The total figure for the first seven months is 798,297, while in July alone Slovenia's largest airport saw 171,772 passengers, a 16.2% improvement year-on-year, the Ljubljana airport operator has told the STA.

The increase is attributed to some of the new routes introduced. Flag carrier Adria Airways started flying to Stockholm and Berlin this year, Air Serbia and Turkish Airlines increased the number of flights from Ljubljana to Belgrade and Istanbul, respectively, and Swiss International Airlines started flying to Zurich along with Adria Airways.

"If we were not in a position a few years ago to say that the flights offered made the airport competitive with other airports in the neighbourhood, this is definitely the case today," Aerodrom Ljubljana said.

It listed as an example Turkish Airlines that is also providing flights this year to Bangkok, Dubai, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, and Singapore.

The Ljubljana airport has also been growing much faster than other airports in the neighbourhood. The only airport to keep up was Croatia's Zagreb, which grew by 8.5% in the first five months compared to Ljubljana's 7.6%. Aerodrom Ljubljana however added that Ljubljana already overtook Zagreb in June.