After the collapse of Adria Airways and the covid-19 pandemic, Slovenia landed among the worst air-connected European countries. The government will tackle the situation by subsidizing air connections. There are ten destinations on the priority list.
Slovenia’s air accessibility has been falling sharply since 2019, when the domestic air carrier Adria Airways collapsed. The covid-19 pandemic also dealt a second strong blow to Slovenia’s air connectivity. Although this has affected practically all countries in Europe and the world, the data show that the recovery of Slovenian air transport is among the worst in the EU, the infrastructure minister warned at the press conference at the presentation of the Program for greater air connectivity of Slovenia in the years 2023-2025 Alenka Bratušek.
“We tackled the solution in two steps – through the program for greater air connectivity in the Republic of Slovenia and through the search for the possibility of establishing a new airline. We will talk about this when the in-depth analyzes that are currently being prepared are done,” she explained.
As part of the program for greater air connectivity in Slovenia, a call for subsidies for air connections will be held. These are divided into three categories. Priority list ten routes cover Vienna, Brussels, Copenhagen, Athens, Madrid, Amsterdam, Helsinki, Prague, Berlin and Skopje.
If funds are still available after the first round, he is ready supplementary list seven tracks. These are Rome, Stockholm, Oslo, Barcelona, Lisbon, Pristina and Paris.
If, even after the second round, the subsidy funds will not be fully utilized, according to the minister, it is still ready additional list route “This actually covers all destinations on the territory of the common European space. In addition to the EU, these are also Norway, Iceland and the Balkans,” she explained.
The program was prepared by the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Economy, Minister Bratušek and the Minister Matjaž Han have already signed it, so that the public tender for subsidizing flight connections will be published, but the consent of the European Commission is still required. “We are also in almost daily contact with them. Our expectations are that we would get the consent this month, which means that the tender can also be published this month,Bratušek announced.
There will also be a program on the possibility of establishing a new airline
Minister of Economy, Tourism and Sports Matjaž Han he emphasized at the press conference that “it is a really important topic that has a very multiplying effect on how Slovenia will fare economically”. As he pointed out, without good air connections, the economy and tourism will not be in good condition either.
In the past two years, the Ministry of Economy supported 11 airlines through two public tenders, which made 2,600 flights to Slovenia and carried 121,000 passengers. “Of course, this is a temporary measure, we have to find another solution, and together with the Ministry of Infrastructure, we will prepare a government program on the possibility of establishing a new airline. Then the government will decide how to proceed. But even if the government decides on this path, it will be it took some time to establish this. That’s why it’s important to provide better air connectivity through the program as well,” Han said.
Source: Rtvslo
