At the beginning of the season the charter programs for the Emirates, which was announced earlier, slightly changed. Instead of two scheduled Boeing-757s from VIM-Avia, Mostravel, which is entering the Arab market for the first time, ended up with seat blocks on flights by Emirates and on a Transaero charter flight consolidated by Capital Tour. As it was explained to BANKO correspondent by Rabson Mamedov, Mostravel’s General Director, the reason behind this change is a lack of “ground”. ‘After all, we decided to reduce our volumes and take 100 seats on each board, because this is more down to earth than the previously announced plans,’ – said the expert. Another beginner in the destination, Pegasus Touristic, has virtually the same flight program – blocks on Transaero and Emirates flights. In addition, two VIM’s aircraft – Boeing-757s with flights consolidated by PAKS Company and Natalie Tours – depart for the UAE on Tuesdays and Fridays. IL-86s operated by Sibir (with flights consolidated by Luzhniki-tour) and Continental Airlines (consolidated by the airline itself) take off on the same days. From regular services, besides Emirates, there are bi-weekly flights by Pakistan Airlines and daily Aeroflot flights departing in the evening.
Market experts think that the existing charter program for the destination looks fairly balanced, although a surplus of services is still possible - again, due to insufficient hotel space. ‘Between Arab hotels and Russian operators, there is an impressive buffer from local companies, who hold back hotel rooms for their level allocation not only among Russian tour operators, but also on foreign markets’, - says Sergey Prigolovkin, the chairman of board of directors of PAKS Company. – ‘That is why in the UAE it is difficult to use the technologies developed on other destinations.’
According to market players, some agencies are already complaining about refusals they start to receive when confirming hotels. Tour operators expect that the balance between Russian “air” and Arab “ground” will only become clear after November 10. Due to the end of Ramadan and a series of major exhibitions scheduled for that period, the flow of tourists from all parts of the world to the UAE will increase. This will shed light on the operators’ real capabilities with regard to the hotel base.
