Original article (in Slovenian) was published on 21/03/2023
The Joze Pucnik Ljubljana Airport had fewer passengers this year than Tuzla airport.
“Although 100% more passengers traveled through Joze Pucnik Ljubljana Airport last year than in 2021, Ljubljana remains the least connected of all European capitals’ airports. Even Tuzla Airport had more passengers in January,” reported the online portal of public broadcaster RTV Slovenija on 1 March.
The piece explained that in January this year, 58,304 passengers traveled through Tuzla Airport in Bosnia and Herzegovina, while Ljubljana airport had fewer passengers than that, 57,912.
The author of the article referred to data from Airports Council International Europe (ACI Europe), an association of airport operators which represents more than 500 airports in 55 countries, 95% of them European. Air passenger traffic reports are not publicly available on their website, but the association has provided Razkrinkavanje.si with access to the required data.
We also obtained passenger data directly from the Ljubljana airport operator, Fraport Slovenija. Their data are identical to the data by ACI Europe. Fraport explained that they report their data directly to the association and that they consider the association’s data to be the best benchmark for international comparisons of commercial air passenger numbers.
According to these data, 57,912 passengers traveled through Joze Pucnik Ljubljana Airport in January this year, 54% more than in January last year. Last year, the airport handled 970,156 passengers, which is 130% more than the year before.
The claim that 100% more passengers traveled through Ljubljana last year than in 2021 is false.
ACI Europe does not measure airport connectivity by passenger numbers, it uses several other indicators. They explained that the most comprehensive indicator is airport connectivity, which factors in both direct and indirect connections between airports and destinations.
Last year, Ljubljana ranked 118th among the European airports monitored by ACI Europe as measured by this connectivity indicator. The least connected of the main international airports in European capitals were Yerevan in Armenia, Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Prishtina in Kosovo, Skopje in North Macedonia, Podgorica in Montenegro, Chisinau in Moldova, Minsk in Belarus, and Bratislava in Slovakia.
The public broadcaster’s portal also reported that Tuzla handled more passengers, 58,304, than Ljubljana in January.
However, ACI Europe has no information on Tuzla Airport, which is not a member of the association. According to official statistics, Tuzla Airport handled 58,304 passengers in January.
The claim that Tuzla had more passengers than Ljubljana in January this year is true.
Last year, 98% more passengers traveled through all European airports that are members of ACI Europe than in 2021, but this was still a fifth fewer than in the pre-pandemic year 2019. Istanbul was the busiest airport with more than 64 million passengers. It was followed by London, Paris, Amsterdam, and Madrid.
The claim that Ljubljana remains the least connected airport among the airports of European capitals is not true.
Slovenia’s poor air connectivity has however been highlighted by the ministries of infrastructure and economy, which on 10 March adopted a programme to improve air connectivity. They explained that Slovenia recorded the sharpest decline in passenger traffic among EU countries in 2022, attributing the poor connectivity mainly to the pandemic and the collapse of flag carrier Adria Airways in October 2019. The ban on Russian carriers flying across the EU also had an impact since some routes were discontinued.
Under the programme and the act on aid for better air connectivity, which came into force on 8 February, the state will co-finance up to 50% of airport fees for carriers on new routes for up to three years, and the carriers will be selected in an open call. Ten destinations are on the priority list, including Brussels, Skopje, and Vienna, and seven more on a backup list.
The RTV Slovenija public relations office explained that the figure of 100% passenger growth at Ljubljana Airport last year comes from a report by Fraport. This figure was not found in Fraport’s publicly released reports.