Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport ( sl, Letališče Jožeta Pučnika Ljubljana) , also known by its previous name ''Brnik Airport'' ( sl, Letališče Brnik), is the

international airport An international airport is an airport with customs and border control facilities enabling passengers to travel between countries around the world. International airports are usually larger than domestic airports and they must feature longer r ...

serving

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the ar ...

and the largest airport in

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, and ...

. It is located near Brnik, northwest of Ljubljana and east of

Kranj Kranj (, german: Krainburg) is the third-largest city in Slovenia, with a population of 37,941 (2020). It is located approximately northwest of Ljubljana. The centre of the City Municipality of Kranj and of the traditional region of Upper Carnio ...

, at the foothills of Kamnik–Savinja Alps.

History

The airport was officially opened in December 1963. It replaced Polje Airport in the former Municipality of

Polje A polje, also karst polje or karst field, is a large flat plain found in karstic geological regions of the world, with areas usually . The name derives from the Slavic languages and literally means 'field', whereas in English ''polje'' specif ...

near Ljubljana, which served as the city's airport from 1933 and was Slovenia's first civil airport. Regular flights from the new airport at Brnik began in January 1964. In the late 1970's, Jat Airways offered nonstop flights from North America to Ljubljana. The airline employed McDonnell Douglas DC-10s on a route from New York City to the then Yugoslav city once a week; passengers had to connect through

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; names in other languages) is the capital and largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and the crossroads of the Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. Nearly 1,166,763 mi ...

when travelling in the opposite direction. On 27 June 1991, two days after Slovenia's Independence from

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label= Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavij ...

, the

Yugoslav People's Army The Yugoslav People's Army (abbreviated as JNA/; Macedonian and sr-Cyrl-Latn, Југословенска народна армија, Jugoslovenska narodna armija; Croatian and bs, Jugoslavenska narodna armija; sl, Jugoslovanska ljudska ar ...

began its military operations within the country. The airport was bombed during the first day of the war. The next day, 28 June, two journalists from Austria and Germany,

Nikolas Vogel Nikolas Vogel (9 March 1967 – 28 June 1991) was an Austrian-German film actor and news camera operator. Nikolas Vogel belonged to a family of famous actors and he also became an actor. Vogel left the acting profession to report the news and wo ...

and Norbert Werner, were killed from a missile that struck their car near the airport, where they were both driving by during that time. Four

Adria Airways Adria Airways d.o.o. (formerly ''Inex-Adria Aviopromet'' and later ''Inex-Adria Airways'') was the flag carrier of Slovenia, operating scheduled and charter services to European destinations. The company's head office was at Ljubljana Jože Pu ...

airliners also took serious damage from the

Yugoslav Air Force The Air Force and Air Defence ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, Ратно ваздухопловство и противваздушна одбрана, Ratno vazduhoplovstvo i protivvazdušna odbrana ; abbr. sh-Cyrl-Latn, label=none, separator=/, РВ и ПВ� ...

. Finally on 29 June, the JPA soldiers at the Airport surrendered to Slovenian TO forces, who surrounded the entire facility overnight. The fighting ended on 7 July with the

Brioni Agreement The Brioni Agreement, also known as the Brioni Declaration ( hr, Brijunska deklaracija, sr, Brionska deklaracija, italics=yes, sr-Cyrl, Брионска декларација, sl, Brionska deklaracija), is a document signed by representativ ...

. On 8 December 2004, the airport received its first annual millionth passenger. Overall, the airport handled 1,721,355 passengers in 2019, representing a 5% drop in traffic figures compared to the previous year. In 2007, the right-wing government proposed renaming the airport from ''Aerodrom Ljubljana'' to ''Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport''. Jože Pučnik was a Slovene right-wing

public intellectual An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and reflection about the reality of society, and who proposes solutions for the normative problems of society. Coming from the world of culture, either as a creator or ...

, dissident, politician, and leader of the Democratic Opposition of Slovenia (Demos) between 1989 and 1992. Due to growing air traffic and Slovenia's EU entry, which requires the separation of traffic into

Schengen The Schengen Area ( , ) is an area comprising 27 European countries that have officially abolished all passport and all other types of border control at their mutual borders. Being an element within the wider area of freedom, security and ...

and non-Schengen, Aerodrom Ljubljana Airport Authorities have prepared a redevelopment plan for the passenger

terminal Terminal may refer to: Computing Hardware * Terminal (electronics), a device for joining electrical circuits together * Terminal (telecommunication), a device communicating over a line * Computer terminal, a set of primary input and output devi ...

. The expansion was to be carried out in two phases. Works on the first phase began in early July 2007 to accommodate Slovenia's entry into the

Schengen Area The Schengen Area ( , ) is an area comprising 27 European countries that have officially abolished all passport and all other types of border control at their mutual borders. Being an element within the wider area of freedom, security and ...

in December 2007. The terminal building (T1) was extended with a new upper level which added an additional to the departure lounge and four

jetway A jet bridge (also termed jetway, jetwalk, airgate, gangway, aerobridge/airbridge, skybridge, finger, airtube, expedited suspended passenger entry system (E-SPES), or its official industry name passenger boarding bridge (PBB)) is an enclosed, ...

s have also been installed for easier passenger access to and from the terminal. In 2013, the second phase of terminal expansion which included a new terminal T2 was scrapped by the minority stakeholders. In 2014, the Slovenian government initiated a privatisation process of the airport. The bid was won by

Fraport Fraport AG Frankfurt Airport Services Worldwide,Fraport Fraport AG Frankfurt Airport Services Worldwide,ILS Cat IIIb on runway 30. NDB and

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approach are also available. The runway of Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport was closed to air traffic in April 2010 during which time, the entire length of the asphalt surface of the runway was renovated, as well as the asphalt surface on some parts of the taxiways.

Expansion plan

In April 2017 the airport operator Fraport Slovenia announced a plan to expand the existing passenger terminal. A modular solution was proposed which can be carried out in phases that are effectively and continuously adapted to traffic development needs. The first phase of the terminal expansion was opened for traffic in July 2021. The capacity of the departures area was increased from 500 passengers per hour to 1,250 passengers per hour. A new extension was built to the west of the old terminal building. It includes a large

duty-free shop A duty-free shop (or store) is a retail outlet whose goods are exempt from the payment of certain local or national taxes and duties, on the requirement that the goods sold will be sold to travelers who will take them out of the country, w ...

, a new business lounge, one new air bridge, as well as renovated food & beverage and promotional areas. There are 22 check-in desks and 5 long security lines available. A new baggage sorting area was also added and the baggage reclaim area was expanded and equipped with two long carousels. The existing passenger terminal, which covers , was partly renovated and functionally incorporated with the new building. The construction began in July 2019 and was completed in June 2021 in time for Slovenia's

Presidency of the Council of the European Union The presidency of the Council of the European Union is responsible for the functioning of the Council of the European Union, which is the co-legislator of the EU legislature alongside the European Parliament. It rotates among the member state ...

. The entire renovated and expanded terminal complex covers a total of . In 2017 Fraport Slovenija also published a revised Master Plan for the period 2010–2040. It includes a plan to construct a new cargo terminal to the east of the airport complex, expansion of passenger and aircraft maintenance aprons and a relocation of the general aviation apron to the west. To the north, a business and logistics center named Airport City is planned. It will include various business and logistic facilities as well as a new hotel, there are multiple subsidies as well as incentives for the potential investor. In January 2018 a new road from Kranj to Mengeš that will enable the development of the Airport City has been opened.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and seasonal flights to and from Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport:

Cargo

Statistics

Traffic figures and development

International traffic per country

Ground transport

The airport is served by an exit off the A2 motorway and by bus services connecting it with the surrounding cities of

Kamnik Kamnik (; german: Stein''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, pp. 26–27. or ''Stein in Oberkrain'') is a town in northern Slovenia. It is ...

as well as

Klagenfurt Klagenfurt am WörtherseeLandesgesetzblatt 2008 vom 16. Jänner 2008, Stück 1, Nr. 1: ''Gesetz vom 25. Oktober 2007, mit dem die Kärntner Landesverfassung und das Klagenfurter Stadtrecht 1998 geändert werden.'/ref> (; ; sl, Celovec), usually ...

and its

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surfa ...

in Austria. Plans for a railway line connecting the airport with the city of

and possibly also

and

have been presented in the past, however the line most likely won't be built in the near future. The Airport is connected with many bigger Slovenian cities by bus and shuttle connections. Klagenfurt is connected by the Alpe Adria bus line. Other means of transportation to and from the airport are limited to the taxi services which are not controlled by the airport authority or Fraport Slovenija, and shared shuttle service with ticket sale point in the main arrival lobby. The price of a taxi will be considerably lower if you book online.

References

External links

Official Airport websiteOfficial Corporate website
* * * https://www.exyuaviation.com/2020/12/photos-ljubljanas-new-terminal-nears.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Ljubljana Joze Pucnik Airport Airports in Slovenia

Airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surfa ...

Airports established in 1963 1963 establishments in Slovenia