Slovenia’s Adria to add new routes from Albania, and Maribor, Ljubljana

The CEO of Slovenia's Adria Airways, Mark Anžur, has said the Slovenian carrier will expand its operations from Tirana, Maribor and Ljubljana next year with the addition of new routes. Speaking to the “Sierra5” portal, Mr. Anžur said the airline will base an aircraft in the Albanian capital next year. Just last month, Adria launched flights from Tirana to Brussels and Paris, complementing its existing services from the city to Frankfurt and Ljubljana. “We have a 5% market share in Tirana and we are the third busiest carrier. Albania is fast growing and traffic is mainly focused on Italy. On the other hand, there is also strong growth in traffic between Albania and Germany”, the CEO said. He added, “Next year we plan to base an aircraft in Tirana and have three daily flights to a number of destinations. We are considering at least two new routes. Italy is a very real possibility”.
On June 1, Adria will resume services from Maribor, on a seasonal summer basis, following a fifteen-year hiatus. A total of three weekly flights will operate between Slovenia’s second largest city and London Southend Airport with the carrier noting its ticket sales on the route are performing “better than expected”. Mr. Anžur reiterated plans to develop Maribor into a low cost hub. “We will fly from Maribor until the end of September. By the end of May, we will decide whether to extend the service. We hope to maintain the same number of flights during the winter and then increase operations to daily next summer season and introduce additional new routes”, the CEO said. He continued, “All conditions are there to create a low cost base in Maribor and station an aircraft in the city next year. Flights to Germany are being considered and we see great potential there due to Graz’s close proximity. Even Spanish holiday destinations would be of interest. In the long-term, Maribor would be very appealing to eastern markets because of its short distance to many tourist destinations and would be interesting to Russians”.
Adria’s CEO has again confirmed that the carrier will expand its operations from its main hub in Ljubljana next year. “We are already planning new flights for the 2016 summer season from Ljubljana. For us, these are interesting destinations as they are important business hubs and offer the possibility of connecting flights. The Iberian Peninsula will certainly be among them. Even Italy would be of interest”, Mr. Anžur said. The Slovenian carrier plans to hit two million passengers per year and see a 220 million euro turnover by 2020, supported by an expanding fleet and several new bases across Europe. This summer season, the airline has already launched new flights from Tirana to Brussels and Paris, from Ljubljana to Stockholm and Berlin and from Lodz to Amsterdam. Ex-YU Aviaiton News

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