Ljubljana-Barcelona flights resume after 14 years

Spanish low-cost carrier Vueling has launched a new service linking Ljubljana and Barcelona, with two flights available per week and a third to be added during the holiday season.

This is the third new destination added to the winter schedule of Ljubljana airport after Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and Manchester. The inaugural flight on the new route took place on 16 November, CE Report quotes The Slovenia Times.

The flights to Barcelona are available on Thursdays and Sundays. During the holiday season, between 9 December and 6 January, an additional flight will be added on Tuesdays before the schedule will return to two per week.

The new service is operated by an Airbus A320 and the tickets are now available for purchase.

According to Babett Stapel, managing director of the airport operator Fraport Slovenija, the eagerly anticipated service brings more than just new flight options, as it also creates "additional opportunities to strengthen business, tourism and cultural ties between the two countries".

Vueling is committed to connecting Europe with Spain, the company's director for network strategy & long-term planning Jordi Pla said, and the new route between Ljubljana and Barcelona is an example of this commitment.

Barcelona-El Prat Airport is one of the key European hubs from where Vueling offers flights to more than 100 destinations in 30 countries.

New service the only scheduled direct service between Ljubljana and Barcelona

The new service is the only scheduled direct service between Ljubljana and Barcelona. Vueling previously flew between Barcelona and Ljubljana in the summer of 2010.

Spanish flag carrier Iberia, with whom Vueling shares the parent company IAG, operated flights between Madrid and Ljubljana in summer 2024, but the portal EX-YU Aviation News has reported that at Ljubljana airport Barcelona is a more popular destination than the Spanish capital.

The Ljubljana-Barcelona route was last operated on a scheduled basis by Slovenia's former flag carrier Adria Airways, whose service linked the two cities seasonally over the summer from 2006 until 2012.

Ljubljana airport busier than last year

Ljubljana airport welcomed more than 150,000 passengers in October, which is 18% more than in the same month last year. From January through October, some 1.4 million passengers were recorded, a 10% rise year-on-year.

According to Fraport Slovenija, passenger traffic at the airport has been recovering since the Covid pandemic. In 2024, it reached 92% of pre-Covid levels.

Photo: Ljubljana airport