Ljubljana Airport has not yet been able to recover from the collapse of the former home base carrier Adria Airways. Some routes are still idle or are no longer served to the same extent as before. The government wanted to attract new carriers with subsidies, but the previous program was not particularly attractive. That should change now.

The Slovenian Ministry of Transport is currently working on a new program that will provide more support to airlines operating connections to/from Slovenia. A spokesman told Večer daily: "The new law is based on the EU Guidelines on State Aid for Airlines and Airports, which provide a legal framework for granting state aid to airlines in accordance with EU rules and regulations . According to the new law, aid can be granted for the establishment of new routes or for the increase of frequencies on existing routes connecting Slovenian airports with EU Member States or possibly with third countries”.

It is currently only a draft that still has to go through the parliamentary route. It is expected that the decision will be taken in the next few months and that a call for tenders will then be published in spring 2023. Interested airlines can then apply for the subsidies. Most recently, negotiations are ongoing with Ryanair, Wizz Air and Easyjet about the possible launch of flights to/from Maribor and/or Ljubljana failed. There's a good chance carriers could change their minds with the incentive of the new subsidies.