STA, 25 November 2020 - Eight airlines - Turkish Airlines, Swiss Air, Air Serbia, Montenegro Airlines, Lufthansa, Air France, Wizzair and LOT - will receive state subsidies to operate flights to Slovenia. The first instalment of the incentive is worth EUR 985,320, the Economy Ministry said on Wednesday.
Nine carriers had submitted applications, all of which have previously operated flights to Ljubljana. EasyJet is the only applicant to be left out.
Lufthansa will be the biggest beneficiary with EUR 371,040, followed by Air France (EUR 176,160) and Turkish Airlines (EUR 148,530). The remaining five will get under EUR 100,000 each, with Swiss Air eligible for the lowest amount, EUR 22,050.
The ministry said additional clarifications were needed from Swiss Air and Wizzair. They expect the issues will be resolved shortly, but if they are not, the two carriers will not be eligible.
Under the terms of the scheme, the recipients of the subsidies will have to operate scheduled flights to at least one airport in Slovenia twice a week in the 2021 summer season, between 28 March and 30 October.
This is the first of three calls for applications, designed to improve Slovenia's air links in the aftermath of the coronavirus epidemic. Applications for the next two calls will be opened on June and October 2021. A total of EUR 5 million is available for the whole scheme.
The subsidies are capped at EUR 30 per passenger.
