The Slovenian government has abandoned plans to set up a new national carrier using EU funds. The Ministry of Economic Development and Technology has confirmed the "Slovenia Recovery and Resilience Plan", which must be approved by the European Commission, to allocate 1.6 billion euros in subsidies and 3.6 billion in reimbursable funds to mitigate the economic impact of the pandemic. of coronavirus had it.
After bankruptcy of Adria Airways, registered on September 30, 2019, Slovenia was left without a national airline. But the authorities at Ljubljana they wanted to revitalize the aeronautical sector and to set up a new airline.
European officials have expressed concern about plans to allocate € 76 million for the creation of a new domestic airline. The Ministry of Economic Development and Technology mentioned that the financing plans for a new airline were not in line with the European Union's environmental policies.
"As aviation has not yet switched to renewable energy sources and uses predominantly fossil fuels, this principle could not be met. Therefore, we withdrew the proposal and are currently trying to find a solution to obtain an alternative source of funding. Slovenia saw the largest decline in commercial flights in Europe last year, after Georgia, affected by both the coronavirus pandemic and the collapse of the former national airline Adria Airways at the end of 2019. "
Air Serbia has expressed interest in establishing a base in Ljubljana.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Economic Development and Technology, Zdravko Počivalšek, held talks with the Director General for Trade and Strategy of Air Serbia, Jiri Marek. "They discussed the possibilities of cooperation to improve Slovenia's connectivity with as many destinations in the world as possible. Due to the disclosure of confidential business information, we cannot comment on this matter. ", said the airline spokesman for the publication Delo.
Air Serbia was the third most used transfer airline in the Slovenian capital in 2020, improving its position in 2019, when it was only on the eighth position in this ranking. The Serbian carrier managed to increase its market share of transfers in Ljubljana from 4% in 2019 to 10% in 2020. Its improved performance was one of the factors that led to the collapse of Adria Airways, being one of the few carriers that maintained flights to Ljubljana last year, with most airlines temporarily suspending operations.