Two 50-seat turboprop-powered airliners Fokker 50 flew the first passengers from Maribor to the two Croatian cities this afternoon. The planes were half full.

VLM Airlines will fly to Split and Dubrovnik until the end of the month and possibly in September as well.

These are the first regular routes of Maribor Airport under the new lessees since the route to London fell through in 2015.

VLM Airlines has so far transported only some 2,000 passengers this year, while its target for 2021 is 1.54 million.

Return tickets for Split and Dubrovnik are available as of EUR 78 and EUR 98, respectively, with free parking available at the airport. The price includes up to 20kg of luggage and up up to 10kg of hand luggage.

Maribor is also soon to be linked to Italy's Ancona, Bari and Salerno; Croatia's Brač, Split and Zadar; Greece's Corfu, Preveza and Zakynthos; and Montenegro's Podgorica and Tivat.

VLM Airlines, SHS Aviation and Aerodrom Maribor also announced that the winter schedule for flights to European destinations would be published in the coming weeks.

VLM Airlines is a brand developed by the Belgian company SHS Antwerp Aviation and the Slovenian VLM Airlines, which are both owned by the Dutch company SHS Aviation.

SHS Antwerp Aviation took over a part of the fleet and all other assets of VLM Airlines, which went bankrupt last year. The company is owned by Dutch (60%) and Canadian investors (40%) and manages the Slovenian SHS Aviation, which is the lessee of the Maribor airport through Aerodrom Maribor.