagen is 45 minutes only! This is not something we promise. This is something we deliver. Passengers traveling from Ljubljana deserve an airline, which will bring them closer to dozens destinations worldwide. Right now opportunities are limited, and we raise the bar of service and bring to the completely new level of travel experience” – Kubicki adds.

The commencement of LOT's flights to Slovenia was welcomed by his excellency, the ambassador of Poland to Slovenia, Mr. Paweł Czerwiński: “Direct flights are of key importance for relations between the two countries, that are almost neighbouring, considering the small distance between them. Polish and Slovene people still know too little about each other, even though the cooperation between their countries is strengthening on different levels each year. The trading of goods has already surpassed 1,3 billion euros and still growing. Warsaw is an attractive tourist destination, also for a weekend trip. The city offers renowned theatres, concerts, historic-cultural monuments, modern interactive museums, rich culinary experiences, disco clubs and many more.

All flights between Warsaw and Ljubljana are operated by modern and technologically advanced Bombardier turboprop aircrafts. They are appreciated by passengers for spacious cabin, no middle seat and quiet cabin. All long haul flights are operated by the state-of-art aircraft Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

Mr. Janez Krašnja, Head of Airline Management at Aerodrom Ljubljana, welcomed the arrival of the new carrier with the following words: “Even before the summer timetable the flight network of Ljubljana Airport is expanding. We are looking forward to LOT arriving in March and greatly complementing the offer of scheduled flights from Ljubljana. We believe the service will be interesting for business and tourist passengers. Besides frequent direct flights to Warsaw, they will be able to take advantage of their onward flights to other European destinations and their transatlantic flights. Aerodrom Ljubljana expects the service to generate around 30,000 extra passengers on a yearly basis.”

Ljubljana is one of the first destinations to open by LOT after formal completing the successful restructuring process. The airline says that Slovenia is a very important market for both business, as well as rising number of leisure passengers. Together with Ljubljana LOT launched several other exciting routes, such as Luxemburg, Ljubljana, Athens, Beirut, Nice and many others.

Tickets for flights are already available on www.lot.com, via their mobile app, LOT’s Contact Centre and through other sales channels.

Photographs of LOT’s fleet, products and services available for download under this link: http://corporate.lot.com/pl/en/media-library

SLOVENIA: Ljubljana Airport To Get A Facelift

Ljubljana airport has seen a 10% growth in passenger numbers as well as a smaller increase in cargo under its German owner this year. Next year, it plans to embark on a renovation of its passenger terminal.

Following last year's takeover, Aerodrom Ljubljana passed fully into the ownership of German Fraport at the beginning of this year and delisted from the Ljubljana Stock Exchange on the last day of March.

Passenger numbers have been up throughout the year with company data showing the airport had welcomed 1,420,826 passengers by 24 December, or 10.3% more than in the same period last year.

Aircraft movements for the same period were up by 3.9% to 22,875 and the volume of cargo handled rose by 2.5% to 9,939 tonnes.

One millionth passenger was registered on 2 September or about three weeks earlier than the previous year, the company has reported in a press release.

The growth is attributed to new air links, more flights and more competitive offerings. The structure of aircraft changed in favour of larger and heavier planes and the occupancy rates increased.

Slovenian flag carrier Adria Airways has seen a 5% increase in passenger numbers, while foreign airlines carried 22.2% more passengers via Ljubljana airport this year, data by 24 December shows.

Available figures also show that the Jože Pučnik Ljubljana Airport saw stronger passenger growth than rival airports in the region.

By September it recorded 10.8% growth, compared to 6.7% in Croatia's Zagreb, 5.7% in Austria's Graz, 1.7% in Italy's Venice and 1.5% in Austria's Klegenfurt, while Trieste in Italy saw a decline of 0.5%.

A moderate growth is also expected for 2016. Two new carriers will launch scheduled flights; Poland's LOT will fly to Warsaw five times a week as of March and Greek Aegean Airlines will operate two weekly flights to Athens as of June.

The long-awaited renovation of the passenger terminal will start next year, scheduled to be completed in several phases by 2018.

Work will also start next year to move the road passing the airport in a bid to improve access to the airport and enable the development of a commercial and logistic complex to the north.