Lufthansa Group granted biggest share of Slovenian airline subsidies

 

Lufthansa Group airlines benefited the most from subsidies provided by the Slovenian government over the past two years, as the state prepares to offer a fresh round of financial incentives in order to mitigate and remedy the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on the aviation industry in the country.

Jointly, Lufthansa, Swiss International Air Lines and Brussels Airlines pocketed 1.675.580 euros out of the total 3.734.640 euros distributed by the government, or some 45% of the total funds.

An expert commission formed by the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology decided the amount of money each of the applicants would receive based on a number of criteria, including the number of flights operated to Ljubljana.

Overall, as Slovenia’s busiest airline, Lufthansa was granted 1.297.530 million euros, followed by Turkish Airlines with 664.560 euros and Air France with 494.550 euros.

The French carrier was followed by Air Serbia, which received 414.780 euros from the Slovenian government, then LOT Polish Airlines with 233.190 euros, Brussels Airlines with 192.180 euros, Swiss International Air Lines with 186.870 euros, Wizz Air with 178.350 euros and Air Montenegro, which received 72.630 euros.

Questions remain as to who Swiss was granted 22.050 euros in the first of three rounds of the subsidy allocations as it did not meet some of the criteria.

On the other hand, EasyJet, which was Slovenia’s busiest airline prior to the coronavirus pandemic, received no funds and was disqualified from the first round of the subsidy allocation for undisclosed reasons.

The Ministry of Economic Development and Technology has confirmed to that it is planning a new round of subsidies with a total of two million euros to be distributed among airlines which meet the criteria.

The Ministry previously noted that the purpose of the tender is to maintain the existing schedule operated by international airlines, to encourage the resumption of suspended flights due to the consequences of the pandemic, and to encourage new airlines to fly to Slovenia.

Lacking a national carrier, Slovenia is currently experiencing a very slow recovery. The operator of Ljubljana Airport, Fraport, has praised the incentives and called on the government to offer fresh funds this year.

Tags: Air France, Air Serbia, Brussels Airlines, Lufthansa Group, Polish Airlines, Swiss International Air Lines, Turkish Airlines