Ljubljana Airport's new terminal full of life on its 1st anniversary

Zg. Brnik, 1. 7. 2022 - Exactly one year ago today Fraport Slovenija opened the new terminal at Ljubljana Airport. On July 1, 2021 the first passengers set off on their journeys from a modern building, that offers its users higher quality, a greater variety of services and a better working environment. Today, the new terminal is full of life, as passenger traffic is seeing steep growth with easing traveling restrictions and increasing demand for flights. It continues to be developed – on its 1st anniversary an extension of the All Yours Duty Free Food and more shop was officially opened.

The new terminal at Ljubljana Airport is celebrating one year of operations. The modern infrastructure that spreads over an area of 10,000 m2, ranks Ljubljana Airport as a modern and efficient regional entry point - a hub of opportunity for individuals, society and the broader global community. Since the opening, more than 450,000 passengers have travelled through Terminal A and we expect altogether 1.2 million to be handled under its roof by end of 2022.

“The opening of the new terminal in 2021 marked a new era for Ljubljana Airport ranking it amongst modern European airports. It is wonderful to see it full of life and serving its purpose so well by providing a pleasant and in its presentation of retail offer even a unique travelling experience. Fraport Slovenija invested in this new infrastructure to be prepared for the future growth of passenger traffic and we are very glad to be celebrating the 1st anniversary of the Terminal A with the recovery well underway,” said Dr. Babett Stapel, the Managing Director of Fraport Slovenija on this occasion.

Opening of the extended All Yours Ljubljana unit

Climbing passenger numbers allows the retail space in Terminal A to be extended. Today, the extended offer within the All Yours Ljubljana unit was officially opened with a symbolic ribbon cutting ceremony from partners in the project, Fraport Slovenija and smartseller.

"We are very excited about the opening of the 4th and final zone of our All Yours area on time for the first anniversary of the new terminal. During the past year, the number of customers in our shops significantly exceeded our expectations, especially among passengers in the low-cost carrier segment. Also, the amount that passengers spend here is above our ambitious expectations and still growing. Our tailor-made approach to a modern liquid retail journey, that eliminates the boundaries between Duty Free, F&B and Convenience persuades even the most demanding travellers to spend their dwell time and enjoy the offer. Ljubljana Airport as a medium sized airport is the ideal ground for this concept and we are thankful for the close and trusting partnership with Fraport Slovenija, leading to great results of the unique and forward-thinking shopping experience at this important Slovenian hub,” says Karl Niendorf, Managing Director of smartseller, a joint venture between global travel retailer Gebr. Heinemann and travel catering specialist casualfood.

With the opening of additional commercial offer Dr. Babett Stapel said: “We are delighted to be able to offer an even more attractive shopping experience to our passengers, as more space allows for a bigger variety of brands to be introduced. Our partnership with smartseller has proven to be a successful and unique story, that centres around our passengers. Here they will find a carefully selected range of products, from the best of the local offer, the widest single point selection of wines in Slovenia, to world renowned beauty brands."

Developments in the new terminal

Terminal A continues to be developed since its inauguration. In the beginning of 2022 it has gained a connecting corridor to the old Terminal B, allowing the flow of passengers between the two buildings to reach the new check-in hall and security control point or the parking garage. Later this year the business lounge will be extended and its terrace roofed. In the check-in hall new self-bag drop points will be introduced, which will put passengers in charge of checking their own baggage. During the summer months, Fraport Slovenija will also rearrange the service roads between the parking garage and the old terminal by building a roundabout and limit the shuttle stop points access with ramps and fence.

In the past year some adjustments in the old terminal have also taken place. A part of it was renovated and rearranged to welcome arriving passengers from non-Schengen areas, where automated border control points have been installed and will soon start to operate.

Dynamic passenger traffic growth to continue throughout the summer

In the last months Ljubljana Airport is witnessing dynamic passenger growth, fuelled by easing traveling restrictions and increasing demand for regular flights. Charter traffic is supporting this growth considerably as well. In the first six months of 2022 Ljubljana Airport has all-together handled more than 385 thousand passengers, which is five times more than in the same period last year. In May, almost six times more passenger traffic was handled (84,886 passengers) compared to May 2021.

“The busiest months of the year are ahead of us. The aviation industry throughout Europe is facing challenging times as it is not able to support the rapid growth in passenger numbers with new staff employments. Airlines are forced to intervene by limiting seats and cancelling a certain percentage of flights. No significant effect has yet been seen for Ljubljana Airport due to these decisions and we strongly hope it stays this way. We expect dynamic traffic growth to continue during the summer, with passenger numbers climbing well over 100,000 passengers per month. This will allow us to fulfil and hopefully exceed the planned 880,000 passengers at the end of this year. Fraport Slovenija is stepping well prepared into the peak season. We have been able to strengthen our teams to cater the needs of increased traffic,” explains Dr. Babett Stapel.

The flight network of Ljubljana Airport has been recently enriched with additional regular flights and the charter offer is in full swing with the beginning of the school holidays. In the summer timetable 15 regular carriers are offering flights to 19 destinations:

Air France twice daily to Paris,
Air Montenegro twice weekly to Podgorica and four times weekly to Tivat (exchanging connections),
Air Serbia eleven times weekly to Belgrade and twice weekly to Niš,
Brussels Airlines five times weekly to Brussels,
British Airlines five times weekly to London Heathrow,
easyJet five times weekly to London Gatwick,
flydubai five times weekly to Dubai,
Israir Airlines twice weekly to Tel Aviv,
LOT Polish Airlines eight times weekly to Warsaw,
Lufthansa twice daily to Frankfurt and daily to Munich,
Swiss International Airlines daily to Zurich,
Transavia four times weekly to Amsterdam,
Transavia France twice weekly to Paris, Orly,
Turkish Airlines ten times weekly to Istanbul,
Wizz Air twice weekly to Brussels Charleroi and three times weekly to London, Luton.

A wide choice of charter flights

The offering of charter flights will give a greater choice of destinations compared to last year. Travel agencies that organize seasonal charters from Ljubljana Airport, will be offering packages to the most popular holiday destinations on the Greek islands, in Turkey, Spain and Egypt over the summer months. Altogether through the year passengers have the opportunity to directly reach 16 countries with charter flights, besides the already mentioned also Albania, Azores, Iceland, Italy, Jordan, Latvia, Malta, Montenegro, Netherlands, Portugal (Madeira), Scotland, Tunisia and Zanzibar.

At the airport on time and well prepared

During the summer months traffic at Ljubljana Airport will be very lively. Passengers themselves can make a significant contribution to be handled quicker at the airport, by arriving there on time and well prepared. We recommend that they arrive at least two hours before their flight, they must hold all the necessary travel documents and pay attention to the validity of their identification documents.

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