Athens has been one of Ljubljana’s busiest unserved routes for several years. During the pre-pandemic period of 2019, Air Serbia handled the bulk of traffic between the two cities, carrying a total of 47% of all passengers. It was followed by Turkish Airlines with a 14% share. In 2016, Aegean Airlines welcomed 5,646 travelers on its flights to Ljubljana during the four months of operation. The airline faces no direct competition on the route this time around, as it did then. The former Slovenian national airline Adria Airways served the Greek capital seasonally until the end of the 2012 summer season.

Aegean Airlines will return to Split next summer for the first time since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. Services will start on June 7 and will operate twice a week, every Wednesday and Sunday, with the A320. It will directly compete with Croatia Airlines on the route. The return of Split to the Aegean network will allow the Greek carrier to serve three cities in Croatia from Athens, in addition to Zagreb and Dubrovnik. This year, the airline also launched services from Thessaloniki to Dubrovnik. Aegean started operations in Croatia’s second largest city in 2016. Services were interrupted after the start of the global health emergency. Besides Ljubljana and Split, Aegean will also launch flights from Athens to Baku, Birmingham, Bratislava, Bristol, Dammam, Palma, Riga and Seville next summer.