It has been a while since I have written anything about Maribor's Edvard Rusjan Airport, for the good reason that there has been little of note to report from Slovenia's secondary landing strip, which has all but ceased operations. Notwithstanding the obvious novel coronavirus-related pause to air travel Maribor's airport cannot actually point to Covid-19…
Heavy with irony and the abdication of moral responsibility, Germany and the EU seek further footholds in Turkmenistan
From what initially appeared to be more a one-way than a quid pro quo arrangement, evidence now suggests a far greater interest from Germany in Turkmenistan's affairs than why a reported $23 billion of the Central Asian republic's money is held in German bank accounts. When money talks even the angels listen, and one wonders…
Maribor Airport facing its very own China Syndrome
The potential loss of large amounts of farmland and tree cover abutting Maribor's airport flies in the face of an 'environment first' credo that Slovenia has become synonymous with, and of which it is rightly proud. Representing something of a reality check of what value is placed on prime agricultural and arboriculture that serves not…
Maribor: Continued inertia stalls chances of realistic(or any) development of its airport
With little to show for their grand, albeit barely believable plans to turn Maribor's Edvard Rusjan Airport into a regional commercial and freight hub since acquiring the facility in 2016, the now entirely Chinese group of investors have continued to keep their cards close to their chest, although it has been assumed that a lack…
Innsbruck Airport announce long overdue expansion plans
Innsbruck Airport have finally acknowledged what most who've recently travelled through its modest terminal will attest: modernization, ergo an enlargement of especially the post-security side of its operations, is desperately needed. Architectural design tenders are expected to be submitted during 2019, with construction slated to commence in 2022. Although a welcome development the announced timescale…
Slovenia: Maribor’s residents seek to protect local countryside from wholly unnecessary airport expansion
Residents living adjacent to Maribor's Edvard Rusjan Airport are rightly concerned by plans to expand the facility. Doing so could not only see the loss of forest and a large parcel of agricultural land, simultaneously undermining Slovenia's hardwired 'green' credentials, but also ultimately be an exercise in futility now that the modern, fit for purpose…
Maribor Airport the real victim of VLM Airlines’ demise
To describe VLM Airlines as Maribor Airport's 'anchor tenant' somewhat stretches a definition more associated with large retail concerns, situated to attract custom to smaller, adjacent businesses. Despite offering a modern, fit for purpose terminal, VLM were though all Maribor's Edvard Rusjan Airport had, aside from sporadic charter flights for visiting soccer teams. Having recently…
Maribor Airport: Flights of fancy to a now flightless facility
"Mighty oaks from little acorns grow" or so the saying goes. The loss this week of the only scheduled flights operating out of Maribor's Edvard Rusjan Airport is another blow to the ever-increasingly far-fetched proposal to link eastern Slovenia with a roster of services from China. Far from following a growth trajectory consistent with reaching…
Adria Airways widens regional reach with Paderborn base and additions to its fleet
Slovenian flag-carrier Adria Airways are to facilitate the opening of a new base in the German city of Paderborn with the addition of six Saab 2000 turboprop aircraft, sourced from the now defunct Switzerland-based Darwin Airline. Although only a single Saab will be based in the western German city it will enable Adria to connect…
The North-South Divide that Dictates Accessing Slovenia and Austria from the UK
The addition of an easyJet-operated Manchester-Innsbruck route commencing in December is a boost for winter-sports aficionados but by belatedly replacing the presence at Ringway and the Tyrolean capital of the now defunct Monarch Airlines, the Luton-based airline is simply filling a considerable void rather than in real-terms representing a net-gain of services between the two…
Failure is Inevitable Without a Comprehensive Marketing Strategy
Build it and they will come, or at least as the saying goes. As an attempt to be a catchall principle the aforementioned is a tad vague, perhaps at times specious, but the message remains: only through market exposure can a commercial enterprise expect to prosper; there is little prospect of success without anyone knowing…
Ryanair’s Welcome Commitment to Ukraine Further Knocks a Return to Slovenia Down its Priority List
A deal to connect Irish Low Cost Carrier Ryanair with Ukraine once more exemplifies the inability and/or unwillingness of the pertinent parties to bring the Dublin-based airline back to Slovenia, after its ill-fated flirtation with eastern city Maribor foundered a decade ago. Labelled with the inauspicious title of being the only European Union state that…
Is a General Lack of Flights Between the UK and Slovenia More Evidence of Post-Brexit Fallout?
Accessing Slovenia via Ljubljana's Brnik Airport from anywhere north of Luton has become that bit more difficult, following the release of flag-carrier Adria Airways' summer schedule that has halved, to one, the amount of weekly flights between Manchester and the Slovenian capital. For at least the last twenty years there has been a Wednesday and…
Maribor Secures Munich & Antwerp flights, but Will Other Destinations Follow in the Near Future?
The jury is still very much out as to whether VLM Airlines can deliver on its grand vision, which includes the prospect of wide-body aircraft regularly linking mainland China with Maribor, Slovenia's second city. An extremely modest start to operations have seen Fokker 50 aircraft used during last summer to link eastern Slovenia with the…
Alpine Adventures, Soccer, Central Asian Autocracies & Secessionist Politics 