Luxembourg's national carrier Luxair launched scheduled flights between the Slovenian capital Ljubljana and Luxembourg on 14 September, a route it expects to attract around 12,000 passengers per year.

Services will operate twice per week, each Thursday and Sunday, with a 76-seat De Havilland Q400 turboprop aircraft. Return flights start from €119.

The new connection is the result of state subsidies offered to foreign carriers after the demise of flag carrier Adria Airways.

According to airport operator Fraport Slovenija, it represents an important expansion of the network.

Thomas Fischer, chief commercial officer of Luxair, said the service had been under consideration for a while due to the sizeable Slovenian community in Luxembourg.

He said the time slots were selected so that passengers have good connections along Luxair's network of 95 destinations to 33 countries.

The addition of the Luxair service brings the number of destinations available from Ljubljana to 23. AirBaltic, another carrier which applied for state subsidies, will launch a Ljubljana-Riga service in May.