EasyJet to launch new Edinburgh-Ljubljana route

British low-cost carrier EasyJet will introduce its third route to Ljubljana next year, adding flights from Edinburgh to those from Manchester and London, Ljubljana airport operator Fraport Slovenija has confirmed.

Meanwhile, the German low-cost carrier Eurowings has discontinued its flights between Düsseldorf and Ljubljana, CE Report quotes The Slovenia Times.

The Edinburgh-Ljubljana service will start on 4 April. It will operate twice per week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays, using the 186-seat Airbus A320 aircraft.

The new route will join the carrier's upcoming Manchester-Ljubljana flights to be launched on 4 November, and its existing London Gatwick service. Tickets are already available for purchase on the airline's website.

As part of its effort to rebuild its presence in Ljubljana, EasyJet is also boosting operations on its London Gatwick-Ljubljana service, offering four weekly flights in November and daily rotations in December, up from three and four weekly, respectively, during the same period last year, according to the portal Ex-Yu-Aviation.

The portal has also reported that Eurowings dropped its Düsseldorf-Ljubljana route only six months after the launch. It does not plan to relaunch the service next year and has removed Ljubljana from its booking system.

The subsidiary of Lufthansa had secured the Slovenian government's subsidy for the route, but reportedly failed to meet the conditions of the public call to boost air connectivity and would not get any funds.

During the summer, the carrier flew between Ljubljana and Düsseldorf three times a week. The last flight was on Saturday, 11 October, more than a week before the start of the winter timetable.

While data for the entire summer season are not yet available, those for April-June show that Eurowings transported a total of 6,700 passengers on this route, recording an average cabin occupancy of just under 62%.

Ljubljana Airport served more than 176,000 passengers in September and over 1.23 million in the first nine months of the year, an increase of 13% and 9%, respectively, year-on-year.

Photo: Tamino Petelinšek/STA