English - Ljubljana

New Life of Ljubljana’s Ancient New Square
New life has been brought to Ljubljana’s Novi trg, a city centre area whose name translates
as New Square, but was actually settled already in the 12th century.
When medieval Ljubljana
became too small for its growing
population, the city’s wealthy
class, wanting to have larger
homes, moved to the other
Bookshop Azil
Photo ZRC SAZU
side of the river Ljubljanica and
settled the area known as Novi
trg (New Square). Compared
to the medieval Stari trg (Old
Square), Novi trg is larger and its
buildings are more sumptuous.
The splendour of their baroque
façades still reflects their life as
the homes of the city’s wealthiest
and most prominent noble
families of the past. Behind the
façade of the Slovenian Academy
of Sciences and Arts, a bookshop
café opened recently. Based on
the concept of the bookshop as a
social space where people meet
and discuss in public, it includes
two bookshops: Azil,
azil.zrc-sazu.si, which has
been there for several years
and specializes in books in the
fields of humanities and social
studies in Slovenian, English,
French, Serbian, Croatian and
Russian, and Beletrina, www.
studentskazalozba.si, which has
moved to the building recently
and mainly sells literary fiction,
gift books, and children’s
literature. The two bookshops
are interconnected by a café,
which adds a new dimension to
the place by allowing visitors not
only to marvel at the beautiful
palatial building while buying
books, but also to socialize or
simply sprawl in one of the café’s
reading nooks and leaf through
books in peace. A completely
different new addition to Novi trg
is the Agent Provocateur, www.
agentprovocateur.com, lingerie
boutique, nestled in a corner
of the square. At the time of its
opening it was one of only 45
Agent Provocateur boutiques,
well known for designer lingerie
admired by Kate Moss, Claudia
Schiffer and Christina Aguilera,
among others.
Tjaša Janovljak
Major New Improvements
to Ljubljana Airport
In civil aviation, safety is of utmost importance. All safety conditions must be met and any airport
activity must be based on perfect facilities and flawless equipment. For this reason, Aerodrom Ljubljana,
the company managing the Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport, undertook the renovation of the airport’s
3300-metre long and 60-metre wide runway.
New Passanger Terminal
Photo: G. Kavčič
Construction works included
the renovation of the asphalt
pavement on the airport’s runway
and some of the taxiways, works
related to the replacement of the
runway lighting system, and works
on additional cable trenches.
The renovation resulted in an
increased safety of the airport’s
runway, which was covered with
asphalt in 1978 and renovated for
the first time in 1992, using thinlayer
coating.
The complex and demanding
renovation project was completed
in several phases. A 300-metre
section of the runway was
renovated in 2007, and an
approximately 1000-metre
section on each end of the
runway in 2009. The works could
be completed in such a way
that the flow of air traffic was
not considerably impeded. The
Updates to the Summer Timetable
Due to runway renovation works, the summer timetable of the
Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport, published on 28 March, has only
been in operation since the completion of the renovation. The Finnish
carrier Finnair now operates flights between Ljubljana and Helsinki
four times a week. The website of the low-cost carrier Vueling
already offers online booking of flights between Ljubljana and Barcelona,
available twice weekly from 26 June to 11 September. By the
end of October, Ljubljana Airport will provide regular direct services
to 28 European destinations including, among others, Dublin, Manchester,
Madrid and Stockholm, operated by nine different airlines.
Airport was operational despite
construction works, a shortened
runway, and the instrument landing
system for landing in poor visibility
conditions being turned off.
It was announced already in
2009 that the airport would have
to be closed to allow for a quick
and safe renovation of the central
part of the runway. In December
2009, based on economic
calculations and the assessment
of the degree of risk to the flow
of air traffic, it was decided, in
coordination with airport tenants
and the Ministry of Transport of
the Republic of Slovenia, that
renovation works should be undertaken
between 7 and 21 April 2010.
The renovation project,
extremely demanding in
terms of organisation, cost
Aerodrom Ljubljana €10 million
plus an additional €1.2 million
due to income loss. During
the renovation, some carriers
cancelled their services, others
moved their operations to the
nearest airports. Slovenia’s
national carrier, Adria Airways,
and Turkish Airlines, for instance,
provided a slightly limited
number of flights from Maribor,
and Air France from Trieste. The
runway closure was met with
some disapproval on the part
of passengers, but according to
Zmago Skobir, President of the
Management Board of Aerodrom
Ljubljana, “there was no other
way.” Skobir points out that “the
runway is a key asset which must
be maintained to be safe at all
times. When choosing the best
way to renovate the central part
of the runway, we were deciding
between a full and an overnight
closure. It was established that a
full closure would entail smaller
safety and financial risks.”
www.lju-airport.si
Brigita Zorec
Another Gentle Touchdown
Photo: Aerodrom Ljubljana
Archive