Montenegro, Slovenia and Macedonia are attempting to attract Qatar Airways to launch flights to their respective markets, despite the Gulf carrier currently facing a shortage of narrow-body aircraft. The constraint has led the airline to scale back operations across the former Yugoslav region, with services to Croatia, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina reduced over the past two years, the latter now being served on a seasonal basis only.
Montenegrin Prime Minister Milojko Spajić held talks with Qatar’s Minister of Finance, Ali bin Ahmed Al Kuwari, in Davos last week, during which the two sides discussed the possibility of Qatar Airways launching flights to the country. “Particular emphasis was placed on the importance of establishing a direct air service between Montenegro and Qatar, specifically linking Podgorica or Tivat with Doha. Attention was also drawn to the potential for a Qatar-based route to serve the wider Arabian Peninsula, given the country’s role as a major regional hub”, the Montenegrin government said in a statement. The Qatar Investment Authority plans to build a luxury tourism resort in Tivat. In the past, similar investments from Qatar’s Gulf neighbour, the United Arab Emirates, have resulted in the introduction of Flydubai flights to the coastal town.
Late last year, the President of Slovenia, Nataša Pirc Musar, held high-level talks in Doha. She noted, “Slovenia is keen to establish a direct air connection with Qatar operated by Qatar Airways. Such a route would significantly boost tourism, facilitate business travel and strengthen economic cooperation between our two countries. Building on this improved connectivity and to advance cooperation in areas of common interest, we are also keen to explore the possibility of developing Maribor Airport”. Slovenia has been attempting to secure Qatar Airways flights for several years. Prior to the pandemic, the airline had expressed interest in serving Ljubljana.
The Macedonian Minister for Transport, Aleksandar Nikoloski, said last year that Qatar Airways plans to resume services to Skopje, having last served the city in March 2020. The Minister noted the airline plans to introduce “at least one new route” to Skopje, suggesting the service may include a stopover in another city or position Skopje as a transit point to a different European destination. In the past, Qatar Airways operated several routes in the region with similar stopover arrangements.
In contrast to nearby rivals such as Etihad Airways and Emirates, Qatar Airways has adopted a more conservative approach to launching new routes since the pandemic. The carrier has been grappling with aircraft shortages stemming from its 2021 dispute with Airbus, which forced it to lease capacity from airlines including Oman Air and Cathay Pacific. Although the airline recently took delivery of narrow-body aircraft such as the Boeing 737 MAX 8 and the Airbus A321neo, it has since disposed of the MAX fleet and leased out four of its six A321neos. These aircraft operate in an all-economy configuration, having originally been destined for AirAsia and are deployed solely on short flights within the Gulf.
Prior to the pandemic, Qatar Airways served Zagreb twice daily with A320 aircraft, Belgrade up to ten times per week with A321s, Sarajevo and Skopje four times weekly with A320s, and had planned to launch services to Dubrovnik in the summer of 2020. Despite reducing frequencies to Zagreb and Belgrade to seven and five weekly flights respectively this coming summer, the airline continues to post very high load factors on both routes.
