Slovenia continues pursuit for Gulf flights
Slovenia is continuing to seek nonstop flights to the Gulf region, in particular to the United Arab Emirates ahead of next year's World Expo in Dubai, which begins in late October. The Ministry for Economic Development and Technology has already held talks with all of the UAE's main carriers, however, such measures are yet to produce concrete results. The Slovenian Tourist Board recently allocated funds aimed at advertising and marketing services which will be provided on behalf of airlines establishing new flights to Ljubljana from Gulf Cooperation Council member states - Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, among several other European markets.
Ljubljana Airport has said that the small size of the Slovenian market acts as a deterrent for major airlines to launch new services to the country's capital, which is the reason it is putting a greater effort in its negotiations with carriers. "We are working closely with the Ministry for Economic Development and Technology concerning flights to the Arab world. We also have good cooperation with the Slovenian Tourist Board, with which we are jointly identifying markets of interest and coordinating sales and marketing activities", Ljubljana Airport said recently. It added, "We are constantly working on the Gulf area, so we are very active in that respect. It is one of the most important goals not only for Fraport and the Slovenian Tourist Board, but also for the country and the airport itself. The Gulf is our priority but we have very strong competition for these markets in Zagreb, Belgrade, Venice and Vienna".
The UAE's Economy Minister, Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansoori, said he saw synergies between Slovenia and his country in numerous industries, especially tourism. He noted that nonstop flights between Dubai and Ljubljana would open up the Slovenian market to over eighty million passengers who pass through Dubai Airport on an annual basis, which, in his view, would be "excellent for Slovenian tourism". The Slovenian Ministry for Infrastructure said last year, "There are good prospects for the establishment of flights between the UAE and Ljubljana, UAE carriers are interested". Emirates extended its reach into Ljubljana after finalising an agreement with the Slovenian shuttle bus company GoOpti. Emirates gives customers the opportunity to book tickets from Ljubljana Airport or Ljubljana's railway station through its website. Passengers are shuttled from either of the two locations to Zagreb Airport, from which they transfer onto Emirates' service to Dubai.
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