Qatar Airways tipped for Ljubljana service
The Qatari Emir, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, has started a two-day official visit to Slovenia accompanied by a sizeable government delegation, where flights between Doha and Ljubljana are also to be discussed. The outgoing Slovenian Minister for Infrastructure, Jernej Vrtovec, has already held talks with the Qatari Minister for Transport and Telecommunications over the introduction of services between the two capitals. Mr Vrtovec noted that despite being a small country, Slovenia is strategically located in Europe, offering benefits to Qatar Aurways. There have never been nonstop flights between the two countries. The only Gulf carrier serving Ljubljana, Flydubai, plans to increase its operations to the Slovenian capital from five weekly to daily starting June 27, just nine months following the route’s launch.
The Qatari Emir, along with his entourage, arrived in Slovenia over the weekend on Qatar Amiri Flight Boeing 747-8, Airbus A340-200 and an Airbus A320. The delegation includes the ministers of foreign affairs, finance and trade. As part of the visit, an agreement will be signed between the tourism and trade promotion agency Spirit Slovenia and Qatar Holding. Qatar Airways, which is preparing for a major increase in demand due to the upcoming FIFA World Cup in Doha, has launched several new European routes over the past year. In the former Yugoslavia, the carrier serves Belgrade and Zagreb, with flights to Sarajevo to be restored next month. The airline is yet to resume services to Skopje, which were suspended at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.
Qatar Airways has considered introducing services to Ljubljana in the past. In 2017, the airline's CEO, Akbar al Baker, noted that “Ljubljana is being looked at”. However, ultimately, no flights were launched between the two cities. The following year, the Qatari Minister for Economy and Trade, expressed hope for services between Doha and Ljubljana to be established in “the near future”. Although there is little demand for point-to-point travel between the two capitals, with just over 1.000 passengers travelling indirectly on a single itinerary in the pre-pandemic 2019, a potential Qatar Airways service would be primarily used by transfer passengers, with the Qatari carrier boasting an extensive international network.
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