Lufthansa and Swiss lead Ljubljana growth, Air France with biggest decline

Lufthansa and Swiss attributed the most additional passengers at Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport in January when compared to the same month last year, while Air France shed the most travellers. The two Lufthansa Group carriers each boasted over 1.000 additional passengers over January 2024, however, the German flag carrier with its two routes to Ljubljana had fewer customers than its Turkish counterpart with one. Seven carriers managed to register growth during the first month of the year, during which Ljubljana saw its passenger numbers decline, compounded by British Airways’ and GP Aviation’s winter exit and a reduced number of frequencies on existing services by several airlines.

Air France, which considerably reduced its number of flights, saw the biggest decline in the number of carried passengers, down by 604. Its average cabin load factor on the route stood at 76.9%. Wizz Air with its Skopje service was close behind with 584 fewer passengers and a load factor of 89%. Unlike last January when Wizz Air operated half of its January flights with the 230-seat Airbus A321 aircraft and the 180-seat A320, this year saw all services maintained by the latter. Although the UK market registered the biggest overall decline, it came as a result of British Airways suspending its flights to the Slovenian capital over winter, as well as the discontinuation of Wizz Air’s London service, which was still operational in January 2024.

Among the flag carriers from the former Yugoslavia, Air Serbia handled almost the same number of passengers as last year, with 6.454 travellers. The result was achieved despite a reduction in capacity, with the airline maintaining all its Ljubljana operations with the ATR72 turboprop aircraft this year, whereas last year it used both the ATR72 and the Embraer jets. Air Montenegro added 313 travellers, maintaining the same number of flights and capacity as last year.