Slovenia renews calls for UAE flights
The Slovenian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Economic Development and Technology, Zdravko Počivalšek, has renewed calls for flights between the United Arab Emirates and Ljubljana to be established during his three-day visit to Dubai this week. Slovenia has been seeking connectivity to the Gulf for years and talks have already taken place with all of the major carriers from the UAE. The Slovenian Ministry for Infrastructure previously noted that hybrid carrier Flydubai was negotiating with airport operator Fraport Slovenia over the introduction of flights to Ljubljana. "There are good prospects for the establishment of flights between the UAE and Ljubljana. UAE carriers are interested", the ministry said at the time. However, flights are yet to materialise with Flydubai recently announcing a new service to nearby Salzburg.
Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, in 2019, the General Manager of Ljubljana Airport, Zmago Skobir, said, "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 National Tourism Board, but also for the country and the airport itself. The more direct routes, the more investors there will be, as well as more tourists. So, the Gulf is our priority, but we have very strong competition for these markets in Zagreb, Belgrade, Venice and Vienna".
Both the Slovenian government and Ljubljana Airport have mounted a campaign since 2017 to attract Gulf carriers, although so far without success. In addition to Flydubai, the airport held talks with other leading airlines from the United Arab Emirates, including Emirates, Etihad Airways and Air Arabia. Furthermore, Slovenia and the UAE signed a Civil Aviation Agreement, which enables flexibility on routes, capacity, number of frequencies and types of aircraft between the two countries, for both passenger and cargo flights. In its final year of operations even Slovenia's former national carrier Adria Airways expressed interest in serving Dubai. The Emirate is currently one of the few places welcoming all nationals with just a negative PCR test.
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