Neighbouring airports are attempting to attract as many passengers from Slovenia as they can as the country continues offering subsidies to airlines for the launch of new routes as a means of improving its connectivity. Graz Airport in Austria, located some seventy kilometres north of Maribor, said around 10% of its total number of passengers are from Slovenia. It saw an increase in Slovenian travellers last year after Eurowings opened its base in the city. Furthermore, the airport reported that a sizeable number of Slovenian travellers utilise its extensive summer charter programme each year.
Croatia’s entry into the Schengen Area last year has resulted in an increase in travellers from Slovenia using Zagreb Airport. Last year, an estimated 200.000 Slovenian travellers passed through the airport or around 5% of all passengers. “We do not keep data on the nationality of passengers. This estimate is based on statistics of parked cars at the airport and the origin of sold air tickets”, Zagreb Airport said. Approximately some 550 Slovenian passengers are currently passing through Zagreb Airport on a daily basis.
Austria’s Klagenfurt Airport handled a total of 153.536 passengers in 2023 with a notable number of travellers from Slovenia. Situated about seventy kilometres north of Ljubljana Airport, Klagenfurt Airport reported that 18% of its passengers last year originated from Slovenia, totalling over 27.300 travellers. Klagenfurt is served by Austrian Airlines, which maintains operations to Vienna and Hamburg, while Ryanair runs year-round flights to London Stansted and seasonal operations to Alicante and Palma de Mallorca.
Trieste Airport in Italy is also competing for Slovenian travellers. The airport’s General Manager, Marco Consalvo, said the upcoming opening of Ryanair’s base in the Italian city presented an opportunity to attract more passengers from Slovenia. “We certainly have traffic from regional neighbours, who are progressively no longer going to Venice with the increase in our flight offer. Ryanair’s growth will enable us to retain our catchment area, which today uses Venice in large volumes. We definitely see an opportunity in attracting more passengers from Slovenia”.
