Zagreb Airport eyes greater share of Slovenian passengers
Zagreb Airport has seen an increase in the number of passengers from Slovenia since the demise of the country’s national carrier Adria Airways in September 2019 and expects for figures to increase as the coronavirus pandemic subsides and Ryanair establishes additional operations from the Croatian capital. “Following the bankruptcy of Adria Airways, we recorded a slight increase in the number of passengers from Slovenia, however, the epidemiological measures introduced as a result of the coronavirus pandemic impacted cross-boarded traffic and thus reduced the number of Slovenian travellers”, Zagreb Airport said. It added it will negotiate the reestablishment of a direct bus service between Ljubljana and Zagreb Airport once the ongoing pandemic and entry measures ease.
Ljubljana Airport recently said it does not believe it will lose passengers as a result of the recent opening of Ryanair’s base in the Croatian capital. It noted, “We see Ryanair’s arrival at Zagreb Airport mainly as supplementary to other low cost flights operating from that airport. While we do expect some Slovenian passengers to use these flights, we hope that Croatian travellers will continue utilising low cost services offered by easyJet, Transavia and Wizz Air from Ljubljana Airport”. Ljubljana Airport recently secured a number of new routes including Flydubai from Dubai, Wizz Air from London Luton (launching in December), easyJet from London Luton (launching in March 2022) and Transavia from Paris Orly (commencing in April 2022). Flydubai noted it does not see its operations to both Zagreb and Ljubljana as competing against each other but rather complementing one another.
Zagreb Airport expects to reach its pre-Covid passenger numbers in two years. “Thanks to the enhanced offer of low cost flights, our projection is that we will reach pre-Covid passenger levels by 2023”, Zagreb Airport said. This year alone Ryanair has introduced 24 routes from the Croatian capital and plans to base an additional jet or two next summer. On the other hand, it may take Ljubljana somewhat longer to reach the 1.7 – 1.8 million passengers it was handling prior to the pandemic. This September, the airport welcomed 65.133 passengers through its doors, down 62.2% on the pre-pandemic 2019. During the first three quarters it handled 273.674 travellers, down 81.1% on two years ago.
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