The Spanish flag carrier Iberia has launched a new service linking Madrid and Ljubljana on two scheduled flights a week.

Passengers will be able to fly between Ljubljana and Madrid on Mondays and Thursdays, until 5 September.

The route will be operated by the airline's regional carrier Iberia Regional Air Nostrum with a 100-seater Canadair Regional Jet 1000.

Welcoming the first flight at Ljubljana airport on 29 July, Robert Latin, the acting head of the Directorate of Aviation and Maritime Transport, was confident that the new service will be a success and that the airline will decide to continue the flights into the winter season or next summer.

The new route is the fourth and final so far agreed as part of a state subsidy scheme aimed to improve Slovenia's air connectivity after the collapse in 2019 of flag carrier Adria Airways.

Under the scheme, the state covers 50% of airport fees for new passenger links. The government made a total of €16.8 million available in 2023-2025.

Since September last year, subsidised services linking Ljubljana to Luxembourg, Riga and Copenhagen have been launched.

Another public call is ongoing, with Latin saying that one airline has applied to connect Ljubljana with Cyprus. "We are still in the phase of supplementing the application," he said. More more calls are to follow in the future.

A recent study by Airports Council International Europe has put Slovenia at Europe's tail-end in terms of direct links. Its air connectivity score has worsened by 42% since 2019.

The authorities are aware of the issue and are considering creating a national flag carrier, "maybe not in the independent form as Adria Airways was but in cooperation with a foreign strategic partner, an existing air carrier," Latin said.

Ljubljana airport saw 650,000 passengers in the first half of this year, 21.5% more than in the same period a year ago, according airport operator Fraport. This summer 22 carriers fly to 25 destinations from Ljubljana.