Greece partially lifts flight ban

Airlines from Macedonia now allowed above Greece

Greek authorities have partially lifted a ban which bans Macedonian airlines from entering Greek airspace and therefore landing at any Greek airport. Air control representatives from the two countries met in Athens two days ago where an agreement was signed between them. Under the new agreement carriers from Macedonia will be allowed to fly over Greek airspace while Greek registered air companies will also be able to fly over Macedonian airspace. However, Greece will still not allow any airline registered in Macedonia to land at any of its airports. The radical move, introduced last year, had a great impact on MAT Macedonian Airlines which was unable to operate lucrative summer charters to the country, just before the summer season began.

The director of Macedonia’s Civil Aviation Agency, Zoran Kristevski, said that this is the first agreement between the two countries in regards to aviation collaboration in the last 5 years. It is also Macedonia’s first step in integrating itself into the new European Union single sky policy. Macedonian carriers have been banned from Greece due to a long running dispute between the two countries due to the name of the Republic of Macedonia, internationally known as the Former Yugoslav Republic of. The new move will have little impact for Macedonian carriers as there is currently no one performing civilian air service.